
Summer brings different vibes for Waterford and Tyrone
For those, like Waterford, who didn't make it through, it's brutal
. Their manager Peter Queally 'had conversations with players who couldn't face a winter of training and meaningless league matches, only for their year to be over in the last month of spring'. He's pining for a format change that would at least send their season in to summer.
Tyrone's footballers are heading for summer with a pep in their step after beating Donegal in Ballybofey last Saturday,
Conor McManus reckoning that, once again, you could see the impact of the new rules
. And after turning out for his club side, he got 'a bit of hands-on experience' with them himself.
Next up for Tyrone is Mayo in Omagh on Saturday, but the latter, reports Seán Moran, will be without Kevin McStay at the helm after
he stepped back from his managerial role
due to 'some personal health issues'.
In camogie, Gordon Manning talks to Katie Power about
the two-week protest against skorts
that, for the Kilkenny captain, 'felt like two months'. She and her Dublin counterpart Aisling Maher 'emerged as the embodiment of the campaign' after they were photographed wearing shorts prior to their Leinster semi-final.
READ MORE
In rugby, we have, writes Gerry Thornley, arrived at
'the era of the French'
, Bordeaux Bègles' Champions Cup triumph the fifth in a row for a country this is now 'the heartbeat' of the European game. Who can challenge them? Leinster, with their financial might, 'remain the most viable contender by a distance'.
Gerry also hears from Leinster old-boy
Ross Molony who collected a Challenge Cup winner's medal
after Bath's victory over Lyon. 'It's done wonders for my career,' he says of his move to the English club.
His old chums face Scarlets in the quarter-finals of the URC on Saturday, but John O'Sullivan brings news that they will do so without
the injured Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw
. Jordan Larmour is, though, closing in on a return.
And in his Whistleblower column, Owen Doyle is not impressed by news from World Rugby that
the 20-minute red card
, long in place in southern hemisphere rugby, will now be trialled globally - including during this summer's Lions tour.
In football, we hear from
the-soon-to-retire Louise Quinn
and
new recruit Erin Healy
in the build-up to Ireland's Nations League meetings with Turkey and Slovenia, and in athletics, Ian O'Riordan talks to Sarah Healy about her
improving her 3,000m best by almost four seconds
at the Diamond League in Morocco.
In his Different Strokes column, Philip Reid rounds up the golf news, including
a frustrated Pádraig Harrington's reflections
on tying for second at the US Senior PGA Championship, having led by two strokes in the final round.
And in racing, Brian O'Connor has word on
Ted Walsh's successful appeal against a €3,000 fine
imposed on him under 'Non-Trier' rules earlier this month. The alleged non-trying horse, Ta Na La, remains banned for 60 days, though.
TV Watch:
There's more coverage from the French tennis Open through the day on TNT Sports (from 10am), and TNT Sports 3 has the 16th stage of cycling's Giro d'Italia, Mexico's Isaac del Toro leading the overall standings.
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Irish Times
15 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Removal of Michael D Higgins' portrait at Belfast City Hall by DUP Lord Mayor angers Sinn Féin
A portrait of President Michael D Higgins was removed from display in Belfast City Hall and placed in storage at the request of DUP Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly, Belfast City Council has said. It emerged at a council meeting on Tuesday evening that the picture of the President, which used to hang alongside a similar portrait of King Charles in the Lord Mayor's parlour, was no longer there. In a statement, Belfast City Council said the 'decoration of the parlour is a matter for each individual Lord Mayor throughout their term in office'. 'The photographic portrait of President Michael D Higgins has been safely stored at City Hall, at the request of the current Lord Mayor, while she considers options for this space during her mayoral term,' the council said. READ MORE Ms Kelly has been a DUP councillor in the Botanic area of South Belfast since 2019 and was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast last month. DUP Lord Mayor of Belfast Cllr Tracy Kelly. Photograph: Matt Mackey At the council meeting, Sinn Féin Cllr Ryan Murphy asked Ms Kelly, 'where is that portrait, and what kind of message does it send out to the people in this city who hold the president of Ireland in high regard?' 'Thank you, that's been noted,' Ms Kelly replied. Cllr Murphy, who was lord mayor of Belfast from 2023-2024, said that when Sinn Féin representatives had been lord mayor of Belfast, 'there were certain things that we never took off the walls, there were certain things that we felt were off-limits. 'And so when we were offered the royal portrait of the British King Charles, we accepted it and we put it up, and we put it up alongside the [portrait of] Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins and we marked it with a small event in the Mayor's office 'I think for us, it's concerning that we've seen in recent weeks that that portrait is no longer there.' Asked why the portrait had been removed and if there were any plans to reinstate it, the DUP said in a statement that the 'decoration of the Lord Mayor's parlour is not yet complete. There will be further artefacts to be added in the next few weeks.'


Irish Times
33 minutes ago
- Irish Times
‘Tipperary are coming': Liam Cahill guides Premier hurlers back to Croke Park after six-year absence
Just a little over a decade ago Liam Cahill stood on the sideline watching his team contest a senior county hurling Kilkenny. The current Tipperary hurling boss carved out his reputation as a talented coach and manager during his silverware-laden stints in charge of the Premier county's underage sides. However, before he managed Tipperary to minor, under-21 and under-20 All-Ireland titles, he coached some of Kilkenny's top hurlers to a county final appearance during a spell with Carrickshock – including Richie and John Power, Michael Rice and John Tennyson. 'He was over us for two years and he was there when we got to the senior final in 2013,' recalls Richie Power. READ MORE 'I couldn't speak highly enough of Liam as a coach or as a manager, we loved him. 'He's a very good coach, very shrewd. We were hoping that he'd come back to us the following year but it didn't materialise. We tried to get him back but that's when he took over the Tipp minors.' Richie Power (right) in action for Carrickshock in the 2013 Kilkenny county final against Clara. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Clara beat Carrickshock 1-15 to 2-10 in that Kilkenny final in October 2013 in what remains Carrickshock's last appearance in the decider. Around that same time Cahill, who had been a selector under Declan Ryan when Tipperary won the minor title in 2007, got the call from his county asking if he would take charge of the minors for 2014. It was a call he answered. He stepped away from Carrickshock, took charge of the Tipp minors and the Ballingarry man has been involved with county teams ever since. Tipperary lost the All-Ireland minor final to Galway in 2015 but 12 months later Cahill guided the county to minor glory, beating Limerick in the decider. He remained minor manager in 2017 but that November was appointed as the county's under-21 boss. In his maiden season with the group he led them to an All-Ireland title. Another title came the following year, despite the GAA changing the grade to under-20, making Tipperary the last county to hold the All-Ireland under-21 hurling crown and the first to hold the under-20. The latter, a 5-17 to 1-18 win over Cork, was achieved just six days after the county had beaten Kilkenny to claim the All-Ireland senior title. Sunday will be the first time a Tipperary senior team has played in Croke Park since that 2019 final. Liam Cahill ahead of the 2019 Munster under-20 final between Tipperary and Cork at Semple Stadium. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho In November 2019 Cahill was appointed Waterford senior hurling manager. The Covid-impacted 2020 season followed, but the Déise navigated the truncated championship to contest the All-Ireland final that December, losing out to Limerick. When Liam Sheedy stepped down as Tipperary manager at the end of 2021, Cahill was approached to succeed the Portroe man. However, he instead recommitted to Waterford and they won the National Hurling League in 2022. But just four days after Colm Bonnar's spell in charge of Tipperary was brought to an end that July, Cahill made the homeward switch and was appointed Premier manager on a three-year term. Now, after a difficult two years, Tipp seem to finally have turned a corner. 'I think Tipp are coming. They've won a minor All-Ireland (2024) and an under-20 All-Ireland (2025) in the last two years and they've found a couple of really good players,' continues Power. 'I think Liam Cahill's objective this year was to get out of Munster, which they achieved, and then once that happens probably the next objective is to get to a semi-final and get back to Croke Park, which has happened now. Liam Cahill with Cork manager Pat Ryan after the NFL Division 1A final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in April. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'Now they're coming in against Kilkenny and I don't think Tipp or Liam Cahill will fear Kilkenny. 'Liam is very shrewd, he's very cute, and he kind of dropped it in his interview at the end of the quarter-final win over Galway that they could sneak into a final if things go right. I think it's a 50-50 game.' Cahill's championship report card after his first two years with Tipp reads: 1 win, 4 defeats, 3 draws. In the 2025 championship so far it's: 4 wins, 1 defeat, 1 draw. Of the 20 players who featured in what turned out to be Bonner's last game at the helm (against Cork in 2022) just eight played during Tipperary's win over Galway two weeks ago. 'Sometimes people have to realise that these things are going to take time,' adds Power. 'He went in and he has done the hard job in relation to doing a bit of a clean-out and then focusing on youth.' Cahill also took the unusual step of peering across the county border to see if there was some black and amber expertise that might benefit the blue and gold, and in late 2023 former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity joined the Cahill's management team. Tipperary's goalkeeping coach, former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho After spending a season as a goalkeeping coach, Herity has taken an even more prominent role this year, adding a further dusting of spice to Sunday's clash. 'It's hard to believe that Tipp haven't played in Croke Park since 2019, since that All-Ireland,' says Power. 'Croke Park is probably like a second home to Kilkenny because of the Leinster championship, and in fairness to Kilkenny they've been back in All-Ireland semi-finals and finals, they've been thereabouts but they've just been unfortunate that they've come up against an exceptional Limerick team. 'If that Limerick team wasn't there, Kilkenny probably would have had another two or three All-Irelands in the last six or seven years.' With Limerick gone now, on Sunday it's over to Kilkenny and Tipp again.

Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
HSE chief tells Oireachtas group that ‘we took our eye off the ball'
'We took our eye off the ball', the head of the HSE Bernard Gloster acknowledged as he sought to explain how the practice known as third-party insourcing had expanded into a multimillion euro industry living inside the public hospital system. A report he had drawn up for Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill revealed that in 27 months to the end of March this year, close to €100 million had been paid out on engaging external companies that use HSE-owned facilities and equipment after normal working hours – in many cases employing existing health service staff – to reduce public waiting lists. The report reveals 83 serving or former health staff are acting as directors in 148 companies providing what are known as insourcing and outsourcing – another system which involves buying care in outside private facilities – arrangements to reduce waiting lists. It says 23 of these company directors are employed by the HSE. READ MORE Gloster told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health that over two decades insourcing arrangements had grown from 'a small localised thing' to a level where the health system was now overly dependent on it. 'People saw opportunities, entrepreneurially,' he said, although he stressed there was nothing unlawful about being a company director. He defined insourcing as the practice of engaging external companies or third-party providers to deliver services, often outside of normal working hours, using HSE-owned facilities and equipment. 'In many cases, these providers may employ or subcontract staff who are already directly employed by the HSE, effectively re-engaging internal staff through a separate commercial arrangement, typically at premium rates.' The availability of such premium payments for working for insourcing companies, the HSE chief acknowledged, also made regular overtime less attractive. Gloster told Fianna Fáil TD Martin Daly that the focus of hospitals in embracing insourcing had been a rush to do the right thing and reduce waiting lists. However, he argued that the effective governance of insourcing arrangements became 'quite questionable'. Over recent weeks, there have been significant controversies surrounding insourcing arrangements at Children's Health Ireland, Beaumont Hospital and – the public was told for the first time on Wednesday – at Naas General Hospital . Internal auditors have been sent into Naas to look at concerns over the use of National Treatment Purchase Fund financing. Gloster concluded, following his analysis of the scale of insourcing, that it was now time to wind down the whole process. He has recommended to the Minister that insourcing should end by June 30th, 2026. It cannot be shelved immediately as this would leave patients relying on such services in the lurch. But in the meantime, new controls and safeguards will be introduced. Gloster's plan is for the regular health service to carry out the work previously carried out by insourcing, using new, more flexible rosters now agreed with hospital consultants and other healthcare staff. But he warned that if a gap remains, it will have to be filled by sending more public patients to be treated in private hospitals. Ultimately, Carroll MacNeill is expected to decide on whether to call a halt to the insourcing train – which would appear to generate close to €50 million per year for those on board – by the end of July. However, the investigations into allegations of concern at Children's Health Ireland , Beaumont and now Naas arising from insourcing arrangements will likely run a lot longer.