The coronavirus continues to disrupt travel and business operations across Ireland, Britain and Europe.

No Irish domestic or international football fixtures are currently under threat from the coronavirus but the FAI are in regular contact with government and UEFA about the spread of the disease and say they will follow expert guidance about any measures which may need to be taken.

It’s the European Championship Finals draw which puts the hype in hypothetical for Ireland and 15 other nations.

Sometimes travel can be more about the journey than the destination, as Caroline Hennessy and her family discovered when they took a 13-hour overnight journey from San Sebastián to Lisbon to check out the Trenhotel experience

Munster have been left holding the short straw for next season's Heineken Champions Cup with the two-time champions plunged into the clichéd 'Pool of Death' after Wednesday's draw in Lausanne.

The Swedish word ‘flygskam’ means ‘flight shame’. I think of this word – the only Swedish word I know apart from Ikea — as I fly over Sweden, its million tiny lakes reflecting back up at me, on my way back from somewhere even further away.

It’s not often we get a provincial derby between Leinster and Munster these days with both teams fully locked and loaded. Therefore days such as Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 semi-final are occasions to be savoured.

The received wisdom for Leinster’s loss was poles apart in the moments after Saturday’s final whistle and in the hours that followed when thousands of post-mortems had been undertaken in the pubs and eateries around Newcastle.

Engagement in voting, and civic leadership are vital to ensuring that Cork in future offers its citizens the sustainability on which the city is currently failing to deliver, writes Shane Clarke.

After a scarcely believable few nights of footballing drama, Europe’s two best rugby teams are this evening faced with the unenviable task of delivering a Heineken Champions Cup final to rival the beautiful game’s capacity to exhilarate.

It’s not often that you’d find yourself sympathising with sports bodies.

For years, the power and impact of Munster’s heroic exploits in Europe haunted Leinster.

Leinster are refusing to shy away from history as they chase a fifth star against Saracens in Newcastle this weekend.

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, Bryan Byrne was playing in the B&I Cup final at Ealing’s Trailfinders Sports Ground in front of 1,386 fans.

The promotional posters for this game pitted Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale against Jamison Gibson-Park and Adam Byrne.

At face value, European rugby’s semi-finals bore all the hallmarks of sell-out occasions: The champions of England against the Red Army in one, the holders at home in Dublin against the most famous of French clubs in the other.

We’ve been down this road before, on seven different occasions now since Paul O’Connell, in tandem with Ronan O’Gara, lifted the Heineken Cup aloft in Cardiff 11 years ago after Munster beat the tournament’s greatest side to that point in a memorable 16-13 win over Toulouse.

Leo Cullen is not convinced that Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to England last February will have any effect on next month’s Champions Cup final.

This time 12 months ago, Munster and Leinster felt bulletproof as they approached their respective Champions Cup semi-final deciders against Racing 92 and Scarlets, with both squads densely fortified with players from Ireland’s all-conquering Grand Slam team.

In the midst of the Six Nations hype, the provincial coaches beaver away with reduced playing resources, trying to keep the ship afloat and a season’s work on track over a series of Guinness PRO14 games which, by and large, pass unnoticed.

January is the month many of us plan our summer holidays so this week I want to suggest two destinations with a wine focus.

Rob Kearney agrees that the calendar year to come will amount to the most important of his career — but not just because of a certain appointment in Japan.

Sergio Parisse has nothing much to show for 16 years of international rugby beyond a global admiration for his gallantry in the face of overwhelming odds.

Neither Bath nor Leinster have taken a scalpel to their fifteens this week. The weather, that brutal cocktail of wind, rain and cold, will be more of the same. Talk to Leo Cullen, though, and he will tell you that little else stays the same come the second of these back-to-back European encounters.

Leo Cullen has warned that Leinster face a stiff challenge from a familiar foe when they travel to fellow European blue bloods Toulouse for the second round of the Heineken Champions Cup next weekend.

The 67,000-seater Stade Velodrome will also host the Challenge Cup decider on the same weekend.

Johnny Sexton says Leinster are motivated by the opportunity to stand out on their own as Europe’s most successful team.

It will take a while yet for that first-half no-show at Glasgow Warriors in round two to be erased from Munster’s collective memory banks but Mike Sherry believes the rebound against Ospreys a week later can provide the template for his province as their season ramps up over the next month or so.

They may constitute Leinster’s old brigade but Johnny Sexton and Cian Healy are not finished yet, at least not if you listen to their ambitions for greater success.

Audrey's been sorting out Cork people for years...

Munster head coach Johann van Graan has plenty of credit in the bank on the eve of the new campaign after steering the province through a difficult transition from the Rassie Erasmus regime midway through 2017-18.

Judging by the gushing reaction from their newly-converted pundits, the PRO14’s new pay-per-view broadcasters will not be short of cheerleaders.

Some of the world’s top urban thinkers biked and walked around Cork yesterday to see how a “city on the rise” is poised to become the fastest growing region in Ireland — but decision-makers need to realise its value for the benefit of the whole country.

The ideal scenario for the club where Paul Pogba played football as a kid might go something like this: The France midfielder shines so brightly at the World Cup that a money-no-object club — for argument’s sake, let’s say Real Madrid — decides that it cannot live without him and pays a nine-figure fee to shake him loose from Manchester United.

Leinster 40 Scarlets 32

IT WAS James Lowe who voiced what everyone at Leinster must have been thinking last weekend when, with Munster beaten, he suggested that the stars might be aligning for a fairytale ending with today’s Guinness PRO14 final.

Never mind the double, Jack McGrath is simply eager to break Leinster’s league drought when they go toe to toe with Guinness PRO14 defending champions Scarlets on Saturday.

Leinster won’t contemplate carrying any passengers for sentimental reasons in this Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 final but signs are that they will welcome back at least three influential leaders from injury for the showdown with Scarlets.

James Lowe’s trademark smile made its leave as he contemplated this week’s Guinness PRO14 final.

Leinster 16 Munster 15: Leo Cullen’s relief was tangible as he assessed this narrow Guinness PRO14 semi-final victory over Munster.

Whether you have been waiting for a trophy for seven years or seven days, hunger is never the differential when it comes to meetings between Leinster and Munster.

The key battles as Munster and Leinster face off in the Pro14 final.