The Marty Party is still going, but for Norah Casey it was taxi time after the first elimination from this year’s Dancing with The Stars TV bash.

He may have come second last in the judges’ scores; he may have been up against a world champion and a rugby grand slam winner — but this year’s Dancing With the Stars is already shaping up to be a Marty party.

An Olympic athlete, Rob Heffernan is well used to gruelling training sessions. Nothing though, prepared him for rehearsals for Dancing with the Stars, he tells Esther McCarthy.            

It was a no-brainer for Maia Dunphy to twirl into ‘Dancing With the Stars’, she tells Ciara McDonnell

GAA guru Marty Morrissey will show off his twinkle toes when he follows in the steps of sports presenter Des Cahill onto the dance floor.

This week I’m sharing my favourite Irish online companies for Christmas shopping. Recipe wise, I’ve got my smoked mackerel pate and posh nuts, the perfect nibbles for any Christmas party.

John Fintan Daly jnr and Matthew Dilworth produced brilliant attacking performances as Knocknagree bridged a 26-year gap, landing the Cork JAFC title, overcoming Erin’s Own in the final yesterday.

Tomás O’Leary will line out for Erin’s Own in tomorrow’s Cork JAFC final at Páirc Uí Rinn. The European Cup champion with Munster and Grand Slam winner with Ireland only returned to football a few weeks ago, having retired from rugby in July.

Tomás O’Leary yesterday announced his retirement from professional rugby “happy and content that it is time to move on”.

Saturday’s European Champions Cup semi-final against holders Saracens should mark the most important day in Duncan Williams’ professional rugby career.

The British and Irish Lions squad announcement followed the usual pattern — a majority of predictable selections, a few left field picks, some surprise omissions along with the customary bolter. Warren Gatland was always good for a few of those and in Ross Moriarty, Ben Te’o and Ireland’s Jared Payne, he didn’t disappoint.

Darren Sweetnam turned up for training at UL this week with an extra bounce in his step. 

The French for goal is ‘but’. I’m not a fan of the English equivalent of the spelling.

Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, his staff, and his players have been working hard at UL over the last few days trying to return things to as close to normality as possible following the tragic and heartfelt loss of head coach Anthony Foley.

Ten days since Tomás O’Leary first landed in the Languedoc region for a four-month tour of duty with Montpellier and the 33-year-old scrum-half must feel as if his feet are yet to really find terra firma.

Munster A couldn’t have faced a stiffer challenge than the champions in today’s B&I Cup opener with London Welsh at Towns Park, Midleton (2.30p.m.), but coach Peter Malone believes his young side will be up to the task.

From where Munster was 18 months ago, things looked and felt a whole lot more positive from where I was sitting Tuesday night, writes Ronan O’Gara

If the handsome devil is in the detail, then consider these three simple hacks.

THE calls and texts weren’t long arriving last Friday. “Your buddy O’Gara this morning — ” (I always like that description of anyone who ever wrote for a paper anywhere, in any era: ‘your buddy’) “— what is he at?”

Tommy O’Donnell, Donnacha Ryan and James Cronin return to action for Munster in tonight’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Glasgow Warriors on the 4G pitch at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock.

The problem with being a market leader for so long is that expectation levels are always set at ceiling height. Munster have been a good news story for European rugby ever since that shattering defeat to Northampton in the 2000 Heineken Cup final.

Question: In light of Alan Quinlan’s assessment of Munster’s performance against Stade Francais being “embarrassing, humiliating, disgraceful” what three words would you use to describe the current malaise?

Tomás O’Leary has known the highs of Six Nations and Heineken Cup glory, the bitter disappointment of forfeiting his place on a Lions tour because of a broken leg and in the latter part of his career the frustration of playing in London Irish and Munster teams that all too often failed to reach standards of which they looked to be eminently capable.

MUNSTER SELECTION

Ireland and Lions scrum-half Conor Murray has given Munster a massive boost ahead of their must-win Champions Cup clash at Leicester by saying a new deal to keep him at the province was “almost a no-brainer”.

Two weeks of talking a good game have done little for Munster’s performance levels so what better moment than a big European night at Thomond Park for stand-in captain CJ Stander to demand his team start to match words with deeds.

The prospect of Ian Madigan leaving Leinster for Munster may excite supporters in the southern province but head coach Anthony Foley believes both he and the player in question have more pressing concerns this week.

It was 16 years or so ago when word emerged from Christian Brothers, Cork that an exceptional talent was about to burst on the Munster rugby scene.