Topics

A new book out claims to have interviewed the top 10 managers in the GAA.

http://www.corkindependent.com/local-news/local-news/bainisteoir-finbarr-launches-gaa-book/

I could agree with most of them but a few are debateable.

From the book top 10

Mick O'Dwyer,
Brian Cody,
Kevin Heffernan,
Billy Morgan,
Ger Loughnane,
Sean Boylan,
Páidí Ó Sé,
Mickey Harte,
Jimmy Barry-Murphy,
Joe Kernan.

A few debateable ones

Páidí Ó Sé,
Jimmy Barry-Murphy,
Joe Kernan


Joe Kernan won a lot of Ulster titles as well as an AI and won 3 AI club with Crossmaglen so he could sneak onto the list.  Paidi won a couple of AI's but he had a lot of good players to choose from so it is hard to have him above someone like John O'Mahony with what he did with Galway, Mayo, Sligo etc.  I don't think Jimmy Barry Murphy managed long enough to be mentioned as 1 of the greatest managers ever (one of the greatest players maybe).  Other managers who could have been near a top 10 list Jack O'Connor, Pete McGrath, Eugene McGee.

[I bought a kidney from a poor and desperate mum to save my own life]

I bought a kidney from a poor and desperate mum to save my own life 

By Emma Smith 1/05/2009

EXCLUSIVE: It's illegal across most of the world but in some countries you can still pay for organs. Here, one woman explains why she made the controversial decision to buy someone's kidney.


After 18 months waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant Sukhi Johal feared she'd be dead within a year if a donor organ didn't arrive.

So desperate Sukhi did something that's illegal in nearly every country in the world and condemned by experts.

She bought a kidney from a poverty-stricken stranger – a penniless mother of three.

She says: "It was risky and controversial, as a lot of the time you have the middle men who are making money from your situation and exploiting the poor.

"But if I waited for a donor I knew it could take for ever.

"I felt so bad about what I was doing. These people have nothing and are vulnerable. More females are used as donors because they don't have much say.

"When I found out my donor was a young woman with three children I felt terrible.

"The more I thought about it, the more overwhelmed I became with guilt and sadness.

"I left money with a trusted friend over there so that the donor would be able to get access to money if she needed it."

Thousands of lives are saved in Britain each year through organ donation. But with waiting lists growing ever longer, patients are now looking elsewhere for willing donors.

Sukhi, 46, a beautician from West London, was faced with only a slim chance of getting a match and felt her time was running out.

She was diagnosed with kidney disease when she was 21 and told her kidneys would deteriorate over time and she would need a transplant in the future.

Until 2007, she was able to live a normal, happy life. But then she had to go on dialysis. It caused blood infections that meant she had to stop treatment after 18 months.

However, because of high levels of antibodies in her blood, only one person out of 100 on the waiting list would be a possible match – plus her chances of finding a suitable donor were also reduced because she was of Asian origin.

The refusal rate for families of potential donors from ethnic minorities is 70% – twice the rate of white potential donors.

"My sister got a call from a cousin whose friend's sister had gone abroad to Pakistan," says Sukhi. "She got a very successful kidney transplant."

And despite her fears Sukhi decided to go ahead.

"As soon as I made my mind up, that was it. I was at the end of my road. I couldn't continue with dialysis as it was making me so ill so I decided to take the risk.

"If it wasn't successful, I could accept that and if it was then great. I would get my life back."

Sukhi and her sister got in touch with the hospital in Lahore in August 2008.

"I was absolutely terrified about going out there," she says. "When I told my doctor, he was dead against it, which added to my anxiety. But the alternative was much worse as I might not live long."

In December 2008, Sukhi flew out to Pakistan with a close friend.

"At the hospital they said there's three things you have to know – there's no food or water the night before the operation and there are no painkillers.

"You can scream till you're blue in the face – everyone will ignore you."

Sukhi spent more than £30,000 of inheritance money from her father on flights, medical costs, the guesthouse and a small portion to the donor.

Then after three weeks a match was found. "It was an unbelievable feeling – I cried with happiness."

The next day she made her way to the hospital. "I was in tears – terrified in case something went wrong."


The operation lasted three hours and 45 minutes, and all Sukhi remembers is waking up in excruciating pain. However, more than anything Sukhi wanted to know who her donor was. Medics are forbidden to say but because Sukhi could speak the language, and the nurses liked her, they told her.


"I couldn't believe it when they pointed two beds away."

Sukhi's donor was a married 25-year-old woman with three children.

"I got up and started walking towards her despite the agony. The tears just started falling. I couldn't stop shaking as I thanked her.

"She just stared at me startled – not knowing what to say. It was the most profound experience of my life."

Sukhi learned the grim reality of the woman's life when she asked for her house number to keep in touch.

"I don't have a house," she said in Urdu.


Sukhi was shocked at how poor the people were and realised she had given her kidney solely for the money.

"She had put her health at risk for the sake of her children. I broke down in tears.

"More than anything I wanted to help her."

That's when Sukhi decided she wanted to do something for her donor because she was worried the agency might only give her a tiny percentage of the money she'd paid.

She gave her a substantial sum as well as toys and clothes for her children, and she managed to get the number of her father-in-law to keep in touch.

"I felt so bad and wanted to do whatever I could to repay this woman for giving me my life back.

"That's why I gave her money and left more with a friend for when she needed it.

"At the moment, I'm trying to set up some funds for her so that she can send her children to school."

Sukhi adds: "If I hadn't gone to Pakistan it would probably have been too late for me."

Newcastle Hospitals Donor Transplant Co-ordinator Lynn Robson says: "It's very risky to buy your kidney in other countries as you don't know what measures are being taken with regards to screening.

"The average waiting time for a kidney here is two years, so it's not unusual that Sukhi was waiting for a year-and-a-half.

"Obviously we would prefer they would wait it out rather than go to countries like Pakistan to buy one.

"I would strongly advise against this."

Trade in body parts

Illegal here, organ trading is booming in Pakistan.

People travel from Europe, the US and the Middle East to private hospitals that have sprung up around Rawalpindi and Lahore.

In the UK alone nearly 7,000 people are waiting for donor kidneys.

"We don't support payment for organ donations," says a spokesperson for the British Medical Association .

"There are a number of problems involved in buying a live transplant in countries like Pakistan.

"There are problems with aftercare and with the people donating in such poor countries. And you have to ask how ethical it is to exploit poor people so desperate they are donating organs."

[Man caught having sex with girlfriend while driving at 100mph]

Surely must be worth a few penalty points.

Man caught having sex with girlfriend while driving at 100mph

A randy man caught having sex with his girlfriend while driving at 100mph faces a ban and heavy fine.

Norwegian traffic police caught the unnamed 28-year-old man and 22-year-old woman in the act late on Easter Sunday, on the E18 highway about 25 miles west of Oslo.

Officers clocked the couple's silver Mazda 323 racing at 133 kilometres per hour in a 100 zone and realised they were doing a bit more than breaking the speed limit.

"It was veering from one side to the other because the woman was sitting on the man's lap while he was driving and doing the act, shall we say," said Tor Stein Hagen, a superintendent with Soendre Buskerund district police.

"He couldn't see much because her back was in the way," he added.

"Why they did it on a highway with such a high risk we don't know."

After following the couple for nearly a kilometre, officers pulled the car over at a service station.

"We have taken away his driving licence because of the danger that he caused," Mr Hagen said.

Police filmed the incident to use as evidence against the driver.