Sportspeak

"It is now the party line that we seriously question the spending of £1 billion on what we believe could become a white elephant."

- Fine Gael spokesman on sport Bernard Allen on the proposed National Stadium.

"There was no longer a threat if it was in a bucket."

- Leinster rugby captain Liam Toland candidly describing his return to the game after the removal of a crushed disc.

"The first scan found a two-inch cyst on my brain, but today the doctor couldn't see anything."

- A confused and frightened Wayne McCullough following conflicting medical evidence relating to brain scans taken in Dublin and Belfast.