Adrian is Offaly's Volunteer in Sport award winnerThe Federation of Irish Sport has announced that Adrian Curley has been named Offaly’s 2025 recipient of the Volunteers in Sport Awards, supported by the Sport Ireland National Network of 29 Local Sports Partnerships. The event will include a keynote address from Minister of State for Sport and Postal Policy Charlie McConalogue, and the announcement of the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award. Adrian has given a lifetime of dedication to the sport of athletics as a committed member of Tullamore Harriers. When the social club closed in 2010, Adrian was instrumental in restructuring the club’s operations to ensure its continued financial viability. In recent years, Adrian has been at the forefront of securing funding to upgrade and modernise club facilities and equipment.

The WholefoodieI want to supercharge your battery with easy, nutritious recipes that will be your weaponry for 2026. So, instead of sugar-coated white carbs on Pancake Tuesday, we’re making badass kimchijeon. These Korean pancakes are tangy, crispy, savoury and humming with tastiness. This time last year, no one had heard of kimchijeon. Now, even my local café serves them up.

The success of the US-Irish transatlantic business relationship has long been admired by trade authorities and business leaders in economies across the globe. “Wealthy, large, and dynamic, no country in the world attracts more foreign direct investment (FDI) than the United States,” writes Joseph Quinlan. Founded in Cork in 2004, the group includes health and safety consultancy Mackin EHS, Mackin Talent and Greybridge Search & Selection. On the Mackin Talent side of the business, particularly in the US, where we deliver large-scale vendor-managed capability projects. The IDA has enjoyed great success in identifying and attracting new FDI companies, retaining and growing existing investors here and developing sectoral clusters.

UCD’s full-time MBA programme at the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School has been ranked 73rd globally in the Financial Times 2026 MBA Rankings. It remains Ireland’s only full-time MBA programme to be ranked in the top 100 list, retaining the position it held last year after climbing from 91st place in 2024. The Financial Times found UCD Smurfit School’s MBA alumni saw their salary double from its pre-MBA level within three years of graduation. In addition, UCD Smurfit School was ranked 14th in the world in the value for money category. The school was ranked 23rd in the FT European Business Schools Rankings in December – the 10th consecutive year the school was listed in the European top 30.

Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murders of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob have started a search operation at an old sand pit on the Wicklow/Kildare border. Given the information was not specific on which woman it related to, and the location is a relevant search area for both Ms Dullard and Ms Jacob, gardaí said their search was connected to both investigations. Deirdre Jacob (left) went missing in 1998 while Jo Jo Dullard (right) disappeared in 1995. It is not clear if this suggests the information might relate to Ms Dullard more than Ms Jacob. Gardaí have conducted a number of searches in related to Ms Dullard and have a key suspect, who lives in Leinster.

Thus it was again at the weekend as Scotland reignited the bonfire of English vanities and once more sent the auld enemy homewards tae think again. Amid all the Sassenach muttering on southbound trains, planes and automobiles on Sunday, the main takeaway is that Scotland were outstanding. And how much sharper and more urgent did Scotland collectively look for the vast majority of the game? Scotland may even have done Steve Borthwick and his coaches a favour by puncturing any developing sense of complacency behind the shiny white facade. The challenge for Scotland is to replicate this level of execution and energy every week.

A mother whose young daughter had brain cancer three times said unexpected financial pressures from childhood cancer can be “overwhelming” on top of the health fears. Michelle Kelly’s daughter Sophia was first diagnosed with cancer in late 2017, aged just three. Every parent’s worst nightmare"Hearing your child has cancer is every parent’s worst nightmare.”Michelle and her partner stopped working to look after their daughter. Today marks International Childhood Cancer Day and Michelle has called on people to think about these vital supports for families. Amy Nolan, director of clinical affairs at the Irish Cancer Society, said: “No parent is ever prepared to hear the words, ‘your child has cancer’.

Plan for savings scheme within four months, Simon Harris saysBy Cillian Sherlock, Press AssociationThe Tánaiste aims to bring a framework for an incentivised savings scheme to Government “in the first half of this year”. Simon Harris said he wants to develop the scheme for people who are “locked out” out of “meaningful participation” in investment. The Minister for Finance said: “I fully know there’s lots of families in Ireland under financial pressure, I fully get that. “But I also know alongside that, there’s about 170 billion euro on deposit in Ireland today. Mr Harris said: “We can’t be leading the charge on SIU without making sure that that’s relevant to people in Ireland and that Irish people can benefit from that as well.”

The gate impacted Marguerita and she fell backwards, causing blunt force trauma to her head and abdominal injuries. Family haunted by incidentJohn Sheridan with his daughter Marguerita on her wedding day. In the family’s first interview, her heartbroken father John Sheridan told the Irish Examiner he is haunted by traumatic memories of his daughter as she lay on the ground. “You wouldn’t do to a dog what was done to Marguerita. Mr Sheridan told gardaí he felt as if his life “flashed” before him as O’Donoghue approached him with a “3ft machete".

Andy Farrell has called for rugby’s laws around tackle heights to be cleaned up after admitting Craig Casey’s first-half yellow card for head-on-head contact was hard to take. Ireland’s scrum-half was sent to the sin bin after a TMO check by Ian Tempest in the 32nd minute for foul play.

Rachel Hackett, Saoirse Garry and Holly Coughlan were all smiles when they returned to their former national school in Geashill last week to give a presentation to pupils on their award-winning Young Social Innovators (YSI) eco-project called Grass Sheets which earned them the runners-up award at the prestigious SAGE World Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia last year. Former pupils return to Geashill national school with award-winning projectThree former pupils of Geashill national school paid a very welcome return visit to their old alma mater last week to give a special presentation on their award-winning papermaking enterprise, Grass Sheets. Geashill School teachers and pupils were delighted to welcome their three former pupils back to where their educational journey first began, and expressed their delight at the success achieved by the girls to date. Scaled up the team can see their recycled grass products reducing today’s unsustainable levels of deforestation. Rachel, Holly and Saoirse gave a very detailed and informative presentation to pupils in Geashill National School on their Grass Sheets project and stressed the need for on-going awareness around environmental issues and climate change.

Letters were sent to a tranche of mainstream primary schools last week following reviews by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) advising them of the cuts. On Monday, education minister Ms Naughton confirmed that approximately half of the NCSE reviews of next year’s SNA allocations have taken place so far. Of these, roughly two thirds of schools will retain their current SNA posts for 2026 or gain more. However, this leaves roughly 194 schools that have been advised of cuts to SNA posts so far. Sinn Féin spokesperson on special education Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh said schools have told her that the proposed cuts are “not aligned with any meaningful change in pupils’ needs.”Jess Casey is Education Correspondent.

Confirmation Pledge amended to include vaping and cigarettesTemperance Sunday took place on February 15; this day of prayer is celebrated throughout the Catholic church in Ireland. This day of prayer is to invite discussions and reflection on our relationship with alcohol, drugs and any other addictions. As time passes, addictions change, as many different avenues for addiction open up, so with this, the church has officially reworded its Confirmation Pledge. The pledge has been reworded to explicitly include cigarettes and vaping, and will continue to include illegal drugs and alcohol. He said: “The renewed Confirmation Pledge ensures that this long-standing tradition remains relevant and meaningful.

Six points wasn’t enough to keep Down up last year but Cork’s current haul will be considered a springboard into an admittedly tougher second half of their campaign. Read More John Cleary urges Cork fans to back in-form footballers for Meath clashOffaly grafted until the end but they won the second half largely because Cork seemed to lose focus or interest. The second half fade-out was enough for John Cleary to raise afterwards. But look, in the second half we were sloppy, let them back into the game. Subs for Cork: R. Deane for P. Walsh (46); S. Walsh for I. Maguire (51); C. O’Mahony for C. Jones (52); M.A.

Former Cavan manager Raymond Galligan has explained his involvement with the Galway footballers is not a goalkeeping role, but with the entire group. As first reported on the Irish Examiner Gaelic football podcast last month, Galligan is part of Pádraic Joyce’s coaching team for the 2026 season. Last July, Galligan stepped away from his role as Cavan boss, citing work commitments. Speaking as a pundit on Allianz League Sunday, Galligan briefly addressed his current role. They have all the ingredients to hopefully have a good summer.” When asked was he working specifically with goalkeepers, Galligan said it was broader.