Wednesday, 19 June 2013, 4:05 am

Ireland's motorsport pedigree has been a wave of inconsistency over the past century. From early days, high calibre events such as the Gordon Bennett race and the Circuit of Ireland have attracted an international crowd and aesthetically, Ireland has proved to be a majestic location for the setting of road rallies. The major drawback that the industry here faces, however, is the lack of development programmes for younger drivers. Irish names gracing the world stage kicked off with rally aces like Paddy Hopkirk and Billy Coleman, motorbike legends such as Joey Dunlop and, more recently, cir...

  SINCE his transfer to Manchester United seven years ago, Michael Carrick became a name associated with groans and complaints and was often seen as the typical overpriced and overpaid English footballer. Frequently viewed as a player who failed to live up to expectation and as a figure that shied away in the big games, Carrick has now apparently turned the table around. To many he is now viewed as an integral cog in Alex Ferguson’s machine as his side chase down a twentieth Premier League title. As a result, he has been on the end of some unfamiliar plaudits of late. In the b...

  Football is full of superlatives and some age old adages. But we need to look further afield to search for a fitting definition to illustrate the unstable pendulum that is Mario Balotelli. Many talented players go through a career at the highest level with a certain amount of baggage or limitations. Think of big egotistical personalities such as Paulo Di Canio or even Paul Gascoigne. People can be fickle when judging players merely based on the negative aspects. These players can be forgiven for their flaws because of the immense contribution they give to the beautiful game. So t...

  In December, the Serbian FA were fined just €80,000. Worse still, two English players – Steven Caulker and Thomas Ince – were banned for two games and one game respectively for essentially coming to a teammate’s aid. Mr Blatter, do you and your FIFA colleagues honestly believe that monkey chanting towards black players and general racist abuse are four fifths of the crime that displaying a company slogan on your underwear is? Judging by your punishments, you do. “I don't think you can run away, because eventually you can run away if you lose a match.” Mr B...

  Could Sexton’s move cause an exodus? With contract renewals always being a touchy subject, they seem to be left until the last moment before the conversation about signing on the dotted line is brought up. It has been a big criticism of the IRFU of late, who refuse to begin negotiations until the New Year instead of after the Autumn series. With the majority of Irish stars more than willing to stay within the boundaries of Ireland provinces Johnny Sexton’s move to French club Racing Metro made the headlines. No one can blame Sexton for leaving. For a player in the prime...

  With Six Nations rugby back for the past two weekends we have been treated to some outstanding performances. But with the first weekend getting off to a bang with plenty of excitement the second weekend failed to live up to expectations. Italy came out of the blocks with all guns blazing, intent on beating France for a second time in three seasons. Their physicality bullied the French into submission and people were optimistic about their fortunes for the following week. For once Italy had an out-half who was able to control the game and compliment the rest of the team, someth...

  QPR fans must have thought at the beginning of the season that they would be living the dream - but it's quickly becoming a nightmare. Throughout the summer, an influx of players who, on paper, appeared a class above what they already had, combined with an ambitious owner, appeared to be the tonic they needed after narrowly avoiding relegation last season. In contrast, QPR have won just twice in the league this campaign - and hadn't registered a single victory until Harry Redknapp replaced Mark Hughes as manager in late November. They've been cut adrift at the bottom of the...

  If you managed to stay up late on the Sunday night/Monday morning of the Super Bowl, and also not fall asleep during the half hour stadium blackout that delayed the game just after halftime, you were treated to one of the best bowl games in recent memory. Up until the lights came back on and play restarted, you would have been forgiven if you wanted to get an early night. The Ravens were twenty two points up and cruising. The San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick could barely complete a pass, except when it was intercepted, the first such pick in ‘49ers Super Bowl history....

So it is Nigeria who emerges victorious from this year’s African Cup of Nations. This is the third time that the continent’s most populous country has won the tournament. It could be argued that it is the first time in eleven years that one of Africa’s big footballing nations has triumphed. Since 2004 the winners have been Tunisia, Egypt, and Zambia, hardly world-beaters. A notable absentee from this list of previous winners is the Ivory Coast. Once again the ‘Elephants’ will not be getting their hands on African football’s biggest prize. Perhaps they were unfortunate in having ...

UL men’s senior team travelled to the defending champions, IT Carlow, for their CUFL quarter-final clash. IT Carlow proved too strong for UL and came away 5-1 winners. IT Carlow looked the better team in the opening few minutes and opened the scoring with a goal from a corner on the 23 minute mark. UL regrouped and responded well with a wonder strike from playmaker Eoin Walsh. In the 28th minute, Walsh received the ball 35 yards out from goal and having spotted the Carlow keeper off his line, unleashed a wicked strike which the IT Carlow keeper was unable to deal with. UL’s hard work wa...