MICHAEL QUINLAN, one of the longest serving members of the executive of the Athletic Association of Ireland (AAI), could become a casualty of the new structure that has been put in place to govern the sport when the chairs of the new committees are elected at next weekend’s annual congress in Limerick Junction.

THE tremor that rocked Irish sport last year when leading sportsmen and women were dropped from the grants scheme or had their funding cut has eased and only minor after-shocks are likely to be experienced when the details of the Carding Scheme and the Performance Plan are revealed early in the New Year.

MARK CARROLL showed he is pumped up for tomorrow’s ING New York City Marathon by launching a stinging attack on Irish Sports Council chairman John Treacy on the eve of the race.

EILEEN O’KEEFFE failed to make the final of the women’s hammer at the world championships in Helsinki yesterday.

SHE doesn’t have a coach, she doesn’t even have a proper place to train, but Eileen O’Keeffe will enter the circle at these world championships today alongside some of the best hammer throwers in the world with a big chance of making the final.

IRELAND’S representation at the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki was down to 11 yesterday following the withdrawal of David Gillick.

DAVID GILLICK, the European indoor 400m champion, has been named on the Irish team for the world championships in Helsinki the weekend after next.

A total of 12 athletes are to represent Ireland at the World Athletics Championships, beginning on August 5, after Athletics Ireland announced their team today.

WITH so many stars absent through injury the Woodies DIY National Senior Track and Field Championships at Morton Stadium over the weekend may not have left things straight forward for the selectors who will name the team for the world championships later today but they provided fans with plenty of entertainment.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN’S Sports Council grant has been reinstated but the International Carding Scheme Appeals Committee have virtually retired a whole generation of Irish athletics by refusing their appeals, according to a leading athletics figure.

IRISH HURDLER Peter Coghlan has quit athletics in protest at being omitted from the Irish Sport Council’s high-performance grant recipients.

Irish hurdler Peter Coghlan has announced his retirement from athletics after hearing he was one of a number of top Irish athletes cut from the Irish Sports Council’s grants for 2005.

DERVAL O’ROURKE set a new Irish record at 8.02 seconds for second place and an automatic place in the semi-finals of the women’s 60m hurdles on Saturday, but it all ended in disappointment yesterday when she went over on an ankle after clearing the third hurdle.

THE IRISH sprinters in action yesterday morning all made quick exits from the championships.

JAMES NOLAN, silver-medallist in Ghent five years ago, has hit form at precisely the right time in advance of next weekend’s European indoor championships in Madrid.

Athletics Ireland have added a further two athletes to the team for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships in Madrid on March 4-6.

FIVE athletes have been added to the Irish team for the European Indoor Championships in Madrid next month.

A further five athletes have been added to the team for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships in Madrid on March 4-6, making it the largest Irish team ever for these championships.

WITH Athens looming, Irish athletics got another much-needed boost in advance of the Olympic Games when Mark Carroll finished second in the 3,000m at the Gugi Meeting in Linz on Monday night where Freda Davoren turned in another superb performance to finish third in the women’s 1,500m.

MARK CARROLL highlighted his well-being in advance of the Olympic Games by running away with the 5,000m and then winning an exciting sprint for third place behind Alistair Cragg and young Colin Costello in the 1,500m at the Woodies DIY National Championships at Morton Stadium yesterday.

The Olympic Council of Ireland last night sensationally extended the Athens qualification deadline for Irish track and field athletes to 5pm on July 20, in the wake of Athletics Ireland's case pleaded on behalf of those close to the A standard.

ATHLETES and swimmers chasing Olympic qualifying standards were given a new lease of life last night when the Olympic Council of Ireland extended the deadline for A standard qualification to July 20 but warned that there will be no further extension.

110m hurdler Peter Coghlan has bettered the Olympic B standard seven times so far this season and Athletics Ireland High Performance chief Elaine Fitzgerald believes the Crusaders athlete "should be selected for Athens".

THE Olympic Council of Ireland may extend their qualification deadlines for the Athens Games, according to OCI President Pat Hickey.

IRISH 110 metres record-holder Peter Coghlan finished third in last night’s IAAF Super Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne.

Irish 110 metres record-holder Peter Coghlan finished third in tonight’s IAAF Super Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne.

THE Olympic Council of Ireland appear certain to stand firm on their weekend deadline for Olympic qualification.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN posted the second fastest time of his career for the 20k walk at the Grand Prix of Race Walking in La Coruna yesterday when he finished fifth in 1:20:55 to highlight his return to form in advance of the Olympics.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN, fresh from her victory on the track in California last weekend, returns to the road tomorrow when she lines up for the 5k at Balmoral.

Irish 110 metres hurdles record-holder Peter Coghlan looks on target to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard after two victories in the United States over the weekend.

ATHLETICS Ireland have named a team of nine for the world indoor championships in Budapest, but could add two more to the squad over the coming days.

GILLIAN O’SULLIVAN’S silver medal in the 20k walk at the world championships in Paris and Paul Hession’s silver medal in the sprints at the World Student Games in Korea over the past week means Ireland has claimed a medal from all the track and field championships this year.

KELLI WHITE of the United States became the first woman since East Germany’s Katrin Krabbe in 1991 to clinch the world championship sprint double when she won the women’s 200 metres title in Paris last night.

GARETH TURNBULL may not have to run first round heats tomorrow in the men’s 1,500m, as entries for the event at the world championships in Paris have hit a new low.

IRISH athletic talent will be distributed between Denmark and Finland this weekend, with the men and women’s teams involved in the European Cup matches.

CIARA SHEEHY was bitterly disappointed that she had been switched from lane eight to lane one without her knowledge before the start of last night’s semi-finals of the Women’s 200 metres.

Ireland’s Ciara Sheehy and Gary Ryan have both failed to qualify for the finals of the women’s and men’s 200m at the European Championships in Munich.

Two Irish hopefuls are in action at the European Championships in Munich later this afternoon.

Two Irish hopefuls are in action at the European Championships in Munich later this afternoon.

GERALDINE HENDRICKEN, Ireland’s athletic sensation of the season, will go into action this morning in the women’s 1,500m heats, which have an automatic place in Sunday’s final as the prize for the first three.

MARK CARROLL had a new spring in his step when he went training at the UCC complex at the Mardyke yesterday morning having received confirmation from the AAI that he had been selected for the European championships.

WITH national champion and record-holder Paul McKee and runner-up Rob Daly opting for the 200m, bronze medallist Antoine Burke will carry Irish hopes in a star-studded 400m at the Dublin International Games tonight.

ATHLETICS legend Terry McHugh hopes to set a world record by winning his 19th consecutive national Javelin title at Morton Stadium, Santry this weekend.