Sonia O'Sullivan was never in contention for an individual medal

Sonia O'Sullivan had to settle for fourth place in the European Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh but had the consolation of helping the Irish women claim the team silver.

O'Sullivan made the long trek from her Melbourne training base to make her debut in the 10th running of the event.

Paula Radcliffe, who won the European title five years ago, became the first woman to win it for a second time as she finished the 6.6 kilometer race in 22 minutes 04 seconds, nine seconds ahead of second placed Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey at Holyrood Park.

Hungary's Aniko Kalovics finished 10 seconds ahead of O'Sullivan in third place.

Radcliffe's predictable victory helped Britain win the team title with 25 points, well ahead of Ireland on 78.

The Irish had hoped to challenge Britain for the team gold but with the home team packing exceptionally, it was quickly clear that O'Sullivan and her team-mates would be involved in a battle for the minor medals with Portugal and France.

Rosemary Ryan was the second Irish athlete home in 13th while the other scorers were 27th placed Ann Keenan-Buckley and Catherina McKiernan in 34th place.

Catherina McKiernan was not at her best in finishing 34th

Forty-one-year-old Keenan-Buckley announced her retirement from senior international athletics immediately after Sunday's race.

She helped Ireland claim a bronze medal in last year's World Cross Country Championships in Dublin and has been a fantastic servant for her country.

McKiernan appeared to be still suffering from the effects of a virus which forced her to miss the recent Irish Inter-Counties Championship.

The Portuguese claimed the bronze on countback ahead of France.

Seamus Power ran a solid race to finish 19th in the men's race while the Irish were 10th in the team event.

Peter Matthews was 49th, Vinny Mulvey 52th while Mark Kenneally was 61st in a race won for the fourth time by Ukraine's Sergei Lebid.

Mullingar's Mark Christie finished an superb sixth in the junior race with Ireland seventh overall.