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Limerick looking decent but Galway are probably still one of the teams able to match them in the physicality and that unpredictability of Galway will always keep Limerick on their toes.
Some new faces in the Galway side showing up well, some very light looking but good to give them their break in the league with no real impact.

Hayes in a bit of bother with a one handed belt, he can consider himself lucky no one seems to have seen it..

We're lesser known as John Mitchell's, A United Irishman, Presbyterian and all that, but his pro confederate slavery stance probably doesn't sit well when looked upon now.

He was right about this though;

"The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine...and a million and a half men, women and children were carefully, prudently and peacefully slain by the English government"

Brexit supporting Rishi Sunak extolling the virtues of access to the EU Single Market to Coca Cola workers in Lisburn;;

https://twitter.com/i/status/1630517445369688065

Does he not realise the irony in what he's saying?

Any of you lads/ladies know the current restrictions of flying into the US without a Covid vaccine, can a tourist do that?

Let's say the 17th Century says NO! to the "Windsor protocol"......
I highly doubt the EU and the Brits are going to tear it up and start all over again?

Yeah surely no more renegotiating now. As someone else as said, Rishi has played a blinder getting Charlie to look like he's backing it without openly backing it.

Charlie and Jeffrey's relationship is hardly the warmest either going by the reception in Hillsborough the time of his Ma's death.

It will be interesting how the DUP spin this as TBH their intransigence has earned some big compromises from the EU and a normal party would spin that as a serious win, but not Sammy fingers and Ian Óg, oh no, they're boxing Donaldson into a corner as this deal doesn't cut the mustard and looking to overplay their hand.

Sunak has binned their Protocol Bill, so this is the only show in town.

No Stormont. No pay for lots of MLA's DUP or otherwise and some are hardly going to pick up similar salaries in the private sector..

What now?

Seamy scores a wonder goal to keep Dyches 100% home record on track.


Problem is when your only scoring threat comes for set pieces and worldies like that is that without a functioning striker you're going to get caught out.

DCL needs to get fit and start scoring goals or Everton are going down..

Hate to be proved right, but barring Bournemouth all the others in and around relegation have shown signs of something about them. Dyche needs to work a miracle.

Is it time to give up on Naby Keita? Was that time a long time ago?

I'd be shocked if he's still there in the summer. I'd be more worried about Fabinho. A couple of years ago you wouldn't have had him down as one who needs replaced this soon but his form has gone off a cliff. It may only be a blip and maybe he can come back but its not looking good at the minute.

Henderson would also appear to be on the decline too. Add in Thiago who seems to be injured as often as he plays and an 38? Year old James Milner, you can see why Liverpool fans are concerned.

What's Liverpool fans views on Harvey Elliot? He hasn't kicked on like many would have thought or does he still more time? If he can't get into that Liverpool midfield consistently now, when will he ever?

*Edit* Didn't realise Elliot was still only 19, thought he was about 22. Maybe a bit early to write him off completely.I

You should be even more concerned about TAA, getting hauled off with the game still in the balance and asking the said 38yo Milner to fill in RB...

That's not the happy camp of  few years back.

Mary Hannigan, Irish Times

Stevie G, his forehead still creased from the experience of managing Aston Villa, set the theme, the outcome of the contest would depend, he said, on which Liverpool turned up: the muck one, or the team that is on a two-game winning streak, having rediscovered their mojo against Everton and Newcastle.
Rio didn't disagree, although he tentatively pointed out that Madrid are "an absolute Champions-League-winning-machine", having won five of the last nine, so if they too turned up, there was a reasonable chance they might fare reasonably well.
People have been awarded the Victoria Cross for less, Rio's courage in making this point, while surrounded by Scousers – reading from the citation here – "a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy".

But they never recovered their mojo against Everton (who are dire) and Newcastle who they'd a very good start against but were dodgy thereafter.

A false dawn.

There is a huge population base for St Paul's to exploit. Demographically they've a big take but this probably isn't consolidated by the cultural makeup of the area. Newtownards has St Finian's P.S. and Loughries IPS with St Mary's P.S. nearby in Comber. There is St Malachy's P.S. in Bangor along with St Comgall's P.S. in the same town. Glencraig IPS and St Patrick's P.S. are in Holywood with St Anne's P.S. in Donaghadee. There are eight primary schools alone that they could be drawing from.

Have always believed that an urban taskforce for want of a better term should be created in Down. We have most of South and East Belfast plus that whole metropolitan area of North Down. Then large towns like Newcastle, Downpatrick and Banbridge along with the 'city' of Newry. We really should be maximising our potential in all of our urban areas.

Loughries Integrated PS??? I'd love to see the breakdown of that wee school! Heck they've only started allowing in GDO's into Kircubbin Integrated that last few years or so.

Comber would come into the catchment area of Darragh Cross I'd have thought even though it's 10 miles or so away, but you've Ballygowan, Saintfield and all in that area with pretty decent populations.
We used to get a few underage hurlers out of Bangor/Holywood/Ards area from going to school in Knock with some of our lads, but they never stuck at it.

You've places like Carrowdore, Ballyhalbert, Greyabbey, etc etc and they wouldn't even have youth soccer teams. Heck even Ballywalter had to cancel some underage soccer games one Saturday as it was first communion on in Kircubbin and a few weeks later also had to cancel games as the Down Feile was on in Portaferry.

More into farming, motorbikes and marching.

Was there never any sort of tradition of Ards hurlers playing football for St Paul's at a time? I do mind Kevin McGarry and Magic Johnston throwing their lot in with Loughinisland, Brendan McGourty with Darragh Cross, Danny Toner with Saul and a few of the Ennis men with Carryduff.

Don't recollect St Pauls ever having the misfortune of having any of our lads line out for them, there's still the odd one fúcks around with Saul or Kilcilef AFAIK.

If wee Danny is ever seen in a Saul jersey again I'll hit him a boot up the hole..

These writedowns happen when the person has little or no means to repay.
If Carey was repaying the debt at €1,000 a month, it would take him 750 years to reach €9 million.

The bigger question is how did he get so much credit in the first place?

I think that is the question. I'd say his profile was reason he got so much, which in itself calls into question AIBs credit underwriting standards.. if the man is broke,  no other option really then W/O.

I see more details have come out.

DJ got the loans totaling 9.5m to buy a few houses on the K Club and Mt Juliet (either 3 or 4). This was at the height of the Celtic Tiger in 2005-2008.
This was at a time when banks were giving money to anybody who wanted it (even sending letters offering pre-approved loans to those who didn't ask for it).

DJ had no real means to service the loan, other than by renting the houses out. But he and the bank were probably presuming he'd sell up for 15m or more in a few years, and they'd all be on the pigs back.

But then the crash happened. DJ completely underwater. Banks then in panic mode. So they have choice where the force the person into bankruptcy (which usually doesn't give anyone a good answer) or they come to a settlement, and in DJs case he had to give them 60k cash, and sell all the houses and give that money to AIB (which came to 1.8m) and an agreement that that if he came into money in the next 5 years he hand to hand it over to the bank. So overall that's possibly slightly better result for the bank than forcing him to go through bankruptcy and certainly no worse.
And the very same thing happened to many property investors who got in at the wrong time.

So it's not like DJ walked away with 9m of AIB's cash. The people who benefited were the sellers in 2005-2008 and the buyers in 2014. The bank were more at fault than DJ.

Of course this doesn't take away from the fact that he seems to be awful human being from the other stories all week where he's been asking for money from people far and wide to fund treatment for seemingly phantom illnesses.

He didn't aim small either, Denis O'Brien was one of his "clients" allegedly.

There is a huge population base for St Paul's to exploit. Demographically they've a big take but this probably isn't consolidated by the cultural makeup of the area. Newtownards has St Finian's P.S. and Loughries IPS with St Mary's P.S. nearby in Comber. There is St Malachy's P.S. in Bangor along with St Comgall's P.S. in the same town. Glencraig IPS and St Patrick's P.S. are in Holywood with St Anne's P.S. in Donaghadee. There are eight primary schools alone that they could be drawing from.

Have always believed that an urban taskforce for want of a better term should be created in Down. We have most of South and East Belfast plus that whole metropolitan area of North Down. Then large towns like Newcastle, Downpatrick and Banbridge along with the 'city' of Newry. We really should be maximising our potential in all of our urban areas.

Loughries Integrated PS??? I'd love to see the breakdown of that wee school! Heck they've only started allowing in GDO's into Kircubbin Integrated that last few years or so.

Comber would come into the catchment area of Darragh Cross I'd have thought even though it's 10 miles or so away, but you've Ballygowan, Saintfield and all in that area with pretty decent populations.
We used to get a few underage hurlers out of Bangor/Holywood/Ards area from going to school in Knock with some of our lads, but they never stuck at it.

You've places like Carrowdore, Ballyhalbert, Greyabbey, etc etc and they wouldn't even have youth soccer teams. Heck even Ballywalter had to cancel some underage soccer games one Saturday as it was first communion on in Kircubbin and a few weeks later also had to cancel games as the Down Feile was on in Portaferry.

More into farming, motorbikes and marching.

[Liverpool destroyed Newcastle at the weekend]

All joking aside

Liverpool destroyed Newcastle at the weekend, they have more or less all their players available except Diaz who is exceptional player, they will put this behind them and mount a serious push for top 4, top 3 isn't beyond them either as Utd are relying on 3 players at the minute to win and control games, and injury to one will expose them.

Liverpool just got suckered punched last night and momentum was lost, they have 4 league games before meeting Madrid again, they'll have a better look about them before that, the tie is gone I feel but certainly they can finish off the season better than they have started it..

Liking the new lad in the middle, games like that will bring him on, good find again by the Liverpool scouting team

Did they though?

Yes they won 2-0 blitzing Newcastle early on but Newcastle failed to take some serious chances and Allison was the busier of the two(three) keepers thereafter.
Even against a rank bad Everton, Tarkosky hit the post (which led to the Liverpool goal) and Davis balloons a header well over from 6 yards..
This Liverpool give even poor opponents big chances in games, that was never the case, but give those to a Real Madrid and they put them away.

I don't think Liverpool are anywhere near where they were a few years back, probably stating the obvious there and the longer they continue it looks like this team has peaked unless there's serious defensive and midfield investment.

Have to say I was shocked at the gulf in class between the two teams last night. Madrid were so powerful and pacy and of course extremely skillful. Liverpool looked so slow and flat. They need a serious rebuilding effort if they are to compete with what they faced last night.

Liverpool are dodgy from corners/set pieces, I said as much after the Newcastle game, zonal or whatever that third goal should have been headed away.

Madrid are something else all the same, Modric and Benzema, different class and with the young guns in there it's theirs to lose...

Seems that Sunak came over too early last week to sign off on the deal without the ECG etc. knowing what the plan was.

When they got wind of it, Mogg and Boris are getting involved big time now. Where will it end?

There'll be another internal scrap in the Tory party I think and another huge fall out.

All Sunak has to do is threaten to call a GE if he doesn't get support within his own party as current polls would suggest a sizeable amount of Tory MP's would be out on their ear and then tell wee Jeffrey to quieten down as a Border poll is plan B if the NI Protocol Bill doesn't pass.

I don't think he's the balls for it...