US and British Open winners Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke have both received awards on the Queen’s New Year Honours List.
McIlroy, 22, gets an MBE while Clarke, who is 20 years his senior is awarded an OBE. The pair are among 55 from Northern Ireland to be honoured this New Year.
Ireland rugby coach Declan Kidney has named Munster lock Paul O’Connell as team captain for the forth coming Six Nations tournament. Capped 83 times for Ireland, O’Connell takes over the role as Brian O’Driscoll misses the whole tournament after a shoulder operation.
The 2009 Lions captain will lead out the Ireland team in their first match against Wales at home in Dublin on 5th February. Ireland’s other matches are away to France followed by home matches against Italy and Scotland with their final match away to England at Twickenham on St. Patrick’s Day, 17th March.
The IFA have confirmed the appointment of Michael O’Neill as the new manager of the Northern Ireland football team. As a former N.I. player with 33 caps to his name, he replaces Nigel Worthington after having guided Shamrock Rovers to 2 League of Ireland titles and helped the team become the first Irish team to reach the knock-out stages of the Europa League.
O’Neill takes over officially on the 1st of February ahead of his first match in charge, a friendly international against Norway on the 29th of the month.
Ulster Rugby continue a good run in the Heineken Cup with a 6 try win over Aironi in Italy, earning them a bonus point in the process. The final score 20 pionts to 46 in Ulster’s favour means that Ulster now lead Pool Four with an attractive home fixture in the new year against Leicester.
Two goals from John Pelle helped the Belfast Giants secure victory over the Dundee Stars in a thriller at the Odyssey Arena. The Giants dominated play and posession throughout the match and started the final period with a 4 goals to 1 lead only to see the Stars pull back to just one goal down at 4-3. Pelle scoed his second mear the end and it looked lile the Giants were secure but Jarrett Keonkle scored his second goal of the match for the Stars in the dying minutes to put the Giants under pressure again. However, the Giants held on to claim a well deserved victory.
