Latest news with #DenisWalsh
Irish Times
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Live All-Ireland football draw: Remaining counties to learn their quarter-final fates
All-Ireland SFC quarter-final draw to take place shortly after 8.30am Key Reads Malachy Clerkin: Football prelims had a whiff of predictability , but it's anyone's guess from here to the final The Schemozzle: Dublin's win over Limerick may be the greatest upset in championship history Denis Walsh: The GAA is in a strange spot in relation to people being paid legitimately 1 minute ago Good morning everyone. Welcome along to The Irish Times live blog for the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final draw. Preliminary quarter-final winners Kerry , Dublin , Galway and Donegal have joined round-robin group toppers Meath, Tyrone, Monaghan and Armagh in the last eight, and we'll find out shortly who'll be facing off in this weekend's quarter-finals. Each of the four group winners will be drawn against one of the preliminary quarter-final winners. The draw will avoid repeats of provincial final pairings and, where possible, repeat pairings from the groups. With that in mind, we know Armagh can't be drawn against Donegal as the counties met in the Ulster final, nor can they meet fellow Group of Death survivors Dublin and Galway. That only leaves Kerry, so the Munster champions will face the reigning All-Ireland champions. Of the rest, Meath can't play Kerry, Tyrone can't play Donegal, and Monaghan can't play Down.
Irish Times
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster pales in comparison to spectacular Munster decider
Some weekend, that. Top billing? You'd be torn between Carlos and Cork, the former, Señor Alcaraz, for his astounding comeback against Jannik Sinner in the French Open final, the latter, the hurley-wielding Rebels, for their part in a Munster final that won't soon be forgotten. 'Everything about it was staggering,' writes Denis Walsh of the game at the Gaelic Grounds. ' The suffocating intensity, the twists, the spectacular scores and the crazy misses.' It was, says Seán Moran in his match report, 'a smouldering, frantic affair' , one that was decided by the first ever shoot-out in a provincial final. As Ian O Riordan puts it in his round-up of the weekend's hurling , nothing Kilkenny and Galway could produce on Sunday was ever going to outdo what was served up the day before. Nicky English agrees. The Leinster decider was, he writes, 'a pale imitation of the Munster final' , but while Kilkenny prevailed, he's not convinced they are contenders this year. They did, though, survive a late Galway rally to win their sixth successive Leinster title , Ian in Croke Park to witness their triumph. Paul Keane heard from Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng after, and Paul was on hand too earlier in the day to see Kildare produce a breathless second-half display against Laois in the Joe McDonagh Cup. READ MORE There wasn't too much drama in the Tailteann Cup, the form guide holding as Sligo, Wexford, Offaly and Westmeath all progressed , but there was plenty of it on the opening weekend of the women's football All-Ireland championship, Dublin and Meath both needing last second equalisers against Waterford and Armagh, respectively. Kerry opened the defence of their crown with a win over Mayo in Tralee, while last year's runners-up Galway saw off Tipperary in Tuam. Denis, meanwhile, previews RTÉ's five-part series on the history and nature of Gaelic football , the first episode of Hell for Leather airing tonight. Its timing, he says, 'couldn't have been more opportune because this has been the most spectacular football season in living memory' – thanks in no small part to the new rules. In rugby, after enduring three straight URC semi-final defeats, Leinster finally broke the code, comfortably beating Glasgow on Saturday to set up a meeting with the Pretoria Bulls at Croke Park in next Saturday's final. Gerry Thornley reports on the game and hears from Leo Cullen and Jack Conan , while Johnny Watterson analyses a performance that was far superior to Leinster's last outing . And in racing, Brian O'Connor looks back at Lambourn's Epsom Derby success , one that gave Aidan O'Brien a record-extending 11th win in the classic. Lambourn is now odds-on to become the 20th horse to complete the Epsom-Curragh Derby double at the end of this month. TV Watch : There are highlights from the GAA and rugby weekends on TG4 and RTÉ 2, respectively, at 8pm, while the pick of the night's football action is Wales' World Cup qualifier away to Belgium (Virgin Media Three, 7.45pm). And at 9.35pm, there's the first episode of Hell for Leather, a history of Gaelic football, on RTÉ One.
Irish Times
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Live GAA updates: Cork look to halt Limerick's drive for seventh consecutive Munster title
Saturday's fixtures Munster Senior Hurling Final: Limerick v Cork, Gaelic Grouds, 6pm Tailteann Cup: Offaly v New York, O'Connor Park, 2pm Westmeath v Laois, Cusack Park, Mullingar, 5pm 3 minutes ago Here is how Seán Moran has called today's Munster SHC final: 'If the intrigue surrounding the counties' earlier meeting centred on how convincingly Limerick could regain their form of old and how successfully their opponents could iron out troubling inconsistencies in their performances to date, the resolution made tough viewing for Cork.' [ Munster SHC final: Limerick look too far ahead to be caught on this occasion Opens in new window ] 10 minutes ago Good afternoon and welcome to our live blog for today's eagerly awaited Munster senior hurling final between Limerick and Cork at the Gaelic Grounds. This one has all the ingredients to serve up a classic. It's Gordon Manning here and I'll be keeping you updated on all the action from Limerick. Seán Moran and Denis Walsh are both in place at the stadium so we'll be getting their thoughts and all the latest team news from the Gaelic Grounds. So put the kettle on, open the good biscuits and get ready for an evening of high entertainment and drama.
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Deadly and dithery Cork make Munster final
For Nicky English, the last weekend of hurling's provincial round robins proved to be a bit on the underwhelming side , not helped by two of the games being dead rubbers. He was, though, impressed by Galway, but he still has his doubts about Cork. Did their performance against Waterford 'answer the file of queries raised by the disintegration in Limerick? No, absolutely not'. Cork were, writes Denis Walsh, 'slick and sloppy and deadly and dithery' , in keeping with 'their bipolar performances in the championship' thus far, but job done, they're through to the Munster final where they'll get another crack at Limerick. They'll need to work on their accuracy, though. ' The scores we missed were brutal, for want of a better word ,' as their manager Pat Ryan put it after the game. An understrength Limerick lost to Clare, but it was too little too late for the All-Ireland champions , they were already out, but Galway booked their slot in the Leinster final , Seán Moran at Parnell Park to see them pick up their first away win against Dublin in the championship. Up next for Galway is Kilkenny who lost to Wexford in one of those dead rubbers , while Offaly retained their Leinster SHC status with a jittery win over Antrim. In football, Monaghan brought newly crowned Leinster champions Louth crashing back down to earth in Newbridge, while Donegal had their bubble burst by Tyrone in Ballybofey. Armagh eased some of the pain of their Ulster final defeat by getting the better of Derry, while Meath bounced back too from their Leinster final loss by beating Cork in Navan. And on the women's side, Galway and Kerry retained their provincial titles with victories over Mayo and Waterford, respectively. READ MORE In soccer, Ken Early reflects on the Premier League campaign just ended . So much for it being 'the season of the underdog' – 'in the end the top five had a reassuringly familiar composition: two American-owned sports-groups, two clubs owned by Gulf states, and whatever the hell Chelsea are.' We also look back on how the Irish fared on 'a weekend marked by joy for some and heartbreak for others', no one experiencing more joy than Katie McCabe after Arsenal's Champions League triumph over Barcelona . In rugby, Gerry Thornley reports on Bordeaux Bègles' Champions Cup triumph over Northampton Saints, hearing from their assistant coach Noel McNamara after the game, his CV looking 'increasingly impressive'. Declan Kelly has a heck of a CV too: 'From Tipp to Salford via Wall Street.' Denis Walsh traces his remarkable career, the latest chapter his involvement in Salford City , the League Two side that was famously owned by Manchester United's Class of '92. TV Watch : Tennis fans will be in heaven, it's French Open time, TNT Sports bringing an entire 13 hours of coverage from Roland Garros today (from 10am). In the afternoon, TG4 has horse racing from Ballinrobe (4.15pm) and later, they have highlights from the GAA weekend (8pm).
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Skorts issue is about policing women. The fuss around Kim Kardashian's courtroom garb is not
At first glance Nick Bradshaw's image is boring. It captures the back of a male referee in prematch discussion between the female captains of the Kilkenny and Dublin camogie teams. But the context, as Denis Walsh notes , is that the person in the middle wearing shorts is telling two other people in shorts that they must not wear shorts. Can the shorts-wearing male count the precious playing days lost to his elders droning on about whether his shorts were sufficiently masculine to meet the GAA's famously scrupulous moral standards? Zero. But the man was only doing his job here, enforcing rules dictated by the overwhelmingly female-dominated Camogie Association . At this the eye instinctively does precisely what it shouldn't: it zeros in on the women's shorts. Are they doing peculiarly suggestive things with those shorts? Are those 'short shorts'? Not even nearly. They're normal players in normal togs like the ones Paul Mescal wore in Normal People , wearing minimal make-up (if any, unlike Paul), hair mussily tied back, jerseys hanging out, sticks to hand, helmets alongside ready for serious action. Then those serious women had to leave and change into 'skorts' for permission to play . The topic hasn't been worth even five seconds of the tedious hours devoted to it. The spectacle of politicians wailing about the tragic skort imposition on their preadolescent daughters, yet strangely disinclined to wade into the less sexy but massively more important subject of integration with the GAA and the LGFA – which has been haunting the Camogie Association's agenda since Methuselah – is particularly headmelting for many such serious women. READ MORE Skorts are a distraction. Most women just want a choice. Like so many 'big' debates relating to women, that's all it comes down to. Choice. It was the contrast between the camogie women and Instagram mega-influencer Kim Kardashian making her deeply silly progress through Paris last week that made the 'skorts' row all the more frustrating. Kardashian, now 44, was the victim of a terrifying 2016 Paris hotel jewel heist by a gang dubbed 'the grandpa robbers' who left her fearing for her life. So naturally her response was to show up for the criminal trial dripping in conspicuous wealth and an outfit resembling something a six-year-old would dream up for Barrister Barbie. It included a showstopping $3 million necklace incorporating 80 diamonds, sparkly earrings, a plunging black Galliano blazer with a long black skirt slit up the back and stiletto heels that obliged her to negotiate the streets and steps with a slow hip-wiggle. But choice is choice and Kardashian's ensemble can be interpreted 'simultaneously as a nod to traditional courtroom attire, a reminder of feminine vulnerability in its wasp waist and skirt rather than trousers, and a reclamation of power through its broad shoulders', as Prof Susan Scafidi, a pioneer in fashion law, told Women's Wear Daily. Sure, professor. And the role of the diamonds? 'The diamonds are a reminder of the stolen jewellery and of her wealth and celebrity.' Mmm. But why? Why would anyone in that courtroom – least of all her attackers – need an in-your-face reminder of anyone's wealth and celebrity? Kim Kardashian's decision to turn a solemn court appearance into a blingy costume drama was less an admirable 'reclamation of power' than a bald attention play for the paparazzi gaze. Photograph: EPA-European Pressphoto Agency The language and interpretation of clothes has always attracted bloviators and poseurs and many people – including this one – would normally defend the whole package as a gift to the gaiety of nations. But when Kardashian's stylist, Simone Harouche, took issue with the trial judge asking if Kardashian had put herself in danger by publishing images of herself online, it took it in another direction. 'Just because a woman wears jewellery, that doesn't make her a target. That's like saying that because a woman wears a short skirt, she deserves to be raped,' said Harouche. No, it's not at all like saying that. There is a fundamental difference between a woman coming under threat because she's wearing a short skirt (or skort or shorts) and one who routinely flashes her multimillion dollar bling on- and offline. One is a very specifically gendered threat. The second is not. One high-end French watchmaker for example warns that wearing a luxury timepiece requires greater awareness against targeted attacks or pickpocketing in larger cities such as Paris, a point that clearly holds true for both men and women. And it hardly needs repeating that Giséle Pelicot – for example – was not wearing a short skirt when she was drugged and raped repeatedly. Clarity is important because clothing choices have suddenly re-emerged as a hot issue in recent months. Kardashian's decision to turn a solemn court appearance into a blingy costume drama was less an admirable 'reclamation of power' than a bald attention play for the paparazzi gaze. The same applies to the ongoing debate about so-called nearly-nude or naked dressing among celebrities and stars at industry events. Nude bodystockings, transparent mesh and cobweb-like fabric posing as designer (non) garments have been having a moment but the irony is that it looks like anything but fun. Instagram comments about Bianca Censori's (Kanye West's partner) Paris promenade wearing a cropped jacket with sheer pantyhose were more of a yawn than a wow. The truth is that those revealing 'outfits' look strangely neutered and try-hard, like plastic Barbie. The organisers of the Cannes film festival obviously don't know where to look and have banned naked dressing for 'decency reasons' from the red carpet. But high fashion has handed down its verdict. 'Enough with the boobs,' said the New York Times's Vanessa Friedman after a St Laurent show. Like discouraging a toddler's curse words or people who insist on skorts, the best approach may be to ignore it. For pity's sake, Camogie Association, spend tomorrow's 'emergency special congress' focusing on the truly urgent and important stuff on which your lifeblood depends. Skorts will not feature in your legacy. Let it go.
