A two-day benefit series at Castletownbere attracted much of the attention in a very packed calendar over the festive period. Aidan Murphy and Martin Coppinger saw 2018 out in style there.

The line-up and draw for Hurley’s of Midleton King of the Roads 2018 were resolved on Saturday when Killian Kingston beat Colm Rafferty in the last of the Mick Barry Cup semi-final at Ballincurrig.

John O’Rourke and David Hubbard will meet in the North Cork Junior A final, following O’Rourke’s impressive semi-final win over Derry Cooney at Peake.

Arthur McDonagh bowled impressively at Newcestown to beat Gavin Twohig by a bowl of odds in the Munster Senior Championship.

Michael Harrington franked his All-Ireland intermediate credentials with an impressive win over Christy Mullins in the Cancer Research benefit at Shannonvale on Saturday.

Gavin Twohig beat Éamon Bowen by almost a bowl in the first round of the Munster senior championship in driving rain at Templemartin on Monday.

Donncha O’Brien finished strongly to advance at the expense of Denis O’Driscoll in the John-Joe Murphy Cup at Bauravilla.

Tim Young gave a sensational display at Caheragh where he progressed to the Bill Barrett Cup final at the expense of Denis Wilmot.

The James O’Donovan juggernaut continued in the Co-Action benefit in Casteltownkenneigh where he beat Killian Kingston. Brothers Aidan and David Murphy beat Martin Coppinger and Séamus Sexton in the opening score there.

Aidan Murphy beat Killian Kingston by a bowl in the feature score of the Mid-Cork fundraising weekend at Ballinacurra on Monday.

Susan Greene is set to vacate the chair of Ból-Chumann na hÉireann, having led the national governing body since 2001.

David O’Mahony showed a lot of class in his two bowls of odds win over Brendan O’Neill in the Bill Barrett Cup final at Caheragh on Sunday.

Gary Daly beat Christy Mullins by over a bowl in the Kelleher-Hurley Cup at Drimoleague.

Edmund Sexton will feature in the Hurley’s of Midleton King of the Roads for the first time since 2003 following his sensational last shot win over David Murphy in the semi-final of the Mick Barry Cup at Ballincurrig.

David Murphy continued his march to the Munster senior championship quarter-final with a bowl-of-odds win over Nicholas Carey at Templemichael on Sunday.

All-Ireland champion Martin Coppinger was awesome in the opening score of his title defence at Grange on Friday beating Brian Wilmot by three bowls of odds.

Edmund Sexton beat Éamon Bowen Jnr by just over a metre in a highly-competitive score at Templemichael on Sunday.

Martin Coppinger beat Aidan Murphy in the last shot of a brilliant three-way Munster championship play-off at Skibbereen on Sunday — with James O’Donovan third.

Gary Daly secured his place in the Munster senior quarter-final draw with a good win over Bill Daly at Clashmore on Sunday.

The head of Canada’s fastest growing province is to lead a delegation of its employers to Dublin and Cork next month to recruit for up to 275 jobs.

CHRISTY MULLINS brought a memorable 2011 to a perfect conclusion with a convincing win over Gary Daly in the feature score of the RNLI Benefit Day at Castletownbere.

Denis O’Driscoll had an astonishing win over John O’Rourke in the Bill Barrett Cup at Caheragh.

JAMES O’DONOVAN bowled impressively at Carrigaline on Sunday where he beat Aidan Murphy by a bowl of odds.

DENIS HICKEY is Munster Vintage A (over-60) champion following a brilliant contest with Mick Murphy (Innishannon) at Waterfall on Saturday.

WAYNE Callanan led all the way to a bowl of odds win over Trevor O’Meara in the Mother Hegarty Cup final at Lyre.

GARY DALY’S senior career came of age on Sunday when he beat All-Ireland champion Martin Coppinger in the last shot of a pulsating Joe O’Sullivan Acorn Life Cup final at Castletownbere.

ANTHONY GOULD finished with two exceptional bowls to take the first big championship of 2011 when he beat David Hubbard in the last shot of their Munster Premier Intermediate tie at Ballinacurra, Upton on Sunday.

DAVID HUBBARD beat Thomas Mackle in the last shot in the Mother Hegarty Cup at Lyre.

WAYNE CALNAN got 2011 off to a perfect start by beating Johnny O’Driscoll by almost a bowl in the opening score of the Mother Hegarty Cup at Lyre at the weekend.

BRIAN WILMOT won the John-Joe Murphy Cup final at Bauravilla and collected a tidy €1,000 winner’s cheque for his victory over Tim Young.

SEAMUS SEXTON and Paddy O’Donoghue will meet in the Murphy’s Stout Munster Intermediate final.

Standard Life’s £4.9bn (€7bn) bid to land insurer Resolution was dealt a major blow today after the firm’s largest shareholder stepped in with a higher offer on a dramatic day in the City.

UK insurer Resolution today tore up its plans for a merger with Friends Provident after agreeing a £4.9bn (€6.9bn) offer from rival Standard Life.

British-based financial services company Prudential's domestic business remained under pressure today after third quarter sales lagged behind its operations elsewhere in the world.

Irish consumers are facing higher CD prices on the internet from today.

A family of five who had just moved into a farmhouse have been killed when the house exploded.