Kathy Donaghy: Ennis v Venice – why an Irish wedding beats a Bezos-style Italian blowout every time
The wedding of the year in Venice won't signal a change for Irish couples tying the knot – they'd much rather have the craic than be accused of having notions about themselves.
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RTÉ News
43 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Cathal Doyle is desperate to race after 'crazy' Faith Kipyegon pacing duties
The old and somewhat tiring joke goes, that you can find the Irish at everything, and Faith Kipyegon's 'Breaking4' project was no exception. Kipyegon didn't manage to become the first woman to break the four-minute barrier for the mile, but she did achieve the fastest time ever run with a 4:06.42 clocking and in the process has inspired one of her Irish pacers from the bid. Cathal Doyle, Olympian, multiple national record holder and probably the gutsiest man in Irish athletics, was one of a long list of pacers to assist Kipyegon in the 1609m exhibition run at the Stade Charlety in the French capital on Thursday evening. Doyle says running three laps with Kipyegon is up there with one of the best experiences he has had in his 27 years. "It was probably just one of the coolest things you'll probably ever do, it was just a bit crazy because I've never paced a race before, especially at that kind of level," Doyle told RTÉ Sport. Doyle walked down the tunnel onto the track in the French capital that just ten months ago saw him progress to the Olympic semi-final, to be the tip of the 'shield' formation for Kipyegon after some gruelling training with the Nike team leading the project. "Training was actually pretty intense… We had two sessions every day in the morning and evening. We were shown on a laptop the formation. And I was like, 'Oh, I've kind of drawn the short straw here'." The five-time national champion explains that he ran in the middle of lane two, where there were markers for him to follow, meaning he ran marginally further than the rest, which can make pacing trickier. The Nike team, meticulous in their planning, attempted to cover every possible scenario that the athletes learned through dozens of repetitions. "There was just scenario after scenario, there must've been about six different scenarios. The front five of us around Faith were the shield. And then the guys around near her were the 'spoiler'. "Luckily for my job, I actually didn't have to think. All I had to do was just run hard and stay in line where I was…it was just a lot of practice." "Luckily for my job, I actually didn't have to think. All I had to do was just run hard and stay in line where I was… It was just a lot of practice." Doyle reveals the call to be involved came only last week, thanks to some intervention from training partner and fellow Nike-sponsored athlete Elliot Giles. "He (Giles) asked if he could bring a training partner, and then they realised this guy can pace when they looked up my personal bests. "I only knew I was doing it less than a week ago, there wasn't even a second thought." For any athlete racing on the circuit, it can become monotonous quickly. Doyle is no exception, running almost 25 races last season and 12 already this year, so the 'Breaking4' project offered a change from the continuance of the track season. "You never get a chance to do stuff like this, running meets is cool and it's fun and all, but at the same time, they're all the same. So, this was a little bit different." "You never get a chance to do stuff like this, running meets is cool and it's fun and all, but at the same time, they're all the same. So, this was a little bit different." There were doubts from both fans and media of the sport as to whether the goal was achievable, but Doyle details that there was no question of its feasibility among the 13 pacers, and it was vital those around Kipyegon believed. "Everyone was just so focused on their role. There wasn't even a question of, will she do it or not? "In there, you're starting to believe that maybe she could do it, but apparently a 3:59 mile for a woman equates to a 1:58 men's marathon. "So, it was even more difficult than the 'Breaking2 ' project with (Eliud) Kipchoge. But everyone was fully invested." The event, organised by the shoe brand that has become synonymous with technology, development and science-backed projects like the one Doyle took part in, also specified that the pacers didn't tell Kipyegon the exact time per lap, allowing her to focus only on the task. "She didn't actually know the paces either. We were strictly told 'don't tell her'. "No talk of splits on the warm-up - zero talk, do not mention splits. She hadn't a clue so all she had to do was hold on for dear life." The stadium had a sizeable crowd, not full, but not bad for realistically four minutes of entertainment. The Irish Olympian explained he wasn't sure how a visibly nervous Kipyegon kept it together, knowing that it would be a rare scenario in which all eyes are exclusively on her. "I don't even know how she could pull it together. You walked out and a couple of thousand people there and they're all cheering for just her on the line." "I don't even know how she could pull it together. You walked out and a couple of thousand people there and they're all cheering for just her on the line." Doyle is now excited to get back racing after six days in the French capital working towards something "crazy" which has changed his perspective on his own goals. Which is exactly why Kipyegon attempted the near-impossible feat in the first place. "I'm actually pretty buzzing now to race again and train, even though I was just among the 10 others, it's just being around really good people and really successful people. It does rub off on you and then you kind of feel like, 'oh, I want to be that as well now'."
Winnipeg Free Press
43 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Getting business onside — Carney's next job
Opinion Canada Day marks just over 100 days of Mark, as in Carney. Since being sworn in as prime minister on St. Patrick's Day, our new prime minister has enjoyed no small 'luck of the Irish' after winning an election he wasn't supposed to. Napoleon once said he would rather have a general who was lucky than one who was good. So far, Carney has been both lucky and good: lucky to have Donald Trump in the White House, and pretty good at winning elections and being prime minister. He may have been green going into the job as PM and party leader, but Carney is proving no novice in the role. He single-handedly powered his party and government into an unprecedented fourth term in office. Since then, he has embarked upon a rapid-fire series of actions and changes to achieve his goal to 'build the strongest economy in the G7,' with internal trade barriers to come down; major energy and infrastructure projects to be built faster; defence spending to rise higher and sooner than anticipated. The Canadian Press files Prime Minister Mark Carney's next job is to convince Canadian businesses that they have to step up their game. Carney clearly does not lack for ambition. 'We will need to think big and act bigger. We will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven't seen in generations,' he said in his victory speech. But what if this big ambition isn't matched by business, big or small? What if the public doesn't share his vision that Canada is at a 'hinge moment of history,' as he put it? The prime minister is inheriting a country more risk-averse and complacent than it should be. A country more righteous than realistic about its place in the world — 'the world needs more Canada,' we intone. A country too comfortable in its entitlements and expectations, real or imagined. That risk aversion carries over to the business community. A 2023 survey by the Conference Board of Canada found that when it came to innovation, more than half of Canadian entrepreneurs stopped doing more because they feared failing. That was 10 points higher than for businesses in the U.S. and across 16 other developed countries. Part of this is a weaker industrial and research ecosystem that successfully carries innovation to market, but there's no denying a CEO mindset alongside. That mindset won't be easy to dislodge. It has been fed for more than a quarter-century by easy access to the largest market in the world, our next-door neighbour. It has been nourished of late by low-cost labour and high immigration. And it has been enticed into a rent-seeking, subsidy-demanding, high-consumption, low-value manufacturing economy by companies and governments hooked on handouts. The result: Canadian businesses have become less competitive and more risk-averse when it comes to investing in the innovation, technology and people needed to build more wealth. Consider the results: Canada's economy today is actually smaller than it was in 2019, adjusted for inflation and immigration. We've fallen from the sixth most productive advanced economy in the world in 1970 to the 18th most productive today. Average annual labour productivity growth was less than half of what it was in the U.S. in the 20-year period from 2001 to 2021. We've deindustrialized, with manufacturing contributing less than half of what it did to the economy in 2000. Capital investment spending levels are lower than they were a decade ago. The business innovation rate in 2022 was 36 per cent in Canada, far below the 50 per cent rate in America and the 45 per cent rate for other advanced industrial economies in the world. Unless these trends are changed, the OECD predicts Canada will enjoy the worst performance of advanced member countries over the next four decades, as measured by real GDP per capita. That means lower living standards for Canadians and less economic wealth generated to invest in health care and education. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. Blaming the government is easy and fashionable. But these are structural problems not easily fixed, owing to years of tepid investment and innovation decisions by business themselves. Government policies may have contributed, but it's the CEOs and the boards of directors, or the entrepreneurs and innovators, who made the calls. 'Sell the beach, not the flight' is the classic travel-industry business model. For too long, our politicians have practiced the political equivalent to voters. Big goals and grand pronouncements were set without telling people the journey might be long and hard. 'Inconvenient truths,' as in climate change, were traded for 'reassuring fibs' so everyone could have 'their nice things.' Applying this same mentality to this time of economic emergency would simply invite more failure. The PM may be moving at the speed of need now with his checklist of initiatives, but 'thinking and acting big' requires an overdue mind-shift by Canada's business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs. Carney needs to confront complacency with candour. He told voters what he planned to do; now he must tell businesses what they need to do. His 'hinge moment' hinges on it. David McLaughlin is a former clerk of the executive council and cabinet secretary in the Manitoba government.
TimesLIVE
an hour ago
- TimesLIVE
More visa officials to clear SA-Ireland applications backlog
The Republic of Ireland has increased the number of officials processing visa applications from South Africans seeking to visit or work in that country, as it moves to clear a backlog caused by a huge spike in visa applications. Neale Richmond, minister of state for international development and diaspora, said the decision to impose strict visa conditions was taken over a year ago when the country experienced a 100% increase in people entering the island nation from South Africa and Nigeria and claiming international protected status. 'That's why we put them on the list of those who require visas, to stop people who were coming because it was visa-free travel. They were getting here claiming international protection,' Richmond said on the sidelines of the Africa-Ireland Horizons conference in Dublin. The imposition of the strict visa regime resulted in applications for work, family and travel visas taking months to process as the government agency responsible could not cope with the many applications. 'Those moves were very harsh, but they were necessary at the time to re-regulate migration,' Richmond said. 'I have quite a large South African minority population in my constituency who've been here a long time; they have been here 20 to 25 years, they are Irish citizens, but Granny can't come and visit the new child, business partners can't come. The head of Nandos lives in my constituency ... It's had very real human consequences; it's been tough.' A decision was taken to triple the number of officials processing visas from South Africa and this had brought the waiting time down to three months, he said. 'We've doubled the resources in terms of visa applications in South Africa, both here in Dublin and at our embassy in Pretoria. The acute issue was far more (serious) in South Africa than Nigeria; not only for established commercial reasons but also for very clear people-to-people reasons. The process will now go much quicker but will always be under review.' The country is prioritising South Africans for critical skills visas, he added.
