Irish riders netted three-star Grand Prix victories on both sides of the Atlantic at the weekend, with Paul O’Shea scoring in Tryon, North Carolina, and Darragh Kenny coming out on top at Montpellier in France.

Ireland’s show jumping manager Rodrigo Pessoa was understandably disappointed after last Friday’s seventh-place finish in the five-star Nations Cup at St Gallen in Switzerland, even though it was one of the dispensable ones in his calendar.

Paul Kennedy is in line for his biggest team challenge to date when Ireland take on seven opponents in Friday’s important Division 1 Nations Cup of Italy in Rome.

Nations cups dominated last week’s show jumping headlines, but the international limelight over the next few days switches to the relatively new, mixed-nationality format that is the Global Champions League (GCL), writes Mike Dunne.

The securing of maximum points is the target of manager Rodrigo Pessoa as Ireland’s show jumping team begin their competitive season in the five-star Nations Cup at La Baule, France this Friday.

Ireland’s new show jumping team manager Rodrigo Pessoa maintains that Irish teams have been underperforming and says that his goal is to transfer good individual performances to better team effect.

Dillon Byrne is the new race leader of the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan going into today’s final stage after a thrilling finish in Waterville yesterday.

Drom-Inch and Loughmore-Castleiney progressed to the Mid Tipp SHC final with comfortable wins over Holycross-Ballycahill and Moycarkey-Borris at Boherlahan.

Show jumper Billy Twomey pocketed €30,000 yesterday when he won the Hamburg Derby in Germany on Diaghilev.

Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) is confident it has a “valid” case as it prepares to file an appeal to the Federation Equestre International (FEI) Tribunal by today regarding the debacle at the European Championships that saw Cian O’Connor impeded in his round and Ireland denied a place in next year’s Olympics.

A Waterford city trader said yesterday he had laid off nine of his 24 staff after CIÉ Tours International instructed drivers to boycott his business.

Local boy Billy Twomey delighted the capacity crowd at Millstreet International Horse Show yesterday when winning the €50,000 grand prix.

A garda has told a murder trial jury that a knife was missing from a knife block in the home of a Dublin man accused of murdering a 26-year-old man and stabbing a professional boxer.

Ballincollig 1-15 St Finbarr’s 1-12: Let’s put to one side for a second Ballincollig’s successful opening bout in their county title defence, that much we expected, for the more pressing items emerging from Páirc Uí Rinn were Patrick Kelly’s ongoing struggle with a calf injury and the straight red card shown to John Miskella.

St Francis College, Rochestown 1-12 Thurles CBS 2-12:

Police have apologised to victims of Jimmy Savile and one of his friends after concluding that officers missed opportunities to properly investigate the two men over alleged child abuse when they were still alive.

Thurles CBS (Tipperary)3-12 Ardscoil Rís (Limerick)0-12

Millstreet 1-09 St Finbarr’s 1-08

Thurles CBS 5-26 St Flannan’s College, Ennis 0-06

Germany’s John Degenkolb claimed his third sprint victory of the Vuelta a Espana by winning stage 12 in Logrono yesterday as Ireland’s Dan Martin survived a rather stress-free day and remains 11th overall.

Embattled Irish troops in the Golan Heights are making their views known to an on-the-ground UN review as the Government awaits a decision from UN headquarters on their request for a change in the mission.

A man and a woman have been jailed for subjecting a high-profile feminist to online abuse.

Soldiers are distributing rice and water in the typhoon-devastated Philippines and chainsaw-wielding teams are cutting debris from blocked roads as the aid effort picks up pace.

Celbridge 0-23 Éire Óg/Corracchoill 2-11

Seven men pleaded guilty yesterday to their involvement in a two-part brawl after a house party in Carrigaline, Co Cork, last year.

An Oasis fan who claims he was injured at the rock band’s concert in Slane has brought a High Court action for damages.

ACCORDING to Wikipedia, Crusheen is “a small village located 10 kilometres northeast of Ennis in County Clare, Ireland, consists of a church, Garda station, three public houses, post office, a shop-cum-petrol station, funeral home, and a pharmacy.”

Castlehaven 2-9 St Finbarr’s 1-7

A DUBLINER who carried a pipe-bomb in the shape of a tennis ball with a fuse inside his pants on instructions to deliver it from Waterford to Cork has been jailed for 20 months.

ST FINBARR’S produced a strong finish to get the better of Erin’s Own in the opening round of the Cork County SHC at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last night.

The brother of murdered prisoner Gary Douch has been jailed for seven years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for possession of explosives.

TIPPERARY TOWN club St Michael’s advanced to their third FAI Umbro Junior Cup final since 2000 after a surprising but well-deserved victory over local rivals Clonmel Town in Cahir yesterday.

The long-awaited review of Commons expenses delivered its damning verdict today - ordering hundreds of MPs to repay more than £1.1m (€1.25m) and accusing senior figures of being obsessed with feathering their own nests.

CAHIR’S quest to go one step better in the 2009 Tipperary SFC shipped a major blow on Saturday when they lost to Ardfinnan in Round one.

THE BBC has fought off a renewed attempt to force public disclosure of an internal review of its Middle East reporting.

THE Ulster Council has handed out stiff suspensions and imposed heavy fines on the clubs involved in a brawl at the end of an Ulster Club IFC game last month.

THREE key issues facing dairy farmers — winter feeding, milk quotas and compliance with the nitrates directive — will be discussed at a farming forum organised by the Irish Examiner during the National Dairy Show at Green Glens in Millstreet tomorrow.

GUTSY Sarsfields upset former champions Na Piarsaigh at Páirc Uí Rinn to reach the third round of the Evening Echo Cork Co SHC, 2-12 to 0-9, and force the city side, with Sean Óg Ó hAilpin and John Gardiner in their ranks, into a relegation battle.

Inniscarra 1-14 St Finbarr’s 1-8

Cahir 0-7 Ardfinnan 0-4

WEXFORD are unsure of the availability of Rory McCarthy for Sunday’s Guinness Leinster hurling final against All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in Croke Park.