Name: Bríd Ryan

At heart I’m still an old hippy. I veer between cynicism and idealism.

SO THIS is what the far side of austerity looks like.

The Galway senior hurling championship has been thrown into chaos following the decision of the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) to quash the Galway CCC’s ruling dumping Turloughmore out of the competition.

Emma O’Reilly’s book, The Race To Truth – Blowing The Whistle On Lance Armstrong And Cycling’s Doping Culture, has been short-listed for Sports Book of the Year in the Irish Book Awards.

A mother who has been crusading for new laws since her son was killed by a drunk driver has warned young people about the dangers of getting in to a car with a driver who is under the influence of drink or drugs.

International Friendly

FA chairman Greg Dyke has written to every Fifa executive committee member calling for "urgent action" to ensure ethics investigator Michael Garcia’s report into World Cup bidding is published in full.

Manchester United will today reveal the first definitive figures on the financial cost of missing out on the Champions League.

After passing by an angry gathering on his way into Dublin’s Mansion House on Sunday night, the Taoiseach sardonically commented on the motives of protesters: "Well, it’s not about water, is it?"

Such an epic All-Ireland hurling semi-final I have not borne witness to in a long time.

That thunderclap in Dublin yesterday around quarter to four was warranted.

Don’t work with children or animals, they say. With the former, the GAA have long succeeded in defying that idiom, but in Croke Park yesterday they tried their hand with a bird of prey and, well, it didn’t go too well.

Cork City 1 St Patrick’s Athletic 0

The 1965 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe attracted a field more glittering than any other Flat race of the 20th century.

Don’t allow the diminutive figure of Marian Earls fool you — the Wicklow town native is a powerful force which has helped many of the Irish women’s senior team become household names this last week.

Mayo manager James Horan stuck to his guns last night and insisted he had no regrets over his comments about Cork’s management team following their All-Ireland quarter-final last Sunday.

Celtic 0 Legia Warsaw 2 (Aggregate 1- 6)

MHC Final: Kilkenny 2-17 Limerick 0-19

And… Breathe. The neutrals may welcome another shot at an All-Ireland hurling final after that stunning draw but can the locals in Kilkenny and Tipperary bear it? Will their hearts be able for that sort of tension again?