Twins featured strongly at yesterday’s Woodie’s DIY National Junior & Under 23 Track & Field Championships in Tullamore, with the Monaghans and Nevilles sharing four medals between them.

The Aviva All-Ireland schools championships could produce one of the most exciting 800m races in the history of the event at Tullamore today.

CIARA MAGEEAN (City of Lisburn) kept Irish athletics in the headlines after winning silver in the 1,500m at the European junior track and field championships in Tallinn yesterday.

RUAIRÍ FINNEGAN (Letterkenny AC) has qualified for Sunday’s 1500m final at the World Youth Track and Field Championships in Lille.

MEGAN KIELY (Ferrybank AC) qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s 400m hurdles when she finished fifth in her first-round heat at the World Youth Championships in Lille yesterday.

LAST year, Ciara Mageean (Assumption, Ballinahinch) took her career to a new level when she broke Sonia O’Sullivan’s long standing national junior 800m record at the Irish schools track and field championships.

I WRITE as an Irish citizen waiting at Shannon airport for my return flight to the US after what can only be described as a tough vacation, driven by the shocking lack of action from our local authorities to the freeze.