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Hearts have won 4 titles,same as Hibs and Aberdeen.
Rangers and Celtic have 55 each. It would be mad for Hearts to win a 5th.
 

https://www.paddypower.com/gaelic-games/club-hurling

Ballygunner 3/10
Loughrea 5/2

3-1

St Martins never got going in the second half. Ballygunner versus Loughrea should be a good match.

Ballygunner in front after 41 minutes.
St Martins have had one score in the last 12 minutes.

Celtic 1 nil up and Aberdeen have a man sent off

3 minutes injury time

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2025/12/20/st-martins-dont-want-winter-to-end-as-they-build-on-decades-of-work-to-fly-wexford-flag/

It looked, not for the first time, like TJ Reid and the boys had hit the front on the perfect stride and would be ridden out to the line with a minimum of fuss. But not this time. Why not?
"Belief," says Hayes, simply. "The lads are very fit. Even in Wexford, they always finish games strong. You have to be at that level if you're going to compete with Ballyhale and them going for their 13th title. The most pleasing part of the day was when we went 1-4 to 0-2 down early.
"We gave up that lead very easily – first day in Croke Park, maybe the occasion getting to them. The lads could have crumbled there and then. But they didn't. They stuck to the way they've been playing all year and they hurled very well on the night.
"It was down to the belief that they have at the minute. When Richie Reid scored that point to put Ballyhale one up, I think there was 60 minutes on the clock. How many times have you seen Kilkenny teams do that? Just get the one score that will close the game out. But the lads kept hurling the way we want them to hurl, they still kept believing. When it got to 60, 61 minutes, they still had that attitude of, 'We can win this'. That's a credit to themselves, more than anything."

Ciarán McDonald

https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1kvJpApNNOZxE

Nothing will ever be done while the department mollycoddling the Ulster Farmers Union is the same department in charge of the Environment.

The North has problems without solutions- Lough Neagh, the A5, Casement.
Nothing gets fixed.

https://www.ft.com/content/d45702ed-ea92-40e1-958c-777d33779567

The political damage to Trump has come as he is trying to refocus his attention on inflation and affordability, which are voters' biggest concerns. The issues have been dragging down his polling numbers, a worrying sign for Republicans ahead of next year's midterm elections. "For whatever reason [Trump] continues to allow this to consume parts of his political self and his administration," says George Pollack, senior US analyst at Signum Global Advisors. "While this will not be the reason the Republicans 'lose' the midterms, the way the administration has handled it has only served to increase some voters' political disenfranchisement and feelings of betrayal by a politician [with] whom they invested so much of their political identity." Following the partial release of the documents, Democrats continued to attack the White House, sensing that Trump is still vulnerable to attacks on Epstein.  "Ignoring the law now isn't confusion or delay. It's a deliberate attempt to bury the truth and protect the paedophiles who exploited and abused young girls," said Martin Heinrich, a Democratic senator from New Mexico, in a statement

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/sam-mcbride/how-your-christmas-turkey-is-killing-lough-neagh-the-lie-of-cheap-meat-contains-a-hidden-cost-which-can-no-longer-be-ignored/a1877892150.html

For half the year, Lough Neagh is a luminescent green swamp of stenching toxicity. For the other half of the year it's water is deceptively clear but no less polluted as the toxic cyanobacteria feeding on the excrement and fertiliser being flushed into the lough sinks down in the water, waiting for the perfect condition to rise again and explode into life.Two days ago Stormont's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) published a report on the state of Northern Ireland's rivers and lakes. In short, they're in crisis.



Lough Neagh's pollution as seen at Battery Harbour near Cookstown in August (Niall Carson/PA)

This is no natural disaster; the report accepted that "human activities continue to put considerable pressure on Northern Ireland's water environment".

Just 29 % of our surface water bodies are achieving 'good' ecological status; none of them are achieving 'good' ratings for chemical pollution. Both indicators are still getting worse. We haven't even turned the corner towards a cleaning-up process which will take decades and cost billions.

Even the Department of Agriculture — long a champion of intensive farming — now admits that agriculture is polluting 67% of our water bodies and intercoastal basins. Elements of Stormont became quasi-lobbyists for intensive agriculture in Northern Ireland, despite knowing the vast environmental problems it involved.

Ten years ago a senior Stormont official privately referred to helping poultry behemoth Moy Park — which controls almost all of the chicken meat market in Northern Ireland — as a strategic imperative akin to how government funded the Challenger tank.

Stormont in its supplicant naivety viewed a hugely profitable multinational company shovelling money to its shareholders in Brazil and the USA as something not dissimilar to the defence of the country.

As well as pollution by intensive factory farms themselves, last year a BBC Spotlight investigation uncovered that Moy Park has hundreds of times breached legal pollution limits for water discharges from its slaughterhouses.The grossly short-term thinking which has prompted this intensive agriculture boom has consequences which will be borne by us and by our children for decades to come.

Even if all the pollution entering Lough Neagh was to stop immediately — and it's still getting worse — it is believed that two decades would need to pass before it might be in a good state of health.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/hurling/2025/1219/1549793-tradition-not-population-arming-gunner-hartley/

History tells us that it gets tougher from here," said Hartley in the aftermath of the Munster final cruise part Éire Óg Ennis.

"We've only gotten to one All-Ireland final. We've been stung here before, so it's up to us to have our house in order as best as we possibly can and prepare as best as we possibly can. If that's good enough, it's good enough. But the fences get higher now, the challenges get more difficult, and the games get bigger.

"We were beaten by St Thomas' a couple of years ago, beaten by Ballyhale twice, so it's so, so hard. But we're looking forward to the challenge."

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2025/12/19/final-frontier-is-the-itch-that-remains-to-be-scratched-for-slaughtneil/


Final frontier is the itch that remains to be scratched for Slaughtneil
Derry outfit have lost six All-Ireland semi-finals after winning Ulster titles

Slaughtneil's Brian Cassidy dejected after the game. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Gordon Manning
Fri Dec 19 2025 - 06:00•4 MIN READ
There remains an itch the Slaughtneil hurlers have been trying to scratch for the best part of a decade now.
Since winning their maiden Ulster club senior hurling title in late 2016, the Derry outfit have captured a total of six provincial small-ball crowns but an All-Ireland final appearance has thus far remained out of reach.
They have lost All-Ireland semi-finals to Cuala (Dublin), Na Piarsaigh (Limerick), Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilkenny), Ballygunner (Waterford) and Sarsfields (Cork).
Three of their conquerors went on to lift the Tommy Moore Cup that same season.

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On Sunday, Slaughtneil will have their sixth opportunity to try navigate a path to an All-Ireland final when they face Galway champions Loughrea at Parnell Park.
The Slaughtneil footballers contested two All-Ireland club finals (losses in 2015 and 2017) while the club's camogie team competed in four deciders, winning three All-Ireland crowns in-a-row between 2017 and 2019.
For the club's hurlers, semi-finals remain an unconquered frontier.
Of the starting 15 against Cuala in 2017, their first All-Ireland semi-final appearance, 11 of that Slaughtneil team also lined out in last month's Ulster final win over St John's. Another, Gerald Bradley, came off the bench during that Ulster decider – meaning 12 of the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final team were involved in the club's most recent provincial triumph.
Slaughtneil have also been bolstered by the return of Chrissy McKaigue this season after the former club and county captain had stepped back from playing with the hurlers last year.
However, they have lost Jack Cassidy from the 2025 side after he moved to America to kick for Western Kentucky University's football team.
Loughrea are 2-5 favourites to win on Sunday. Two of Slaughtneil's five semi-final losses have occurred at Parnell Park. The numbers don't make light reading for Slaughtneil, but there is only one way Paul McCormack's team can change the nearly-men narrative – scratch the itch.
Here's a look at Slaughtneil's history in All-Ireland club hurling semi-finals:
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Cuala's Con O'Callaghan with Paul McNeill of Slaughtneil. Photograph: Matt Mackey/Presseye/Inpho
February 2017: Cuala 3-21 Slaughtneil 2-11 (Athletic Grounds, Armagh)
Con O'Callaghan and David Treacy combined for 1-11 as Cuala marched confidently to a maiden All-Ireland final appearance. The Dublin champions had the game all but wrapped up by half-time when they led 1-13 to 0-5, with O'Callaghan netting an early goal.
Slaughtneil were reduced to 14 midway through the second half when Cormac McKenna was sent off on a second yellow card. The Derry champions were chasing history by trying to become the third of their club's teams to reach an All-Ireland final that year but they couldn't replicate the achievements of their footballers and camogie sides. Eight dual players started in both the football and hurling semi-finals.
February 2018: Na Piarsaigh 3-15 Slaughtneil 3-8 (Parnell Park)
This one still burns. Slaughtneil led 2-6 to 1-6 at half-time and early in the second half Na Piarsaigh were reduced to 13 when Conor Boylan (33rd minute) and Thomas Grimes (35th minute) were sent off. It felt like Slaughtneil's game to lose. And so it proved.
Na Piarsaigh, All-Ireland champions in 2016, delivered a sensational second-half display, outscoring their Ulster opponents 2-9 to 1-2 to run out seven-point victors. Ronan Lynch finished the game with 0-14 for Na Piarsaigh while Shane Dowling had a huge impact in the second half.
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TJ Reid celebrates Ballyhale's victory over Slaughtneil in the All-Ireland semi-final. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
January 2020: Ballyhale Shamrocks 2-24 Slaughtneil 2-19 (Páirc Esler, Newry)
Ballyhale led 1-11 to 1-10 at the interval but within moments of the restart Slaughtneil were back level. It was clear the reigning All-Ireland champions would have to dig deep to battle their way out of Newry with a victory. TJ Reid was a steadying figure for Ballyhale though and he finished the game with 0-11. Colin Fennelly hit 2-1 and ultimately Ballyhale just had a bit more class. Still, as The Irish Times report of the match stated: "Henry Shefflin's side responded to everything the underdogs threw at them ... but they left Newry certainly feeling rattled."
January 2022: Ballygunner 2-19 Slaughtneil 1-17 (Parnell Park)
Slaughtneil suffered another semi-final loss in Parnell Park against Munster opposition – but this time it was in the form of a Ballygunner side on their way to All-Ireland glory. Ballygunner led 1-8 to 0-9 at the turnaround. Billy O'Keeffe scored a goal in each half for the Waterford champions and finished the game with a personal tally of 2-3. Shane McGuigan scored Slaughtneil's goal late on.
December 2024: Sarsfields 0-18 Slaughtneil 0-17 (St Conleth's Park, Newbridge)
It came down to inches in the end. The sides were level after 60 minutes but Sarsfields registered three injury-time points to Slaughtneil's one. Slaughtneil captain Mark McGuigan had one last-gasp chance to change the outcome but just couldn't keep his shot down, with the sliotar whizzing over the crossbar rather than under it. Heartache again for Slaughtneil

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2025/12/20/slaughtneils-heartbreak-will-go-on-as-loughrea-set-to-weather-the-storm/

Slaughtneil's heartbreak will go on as Loughrea set to weather the storm


Gordon Manning

Sat Dec 20 2025 - 06:00•3 MIN READ

SundayAll-Ireland club SHC semi-finalsLoughrea (Galway) v Slaughtneil (Derry), Parnell Park, 1.30pm – Live TG4

Slaughtneil's heartbreak at this stage of the club championship has been well documented but Loughrea spent last winter also stewing over what might have been. The Galway champions led for much of their All-Ireland semi-final against Na Fianna last December – they were 0-10 to 0-6 ahead at the interval and it was only in the closing stages that Na Fianna hit the front. In a tense finish, Na Fianna fired over a match-winning score in injury-time. A few weeks later, they were crowned All-Ireland champions. That's how close Loughrea were to the club game's ultimate silverware.

But this group of Loughrea players have since demonstrated there is no shortage of character within the dressingroom. They retained the Galway SHC this year – a first for the club and only their fourth county triumph ever. In the final they overcame St Thomas' who have been the standard bearers in Galway over the last decade. Darren Shaughnessy scored an important late goal in that final and Loughrea were able to pillage goals throughout the knock-out stages in Galway.

Slaughtneil beat Down's Portaferry and Antrim's St John's on their way to Ulster glory but, as ever, the question looms over the varying standards the teams will have operated at over the course of their respective seasons. Interestingly, this is the first time Slaughtneil – who have lost five previous semi-finals – will be facing Galway champions at this stage of the competition. Loughrea haven't played a competitive game since the start of November – during which time Slaughtneil have played an Ulster semi-final and final.

[ Ulster SHC Final: Slaughtneil retain title as they prove too strong for Naomh EoinOpens in new window ]

Either way, there is a sense none of that matters much to Slaughtneil because they have been the best part of a decade trying to win an All-Ireland semi-final. That's all that matters now. Given the profile of the team, many of their players will soon start running out of chances. That ticking clock makes this a very dangerous game for Loughrea. If the Galway champions can match Slaughtneil's intensity and desire, they have the hurlers to get the job done. But if they arrive to Parnell Park believing their hurling alone will be enough, Loughrea will find themselves caught in a Slaughtneil tempest.