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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Donegal have cause - if not a case - to defy gauntlet as Monaghan fixture adds insult to injury
In the opinion of Donegal, the Central Competitions Controls Committee's (CCCC) decision to arrange their All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Monaghan on Saturday has added insult to injury. Following on from arranging their neutral final round game against Mayo for King & Moffatt Hyde Park, that they are the only preliminary quarter-final winners with a six-day turnaround will underline manager Jim McGuinness's claim that these things "only happen" to Donegal "because it's us.' McGuinness had some valid points about the round game being arranged for Roscommon town but his argument was weakened by claims that other counties had 'a fair shake'. Kerry having to go to Tullamore and Galway travelling to Breffni for their neutral matches against Meath and Armagh made Swiss cheese of that claim. Nevertheless, coming so soon after the sense of grievance the six-day turnaround between the Louth and Monaghan games, a scheduling that the CCCC has strived to avoid for several years, will have only fortified the siege mentality in Donegal. McGuinness would likely have signed off on the statement that the Donegal County Board released late on Monday night about the Monaghan fixture. 'No other county has played as many matches as Donegal in this year's championship,' it read. 'To compound the physical and mental demands, those eight games have been played within an 11-week window. Match number nine comes this Saturday, less than 12 weeks after playing Derry in the Ulster Championship Preliminary round on April 6. "On that basis, we thought it wholly reasonable and fully justified to seek an extra day recovery time for our players this weekend. Coiste Chontae Dhun na nGall concludes that it is most regrettable, and very disappointing, that our request has been turned down. We feel the welfare of our players was not adequately considered in the decision making process." Donegal are the only preliminary quarter-final winners with a six-day turnaround. File picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile Some other facts have to be pointed out here. Donegal's schedule obviously wouldn't be so taxing, i.e. a game less, were it not for the fact that they didn't top the group and lost their home game against Tyrone last month. As the Ulster championship is now seeded to avoid the same team(s) playing in the preliminary round of the competition and thus facing four games to reach the provincial final, their chances of being drawn in the first hurdle for the first time since 2021 had been greater. In the last two years of this format, three of the four preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals were played on a Saturday and each time all four counties had at least seven-day gaps to their quarter-finals. However, this year the preliminary games were evenly split across their weekend thus precipitating to this disagreement between Donegal and the CCCC. As for the horse-trading that went on to finalise this weekend's programme of quarter-finals, Galway's third consecutive 'away' trip in Newry last Sunday as opposed to Donegal playing at home would have been taken into consideration. As would the broadcasters's requests. Armagh v Kerry had been the top preference of RTÉ, who were showing the two Sunday games, but ultimately the decision lay with the CCCC. Had the two major quarter-finals – Armagh v Kerry and Tyrone v Dublin – been staged on Saturday and therefore streamed on GAA+, there would have been uproar. Although, could there have been some flexibility shown to allow both RTÉ and the GAA's own platform cover a quarter-final on each day? After McGuinness's Dr Hyde Park remarks, Donegal might feel they poked the bear when GAA president Jarlath Burns twice defended the CCCC in the wake of them, both at last Tuesday's All-Ireland SFC launch and again in his match programme notes for the preliminary quarter-finals this past weekend. Could there have been some flexibility shown to allow both RTÉ and GAA+ to cover a quarter-final on each day? File picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile But Donegal can't say the CCCC has done nothing for them. In January, the body postponed their opening Division 1 fixture against Kerry in Killarney due to snow in Donegal and in the interests of safety. That was in spite of the county's hurlers's game going ahead the same day in Trim and their ladies footballers taking on Clare the following day in Doonbeg. The hurlers had travelled Friday. That decision upset some in Kerry especially as word had spread around Donegal on the day before the game that it had been called off. So strong was the speculation that Donegal County Board even released a statement claiming such reports were untrue only for the CCCC to later confirm it had been called off 'due to weather conditions preventing Donegal from travelling'. At the same time, that decision meant both they and Kerry had to play five of their seven rounds over five consecutive weekends. That was a brutal schedule similar enough to what Donegal are enduring right now - Saturday will be their ninth championship game in 83 days. It's a programme that would test even the strongest of panels but then Donegal's preparations have extensive to say the least. In December, they took the unprecedented step of having a warm weather training camp in the United Arab Emirates having partaken in a similar venture in The Canaries 12 months previously. Donegal mightn't so far as to admit like Waterford senior hurling manager Peter Queally that they were training in October but they had been holding 'trials'. Claims now about the GAA 'not being adequately considered' will be viewed dimly in some quarters. The truth is Donegal are running a gauntlet but in doing so they have a cause to defy it.
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Limerick GAA reschedule club games after reaching Tailteann Cup final
Limerick GAA have moved quickly to reschedule all grades of their club football championship, following Sunday's win in the Tailteann Cup semi-final. This has left dual clubs with prospect of 10 games in just 11 weekends. Initially pencilled in for the week ending June 22nd, all games were pushed back a week when Jimmy Lee's side negotiated Wexford in the quarter final. This has moved again, after a fifth Tailteann Cup victory in a row on Sunday. The original plan was to have played three rounds of the six grades by mid-July. However, a meeting of the CCCC on Monday within the county has confirmed that the opening round will take place on or before July 20th, with some inter-county squad members set to be in action within five or six days of the 12th of July meeting with Kildare. A decision not to alter the hurling championships, of which there are seven grades, means that rounds two and three of the football competitions will likely take place in August and September. There will be a scramble to make the Munster Championship dates in early November, with dual clubs facing into 10 group games, as well as potentially three knockout rounds. Limerick has successfully filled all their spots in the Munster Championships through the years, with other counties having missed deadlines preciously. Most grades now contain 12 teams, with two groups of six teams. The Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship has tested fixture makers with its eight-team championship, with each side meeting across seven rounds. Granagh Ballingarry, for example, who play at this grade, could face 12 games in as many weekends, while other clubs in this competition will entertain similar challenges with their sister football clubs. Meanwhile, ahead of that historic Tailteann Cup decider with the Lilywhites, the Shannonsiders will be hopeful of a fully fit trio. Iain Corbett (illness), James Naughton (ankle) and Emmet Rigter (hamstring) were all called ashore earlier than planned last Sunday but will be assessed in the coming days. The return to action for vice-captain Barry Coleman proved vital to overturning the deficit against Wicklow.
New Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Work on KB Sentral project to begin next month
KOTA BARU: Work on the RM64 million Kota Baru Integrated Bus Terminal project, also known as KB Sentral, is expected to begin next month. This was announced by state Public Works, Water Infrastructure and Rural Development Committee deputy chairman Saizol Ismail today (June 24). He said the state government had appointed China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) as the main contractor for the project. "The state government has agreed to appoint the Chinese contractor, which is also involved in the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project. "We awarded the contract to the company last week," he told reporters after visiting the Kampung Madani project site in Kampung Kota today (June 24). He said the project would begin with land treatment works in the middle of next month. "The land treatment phase will take about a year, after which the main construction works will commence. We expect the entire project to be completed before the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in 2028," he added. In March this year, Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Mohamed Fadzli Hassan said the state government has decided to take over construction after negotiations with Perak Transit failed to reach an agreement. He said the decision was made considering time constraints in completing the project. He added that the state wanted KB Sentral to be ready alongside the ECRL project as both needed to operate together. He also said the state government planned to add a few new features to the project. Earlier reports said Kelantan had told Perak Transit to decide whether to go ahead with the project under the set conditions or hand it back to the state government. One of the main conditions was appointing CCCC as the main contractor, as the company had a strong track record with the ECRL project.
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'I can't get my head around it': McGonigle questions fairness of Donegal's six-day turnaround
Paul McGonigle admits he's struggling to comprehend the decision of the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) to schedule Donegal's All-Ireland quarter-final against Monaghan for 4pm on Saturday. McGonigle played championship football for Donegal 18 times after debuting in 2001. The Buncrana native was part of Jim McGuinness' backroom team for the 2014 season, winning the Ulster SFC title and reaching the All-Ireland final before losing 2-9 to 0-12 against Kerry. He also worked under Declan Bonner. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Take us with you this summer. Annual €130€65 Best value Monthly €12€6 / month
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Cable theft incidents threaten to derail ECRL completion schedule
BEIJING: Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) has raised concerns over a series of cable theft incidents that could disrupt the planning and operational timeline of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, which is now at a critical phase ahead of its targeted completion in December 2026. MRL chief executive officer Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak said several theft cases have been detected at specific locations along the ECRL track, which spans Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor. "These incidents not only raise the cost of repairs and replacements but also risk delaying the train testing and commissioning schedule, which is expected to begin in June 2026," he said during an interview with the Malaysian media delegation in Beijing. Darwis noted that if China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) fails to complete the project on time — operations are slated to begin in 2027 — the conglomerate could incur losses of RM1.25 million per day. MRL, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance (Incorporated), is the owner of the mega infrastructure project, while CCCC is the main contractor. As the project owner, MRL has lodged police reports on the incidents and is stepping up security measures, including appointing a dedicated security firm to monitor and safeguard ECRL assets on the ground, he said. "However, we are also counting on continued cooperation from the authorities and local communities to help curb this crime. This is a national project that we must protect together," said Darwis. He said he also plans to meet with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and the police chiefs of the affected states to seek cooperation and solutions to the issue. The project's completion progress has reached 83.38 per cent as of May this year, on track to meet its completion target of December 2026. Darwis emphasised that 2025 marks the most critical phase of the project, with the installation of communication, information, and signalling systems now underway at the Kota SAS (Sultan Ahmad Shah) Station and soon to proceed simultaneously at other stations. However, since the installation of the systems began in March, the ECRL has been plagued by cable thefts. Aside from Kota SAS, thefts involving cables and several transformer units have been reported in areas such as Paya Besar/Gambang, Cherating, and Kuantan Port City in Pahang; Chukai, Dungun, and Kemasik in Terengganu; and Pasir Puteh in Kelantan. In other developments, Darwis said the first two Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train sets, along with two electric locomotives for freight operations manufactured by CRRC Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. Ltd, are expected to arrive in Malaysia by the end of this year, with subsequent sets arriving in stages from April 2026. "System and train testing and commissioning are scheduled to begin in June 2026. This is a crucial phase that will determine our readiness to begin operations," he said. He also disclosed that 38 tunnels have been successfully bored along the project's alignment, with the final two — Serendah Tunnel 2 and the Genting Twin Tunnel — expected to be completed by the end of this month and early next month, respectively. Darwis also confirmed that all land acquisition work for the main ECRL track from Kota Baru to Port Klang has been fully completed, thanks to cooperation from the respective state governments. "Only a few additional lots are needed to accommodate the electrification system, such as for Tenaga Nasional Bhd, but we've secured 100 per cent of the land acquisition for the main track," he added. He said ECRL's cargo services have received encouraging interest from logistics industry players, with early commitments totalling between 800,000 and one million tonnes for the first year of operations, which is scheduled to begin in early 2027. The 665km ECRL is the largest infrastructure project under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Malaysia and is expected to enhance transport connectivity and catalyse economic growth along Peninsular Malaysia's east coast.
