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‘My word, what a sport' – TV viewers discovering new sport on BBC give it rave reviews after witnessing thriller

‘My word, what a sport' – TV viewers discovering new sport on BBC give it rave reviews after witnessing thriller

The Sun3 days ago
TV VIEWERS have given rave reviews after discovering a new sport on the BBC.
The broadcaster showcased the All-Ireland Hurling Championship final today, leading to a huge interest from fans.
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Cork took on Tipperary in the match at Croke Park in Dublin.
And the match produced some incredible drama as underdogs Tipperary stunned Cork to claim victory.
They were handed the advantage as Cork were reduced to 14 men as Eoin Downey was shown a red card.
Tipperary took full advantage of the extra man as they stormed to a final score of 37-21.
The result meant further heartbreak for favourites Cork, who had now lost their last FIVE finals.
The last time the team won the Liam MacCarthy trophy was 20 YEARS ago in 2005.
For Tipperary, it meant they were able to reclaim the trophy for the first time since 2019.
And fans were stunned by the competitive sport as they flocked to social media.
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One posted: "Randomly chanced across hurling on BBC2 and my word, what a sport."
A second wrote: "BBC2. Something outrageous is about to start."
RTE viewers loved Noel McGrath's post-match interview from accidental F-bomb to hilarious gag
A third commented: "How have I never seen or heard of 'Hurling' before.
"I have no real idea of what's going on but I'm kinda interested with the game and the fit blokes playing it. I'm thanking BBC2 this afternoon."
A fourth said: "The hurling on BBC2 is fantastic entertainment. What a great sport."
A fifth joked: "Currently watching BBC2 and the All Ireland hurling championship… they're all completely mad."
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Another added: "British people turn on BBC 2 to watch the greatest sport in the world."
The sport already boasts some famous fans, as Gladiator 2 and Normal People actor Paul Mescal is a regular viewer.
He was pictured at the match alongside retired jockey Rachel Blackmore.
The BBC will continue to show the final until at least 2027, having signed a five-year deal back in 2022 with GAA.
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Armoy road races 2025 live on BBC Sport NI
Armoy road races 2025 live on BBC Sport NI

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  • BBC News

Armoy road races 2025 live on BBC Sport NI

The Armoy road race has become a staple part of the Irish motorcycling calendar since its inception in 2009 and this weekend's event looks set to produce more thrilling racing for the thousands of spectators who an exciting new venture for the event, as a pilot, Saturday's racing will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and worldwide on the BBC Sport website for the first time, allowing fans from across the globe to enjoy the high-speed action from the three-mile public roads circuit in the county Antrim of the main day of racing, culminating in the feature 'Race of Legends', will begin at 09:30 the meeting prepares to rev into life with qualifying and two scheduled races on Friday, BBC Sport brings you the lowdown on the popular Irish road race. History of Armoy road races In comparison to other road races with a long history in Northern Ireland, the Armoy event is a relatively recent addition to the calendar, having first taken place in meeting is centred on the village of Armoy and staged around a course which is triangular in shape and ridden in an anti-clockwise main feature race is called 'The Race of Legends' in recognition of the Armoy Armada quartet of riders who competed at road racing events from the mid to late Armada was established in 1977 and comprised the late Joey Dunlop, Mervyn Robinson and Frank Kennedy, plus Joey's brother current races are held on the roads that these riders used to test their machines in 'unofficial' practice sessions on open roads prior to race 2018 version of the event saw racing cancelled on the main Saturday race day because of persistent heavy rain, while the 2020 meeting fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2021 staging was subject to spectator restrictions because of the coronavirus. 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Owen Farrell on bench as Lions forced into last-minute change for second Test against Australia
Owen Farrell on bench as Lions forced into last-minute change for second Test against Australia

Telegraph

timean hour ago

  • Telegraph

Owen Farrell on bench as Lions forced into last-minute change for second Test against Australia

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Fiddle-laden fake trailer reignites debate about Hollywood's Irish stereotypes
Fiddle-laden fake trailer reignites debate about Hollywood's Irish stereotypes

The Guardian

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Fiddle-laden fake trailer reignites debate about Hollywood's Irish stereotypes

A man in a bar with a flat cap, bloodied knuckles and a dreamy look lays down his whiskey and writes a letter. 'Dear Erin,' he begins, and a soundtrack of fiddles swells as he yearns for his lost love in the distant land of America. The trailer for the upcoming film – tagline: 'she was the Irish goodbye he never forgot' – ran in recent weeks in cinemas and online and was accompanied by a poster showing green mountains, shamrocks and a rainbow. For many, it was Hollywood's latest affront to Ireland. 'What did we Irish people ever do to you to deserve this?' said one social media post. 'Christ could they not find a leprechaun to complete cliche bingo,' said another. Some sought solace in sarcasm: 'I think they nailed it. I'm always in the pub in the 1910s writing love letters to American girls with my big dirty fingernails. Finally I feel seen.' Last week came the twist: Epic, the Irish emigration museum in Dublin, revealed it had made the trailer and that the film, titled Dear Erin, did not exist. The trailer was a stunt to lampoon the stereotyping of Ireland in Hollywood romcoms such as Wild Mountain Thyme, Irish Wish, Leap Year and PS I Love You. 'It was time to call it out,' the museum said in a statement. 'We created a trailer for a film that we hope never gets made, and filled it with all of the tired, cliched portrayals of Irish people often seen in Hollywood movies.' Colonial-era stereotypes of the Irish as fist-fighting drunks or hopeless romantics persisted in contemporary films, warping perceptions of a complex, multilayered society, Aileesh Carew, the museum's director and chief executive, said in an interview. 'If you don't know anyone from Ireland then these films may be your only reference point.' The trailer features the actor Peter Coonan sporting shamrocks on his lapel and surrounded by empty beer glasses as his voiceover reminisces about meeting Erin: 'I have played that night over in my head more times than the Finnegans fought the O'Malleys.' The goal was to mimic a studio publicity campaign while cramming in every conceivable cliche, said Carew, adding: 'Potatoes, we forgot the potatoes.' Hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and LadBible, along with the response on Instagram, Reddit and other platforms, showed the campaign had hit a chord, said Carew. Before the reveal, some commenters guessed that the trailer was a spoof, while others begged that it be so. 'Must be a joke here somewhere,' said one. 'Sweet Jesus no please. This should be called Dear God No! not Dear Erin.' The Hollywood stereotypes dated from the 1930s when gangster films featured Irish characters who were menacing thugs or comic relief drunks, but invariably seedy, said Dr Sian Barber, a film studies lecturer at Queen's University Belfast. 'Irishness was something foreign but also comforting. It was not done with any malice but it quickly became embedded in Hollywood consciousness.' Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Irish people, and tourism authorities, at times colluded in this romanticisation, said Barber. 'It offers this beautiful image of unreality which is welcoming and friendly. It's playing to this tourist idea of what Ireland can offer – the landscape, the loveable rogue.' John Ford's 1952 film The Quiet Man set a template of sorts by sending John Wayne's character back to his homeland to find a wife, whom he ends up dragging through fields, but its rural setting reflected much of Irish life at that time, unlike more recent fare that suggests society still revolves around sheep, donkeys and Guinness. Irish critics howled – in mirth and agony – at the whimsy and dodgy accents in the likes of Wild Mountain Thyme, a 2020 romcom starring Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt, and Irish Wish, a 2024 vehicle for Lindsay Lohan. The main problem was not inaccuracy but lack of context, said Paudie Holly, a storyteller at Dublin's National Leprechaun Museum. Folklore can and should be celebrated, and there was no reason to feel shame about Ireland's rural past, but modern Ireland was different, he said. 'It's ridiculous to suggest our culture has been frozen in place for a hundred years.' Lance Daly, the Dublin-based director of Black 47, said Ireland had aggravated the phenomenon by luring foreign productions for the jobs they would bring rather than the stories they would tell. 'What you have then is a director who is not Irish directing actors who are not Irish … We have a weird tolerance for it. We have to be careful that we're not sponsoring foreign film-makers to make fools of us.'

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