Revellers erupted in cheers amid a confetti-filled celebration in New York’s Times Square to welcome in the new year, part of star-studded celebrations and glittering fireworks displays around the world to usher in 2012.

Mitt Romney is the clear Republican front-runner in Iowa in the final days before the first voting in the 2012 presidential election, but polls also suggest large numbers of Republicans could change their minds before Tuesday’s caucuses.

Iran’s navy says it has test-fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile during a drill in international waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz – the passageway for one-sixth of the world’s oil supply.

North Korea vowed to stage an all-out drive for prosperity as it unites behind new leader Kim Jong Un, ushering in 2012 with promises to resolve food shortages, bolster its military and defend Kim Jong Il’s young son “unto death”.

Ireland is to seek election to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the first time, based on its commitment to justice and peace, Enda Kenny said.

A man has been killed in a car crash in Co Cavan.

The number of hard-pressed citizens seeking legal advice over debt burdens soared by more than a third in the run-up to Christmas, it has been revealed.

Former President Mary McAleese and her husband Senator Martin McAleese will both receive the 2011 Tipperary International Peace Award.

Arsenal will be without Thomas Vermaelen for tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash at Fulham.

Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed he will make changes for Chelsea’s Barclays Premier League game at Wolves tomorrow.

Philip Hobbs is looking to get more experience into Menorah after he opened his account over fences at Taunton on Friday.

Tomorrow’s meeting at Ayr is subject to a precautionary inspection at 7.15am on race day.

Terry Wogan has revealed how “difficult” he found it broadcasting on radio at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

A poll shows Greece’s socialists, who ruled alone for two calamitous years, have plummeted in popularity and are now trailing their new conservatives partners in a coalition government by nearly 9%.

New Wolves signings Eggert Jonsson and Emmanuel Frimpong will both be available for tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash with Chelsea at Molineux.

The country's first babies of 2012 are enjoying the first hours of the new year.

A dedicated police intelligence unit is to be introduced at the London 2012 Games tasked with identifying illegal betting practices and attempts to fix events, according to reports.

A member of the doomsday cult behind a deadly Tokyo underground gassing and other crimes has turned himself in to police after 17 years on the run.

Ireland has taken over the chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

HT: West Brom 0 Everton 0

Leeds have completed the signing of Tottenham winger Andros Townsend on loan until the end of the season.

Ruby Walsh believes Long Run deserves to be favourite for the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The euro may become the world's leading currency in a decade, according to a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank.

A man's body has been recovered from the River Shannon in Limerick City today.

Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell has been cleared of child sex allegations.

FT: West Brom 0 Everton 1

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 struck under the sea several hundred miles south of Japan today, shaking buildings in the capital, but officials said there was no danger of a tsunami.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini rang the changes at Sunderland as his side attempted to establish a three-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

A pan-Arab body is calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Arab League monitors in Syria because President Bashar Assad’s regime has kept up killings of government opponents even in the presence of the observers.

Andy Murray believes Ivan Lendl will tell it like it is as the British number one looks to break his grand slam duck.

A woman in her 70s has died following a crash in Wexford.

Nicky Henderson’s three contenders for the StanJames.com Champion Hurdle will each have one more outing before that March 13 race.

Oscar Whisky is poised to try to spoil Big Bucks' bid for a fourth Ladbrokes World Hurdle triumph following his emphatic victory in the Cheltenham & Three Counties Race Club Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Hollywood has seen a third consecutive night of arson attacks on cars.

A Libyan milita commander claims his fighters have captured nine supporters of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi who were plotting to blow up Tripoli's power grid.

Sunderland 1 Manchester City 0

John O’Shea paid tribute to manager Martin O’Neill for inspiring Sunderland to a 1-0 win over Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The first salmon of the New Year has been caught in the River Liffey.

Iraq’s prime minister called today for unity and greater political stability to ensure the country’s security after the end of the American military presence.

Tony McCoy will have a “quiet week” as he continues to recover from the injuries he sustained in a fall at Taunton on Friday.

Nearly two thirds of workers fail to use all their annual leave days each year, new research has revealed.

A priest wrongly accused of sexual abuse has returned to full ministry.

Connacht 13 Leinster 15

Glasgow 17 Edinburgh 12

Ospreys 17 Cardiff Blues 12

A man who was seriously assaulted in Westmeath on the 23rd of December, has died in hospital from his injuries.

Andy Hamilton won a thrilling first semi-final against Simon Whitlock to reach the Ladbrokes.com World Championship final.

ANDY MURRAY appointed former world number one Ivan Lendl as his full-time coach in the hope of winning a grand slam.

LEINSTER scraped through as Connacht once again came up short at the Galway Sportsground last night.

HAPPY new year to all readers, and fear not.

UNDER pressure Meath manager Seamus McEnaney believes his team will knock their doubters this year.

FULL-FORWARD Denis Glennon proved the decisive difference as he pointed Westmeath to victory over Wicklow in a football challenge at Blessington yesterday.

ALL-IRELAND winning Dublin manager Pat Gilroy caused some surprise by confirming he won’t be replacing his retired deputy Mickey Whelan.

ALTHOUGH he has concerns about how administratively-laden the GAA has become, former president Peter Quinn believes the Association can endure the economic crisis.

AMERICAN sports stars are used to cameras whizzing above them to provide close-ups but a college footballer had a close call on Saturday.

A BROKEN nose to hooker Richardt Strauss is the only injury in the Leinster camp from last night’s joust with Connacht at the Sportsground, but coach Joe Schmidt is expected to make a host of changes ahead of next week’s visit to Cardiff.

ANTHONY DALY has revealed Conal Keaney and Tomás Brady will play no part in Dublin’s defence of the Allianz Hurling League title.

FORMER GAA President Peter Quinn claimed Christy Cooney was unwise to declare he would tackle the issue of payments to managers and not follow it up.

To look at them, side by side, you wouldn’t think they were the same species.

With the start of the new year the honeymoon period for the Government is clearly over.

There was a time as a new young nation when our membership of international bodies, like the League of Nations, was important to our sense of national self-esteem.

HAVING given the issue of a new name for the soon-to-be-defunct HSE some thought, I have arrived at the conclusion that an appropriate moniker might be HYDRA, in honour of the mythological nine-headed monster.

YOUR editorial claiming that “the Road Safety Authority has had remarkable success” (Dec 24) is an unprovable theory; the reduction might have happened anyway, and simply follows the same trend in other countries as societies learn to adapt to mass motorisation.

COMPARED with Copenhagen 2009 and other weather conferences — the recent 2011 UN Climate Change Summit, with representatives from 140 countries, and held in Durban South Africa — craved no more media coverage here than a “falling star”.

THE public voted for politicians, and not for their advisers.

HAVING promised not to send its citizens to jail for non-payment of fines, our Government has sent even more this year than last year, for that very reason.

QUELLE surprise, those Greeks are abandoning their children to the not-so-tender mercies of state care, courtesy of the austerity package devised for them by people who couldn’t care less.

THE number of adopted children in care is not known by the HSE, the Department of Health or the Department of Children, despite it being raised as a concern by social workers as far back as 2005.

A SENIOR executive with an archeological firm has been awarded €90,000 after the Employment Appeals Tribunal ruled that she had been constructively dismissed after the company tried to impose extra conditions on her return to work following a period of sick leave due to breast cancer.

FAMILIES face a raft of new charges and stealth taxes this week with the introduction of measures agreed in the budget.

IT was poignant start to the Titanic centenary year.

AMERICAN doctors are expected to carry out the final part of a pioneering procedure this week on an Irish baby girl who has been in an induced coma for 31 days.

FORMER president Mary McAleese and her husband, Senator Martin McAleese have been announced as the joint recipients of the 2011 Tipperary International Peace Award.

JOHAN MJALLBY admits Celtic’s surge to the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League has taken him by surprise.

HIBS captain Ian Murray is desperate to get his side off to a winning start in 2012 when they take on Edinburgh rivals Hearts this afternoon.

MANAGER Ally McCoist insists there is “absolutely no panic” at Rangers despite being knocked off top spot in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

LIVERPOOL’S campaign of support for Luis Suarez is harming their international reputation, according to anti-racism campaigners.

JUAN SEBASTIAN VERON has revealed Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has a fiery temper and once tried to attack him in the changing rooms.

WOLVES boss Mick McCarthy believes new loan signing Emmanuel Frimpong will prove a very valuable addition to his squad.

TOTTENHAM manager Harry Redknapp admits he is unlikely to dip into the transfer market to keep his side in the race for the Premier League title.

IT says much that, over the Christmas period, Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cotterill had made one thing his biggest priority.

As the Premier League reaches its halfway stage we assess who’s top of the class and who needs to try harder.

BOLTON cannot blame injuries for their Barclays Premier League struggles and must “man up” to get themselves out of trouble, according to full-back Gretar Steinsson.

ASSISTANT manager Dave Kemp is anticipating a stiff test at Ewood Park as Stoke aim to build on one of the greatest years in their history with a winning start to 2012.

ARSENE WENGER admits 2011 was his annus horriblis but there is growing reason for encouragement as the new year begins with Arsenal in the top four, Robin van Persie still fit and Thierry Henry on the way home.

“ONE game too far,” was how one interviewer described this stunning loss to the Premier League’s bottom-placed club, and it was an assessment that Alex Ferguson, with all his 70 years’ experience, was forced to agree with.

WHEN Alex Ferguson is asked what advice he would offer any young manager, he has a stock reply, the result of his vast experience that stretches back almost four decades.

PAUL LAMBERT is confident Norwich’s hunger to stay in the Barclays Premier League will carry them on to bigger and better things in 2012.

SCOTT SINCLAIR broke Harry Redknapp’s heart at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday with a goal that might ultimately cost Spurs the chance of winning the Premier League.

ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS is facing a full-blown crisis at Chelsea, admitting his side are not good enough to win the Premier League.

STILIYAN PETROV insisted Aston Villa’s players never stopped believing Stephen Ireland would come good after the midfielder put his Twitter troubles behind him to inspire their shock victory at Chelsea.

ALEX FERGUSON’S 70th birthday at Old Trafford appeared to have been stage-managed like a North Korean state event.

A MAN who hijacked an Aer Lingus flight on route from Dublin to London wrote to then taoiseach Garret FitzGerald from his prison cell in Paris complaining about his treatment while he lived and worked in Ireland.

SHE could have been sooo last year, but half a minute made all the difference in turning baby Amelie Rose into this year’s newest headline grabber.

THE former chief executive of philanthropic organisation the American Ireland Fund (AIF) Kingsley Aikins is receiving $500,000 (€385,832) over five years as part of his severance deal with the organisation.

A BRAND new start.

WAKE up, switch on the radio, tune into the morning news and get your daily dose of doom and gloom.

THE conservation of nature depends on us knowing where the species are, the number of individuals and whether this number is increasing or decreasing.

NEW YEAR’S Resolution: walk more.

ABAR-HEADED goose visits our local estuary. It hangs out with swans, gorging itself on stale bread offered by local children.