Latest news with #FéileanPhobail
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Arts Council removes logo amid controversy over Feile's GAA competition for children named after former IRA leader
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has asked Féile an Phobail to remove its logo from sports events hosted by the West Belfast festival, after a children's GAA competition during the event was named after a former IRA chief of staff.
Belfast Telegraph
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
‘It's totally devoid from reality': DUP's Jonathan Buckley slams SDLP MLA who labelled Twelfth a ‘disaster for tourism'
A unionist MLA has criticised comments made by an SDLP representative who claimed the Twelfth of July is a 'disaster for tourism' as 'entirely incorrect' and 'devoid from reality'. It comes after Sinead McLaughlin MLA shared a post by the DUP's Jonathan Buckley who questioned whether Tourism NI had forgotten something in its line-up of key events taking place in NI over the summer including Belfast Pride, Belfast TradFest and Féile an Phobail.
Belfast Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Scottish Shinty players to face Antrim hurlers in 140th anniversary match
Four teams will come together in August for two unique matches at Corrigan Park in West Belfast, when Shinty teams from Scotland will go head-to-head with Select Antrim Hurling and Camogie teams using composite rules, to celebrate 140th anniversary of Antrim GAA. With the men's Shinty team coming from Stirling, and the women's team from the Isle of Skye, both sets of players are being brought to Belfast by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland's (PCI) minister, Rev David Moore. The match, which is free to attend, will take place at Corrigan Park, the home of Antrim GAA, on Saturday, 2 August, as part of Féile an Phobail.
Belfast Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Whole new ball game as hurling and shinty hybrid matches set for Féile an Phobail
Hosted by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, a team of camogie players and hurlers, as well as two shinty squads from Scotland, will play two games to celebrate Antrim GAA's 140th anniversary. The matches will take place on August 2 as part of the Féile an Phobail. A male and female shinty side, from Stirling and the Isle of Skye respectively, will take on their Antrim counterparts at Corrigan Park to 'build bridges and connections'. Shinty shares a similar ancestry to hurling, with versions of both being played 2,000 years ago. The Scottish sport is thought to have been introduced by Irish settlers in the 17th century and has developed some different rules. However, to mark the union of the two sports, a combined rules match will be played that will draw on both of the games' styles. Managing the Antrim side is former county hurler Terence McNaughton, who explained how both sports, despite having their own styles, are 'hundred-mile-an-hour' games. Mr McNaughton said: 'Shinty is a traditional sport in Scotland, not unlike hurling. It's a field sport — a very fast field sport, too. 'The difference between hurling and shinty is that we're allowed to take the ball in the hand in hurling. 'They don't in shinty. So in this combined rules game, we're not allowed to handle the ball. 'It's a very fast-moving game. It's actually like stepping back in time a bit. Hurling was played for the first time on the ground. 'It's really is hundred-mile-an-hour stuff.' Antrim's Maeve Kelly and Colleen Patterson will be taking part. Despite being at the top of their game in camogie, the pair are looking forward to the challenge of the hybrid rules match. Maeve said: 'It's great to see it showcasing the women's sport. 'They use ground hurling so they don't put it in their hands, so it will be a hybrid model of the rules. 'I think in the past it has been one half camogie and then the second half has been shinty rules. 'It'll be a bit of fun getting used to the different rules.' West Belfast Presbyterian minister Rev David Moore explained how the matches will be important for fostering connections in the area and hopes to hold events of a similar kind in the future. 'It's letting folk know that we're here in west Belfast and that we want to be part of the community and that we're involved and welcomed in the community,' said Rev Moore. 'And I think from the GAA's point of view, you'll have to ask them what they think, but I think they're very enthusiastic about the idea of doing this and expanding the range of community connections. 'I hope we're expecting to see two very good games. 'The ladies team from the Isle of Skye are one of the best teams in Scotland, I believe. 'And the men's team, they're probably only just getting started, but they're full of very enthusiastic players. 'I think you'll see people who have just come for a nice weekend in Belfast and want to win a game.'
Irish Independent
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Vision for a united Ireland cannot be ‘annexation of six more counties', Leo Varadkar says
Mr Varadkar also said he hopes the current Irish Government takes the decision to establish a forum to lead discussions on unity, and also appeared to dismiss concerns of potential loyalist violence in reaction to a united Ireland. Mr Varadkar, who stood down as taoiseach in April last year, said he believes he will see a united Ireland in his lifetime but warned it is not inevitable. He said that he has had no regrets so far since leaving elected politics, and is enjoying both 'a lot of personal and intellectual freedom to say what I think'. He was speaking at an In Conversation event with Rev Karen Sethuraman at St Mary's University college in west Belfast, hosted by Féile an Phobail and Ireland's Future. Former Sinn Féin president and West Belfast MP Gerry Adams was among those in the audience for the event. Mr Varadkar stressed that a united Ireland 'has to be a new Ireland that is better for everyone'. 'That includes a bill of rights, guarantees civil protections and liberties,' he said. 'Unification, in my view, is not the annexation of six more counties by the Republic of Ireland. It's a new state and one that can be better for all of us, an opportunity that only comes around every 100 years, which is to design your state and design your constitution.' In terms of what the current Irish Government is doing, Mr Varadkar described the Shared Island Unit, which was set up when he was taoiseach, as really positive. But he said he would like to see the Irish Government lead a forum ahead of unity. ADVERTISEMENT He said there was the New Ireland Forum in the 1980s, and the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in the 1990s. 'I think there is a strong case now for us to convene the parties that are interested in talking about this – unions, business groups, civil society – in a forum to have that discussion, but I don't see how that can happen if that isn't led by the Irish Government, and I hope at some point during the course of this five-year government, a decision will be taken to do that,' he said. Meanwhile, asked how he felt potential violent opposition to a united Ireland could be handled, Mr Varadkar suggested he felt 'only a very small minority may turn to violence'. 'I know there are people south of the border who, when I talk to them about reunification, express to me concerns that there might be a very small minority within unionism who may turn to violence,' he said. 'I don't think we should dismiss that as a possibility. I don't think it will happen, to be honest. 'I n two referendums, both north and south, people would be very clearly giving their preference as to what should happen, it would be quite a different situation to when partition happened 100 years ago and it wasn't voted for.' Meanwhile, deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly suggested Mr Varadkar was 'wrong in terms of the trajectory' towards a united Ireland, insisting the number of people voting for nationalist parties, around 40pc, 'hasn't moved since 1998'.
