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taken from www.impartialreporter.com

Ryan McCluskey has given Fermanagh manager Malachy O'Rourke a major boost ahead of the National League campaign by committing to the Fermanagh cause for the remainder of the year.


McCluskey has quit Irish Premier League side Dungannon Swifts to commit solely to Fermanagh, and the news is sure to be greatly received by management and supporters alike, especially after it was revealed that All Star defender Barry Owens has to undergo a minor heart operation.

The stylish Enniskillen Gaels defender walked away from the panel last year following a disagreement with then manager Charlie Mulgrew but the lure of representing Fermanagh again has proved too much for the player, who is guaranteed to play a key role for the side this year.

McCluskey, who has been unhappy with a number of things at Dungannon in recent months, informed Swifts' manager Harry Fay of his decision to return to gaelic football on Tuesday night, although he does hope to return to the Irish League next season with a number of clubs believed to be interested in recruiting him.

"I thought it was the right time to go back to Fermanagh. I have always stated that I love playing for Fermanagh and I'm delighted to be back involved. Malachy made it known to me from the start that he wanted me to be involved this year and I was very keen to comeback. The big appeal to me was the set up and structure that was in place this year. I've been very impressed with everything that Malachy is trying to do, the set up is very professional and I can't wait to get back in the jersey," said McCluskey.

And O'Rourke is delighted to have the highly rated player on board for the season.

"I said when I took the job that I wanted all the best players on board and Ryan definitely fits into that category. He is a quality player and I'm delighted that he has chosen to join the panel," commented O'Rourke.

McCluskey made his debut for Fermanagh back in 2001 under John Maughan and has been an integral part of team since having played under Dom Corrigan and Charlie Mulgrew. He turned in a series of quality performances during Fermanagh's run to the All Ireland semi-final in 2004.

A difference of opinion with Mulgrew saw the dual player leave the panel during the National League last year, and the player is delighted to see the back of 2007, a year he describes as "the worst of my life," after a number of personal difficulties including the death of his father, Oliver.

"There's no doubt that I'm glad to see 2007 finish, it was the worst year of my life. My father passed away after illness and it was a very difficult time for all the family. I was then in hospital with a heart scare which brought further worry and at the end of the year I was involved in a car crash from which I was lucky to come away with minor injuries," said Ryan.

He added: "I'm looking forward to this year with Fermanagh, and hopefully we can have some success. The season has started positively with a couple of wins in the McKenna Cup and if we can get the basics right and build some consistency then hopefully we can have a successful league campaign. There is a strong squad of players and there is no reason why we shouldn't be playing in a higher division, that would be the first aim for the season."

McCluskey is currently out with a hip injury but he is hopeful that he will be able to return for the start of the league.

"I'm due to receive a cortisone injection and that will hopefully clear things up for me without the need for an operation. I want to get the injuries cleared up and then hopefully force my way into Malachy's plans. I would be keen to be back for the first or second game of the league although I know I'm going to have to fight for my place because there is good competition for places within the squad," he said.

While the player will concentrate on Fermanagh for the remainder of the season, he is keen to return to the Irish League next season, although that is unlikely to be with Dungannon Swifts. Dungannon will retain McCluskey's registration but Fay has assured him that they will not stand in his way if another club comes in for him over the summer.

"As I've said, I'm going to concentrate on Fermanagh for the remainder of the year but I do want to go back to the Irish League next year. I think things have run their course at Dungannon, there has been a number of things that I've not been happy with at the club recently, but I would like to go back and test myself with another club next season if given the chance," he explained.

heading to Barcelona soon and have not booked anywhere to stay or really what to do there for 4 days.anybody got any suggestions? Also i am flying from Belfast international with aer lingus and back again with let2.do they fly into the same airport in Barcelona?

Living in fermanagh i have long been use to making good saving on Diesel by heading 10 miles to either Blacklion or Swad or Ballyconnell (although they are a good 4 or 5 cent a litre dearer than in other parts of the South) 
What will happen to the border diesel stations who get most of their trade from the north if the Euro continues to rise?? 

Lads we are now in real threat of not finishing 4th in the league.
Everton are level with us and Man City and Aston Villa are not far behind.
With our terrible form of the last couple of weeks we are in real danger here.
I have always been a huge Rafa fan but he is unable to crack the priemership.
I too thought we would be there or there abouts for the league, not scrapping it out for
4th place.
But you just have to look at the fact that Chelesa are after splashing out £15 million on Anelka to see the gulf that there is between us and Chelsea and United.  Although Rafa has spent a good bit of money of youngsters,none of them are having any where near the same impact that Wengers youngsters are.   
I do not know what the answer is?
Sack Rafa but then who wants to come to a club like Liverpool where expectation is huge but the money may not be there.
Or do we take the example our Manchurian friends did back in the 80's and stick with Rafa and hope we reap the same rewards that they did.

McGourty to Fermanagh??  I think not.
Dom for the Gaels.  I would be shocked
Good start this year for the senior team.  Seems to be unearthing a few new faces.
Tommorrow will be a better yardstick as to where we really are because there will be a
bit at stake in this game as the winners will go into the semi's.
Hope that O'Rourke puts out the spine of his first team with those who have impressed given a chance.  Is the panel cut at the end of the McKenna cup??
My only concern is who is going to fill in a full back while Owens is out injured.

It would be well known that Sligo at present do not pay big money to managers. Why would we given the history of the last 10-15 years?

Ah now Seanie Dom did not go to Sligo for the scenery 

There's very little point to them if they're not linked to some kind of loyalty scheme that relates to championship too.

Just bought the tickets today.  When i logged out of the gaa ticketmaster website i noticed the following on the page

As a GAA ticket account holder you can use this site to:

Buy Allianz NFL and Allianz NHL Package Tickets for the 2008 Season

Accept a right of first refusal for tickets to GAA games during the season.

Enter lotteries to buy tickets for games that are not on general sale.

Update your contact details and receive communications directly from the GAA.

I would think that this is the start of the loyalty scheme.
About time too
Heres the web address https://oss.ticketmastereurope.com/html/home.htmI?team=gaa&l=EN&STAGE=1&CNTX=&out=1

Lads i have been thinking about this for a while
IF we play in the Maze can you imagine the row over flying the Irish flag and the playing of Amhrán na bhFiann in a state sponsored ground.  The unionists will go mad.  
 

Taken form the Impartial reporter website:
Te 43 man Fermanagh panel

Ronan Gallagher St.Galls,Belfast
Fergal Murphy Irvinestown
Chris Breen Enniskillen Gaels
Cathal McCaffery Tempo Maguires
Shane McDermott St.Patricks,Donagh
Paul Johnson Newtownbutler
Peter Sherry Roslea Shamrocks
Raymond Johnston Newtownbutler
Shane Lyons Erne Gaels
Barry Owens Teemore Shamrocks
Tom McElroy Brookeborough
Declan O'Reilly Teemore Shamrocks
Hugh Brady Teemore Shamrocks
Niall Bogue Kinawley
Declan Campbell Tempo Maguires
Brian Og Maguire Lisnaskea Emmetts
Barry Mulrone Devenish
Shane Goan Irvinestown
Niall Leonard Belcoo
Ciaran Smith Erne Gaels
Paddy Mohan Brookeborough
Liam McBarron Kilmacud Crokes,Dublin
Damian Kelly Tempo Maguires
Mark Murphy Derrylin O'Connells
James Sherry Roslea Shamrocks
Martin McGrath St.Josephs,Ederney
Ciaran O'Reilly Teemore Shamrocks
Ryan Keenan Tempo Maguires
Mark Little Lisnaskea Emmetts
Niall Cassidy Roslea Shamrocks
Niall Keenan Enniskillen Gaels
Shaun Doherty Kinawley
Tom Brewster Enniskillen Gaels
Matthew Keenan Enniskillen Gaels
Ronan McCabe Enniskillen Gaels
Eamon Maguire St.Patricks,Donagh
Jonathan McGurn Derrygonnelly Harps
Paul Ward Derrygonnelly Harps
Ciaran McElroy Ballinascreen
Ciaran Leonard Belcoo
Seamus Ryder Erne Gaels
Ciaran Boyle Brookeborough
Patrick Cadden St.Patricks,Donagh

Any body know does that mean that McCluskey and S McCabe are out?

sorry TYP have to take issue with this

Look at the number of children in working class West Belfast who will travel across Belfast for a grammar school place as far as Knock when St Marys is virtually on theri doorstep

More and more parents in west Belfast are sending thier pupils to the local secondary.
I teach in a secondary school up here and the numbers of pupils we have coming through the doors each year with A grades is increasing all the time.  Those days of children travelling across Belfast for grammar schools are more of a rariety now, than the norm.  At the moment we are  over subscribed each year and we always have to turn pupils away in first year.

After a disastrous few years there must be some major work done behind the scenes for the Gaels. Are they doing anything to invest in their future or are they becoming more divided than ever?

Define disastrous.  This year our reserves got promoted back to division 1, Ok our seniors nearly got relegated but remember due to the development work in Brewster park we did not play one league at home this year.  Most senior teams would have struggled with this obstacle as well .

At underage, We made the minor semi finals. made the final of the league and championship at U-16, and our U-14's did the treble.
if you look at the above i think that most teams in the county would be happy enough with that.

It was only last year that we won the Fermanagh championship and took Errigal Ciaran to a point in Omagh in the Ulster club championship.  The success we have achieved over the last decade was going to wane at some time but we still have players within the club who are more than capable of bringing us success again
Yes for a couple of years our underage setup was ignored to some extent because of the success of our senior team, but that mistake is being sorted our.
As for being more divided than ever, every club has their own internal politics to deal with and we are no different in that extent.
Name me one club that does not!!!

looks like this row is getting serious
taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7108721.stm

Benitez renews attack on owners

Benitez has refused to back down in his dispute with the owners
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has again risked the wrath of the club's American owners by openly questioning their transfer policy.
The Spaniard was told by club co-owner Tom Hicks to "quit talking about new players" after suggesting they were holding up his transfer plans.
But Benitez ignored that plea, saying: "They don't understand what the transfer window means in Europe.
"They need to understand how difficult it is to sign players."
The rift between Benitez and Liverpool's American owners is now considered to be so deep that a report in Sunday's News of the World suggests the Spaniard will be sacked imminently, with Jose Mourinho in line to replace him.
We need to talk to the agents now, if not we will lose targets
Benitez himself admitted that the relationship had soured since a meeting after the draw with Arsenal on 28 October.
"We had a meeting which was really positive. After this something changed," he said.
"They told me to be focused on coaching and training because Rick Parry will be looking after signing players."
In a bizarre press conference ahead of Saturday's win over Newcastle, Benitez answered a series of questions with the words: "I am focused on training and coaching my team."
He even went as far as suggesting he could be a candidate for the England post.
That led Hicks to tell the Liverpool Echo: "We told him to concentrate on the games coming up. I guess he didn't like it.
"We will come over in December. That is the time to talk about other issues."
But Benitez insists December will be too late to discuss plans for the January transfer window.
"It's clear Mr Hicks wants the best for the club. So do I," he said.
"It's not a draft system. We have free players available now. I'm not talking about players that cost money.
"We need to talk to the agents now, if not we will lose targets.
"In the summer, the players will be more expensive. I have not been talking about spending but doing the opposite.
"We have brought money back. We brought in £26m this year and you can see the value of the squad."
Benitez made a similar plea to the owners after the Champions League final in May.
The owners responded by spending close to £45m on the likes of Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun.
Benitez is now keen to tie up a £17m permanent deal for Javier Mascherano.
But his position could be further weakened if Liverpool fail to beat Porto on Wednesday - a result which would see them almost certainly eliminated from the Champions League.

The 11 plus.  I wonder what is it that Grammar schools are really scared off??
Is it the fact that the cushy number that they have just teaching the "better" ability pupils is coming to an end and they may in fact
have to face the uncomfortable reality of having to provide for pupils who will not respond to the book and board method of teaching
and whose educational needs are not provided for adequately in the traditional GCSE/ A-Level method of teaching.

I thought only Niall had left. Have both of them moved to new clubs??

Nobody has left yet but i would be shocked to see either of them in a Gaels jersey again.
Its a real pity because they are two very talented footballers

heard this evening that Niall and Matthew Keenan have both made the final 40.
Now tell me what club do they play for again??