World Cup drama inspires child poets

Our World Cup soccer exploits in the Far East - and the absence from them of skipper Roy Keane - have proved the inspiration for many of the entries in a national poetry competition.

The contest is being run by the SeaCat ferry company in association with Poetry Ireland and is open to adults as well as secondary and primary schoolchildren.

A spokesman said a third of the poems submitted had come from counties Dublin, Cork and Antrim, and added "not surprisingly, one of the most popular themes among primary school students has been the World Cup - and Roy Keane".

Ireland progressed to the second round of the international soccer tournament in Japan and South Korea and captured the imagination of hundreds of thousands of home-based fans, with many supporters also making the trip east.

But, ahead of the kick-off, manager Mick McCarthy temporarily split the nation’s loyalties by ordering home the squad captain and Manchester United midfield star after a disciplinary clash between them.

The shortlist will be published next month and the winners are to be announced in October.

The adult winner will collect €8,000.