Chief Minister Howard Quayle has lavished praise on the Manx Independent’s sports pages.

There have been times when it has appeared Mr Quayle is not the greatest fan of the media, but in the House of Keys last week, Mr Quayle was full of kind words about our sports section.

His comments came as he explained there was no need for the government to set up a website promoting sporting achievement in the Isle of Man - because the media did such a good job already.

Responding to a question from Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK), Mr Quayle said that the island’s sport was well covered.

Well covered

’Last week’s Manx Independent had no fewer than 12 pages of sport coverage, including football, rugby - men’s and women’s, cycling, running, race walking, triathlon, netball, hockey, boxing, darts, golf, rallying, motorcycle racing, snooker and pool,’ he said.

’In addition to that, it also included a full-page feature on the renowned - nay, world-famous - Braaid Annual Conker Championships held in my constituency.’

He added that the Isle of Man Examiner had nine pages of sport.

’And that is just my good friends at Isle of Man Newspapers,’ said the Chief Minister.

’All of our main radio stations and news publications provide sports coverage.’

He queried what the point would be for government to set up a website to promote Manx athletes, at a cost to the taxpayer, when the local media did it already.

’Should [Mr Moorhouse] see a way of doing it without costing the taxpayer any additional funding, I would be of course happy to take on board his points.’

â?¢ The Examiner’s Final Whistle section starts on page 29.