I HAVE a confession to make. I am a British passport-carrying subject of Her Majesty and, for the first time ever, I am genuinely proud to put my hand up to it.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has called for calm after a parcel bomb “similar in nature” to those sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two high-profile supporters of the club was intercepted in the North.

NEIL LENNON claims that simply being the manager of Celtic has led to threats to his security this season.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has condemned “the inflammatory and irresponsible behaviour” in Celtic’s 1-0 win over Rangers in last night’s Scottish Cup fifth-round replay at Celtic Park, and confirmed an investigation has been launched into all incidents.

MIKE RUDDOCK’S Ireland U20s will take the field in Inverness tonight (7.30pm) with relative confidence, despite the recent home defeat by high-flying France.

Talks were to begin in Brussels today on fishing quotas for 2010 with more cutbacks expected in the name of conservation.

The European Commission delivered bad news for fishermen today - belt-tightening is needed again next year to give endangered fish stocks a chance to recover.

The chief executive of Diageo was challenged to explain directly to workers why the company rejected Scottish government-backed plans aimed at saving hundreds of whisky jobs.

A group of Scottish fishermen who took on the Brussels bureaucracy won their battle today over a clerical error which cost them vital fishing catches.

FISHERMEN say a large section of the white fish industry will be wiped out if the latest proposals on conserving fish stocks go ahead.

THE Heineken Cup semi-final involving Munster and Saracens is not the only show in town this weekend.

England 32 Scotland 5

Two of the unbeaten teams at the U-18 Six Nations Festival in Cork go head to head tomorrow at Musgrave Park when Scotland and England clash at 2.30pm.

THE week long Six Nations Under-18 rugby tournament, which gets underway in Cork tomorrow, is estimated to be worth in excess of €500,000 to the economy of the city.

Fishing fleets will boost their livelihoods by monitoring conservation and avoiding the dumping of dead fish over the side under a deal hammered out in Brussels today.

SCIENTISTS want to completely block cod fishing in the Irish Sea next year because they say stocks are dangerously low and are not showing any signs of recovery.

EXPERTS want a total ban on cod, whiting and hake fishing in the Irish Sea, a measure that would affect about a fifth of the Irish fishing industry.

Irish fishermen are set to face a ban on catching whitefish as EC today moved toward banning cod, haddock and whiting fishing next year.

Workers at computer giant Hewlett-Packard, which employs thousands of people in Ireland, faced an uncertain future today after it emerged that the company planned to shed 1,400 jobs in Britain.

A Scottish politician today claimed Israeli soldiers had fired shots over his head and struck a colleague with a stun grenade as they attempted to enter Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah.

An Afghan refugee today compared US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair with Osama bin Laden at an anti-war demonstration.

1947 - Born: November 1 in Troon, Scotland.