Dressage rider Judy Reynolds made her first appearance in this year’s FEI World Cup qualifying series in Mechelen, Belgium at the weekend with Vancouver K where she finished in fifth place, but yesterday the Germany-based Kildare rider maintained that her focus for the year ahead is aimed beyond the annual championship and fixed on getting to Tokyo 2020.

It was one of the most bitter and brilliant rivalries in the annals of Irish athletics, and 10 years on from its apex, the feelings still linger for David Campbell and Thomas Chamney. From selection scandals to doping dilemmas, dream races to nightmare injuries, they now open up to Cathal Dennehy about what brought their careers together — and ultimately drove them apart.

Ireland’s Bertram Allen makes his first FEI World Cup appearance of the 2018/2019 season in what is the third round of the series in Verona, Italy this weekend.

The new dates are Metallica’s first in the UK and Europe since the September 2017 to May 2018 indoor run that broke attendance records in 29 venues across the continent.

The opening ceremony for the World Equestrian Games (WEG) took place last night in Tryon, North Carolina and the first of thirteen days of action gets underway today. Endurance, Reining and Dressage are the disciplines kicking things off and Ireland is represented in all three.

Scott Jamieson and Paul Waring share the halfway lead in the Nordea Masters as Thorbjorn Olesen maintained his challenge for a Ryder Cup qualifying place in Gothenburg.

The annual German equestrian festival at Aachen takes centre stage this week with Ireland contesting the showjumping nations cup and dressage rider Judy Reynolds making a long-awaited return to action with her Olympic horse Vancouver K.

Met Eireann said early this week grass growth was practical non-existent, and the potato crop could only survive with the intervention of artificial watering.

Last Sunday’s nations cup in Rotterdam did not involve the Irish team but the result will have a bearing on the country’s league standing up to and including the Aga Khan contest at Dublin Horse Show which is now just over six weeks away.

A scintillating goal from Neymar drew him level with Romario in Brazil’s all-time top scorers list as they cruised to a 3-0 win against Austria yesterday.

The recent cold snap afflicting the US has lifted just in time for the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) which begins today at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida. 

Last weekend’s RTÉ Team Of The Year accolade for Ireland’s show jumpers may have crowned a memorable 2017 for equestrian sport in this country, but we’re not quite done for the year yet.

Three people who allegedly threw firebombs at a synagogue in Gothenburg have been arrested, as Jewish groups condemned the attack and demanded authorities take action.

Comedians tend to worry a lot about the ‘too soon’ moment, that minefield of a border between the darkly funny and the wincingly crass.

The European Union is reportedly threatening to hold back Britain's final €5.6bn rebate payment from Brussels as part of negotiations over the so-called Brexit "divorce" bill.

Theresa May said she hoped the European Union would respond "positively" to her approach to Brexit as senior Brussels figures warned trade talks may not be given the green light in December.

Next year’s World Equestrian Games (WEG) have taken on a new perspective for Ireland’s show jumpers following their recent European Championships victory in Gothenburg, Sweden, team member Cian O’Connor said yesterday.

This Friday sees the Irish senior show jumping team in action at Hickstead for what will be their last competitive nations cup engagement before Dublin Horse Show. 

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MCD supremo Denis Desmond dashed the hopes of Coldplay fans yesterday by confirming there will be no second gig by the band in Dublin next summer.

Peter Dowdall looks at Alstromerias and how you can use it to add colour to your beds and borders.

A British schoolboy killed in a grenade blast at an apartment in Sweden had just celebrated his eighth birthday, his grieving father has said.

Arsenal’s defensive crisis worsened in Sweden as centre-half Gabriel was stretchered off late in the 3-2 win over Manchester City with what appeared a serious leg injury.

Cork City’s European campaign can now be called an odyssey.

Cork City manager John Caulfield has called for patience from his team and the club’s supporters ahead of tonight’s Europa League second qualifying round second leg against BK Hacken at Turner’s Cross (7.45pm).

It might not have been rock bottom for Henrik Stenson as he packed his bags on a January Friday night and slunk out of the 2012 Qatar Masters after another missed cut but the Swede had every reason to feel low.

Henrik Stenson believed his turn had arrived to become golf’s latest major champion and with it end the question of when Sweden would finally win one of the sport’s greatest prizes.

John Caulfield has been no fan of artificial pitches in the past but the Cork City manager seems to have been converted to the idea by the quality of BK Hacken’s 4G surface at the Bravida Stadium in Gothenburg on Thursday evening.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

A good night that almost went down as one of the greats.

Concentration is Cork City manager John Caulfield’s priority ahead of his side’s meeting with Sweden’s BK Hacken in Gothenburg tonight (6pm).

The Europa League second round commences tomorrow evening, with Cork City in Gothenburg for the second time in their 32-year history looking for a vital away goal against BK Hacken, last sea son’s Swedish Cup winners.

This week’s European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam is a final chance to book a place on the plane to the Rio Olympics, writes Derval O’Rourke.

A ‘fourth industrial revolution’ is on the way that could lead to millions of job losses in Europe and the developing world, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

Dressage rider Judy Reynolds is breaking new ground this weekend as the first Irish rider to line out in a World Cup final and her aim is to replicate the performances that have seen her greatly improve Ireland’s reputation in the sport.

Figure is just half of last year’s record number of 163,000 arrivals

There are a few irate Swedes in Gothenburg at the moment.