David McCarthy (right) is Ireland's main hope at the U23 event

Northern Ireland athlete Conor Sweeney begins his challenge at the European U23 Championships in Poland on Friday night.

The St Malachy's athlete will be involved in the 1500m heats where his opposition will include British hopefuls Tom Carter and Rob Whittle.

Sweeney has been struggling for consistency this season but at his best, he is well-capable of making the final.

The other Northern Ireland athletes competing in Bydgoszcz both bowed out of their individual events on Thursday.

Anna Boyle's time of 11.83 seconds wasn't enough to earn a place in the 100 metres final while Zoe Brown failed to get a mark in the pole vault qualifying by missing out on three occasions at 3.80m.

Boyle, who will compete in the 4x100m relay later in the championships, was joined in exiting from the 100m by Emily Maher who clocked 11.95.

Derval O'Rourke came through her semi-final to qualify for the semi-finals of the 100 metres hurdles on Friday morning.

McCarthy in action

The Irish athlete's time of 13.20 was only .01 of a second behind her personal best.

Germany's Nadine Hentschke pipped the Irish athlete for the heat win on the dip.

Sweden's Susanna Kallur ran 12.97 in the heats which was just .01 seconds down on her own championship record set in Amsterdam in 2001.

Several other Irish competitors will be in action on Friday.

Colm Rooney will join Conor Sweeney in the 1500m heats in the evening.

World indoor finalist David McCarthy competes in the 400m heats with David Gillick while Paul Hession will attempt to qualify for the 200m final.

Adrian O'Dwyer (high jump) and Michelle Carey (400H) will also be involved in qualifying.