Sport

PORTMARNOCK Golf Club's executive has just passed through the traumatic exxperience of an election (almost unprecedented) to fill commmittee posts, although the same faces appear again on the Committee. It was not too democratic an experience as the club, built on the land of more than one hundred evicted fishermen at the turn of the century, has no women members Women cannot become members of Portmarnock. They cannot even enter the bar as guests of a member. Invited women can play on the fabled links on one week-day, but they must step aside and let members play past them if asked to do so.

An interview with Johnny Giles

THE TINSEL and glitter of the Irish Hospitals Sweepstakes has tarnished a bit in recent years. By Pamela Readhead

IRELAND WILL surely never see a racing car emblazoned with the word Durex - as caused a row in Britain recently. But the name Guinness is firmly linked with events as disparate as the Irish Oaks and Wexford Festival. Carrolls is almost synonymous with the GAA Allstars and the Open Golf chammpionship, and Gallaghers with the Motor Circuit of Ireland. By PAMELA READHEAD

Did the equine VD, which now threatens the bloodstock industry in Ireland and Great Britain, originate in this country? PAMELA READHEAD reports on the history and financial repercussions of the disease that has swept the paddocks.

THE SPORT OF KINGS is a McCormick family tradition. The late R. J. ("Dick ") McCormick was a wellknown and long-established Irish trainer, whose own father, Mark, was regarded in his day as being one of the most brilliant huntsmen in the country. Dick McCormick learned his training art during a twenty-year spell with the legendary "Atty " Persse at Stockbridge and, later, with Steve Donoghue at Epsom. The latter of racing's all-time greats-rode the winners of six English and four Irish Derbys.

IN TERMS OF achievement, Ireland's recent Rugby history has been none too happy insofar as victory in the Triple Crown series has eluded the Irish since the balmy days of 1948 and 1949. However, in terms of performances, the Irish have done considerably better in recent years than ever before: six consecutive internationals were won and no other Irish side had managed to build such an impressively consistent record.

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL in the Republic has never known the same financial rewards, glamour, or the magnetic appeal enjoyed by the game in such countries as Britain, Spain and Italy. But if one team, through the years, has come close to achieving even a small measure of that appeal it is unquestionably Shamrock Rovers. Their successes have been consistent and considerable; their support is drawn from a wider spectrum than is represented by the partisan regulars who trek up to Glenmalure Park on Sunday afternoons.

A DUBLIN sports journalist suggested recently that prose is no longer suitable to describe Kerry's Mick O'Connell-that only an epic poem could properly do him justice. There is a deal of truth in this. At the age of thirty-two, the Valentia islander is still the monarch of all he surveys. His consummate artistry and style-whether it is in going up against opponents for the high ball or in the accuracy of his shooting and passing-combine to make him the undisputed maestro of the midfield.

THE BRITISH OPEN GOLF Championship has been given such diverse descriptions as "the greatest golf show on earth" and "an anachronism". Antique it most certainly is, an anachronism it most certainly is not and like most antiques, it is eagerly sought and valued highly. In fact, the most prized title in golf.