TWENTY American citizens have been awarded Irish government grants to learn Irish over the summer, among them a former FBI agent, a retired lawyer and a faculty member of the Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas.

FRANTIC efforts to save a fisherman who got into trouble off the Co Galway coast were unsuccessful.

THE recession may be biting, but Ireland remains a great country for festivals of all descriptions and there is no shortage of great events available all through the summer.

ANDY ROCHE, winner of the title in 1997, has been forced to pull out of next week’s FBD Insurance RÁS following a disastrous crash 500m from the finish of Sunday’s Rutland GP.

WHILE the focus has been on the introduction of a team time trial and a gruelling final stage to replace the traditional circuit finish, this year’s FBD Insurance Rás will also include some old, familiar obstacles as the eight-day showpiece returns to Kerry.