It was shortly before 10pm on Thursday evening in Dublin’s Conrad Hotel when Sarah Keane was formally ratified as the new president of the Olympic Council of Ireland and any little remaining interest among the general public in the organisation’s internal politicking dissipated into the cold, dark night.

The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) has a new president for the first time in 28 years after Swim Ireland’s Sarah Keane was swept in to the position with a vote at the body’s EGM in Dublin’s Conrad Hotel late last night.

On the 125th anniversary of the death of CS Parnell, Ryle Dwyer looks at the historical implications of the Church leading a heave against him.

More affiliate members of the Olympic Council of Ireland have called for a review of structures within the OCI, as one member organisation insisted a constitutional review was “long overdue”.

There’s a sort of musical chairs series of moves afoot at several of Munster’s TV, audio and white goods retailers this month. As one Cork city centre retailer prepares to move to an edge-of town spot for a larger footprint in coming weeks, the first out of the traps to officially confirm a relocation is the well-known and long-established Soundstore.

Church, State, gardaí, charities, and sport have been cut off at the knees by the modern phenomenon of the death of deference, writes Gerard Howlin.

Update 1pm: The Sports Minister Shane Ross is due to return to Ireland this evening following the arrest of Pat Hickey in Rio yesterday.

The shock arrest of Pat Hickey yesterday morning has all but ended the 71-year-old’s tenure as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, which he has led since 1989.

British army records relating to the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence have been opened to the world in one of the most ambitious online projects for family researchers and historians.

A memorial consisting of three standing stones will honour West Cork men who lost their lives in service during the First World War.

John Borgonovo explores the political landscape in Cork in the years preceding the 1916 Rising

Politics at the start of 1916 in Cork City and county was overshadowed by events in Europe and the Middle East.

Emmet O’Connor looks at the early 20th Century industrial action on Leeside’s docks that helped reboot the Irish trade union movement under Big Jim Larkin

A new Audi car showroom has opened 100 metres away, and a new filling station, shop and food complex is nearing completion directly across the way – so what new use now for this Ardarostig, Bandon Road Cork property?

Irish children adopted by rich American families in the 50s and 60s have spoken of their harrowing Stateside childhoods in a new BBC documentary.

For nearly a decade the United Ireland newspaper was a propaganda vehicle for Charles Stewart Parnell. JP O’Malley on a new history of the publication

A Ukrainian man was jailed for four years with the final three suspended after he falsely obtained almost €18,000 in social welfare payments under a dead man’s name.

From 1978 to 2003, generations of young people dancing like their lives depended on it — along with a host of roadies, rock stars and DJs — passed through the labyrinth of bars and dance floors that was Sir Henry’s nightclub in Cork city.

A pregnant mother of one had to hobble to her parents’ home in Cork with a broken leg, a head wound, and a broken arm after a 45-minute attack by her drunk partner.

A dispute over a betting docket led to a pensioner inflicting stab wounds on a fellow punter in a Limerick pub where they watched on television a horse they backed, Limerick Circuit Court heard.

The jury that convicted James “Whitey” Bulger over a series of gangland murders has also left the families of some alleged victims shaken and angry because the panel did not find him guilty in several other killings.

The Cork Midsummer festival opens tonight, kicking off an eclectic mix of weekend fun that includes Elton John, vintage Formula One racing cars, and pirates.

Dromoland antique and art fair is one of the biggest of the year, writes Des O’Sullivan.

Paramedics dealing with a woman involved in self-harm at Coburg St, Cork City, had to contend with a man shouting at them, a court has heard.

A new book on the prehistory of Cork makes David O’Mahony want to read our landscape in a new way — to better understand the past

First-hand accounts of the Easter Rising and the War of Independence are among important historical documents being made widely available to the public for the first time in almost half a century.

Irish athlete Catriona Cuddihy has won her appeal against the decision of an Athletics Ireland Appeal Panel (AIAP) to de-select her from the Women’s 4 x 400m relay team for the Olympic Games, it was confirmed this morning.

The Olympic Council of Ireland’s Appeal Tribunal has turned down the appeal by Irish professional road cyclist Matt Brammeier against the decision of Cycling Ireland not to select him for the Olympic Road Race.

28-piece set dates from the 19th century, reports Des O’Sullivan.

WHEN it comes to job variety, Limerick man William O’Brien has had a broad career which has spanned training race horses to dealing in discarded women’s fashion.

SO after three weeks of frenetic baby kissing, handshaking, leaders’ debates, sniping, blaming and promising, the rather under-whelming carnival that was General Election 2011 is grinding to a halt.

WE’RE at the end of the second week of GE11 and in the west Cork town of Skibbereen, the election campaign that everyone concedes as so important, rumbles on.

SINCE Dáil Éireann was established in 1919 there have been 125 by-elections. All but 11 of those were held within six months of the vacancy occurring. But the current Dáil has three vacancies, two of which are already more than six months old and the third well over a year and heading for a record delay.

A PENSIONER who was ripped off by rogue builders has backed a new handyman scheme aimed at the over 60s.

BUSINESS stinks – but it’s picking up.