Will Lar: The autobiography soon appear?

You’re probably aware Lar Corbett recently hung up the hurley and yellow helmet after 10 years with Tipperary to concentrate on his business interests, which recently diversified into music promotion with Bressie, whoever he is.

Our spies recently spotted Lar deep in conversation with a prominent journalist in Portlaoise, papers scattered all over their table: is Lar: The Autobiography soon to appear?

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Top dart players for Killarney

There’s a few bob in the darts business since Sky took over the game and made Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor the face of the sport. The game has become prime-time viewing and it’s popularity is filtering its way throughout all levels of the sport.

The Killarney Darts Festival announced a whopping 90,000 will be up for grabs at the Killarney Convention Centre from October 19 to 21. Put in the context of Irish sport, Shamrock Rovers won 280,000 for claiming the Airtricity League Premier Division title last year.

The world-ranking event will attract many of the big names from the television circuit, including the world’s top professional players.

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So how much is your Airtricity League club charging to sponsor the hallowed jersey at the moment? Well if you are following one of the big Dublin, Sligo, Derry or Cork clubs it could cost almost 50,000. Compare this to the GAA where Vodafone’s deal with Dublin is estimated to be worth 800,000 per year and it seems like a pretty good deal.

But the uptake isn’t great and, despite Monaghan United offering their shirt up for between 20,000 and 30,000 during the week, there was no uptake.

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Connacht rugby’s marketing department are pulling out all the stops.

With record season ticket sales expected, the clever westerners have added an extra incentive to those contemplating the offer with a free pint for all home Heineken Cup games.

With less than a week remaining to avail of the offer, sections of the Sportsground have sold out.

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Northern Ireland Sports Minister Caral Ní Chuilin reaffirmed her support for the development of Gaelic Games in the province at the recent launch of the 2012 GAA championships, citing that it is now estimated the GAA generates 12m-15m annually for the economy in the region.

In addition, Ulster GAA is thought to have spent approximately 60m over the past five years in infrastructural development, which has involved the creation of 2,800 jobs.

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Match-fixing under scrutiny

Roddy Collins was in the media during the week talking about match-fixing in domestic soccer.

We understand that the Monaghan United-St Patrick’s Athletic tie which threw up the controversy is not the only one of its type in the league, however.

At least one other side is the subject of some scrutiny due to unusual results and odd betting patterns in the locality: watch this space.