Karen Brown, the 31-year-old partner of Katie Taylor’s father, Pete, yesterday settled a €60,000 damages claim against a motorist who, it was claimed, rear-ended them two years ago.

Gardaí hope to know in the coming days if DNA samples taken from the getaway vehicle used in the fatal Bray gun attack can identify the gunman.

Father and sportsman Bobby Messett received a fatal gunshot wound to his head yesterday when a gunman recklessly opened fire on a packed early morning boot camp in Bray, Co Wicklow.

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime.

Katie Taylor should hang up her gloves and retire, according to her dad and former coach Pete Taylor.

Katie Taylor - minus her dad and coach in her corner for the first time this decade - claimed her first Irish title in the ring at Dublin’s National Stadium last night.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Katie Taylor boxes in her first ever Irish senior final tonight at the National Stadium, but the Tipp woman facing her is undaunted getting in the ring with one of Ireland’s greatest sports stars.

The Minister for Sport Michael Ring has said that he thought that a deal to keep Billy Walsh as head coach of the Irish High Performance Unit had been agreed.

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association were last night maintaining a silent stance on Billy Walsh’s future as Irish head coach following speculation that the Wexford man is set to take up a coaching role with the United States’ boxing team.

The Bulgarian town of Samokov has been renowned for its iron-forging skills since the Middle Ages and when our elite boxers return from the European Elite Championships being held there this week the expectation is that they will do so having fashioned some precious metal of their own.

World and Olympic champions Andy Lee and Katie Taylor will be reunited next month.

There was a glorious homecoming yesterday morning at Dublin Airport, where Ireland’s six medal winners at the inaugural European Games in Baku passed through the arrival gates of Terminal 1.

Pete Taylor believes Katie Taylor is Ireland’s greatest ever athlete and will strike gold at the Rio Olympics next year.

BOXING

Katie Taylor has vowed to make more history at the Rio Olympics after being confirmed as an all-time great at the AIBA World Women’s Elite Championships in Jeju, South Korea yesterday.

Katie Taylor has won the Women's World Boxing Championships lightweight title in South Korea.

Katie Taylor reached the semi-finals of the AIBA World Women’s Elite Championships in Jeju, South Korea yesterday without throwing a punch.

Olympic champion Katie Taylor beat France’s Estelle Mossely to claim an unprecedented sixth successive European Elite lightweight title in Bucharest, Romania today.

Katie Taylor’s father and coach believes women boxers are treated like second-class citizens.

Katie Taylor hammered out her 53rd straight championship win to move to within one victory of claiming her fifth successive EU title with a comfortable semi-final victory over Mira Potkonen in Hungary yesterday.

Katie Taylor will be out of competitive action for up to a month after suffering a hand injury in sparring – but the injury is not expected to impact on her European Union title defence this summer.

It’s a fantastic card for this evening’s Elite National Boxing Championships in the National Stadium with 10 men’s, three women’s titles to be decided and at least five new champions to be crowned.

RTÉ have blamed a new technology system for the embarrassing end to their annual gala awards ceremony before Christmas.

Billy Walsh has confirmed he will take Ireland’s elite boxers to the 2016 Olympic Games but the Wexford coach has warned more funding is required to build on the successes of Beijing and London.

The Irish 2012 Olympic team and Katie Taylor scooped the top accolades at the Irish Amateur Boxing Association’s Annual Awards Night at the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin last night.

Pete Taylor has poured cold water on reports that Katie will meet Mike Tyson in Thomond Park in October.

A hero’s welcome greeted Ireland’s 66 Olympians on the runway at Dublin Airport — but the homecoming seemed slightly muted compared to what’s in store outside the Mansion House in Dublin tomorrow afternoon.

Olympic gold medal boxer Katie Taylor flew a Tricolour from the front of a plane as Team Ireland arrived home from London 2012.

Irish boxing is punching above its weight

Confined to barracks, the 11-month-old girl kept me company in front of the television for Katie Taylor’s first fight this week with Natasha Jonas.

Pete Taylor is treating the Olympic Games the same as any other tournament that his daughter Katie boxes in.

Pete Taylor said they were preparing for a tough fight at the ExCel Arena today (2.30pm) when his daughter, Katie, will take on Natasha Jonas for the bronze medal at the inaugural women’s Olympic tournament.

Adam Nolan has savoured it already, but this will be young Michael Conlan’s first taste of the unique Olympic atmosphere when he joins the Wexford man on tonight’s bill at the ExCel, with the Irish camp bidding to get back on the winning trail after yesterday’s first boxing loss.

Just one boxer stands between Katie Taylor and a fourth successive world title after another thrilling day for the Irish at the women’s world boxing championships in Qinhuangdao yesterday.

Katie Taylor must wait until Monday to start her campaign underway at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao, where her quest for a fourth successive lightweight title is overshadowed by her search for Olympic qualification.

“THE heathers will be blazing in Wexford tonight,” Irish coach Billy Walsh predicted as he embraced fellow county man Adam Nolan, who yesterday became the second man from the Model County to qualify for an Olympic Games — Billy himself having qualified for the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

The three remaining Irish boxers in the Olympic qualification tournament in Trabzon will be back in action in today’s semi-finals.

KATIE TAYLOR was last night being celebrated as an Olympic champion despite the fact that she has not yet participated in the Olympic Games.

KATIE TAYLOR produced what has to be regarded as the best performance of her career to date as she demolished Russian lightweight, Ayzznat Gadzhieva, with an astonishing 20-2 computer scoreline to keep her world title defence on track by claiming a place in today’s finals of the women’s world boxing championships in Ningbo City, China.