Though there were plenty of contenders, including Sam Bennett and Eddie Dunbar, Dingle woman Josie Knight was perhaps the breakthrough Irish cyclist of 2014.

A crash landing is leading to a crash course for two schools separated by thousands of miles of ocean in their different cultures and languages.

WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

President Michael D Higgins kicks off an official visit to three countries in central America today.

You gotta larf. The only other option is to cry, to look ahead to next summer’s World Cup with a knowing dread and to what will, on all recent form, be another public bout of self-flagellation on the part of the England football team, its supporters and a media that feeds off the national XI like a shoal of sharks.

Floyd Mayweather claimed the WBC light middleweight and WBA super world light middleweight titles on Saturday night, producing a dominant display to get past Saul Alvarez on a 12-round majority decision in Las Vegas.

The recently appointed tourism minister in western Mexican state of Jalisco was shot to death yesterday.

A nine-year-old girl has given birth in western Mexico and police say they are looking for the alleged father, a 17-year-old.

“So far, so good,” was the typically understated response from Shane Sweetnam as he continued his run of good form in the opening week of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida.

The dismembered bodies of 17 men were found on a farm in central Mexico, in an area disputed by violent drug cartels.

Funny that the man who told me that irreverence was a good foundation for journalism is now accorded the sort of reverence more in keeping with pop stars and the Pope than pensmiths.

John Joe Nevin will be bidding for Ireland’s first medal at the London Games when he climbs into the ring tomorrow night (8.45pm) to touch gloves with the teak tough Mexican bantamweight Oscar Valdez.

Forty-nine bodies with their heads, hands and feet hacked off were found dumped on a northern Mexico highway in what appeared to be the latest carnage in the escalating war between Mexico’s two dominant drug cartels.

Dozens of bodies, at least some of them mutilated, were found today dumped on a motorway near the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, officials said.

The lawyer linked to an alleged child trafficking ring in Mexico, which saw 11 Irish couples questioned, was jailed more than 20 years ago on suspicion of the same crime.

Brandishing black and white photographs of dead parents, scores of angry Spaniards rallied to condemn the High Court for putting on trial the judge who tried to inv-estigate their relatives’ fates.

Eleven Irish couples caught up in an alleged adoption scam in Mexico have been left devastated by the affair, they said tonight.

FOUR of the 10 children rescued during an alleged adoption scam to sell babies to Irish couples have shown signs of sexual abuse.

Eleven Irish couples are being questioned by police in Mexico investigating alleged child trafficking.

THE Adoption Authority (AAI) said it is satisfied all registered adoptions here from Mexico are “safe and secure” following more arrests in connection with an alleged trafficking ring planning to sell babies to Irish couples.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it is in contact with a number of Irish couples caught up in an alleged adoption scam in Mexico.

The bound and gagged bodies of 26 men were found in the heart of Guadalajara, a sign that full-scale war between Mexican drug cartels may have come to the picturesque western city which hosted last month’s Pan American Games.

MANCHESTER UNITED striker Javier Hernandez has vowed not to rest on his laurels after a stunning debut season in England.

Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez has vowed not to rest on his laurels after a stunning debut season in England.

HARRY REDKNAPP yesterday insisted Manchester United would push Chelsea all the way in the Barclays Premier League title race, despite their recent travails.

Stoke City 1 Manchester Utd 2

The governor of Mexico’s northern Jalisco state said gay marriages disgust him.

Mexican authorities arrested an alleged trafficker known as “The Tiger” who they say shipped a half-ton of drugs to the US each month and may have been poised to take over for a dead boss in the Sinaloa cartel.

MEXICO’S Jimena Navarrete was crowned Miss Universe in an upset victory that stunned a pageant world which had predicted the winner would come from Ireland’s Rozanna Purcell, Miss Venezuela or Miss United States.

SOLDIERS killed a top leader of the Sinaloa cartel in a raid on his posh hideout, dealing the biggest blow yet to Mexico’s most powerful drug gang since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against organised crime in 2006.

THE violence involved in Mexico’s drug war is chilling and the escalating death toll truly frightening.

One of the top three leaders of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel died in a gunfight with soldiers, ending the long run of a mysterious capo considered a founder of the country’s massive methamphetamine trade.

Alex Ferguson has no intention of sending Javier Hernandez out on loan in his debut season in the Barclays Premier League.

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Alex Ferguson has been given the go-ahead to strengthen his squad with a player of “very high quality”.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has been given the go-ahead to strengthen his squad with a player of “very high quality”.

Alex Ferguson may add just one more player to his Manchester United squad this summer as he plots to regain the Barclays Premier League title from Chelsea.

ALEX FERGUSON may add just one more player to his Manchester United squad this summer as he plots to regain the Barclays Premier League title from Chelsea.

Manchester United have confirmed a three-country tour of North America to launch their bid for glory next season.

Women’s world number one Lorena Ochoa confirmed today she is to retire from the game after next week’s Tres Marias Championships in her native Mexico.

ALEX FERGUSON has already started planning for next season by announcing that Wayne Rooney will have some goalscoring company next season.

Manchester United have responded to their Champions League failure by announcing their second new signing for next season.

Swine flu will top the agenda at a lightning-quick, three-way summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, between Mexico, the US and Canada.

A Mexican beauty queen arrested in a truck filled with weapons has been remanded in custody as police probe possible drug trafficking and gun charges.

DAVID OLIVER JOYCE and Carl Frampton could box-off for the featherweight spot on the Irish team for next month’s European Championships in Liverpool.