Topics

[Cup game abandoned after fighting]

Let's see does the BBC and Nolan give this as much airtime and condemnation as they have with GAA melees... I remember the row between ST Pauls and Cargin and footage was on the BBC news for over a week after it happened.. and there were others were they went to town on the GAA

Cup game abandoned after fighting  
The JJB Sports Irish Cup match between Newry City and Larne was abandoned after serious fighting between players and coaching staff late in the game.
Punches and kicks were traded in the Newry dugout and across the pitch after two Larne players and Larne manager Paul Millar had been sent-off.
Newry were leading 2-1 before referee Raymond Crangle and his assistants walked off the pitch after 82 minutes.
Crangle will now submit a report to the Irish Football Association.
Liam Hogan was sent-off for raising his hands to Newry player Darren King and then Alan Reid was dismissed for a challenge on King soon after.
Larne boss Millar was sent from the dugout and then substitutes, players and coaching staff from both sides became embroiled in trading punches and kicks all over the pitch.
BBC Radio Ulster pundit Alan Patterson described the trouble as "the worst scenes I have ever seen in 40 years of watching Irish League football".

[Delaney hits out at GAA's stance on Croker]

Should be grateful to have got in in the first place without firing this parting shot

Delaney hits out at GAA's stance on Croker
John Delaney has claimed the FAI and IRFU might not have gone ahead with the Aviva Stadium development if they had known Croke Park would be available to them in the long term.
The GAA only agreed to open its doors to soccer and rugby in 2007 on a temporary basis, but the financial success of staging international games at Croke Park has seen a change in attitude in the GAA, and it is expected that a motion will passed at Congress in April which will give Central Council the power to open the stadium to other sports in the future.
But speaking after yesterday's announcement that the Republic of Ireland's glamour friendly on March 3 against Brazil will take place in Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and not Croke Park, the FAI chief executive again ruled out a return for the international soccer team to GAA headquarters for at least 10 years, stating that the GAA's initial position forced soccer and rugby chiefs to redevelop Lansdowne Road and sign long-term contracts with sponsors and suppliers.
"Had it been made clear going in that Croke Park would remain open in the longer term, I think that discussion could have taken place," the Waterford native said.
"But it was made clear to both Philip Browne (IRFU CEO) and myself when we attended the first meetings that Croke Park was not going to become available to us in the longer haul."

This is a bad one but opportunity for Pints-Ardmhacaabu-Stew and others to let off some steam... you know,'lock him up for life-wrap him in barbed wire' etc...
   
A teenager has admitted cooking a hamster in a microwave.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at a hearing at Kettering Magistrates Court today, the RSPCA confirmed.
A spokeswoman said the teenager, from Corby, Northamptonshire, will be sentenced at Kettering Magistrates Court on February 5.

Me first... He should have a hot poker rammed up his hole by the cold side and we watch as he burns the hands of himself trying to pull it out...

[Donegal's Brian Roper hangs up his boots]

Donegal's Brian Roper hangs up his boots

A hateful niggly wee bollox if your on the other team but the type of player I would want on my club or county side. Good luck to him.

Brian Roper has announced his retirement from the Donegal colours after 159 appearances for the men from the north-west.
An Ulster U21FC winner in 1995, Roper has been one of the county's most dedicated players for over a decade.
He featured in the county's Ulster final loss to Derry in 1998 and finally landed national honours when Donegal claimed the 2007 NFL Division 1 title.
He was a regular feature in the side that reached an All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork earlier this year but at 35 years of age has decided to call time on his intercounty career.

[Hill 16 to remain a terrace, Cooney insists]

Our beloved president promises that the Hill will remain a terrace. Following their capitulation to the GPA and promise that soccer and rugby in Croke park was only temporary until Landsdown Road is rebuilt, is now certain the Hill will be all seated in the near future...   


Hill 16 to remain a terrace, Cooney insists
GAA president Christy Cooney has insisted that Hill 16 will remain as a terrace.
It was revealed earlier this month that the GAA was considering turning the most famous terrace in Irish sport into a seated area in a bid to combat pitch invasions.
Temporary seating has been installed on the terrace for soccer internationals, and some Croke Park officials believe that seating the terrace for GAA matches would reduce the possibility of pitch invasions taking place.
But Cooney stressed: "We have no plans to change Hill 16. The tradition of Hill 16 is as a terrace and that isn't going to change."

[Shoplift advice sermon priest criticised]

Shoplift advice sermon priest criticised

Father Jones said some people had little option but to turn to crime
A priest who advised needy people to shoplift in certain circumstances has been criticised by a retailers' group.
Father Tim Jones, parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda in York, said stealing was a "better moral thing to do" than robbery or prostitution.
However, Richard Dobbs, of the British Retail Consortium, said shoplifting was "simply wrong".
Father Jones has defended his remarks and said such action was "dreadful" but sometimes people's only option.
The priest's comments were made in a sermon to his congregation on Sunday where he said stealing from large national chains was sometimes the best option for many vulnerable people.
He said: "My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift.
"I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
"I would ask that they do not steal from small, family businesses, but from national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices."

I think there is still an old law that a person can steal bread if they are  hungry and have no money.

[Daly: Dublin hurlers can win All-Ireland]

It would be fantastic if they could but I can't see it. Still Daly knows what it takes to win it.
(Antrim, alas, seem to be as far away as ever.)


Daly: Dublin hurlers can win All-Ireland
Anthony Daly is convinced Dublin can win an All-Ireland senior hurling title in the not too distant future.
The double All-Ireland winning captain with Clare made huge progress during his first year in charge of the Metropolitans and believes the raw material is in the county to push on and lift Liam McCarthy in the coming years.
"I really do believe Dublin are going to win an All-Ireland," he told the Evening Herald.
"It mightn't be on my watch but I don't think Liam Rushe and David Treacy, Tom Brady, Joe Boland are going to go through their careers without winning an All-Ireland. I think that's a great hope for all Dublin hurling people.

"They seem to be the right sort of guys and there seems to be the right quality of guys coming behind them from what I can ascertain - guys for whom hurling is the only game. There's no question of playing one or the other. Hurling is their first love.
"I really do think they can do it. But is winning an All-Ireland in the next two years realistic? I don't know."

[Strabane tops unemployment table]

I would say this is part of reason why Strabane has a lot of Republican disillusionment with the 'peace process.' To see the suits on the hill and little economic benefit has come to the town. While I don't agree with the dissidents I can see why young people and the republicans there are frustrated with all the talk of how better things are....

Strabane tops unemployment table
Strabane has the highest percentage rate of unemployment in Northern Ireland, according to the latest government figures.
6.9% of the working age population of the town are claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.
The north west has topped the unemployment tables since the economic crisis began.

Am I the only one who thinks these gangs tearing the ATMs out are pretty cool? I don't reslly get this thing about it being an attack on the whole community... bag of shite. Is audacious and no real victims and exiting like Jesse James and boys like that.   

[Colombian farmer castrates himself.]

Colombian farmer castrates himself.
It is a man's worst nightmare but for Colombian farmer Luis Alfonso Sanchez it seemed the logical thing to do.
The forty year old decided to castrate himself to avoid cheating on his wife who refused to have sex with him.
Mr Sanchez had performed the act on many of his animals in the past and believed the procedure would be as easy for him saying: "I've castrated pigs, cats, dogs and three days later they are healed.I thought that's what it was going to be like with me. I had practice with animals, so I went ahead, put some pressure on it, and cut them to remove them by force!"
"When I saw that I could no longer count on her (his wife), so that I would't keep bothering her, I made the decision to cut my testicles off because I am a Christian and did not want to go look for another (partner)."
The man is being treated at Santander Hospital where Dr. Javier Martinez said he is still healing: "He still has an escroto-penial hematoma. He's been looked at by the urology department, and they found a complete absence of the testicles."
According to doctors, Sanchez's wounds have become infected.

It took balls to do that... let the quips begin 

RTE NEWS
The Opposition is today questioning how €125,000 can be spent on a report to count the number of frogs in the country.
The Taoiseach has blamed the Opposition saying it was they who introduced the Habitat Directive when last in Government.

Must have taken some leap of imagination to come up with this idea... let the quips begin 

I need some serious feedback here. We had a mouse in the house yesterday and Mrs Fox went crazy... serious terror like Freddie Crugger was in the kitchen. Rang me about five times as I made my way home from work, wouldn't leave the other room to go through the kitchen and when I got home left the house for hours. What the f** is all that about?... a wee bitsy mouse!! 
Also, when there is any row or fallout, no matter how serious, or I annoy her etc... I get her a bunch of flowers and everything is okay and the Fox is loved again. Like... flowers?!!  Apparently other women are the same... any feedback would be appreciated. The mouse is dead...

 Does anyone else find the advert for THE SUN on the board nausiating? I remember seeing it on the Canal End at Croke Park and was disgusted after all its anti-Irish tirades down the years.   

FOXNEWS Latest...

Sunday World editor beaten up
The Northern editor of the Sunday World newspaper has been beaten up in the centre of Belfast.
Jim McDowell, 60, was kicked and punched by four men just yards from City Hall on Wednesday evening.
He was badly hurt, and was injured in the head, arms, and legs.
Mr McDowell had been visiting Belfast's Christmas market in the grounds of City Hall when he was knocked to the ground.
Earlier he attended a special reception for James Kelly, a columnist with the Irish News newspaper.
He has been threatened several times before by loyalists and republicans and has blamed drugs dealers for the attack.
"What does it say about the freedom of expression and the freedom of the Press?" Jim McDowell asked.

He deserved a slap on the bake for the suicide pics alrite but this could be for any number of articles in the rag. Anyway, that's the news...

Not sure whether to put this on GAA thread but seems more general politics.
And at the risk of being called a WUM... again 

At the Republican Sinn Fein Ard Fheis, Ruairi O'Bradaigh launched a scathing attack on the GAA bosses in Tyrone for bringing the Sam Maguire and Thomas Markham All Irealnd cups to Stormont last year.
He said, "A gratuitous insult to the people of Ireland and the unity of Ireland was the decision of the Tyrone county board GAA to bring the senior and minor football trophies into stormont. To do so was to hijack two symbols of the essential unity of the Irish nation in order to lend credibiity to a prop of Bristish rule here and of the partition of Ireland."
There you go...it is a discussion board after all... any thoughts?     

FOX NEWS... Mickey Harte and Brian Cody to release coaching DVD for Christmas. No wonder Mickey was so angry at Cavanagh for scuppering the back to back and 4-in-a-row plan     

Anyone going to McCloskey fight tonight?  Brolly's column in last week's Gaelic Life made up my mind and am looking forward to it.  Saw him box in Letterkenny and was class.... 

Brolly's article.... (I think it is very good)


A CATHOLIC priest in the Bronx invited the district rabbi to an amateur boxing night at the parish hall. Before each fight, the priest quietly said a prayer for the local boy. After the second bout, the rabbi posed an interesting theological question; "I see father that you pray for success before each fight. Do you believe it helps your boys?" The priest reflected for a moment and said; "Well, it does if they can fight."
When Paul McCloskey fights for the European light welterweight title next Friday night, the clergy's prayers will not be wasted.
Paul has lived an unusual and lonely life. There has been no glamour, just years of grind peppered with the odd big night.
He doesn't have an entourage. Instead he has his wife Julie and two sons. He doesn't talk about himself in the third person, respecting the unwritten rule in our society that there are only three people who are permitted to do so: The heavyweight champion, Mr T from the A team, and Hugo Duncan.
I met Hugo once at a wake and asked him how he was. "Hugo Duncan," he said "is absolutely flying."
- "I thought you were Hugo Duncan" was my response. "I am" he said, giving me an odd look.
No, Paul McCloskey will never preface a remark by saying "I'll tell you something about Paul McCloskey."
When he isn't working in the Spar, he is pushing his body to the limits, pounding the roads around the town at ungodly hours, and beating the tar out of countless faceless sparring partners. I went to see him in Breen's gym before his British title defence in March against Dean Harrison from Wolverhampton.
To the best of my knowledge, he has never raised his hand outside the gloves. On top of that, he is very small and light, so it is always a shock to see him unleash his violence in the ring. Standing at the ring apron watching him sparring in the fortnight before that defence, myself and the fantastic Conor Mullan winced as he pummelled one opponent after another, his uppercuts and hooks baffling them, leaving them red faced and breathless.
Every now and again, corner-man Eamon Magee would shout at the hired help to "Go at him son, get f'''ed into him." Then Paul would crouch and sway and lean way back on the ropes as a flurry of fists came at him, flicking his head to the side just in time to let one blow pass, parrying another with a glove, ducking beneath the next. It was like watching men trying to punch flying wasps.
As soon as the assault abated, he would counter-attack, sending them reeling backwards with solid punches thrown from angles not yet invented. Twice during that session he dropped his man. Then Eamonn Magee would step in, gently take out the victim's gum shield, hold the face in both hands, look into the eyes, then say "take a break son."
When it was over, he stood and chatted with us for a while, posed for a photograph on the mobile phone, then slung on his clothes (there's no shower in Breen's), and headed for the mountain.
"He's going to murder Harrison" said Mullan, as we strolled back to the law courts.

The following Friday night, the two of us were ringside in a leisure centre in Widnes for the fight. Sky cover all his contests, and the place was full of bigwigs.
"Hello Jim," I waved (Jim Watt). "How's it going Barry?" (Barry McGuigan).
Barry came over for a chat, and before he left he .. and I know you may find this hard to believe but it is absolutely true ... offered me an arm-wrestling contest. "I wouldn't if were you" said his son, "he'll rip your arm out."
In that instant I had a memory of Barry as a youngster at an amateur gala boxing night in the Castle in Dungiven delivering an explosive first round knock-out. I will regret to my dying day the fact that I rejected his offer, but at least I have the consolation of a working right arm.

There was a good Dungiven contingent in Widnes, perhaps fifty of us having made the journey. Meanwhile, Harrison had a massive crowd of squaddies and working men in his corner.
Everything was fine to start with, but when the main event was announced, the mood changed. It was the week of Masserene, and the 400 large men from Wolverhampton chanted in unison; "You murdering Irish b....ards", drowning out every other sound. One of our group had a tricolour, which disappeared up his shirt like a beetle under a stone.
When Paul poleaxed 'Deano' halfway through the first round with a magnificent straight left as he semi circled around him, leaving him on the flat of his back, we held our emotions in check.
Thankfully, Paul had the sense to raise the challenger's arm aloft and applaud him from the ring, which is probably what saved us from a fate worse than Barry McGuigan's arm-wrestle.

He won that British title against the excellent Colin Lynes, himself a previous European champion, having taken the fight at three days notice after the original challenger withdrew. By the end of the ninth, Lynes was totally befuddled and quit on his stool, telling his corner; "I can't hit him. I can't see his punches coming."
Next Friday, he fights for the European title. Amazingly, the fight is in Magherafelt, until now a town famous only for its under sixteen teams, and Willie McCrea. The venue is the Meadowvale Sports Arena, which I am told is the largest indoor sports arena in Europe. There is nothing like the thrill of a title fight: the queasy stomach, the crackle of electricity as the first bell rings, the dread that the next punch may be the last. Come to the fight next Friday. Feel it for yourself.

[TUV sorry for "leprechaun" slur]

Greetings to any Irish speaking leprechaun out there !!  Cad e mar a ta tu? An bhfuil tu go maith? 


TUV sorry for "leprechaun" slur

Traditional Unionist Voice has apologised for its "childishness" after issuing a statement describing Irish as a "leprechaun language".
The statement was issued under the name of TUV vice-chairman Keith Harbinson and condemned the Department of Education for "wasting" money on Irish.
However after being distributed to the media, the press release on the party's website was changed to remove the term.
The original press release was entitled "TUV Blast Leprechaun Language Waste" and distributed to media outlets.
However that was changed to "TUV Blast Irish Language Waste" when the press release was hosted on the party's website.
The term "leprechaun language" was famously used by the current Finance Minister Sammy Wilson during a debate at Belfast City Council in the 1980s.

[Dungannon Swifts in plan to wind up Derry City FC]

Can't image a GAA club doing what the Swifts are at here...


Dungannon Swifts in plan to wind up Derry City FC
The Dungannon Swifts Board has decided to commence winding-up proceedings against cash-strapped Derry City.
Derry owe the Swifts £30,000 from the selling on clause of Niall McGinn to Celtic and a missed payment deadline has prompted Dungannon to take action.
City's Board held talks with community representatives, business leaders and politicians on Monday night to discuss the extent of the financial problems.
Derry players and backroom staff are owed several weeks' wages by the club.
Swifts took legal action and agreed an out of court settlement with the Brandywell club in October over the money owed from a sell-on clause resulting from McGinn's transfer to Celtic.
The parties reached an agreement but the exact amount Dungannon was to receive was not revealed.
McGinn moved from Dungannon to Derry in January 2008 and then signed for Celtic in December 2008.
In a statement Derry City said the club was "aware of its obligations and is working towards meeting them".
Swifts chairman Jarlath Faloon said that Dungannon had "absolutely no second thoughts" at pursuing liquidation.
"The board of Dungannon Swifts is absolutely infuriated with the treatment we have received from the Derry City board," he said.

by Colm Toibin   gay poet from Wexford... very moving   

Villanelle for Dónal Óg

The hurler said: I get more out of men
I love their buttocks and their hairy chests.
They get me going nine times out of ten.

I knew that I was not a straight guy when
Blokes became stayers and girls stayed guests.
The hurler said: I get more out of men.

As sure as priests intone the word 'amen'
As sure as young birds fly out from their nests
Guys get me going nine times out of ten.

I could be lonely with a pint of plain
Instead, I seized on what for me is best.
The hurler said: I get more out of men.

When skies are fierce and Sunday's lost to rain,
When I might feel like letting things go west,
They get me going, nine times out of ten.

It is not pasta, prayer, not coke, not zen,
I'll own what gives my game mouth-watering zest.
The hurler said: I get more out of men.
They get me going nine times out of ten