Topics

http://www.thejournal.ie/poll-croke-park-naming-rights-2050631-Apr2015/

Any suggestions ?

How about Kerry's Buy to Let or the Kilkenny second home ? 

Eg

"Think of the blind. Think of what radio means to them. Send what you can to me, Patricia McLoughlin".

or

"Pat Grace's famous fried chicken,. The original sure fried success." 
Poor Pat fell victim to the Supermac's juggernaut. 

[the Armagh Shiraz]

The 2002 vintage of the Armagh Shiraz 

http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-50269-2002-jim-barry-the-armagh-shiraz-clare-valley-australia

Bit more pricey than Buckfast as well .
The name comes from the first batch of white people who settled in the valley.

Tony Fearon should get a few bottles. Imagine drinking it and watching the final.   

It's more interesting than talking about Ballaghadereen

Here are the last 20

Armagh   1
Cork           1
Donegal   1
Galway      2
Meath        2
Dublin   3
Tyrone      3
Kerry     7

Kerry will win a meitheal but what about everyone else ? 
And will Mayo break the spell ?

Dunphy is a spoofer ok but there seems to be a discernible trend in 3 of the most popular team sports based around defence and taking away from the pleasure of watching talent breaking through and creating space.


http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/tony-ward-im-not-sure-i-would-play-rugby-if-i-was-starting-out-now-31009900.html

"There will still be the occasional high-profile match that breaks the modern-day mould but they are becoming rarer and rarer.
The appeal now is the occasion and being there, with the entertainment value contained by and large in the result.
That's what really gets to me. Here we are, having just beaten the French and extended our winning run to nine matches, yet far from the pyrotechnic feel it should have, it seems such a damp squib.
And I really don't see myself as a killjoy. I know what it takes to win consistently at this level, and I appreciate that Joe Schmidt is doing some job.
But I am seriously worried about the future of the game I love."

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/matt-williams-balance-needs-to-be-restored-to-reward-creative-positive-rugby-1.2111636

"Big, fit, determined, yet lowly skilled players can mount a world-class defence. Those same players may not be able to create even a mediocre attack because defence is very easy to coach and attack very hard. In a contest of muscle that aims to negate skill, physical size is paramount."

http://balls.ie/gaa/benny-coulter-still-doesnt-like-modern-gaelic-football/

There are games you got to at club level where two teams are playing defensive systems and it is ridiculous at times," Coulter said.
"I was even reading stuff the other day, colleges games where they were playing two sweepers."When we were playing for St Mark's (Warrenpoint) in '96 or '97 you just went out and played football, and the better man won, but, now, even at minor level it's down to tactics and crap like that.
"There is too much time spent in the gym and crap like that, or in front of tvs watching stuff."Maybe the likes of 'Skinner' (Eoin) Bradley he'd be a player I'd pay in to watch because he is that unpredictable."He is the type of fella that just plays off the cuff and does his own thing."With a lot of county footballers it's more to do with how fit you are, stuff like that – it sickens me too at times.


http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/english/2015/0223/682351-eamon-dunphy-id-rather-watch-the-rugby/

"But what all the other sports have demonstrated is, that you can have this technology, it can deliver justice instantaneously and the longer cheating becomes embedded in the culture of soccer and it is embedded now, then the worse it will get."

In case chelsea get knocked out...

Until the ground hardens up

I think this is nuts

It's mid Feb, not even Lent,   and Paddy Power have drawn up a list of the candidates for player of the year.
I don't know why they don't offer odds on getting the exact score and naming the 2 teams in the AIF because it's about as predictable.

What is interesting though is who is on the list

http://www.paddypower.com/bet/gaa-sports/gaa-football/all-ireland-sfc

The status quo of Mayo, Donegal , Dubs and Kerry has been going for a few years.
Which county is most likely to break into the elite ?

I saw an article by Martin Carney where he suggested

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/football/2015/0128/676299-column-who-can-gatecrash-the-established-order/
"Most see the race for Sam Maguire as being a contest between Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Donegal, Cork and Tyrone."

I wouldn't include Throne in that. Would Monaghan or Armagh not be a better prospect  ? 

There is something pathological about English soccer

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/11/richard-scudamore-premier-league-responsibility-living-wage

Another one in Taiwan

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/feb/04/transasia-plane-crash-lands-in-taiwan-river-rolling-coverage

Fashion this winter on the sideline is an exciting mixture of dark woolly hats and windcheaters with layers of clothing such as fleeces underneath. The main thing is to have a trendy neck covering so you don't go hoarse while screaming at the corner back.
It's not only our favourite look of the week, but one of our favourites of the year.
The hat looks almost primeval and the dramatic wind chill effect is magnificent. Perhaps a bit of fake tan would add to the ensemble because a lot of managers are very pasty especially while the gym work is underway.

Xpose has been to Kiltoom to check out the influences which will be available in the sports shops from next week. Top brands include Rossi , modeled here by supermodel J Evans. Versace are understood to be pitching to the market following a press release at the Golden Globes but a spokesman was heard to say "what the Jaysus would I be doing in Versace" 

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/football/2015/0126/675591-evans-praises-rossies-after-fbd-league-glory/

Sounds very reasonable

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2015/0117/673477-gaa/

Ladies n gennelmen, the GAAboard world championships featuring yourself

It's sad to read this and think of all the people who were killed in the North between 1984 and the ceasefires 


http://www.irishtimes.com/state-papers-fitzgerald-criticised-thatcher-s-rejection-of-new-ireland-forum-report-1.2042568?page=2
"Dorr had his own concerns about Thatcher's level of knowledge on Northern Ireland and discussed her frankly with a key British negotiator David Goodall on December 7th.He had been reading the account of Thatcher's contribution at the Chequers summit and was especially struck by her "incomprehension" on why the minority in Northern Ireland "required special political arrangements" compared with other European minorities. This seemed to Dorr to raise "a serious worry about a very basic lack of understanding of the nature of the problem".
Admitting that Irish politicians and officials had a tendency to delve back into history to too great an extent, he complained "she seemed to have no comprehension at all of the historic dimension of the problem" and without such a sense, "it was difficult to see how she could bring herself or be brought to agree to the fairly substantial measures that were necessary to address it"."

Thatcher wasted so much time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Cmzvt549Y

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/99545474-7fc5-11e4-acf3-00144feabdc0.html

"The CIA repeatedly misled the White House, Congress and the US public over the torture of suspected al-Qaeda terrorists, according to a damning report by the Senate intelligence committee.
In a fiercely critical assessment of the CIA's use of torture in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the report concluded the agency's interrogations were "far more brutal" than it had told policy makers or the public and were "not effective"."

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2014/dec/08/archbishop-justin-welby-help-hungry-uk-video

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30323682

You're so hungry," says 25-year-old Matt. "But you're that sick of it you can't even put it to your mouth. It's horrible."
The aspiring electrician's prospects had been looking up. He was on a college course but was instructed by the job centre to take a two-week placement at Boots. By the time the placement was over, he had fallen behind and couldn't meet the college's required 97% attendance rate.
And then he had his jobseeker's allowance stopped.
Matt and the other residents of the YMCA say that going door-to-door with their CVs, or ringing around employers no longer seems to satisfy officials at the job centre.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sanctions regime, made tougher in 2012, means that those out of work can have their payments withdrawn for between a week and three years if they are deemed not to have been doing enough to find a job.

[However, the Costello tribunal's findings were never accepted by Total:]

I vaguely remember seeing this on the telly

One of the survivors has written a book

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/disaster-survivor-pens-powerful-account-of-horrific-night-on-whiddy-island-1.2019489

The Oireachtas tribunal report
http://opac.oireachtas.ie/AWData/Library3/Library2/DL019795.pdf

The key weaknesses that led to disaster were repeated 30 years later with the banks and Total played power just like the ECB did . Light touch regulation and nobody is responsible for anything. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiddy_Island_Disaster

O"ne TD noted that there had been earlier incidents at the Whiddy Island terminal and questioned whether Gulf's status as a major employer had made the authorities reluctant to enforce a rigorous inspection regime.

The Irish government appointed a tribunal to investigate the incident, presided over by Justice Declan Costello. This tribunal took a year to hear evidence and prepare a 480 page report.[10] The report indicated three main factors that had contributed to the incident:
1.   The poor condition of the Betelgeuse for which its operator, Total S.A., was to blame. Immediately before the incident, the vessel's hull and tanks were cracked, corroded and leaking. The 11-year-old vessel had been worked hard and was at the end of its service life.
2.   Incorrect unloading sequences and ballasting which resulted in the buoyancy of the hull becoming uneven and the hull therefore strained. Lack of crew training or knowing malpractice were possible explanations. Total was held largely to blame for this. However, given that all the personnel involved in the unloading had died in the explosion, it was difficult to be certain as to what had happened.
3.   Inadequate and poorly maintained fire fighting and rescue systems both on the vessel and on the jetty. Gulf and Total were held jointly to blame for this. A combination of human failings and financial constraints were the immediate causes.
It was determined that a faulty unloading operation had unbalanced the vessel, causing it to break its back and thereby rupturing several empty ballast tanks. Vapour from the ruptured tanks had escaped into the vessel and exploded in a fireball. However, the Costello tribunal's findings were never accepted by Total:

When did this phrase enter the language? I don't remember hearing it 20 years ago.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1120/660991-ian-bailey/
"He said he had used alcohol to relieve the pressure of his situation after his arrest in 1997 and had used it to blot out the reality of the situation"

It is often used to tell people to STFU

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c1236fbc-f41e-11df-886b-00144feab49a.html

It was left to Mr Trichet to defend his position, with only Mr Barroso on his side. "I have the impression that people don't really realise what the reality of the situation is," Mr Trichet is understood to have said.

And it seems to be closely related to the gravity of the situation. 

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/irish/2014/1112/658846-stephanie-roche-nominated-for-puskas-award/

Republic of Ireland international Stephanie Roche has beaten out the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to be nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award for the best goal of 2014.
Roche is the only woman on the ten-person list for the prestigious award. She was recognised for her wonder-strike for former club Peamount United against Wexford Youths in the Bus Éireann Women's National League.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Roche, who now plies her trade with French First Division club ASPTT Albi, said: "I am absolutely delighted to have been nominated for FIFA's best goal of the year.


Vote here

http://www.fifa.com/ballon-dor/puskas-award/index.html#candidates


all the goals

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCGIzmTE4d0j0nkpgKtNWlu-IYEDGti_i