As schools reopen after the Easter break, many classrooms will be consumed with last-minute communion preparation. But what about the kids who won’t be participating? Susan O’Shea has advice for parents

Outside the National Sports Campus, people like Liam Harbison don’t register, a bit like the powerbrokers pulling the strings in the West Wing. Dubliner Harbison is the ‘chief of staff’, one of the most powerful and influential people in an Irish sporting landscape that has capitalised on the political fallout following the Rio Olympics.

Tori Bowie was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A man took part in a 67km triathlon five weeks after allegedly suffering “incapacitating injuries” in a bicycle incident involving a hit and run driver, Dublin Circuit Civil Court has heard.

Minister Brendan Griffin has suggested that multi-national companies in Ireland should be approached with a view to providing financial support for elite amateur athletes.

Jordan Sloan and Mona McSharry highlighted another spell of fast swimming as the Irish Open Swimming Championships continued at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.

Remember the Brownlee brothers? Sports fans were moved when Allistair helped a struggling Jonny to cross the finish line during the World Triathlon Series.

Olympic medals have always been decided by milliseconds and fingernails, but it was Dave Brailsford who introduced the world to the concept of ‘marginal gains’.

Jackie O’Reilly won’t be in Rio de Janeiro to watch her daughter Ellis make her Olympic bow as an Irish gymnast, but the mum of four already knows what it is to burst with pride from afar as her offspring take to the global stage.

Our boxers, used to gruelling training camps in places like Russia, will finally be able to entertain the world’s best in their own backyard, writes Brendan O’Brien

Irish Olympic hopeful Oliver Dingley expressed pride ‘hearing the Irish anthem’ as he collected gold at the Irish Open Diving championships in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, yesterday.

Oliver Dingley had dreamed of winning a medal at a major diving event for 14 years before he earned the right to stand on the podium at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the summer of 2014.

A four-year-old boy who drowned at the National Aquatic Centre was not wearing armbands and could not swim, an inquest heard.

In Ireland, there is only one currency that trades at a profit when it comes to minority sports, so Fiona Doyle was front and centre with the general public last month when she won silver and bronze medals at the World University Games in Gwangju.

A schoolboy nearly drowned four years ago in a Dublin swimming pool in an incident described as every parent’s worst nightmare.

IT’S 20 years since this column sat down to complete the Leaving Cert – for a second, excruciating time – but it is probably some sort of twisted pseudo-tribute to that daunting time in all our lives that scraps of the information we had to learn by rote occasionally jostle their way back to the forefront of the mind when least expected, writes Brendan O’Brien.

Melanie Houghton was in impressive form yesterday when she broke the Irish 50m butterfly record at the National Long Course Championships in Dublin yesterday.

Brendan Hyland was the standout performer at the Irish Long Course National Championships, securing the 200m Butterfly title in an Irish senior record time of 1:58.68 at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. The previous best was 1:59.14.

SWIMMING: Irish record holder Sycerika McMahon is the notable absentee from the National Long Course Championships which start tomorrow.

FAI chief executive John Delaney has cautioned that Ireland’s second seeding for next month’s Euro 2016 draw is a help — but not a guaranteed ticket — to reaching the finals in France.

Andrew Meegan reached a crossroads last January and knew there was only one avenue open to fulfil his potential.

Everyone loves a good recession-inspired deal, but when it comes to fun days out, people are increasingly shunning visits to free attractions in favour of splashing the cash.

The Department of Transport has been accused of failing to hand over key documents to the Public Accounts Committee while under investigation for its handling of a flawed and costly legal battle.

Gráinne Murphy is no longer living or swimming in Limerick after Swim Ireland’s failure to offer her assurances about the future of the high performance centre in UL.

The family of a four-year-old who drowned at the National Aquatic Centre were in mourning last night, with gardaí set to review CCTV footage to establish how he might have died.

A four-year-old boy has died after getting into difficulty while swimming at the National Aquatic Centre yesterday.

The defeated mobile phone licence bidders may not get the payout they expect, writes investigative correspondent Conor Ryan

It’s 4.52am on a Monday morning and while you’re asleep she’s going to work.

The GAA’s Director General has insisted a new mid-sized stadium for the greater Dublin area remains on the association’s agenda.

The GAA’s Director General has insisted a new mid-sized stadium for the greater Dublin area remains on the association’s agenda.

Gráinne Murphy came agonisingly close to breaking Michelle Smith de Bruin’s Irish record in the final of the women’s 200m freestyle on the opening day of the Carlton Irish National Swimming and Olympic Trials at the National Aquatic Centre (NAC) in Dublin yesterday.

Melanie Nocher and Sycericka McMahon will be amongst those bidding for Olympic qualification at the National Swimming Championships which begin today at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.

OUR financial reputation may be in tatters and our collective confidence is on the floor, but that hasn’t stopped Ireland from being named as one of the world’s best “luxury travel” destinations for next year.

OLYMPIC athletes should be given tax breaks to train here ahead of next year’s London games, a committee has urged.

Ireland should offer international athletes short-term tax breaks to base their training camps in the country for the London Olympics, it has been suggested.

Dublin Zoo has been named Ireland’s most popular place to visit.

The National Aquatic Centre was planned in haste and will be repented as a financial drain for 20 years, writes Conor Ryan Investigative Correspondent

THE SUNLIGHT is shining through on a Saturday morning in the pristine National Aquatic Centre on the outskirts of Dublin’s sprawling northside, and 50 of the best teenage swimmers in the country and their coaches are either staring at the poolside tiles or looking up at the 60-year-old rotund man with the small eyes, flushed face and visible limp.

TONIGHT, in Dean Swift’s shadow and behind the famous college green arch, thousands of Trinity students and graduates will fill the many squares and greens that make up the Dublin city centre university campus.

YOU climb out of bed in the morning to survey the trail of destruction already zig-zagging to the half-open front door. You summon the courage to slowly peel open another credit card bill.

KERRY has emerged as the county which leads the way in terms of family-friendly hotels, a survey has found.

THE majority of the country’s sporting fraternity was breathing a sigh of relief last night after escaping the worst of the budget’s cuts.