Almost 20,000 punters and one president packed out Ballybrit for the big race of the week — the Galway Plate.

A cool-headed clear from Greg Broderick on MHS Going Global last night ensured Ireland scraped through to tomorrow’s €1.5m Furusiyya Series final in Barcelona, Spain.

Two women remain in Garda custody this morning in relation to a seizure of cannabis plants worth €150,000 in Co. Westmeath.

Friday, May 6

Cian O’Connor was confident last night that Ireland’s show jumping team can battle back in the European Championships today in Aachen, Germany, to secure Olympic qualification.

An elderly taxi driver, who was stabbed up to 30 times and robbed, may never work again.

Seven people have been arrested and a number of firearms and other weapons seized during a series of planned searches in Westmeath this morning.

Now that I’m self-employed, I miss it: the work email that used to arrive like a cheery relief in the middle of more ominous subject lines. After “Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Issues” and before “Re: Re: Re: Who else knows?”, it popped in:“The Sports and Social Club Invites you to the ... CHRISTMAS PARTAE!“

Cork teenager Jean O’Driscoll led the Irish challenge on the first day of the British Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship at Ashburnham in West Wales yesterday.

Noel Meade, a trainer with a long history at Galway, saddled his first winner of the Plate when Road To Riches ran his rivals ragged at Ballybrit yesterday.

Details of a €10m investment package to develop greenways and cycling routes across the country has been announced.

A publican who chased down a man accused of sexually assaulting two young girls attending a birthday party said he still can still hear their screams.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has confirmed the man being questioned in connection with an alleged incident in Athlone did not have a criminal record for sex offences against children.

It was the kind of gathering Colm Murray would have loved.

One of Ireland’s best-known sports broadcasters was today remembered as an enthusiastic and articulate reporter gifted with a marvellous memory and unique voice.

Colm Murray’s passing was greeted with sadness in his native Moate, Co Westmeath, where the broadcaster was fondly remembered yesterday.

RTÉ broadcaster Colm Murray has passed away at the age of 61.

Nine dairy farms have been short-listed as finalists for the 2012 National Dairy Council & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards. The nine are:

You can blame Malcolm McDonald.

Dairy farmer John Payne from Longford has won the top award in the Connacht Gold milk quality awards.

An enterprising Irish firm believes it has come up with a solution to the growing problem of public art thefts around the country.

TODAY is traditionally the day for taking down the lights and decorations for another year, but for Helen and Jim Dunne, it is the last year for their dazzling Christmas lights display.

A 22-MONTH-OLD toddler knocked down by a car at a children’s birthday party died of multiple injuries, an inquest has heard.

WHEN the high octane meeting of the IABA’s Boxing Council ended on Saturday at the National Stadium one was left wondering how the paranoia had been allowed to fester during the previous week’s tournament in Dublin.

Gardaí in Cork are appealing for witnesses to a fatal road crash which occurred last night.

A woman has been killed in a road crash in Co Westmeath this afternoon.

THE Shannondoc 24-hour service is to be rolled out to Limerick city in September.

BRAZEN thieves are suspected of stealing another sculpture from the side of a road in the midlands this week.

A WOMAN who faces having her family home repossessed has criticised her mortgage provider for advancing her a 30-year loan for €250,000 when she was aged almost 50.

KENNY EGAN begins his quest for an unprecedented 11th consecutive national senior title when the semi-finals of the Elite championships get underway at the National Stadium tonight.

ELEVEN primary schools who invited the world into their classrooms have been named as finalists in the Irish Aid ‘Our World’ awards sponsored by the Irish Examiner.

An investigation is underway into a fire in Co Westmeath which has claimed the life of a 63-year-old man today.

Two men have been stabbed in one of two rows in Co. Westmeath.

Five men were arrested today in connection with an ongoing conflict between two Traveller families in the midlands, gardaí said.

ONLY two of the countries nine GP co-operatives require Garda clearance for locums staffing their out-of- hours service, and seven areas of the country are without any out-of-hours service.

FIVE people, including three motorcyclists, died in separate accidents in Monaghan, Meath and in Greece over the weekend.

The victim of yesterday's motorcycle crash in Co Meath has been named locally as Padraig Campbell from Moate in Co Westmeath.

A Traveller activist originally from Moate in Co Westmeath is receiving an MBE from the Queen of England today.

“ROSES there for the blessing of the relics. Anyone for the roses?”

DAVID OLIVER JOYCE (St Michael’s, Athy) and Carl Frampton (Midland) claim star billing when they meet for the third time in a year in the featherweight final at the National Senior Championships in the National Stadium tonight.