Latest news with #JohnGalvin
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Waste disposal practices are harming the environment
Your article (Millions of tonnes of toxic sewage sludge spread on UK farmland every year, 7 July) gives some insight into the environmental impact of the practice and the paucity of regulatory control. The legal case had been made as far back as 2015 that the spreading of sewage sludge – which the water industry prefers to call 'biosolids' – should be brought under the potentially much tighter environmental permitting system that applies to the spreading of other industrial wastes applied to land for agricultural benefit. Not surprisingly, the very mention that sewage sludge be treated as a 'waste' drew strong resistance from water companies that feared a collapse in the market. However, this is only part of the story. The ban on dumping at sea, coupled with the move away from landfill, has seen a huge shift from putting waste in one place to smearing it in ever more discrete parcels over farmland and elsewhere, purportedly for ecological improvement. In additional to sewage sludge, there are construction waste soils, waste compost and anaerobic digestate, plus a range of non‑waste soil improvers deposited. Examples such as pig carcasses in compost on farmland testify to what some people will try to get away with if not properly regulated. While there may well be good examples of using treated waste to improve soil, the cumulative environmental burden of the range of practices is largely unchecked and GalvinFormer policy adviser, Environment Agency and Defra There is a £6m research project studying the use of pyrolysis on sewage sludge that should assist in sequestering carbon in the soil and which may reduce pollutants like Pfas – so-called 'forever chemicals'. The project undertaken by Thames Water, Ofwat and other collaborators aims to deliver a continuous flow system that could be widely deployed, and the research is due to complete in 2027. If successful, this technology would allow our sewage sludge to be used as an agricultural input while meeting our wider needs to reduce pollution and climate emissions. However, we will need to further invest in our water-treatment system. Can the privatised water industry meet the challenge?Andrew WoodOxford Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
BreakingNews.ie
4 days ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
John Galvin discusses the rise of Limerick football ahead of Tailteann Cup final
While it may have been a year without silverware for the hurlers, Limerick's football team will be making their third trip to Croke Park in the Tailteann Cup final. When John Galvin played for the Treaty County, he couldn't have foreseen this happening. Advertisement Having topped their group ahead of Westmeath, Limerick produced a second-half comeback to reach their first Tailteann Cup final. For Galvin, who reached the Munster final with Limerick during his playing days, he could not imagine the success the Limerick footballers have had this year. "It is definitely special for Limerick football to be in this position. "To be going for silverware twice in one year is something mad altogether, to be playing in Croke Park for the third time this year in front of a TV crowd is another big thing. Advertisement "They had a great league run, it just didn't happen all of a sudden." A county that has produced one of the best hurling teams of all time, the footballers have not got the support they perhaps may not have liked. Now the team with the chance of winning silverware, it could be a day for the history books for Limerick, who know they will go in as underdogs against Kildare. For Galvin, Saturday could have a huge impact on the next generation. Advertisement "The way of getting people interested in playing for Limerick is playing in Croke Park, by winning games and by encouraging people to see it is a big thing to play for Limerick. "It does benefit the footballers right now to say the hurlers have been knocked out. At least all eyes are focused on the footballers this weekend compared to if the footballers were still in it." In the fourth year of the competition, the Tailteann Cup has seen the likes of Meath and Down bring their game to another level after winning the competition. Had the competition not existed, Limerick's season would likely have ended a long time ago, but now have the chance to compete in the All-Ireland next season should they win on Saturday. Advertisement Sport Colm Cooper says Jack O'Connor may have used comme... Read More Galvin admitted he was not in favour of the competition when it was first introduced, but can now see its benefits. "I have got to be honest, when there was talks of it, I would have been against it. "If I was a player, I would want to take on the likes of Kerry and Cork, but the gap has got too wide. Back in my day, the weaker teams on a given day could compete with the bigger teams, but the gap has got way too wide now. "The Limerick players have really bought into it and are really motivated to play in the Tailteann Cup."
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'They're going mad online' - Doyle hopes good times returning for Kildare
Considering their geographical locations and respective football traditions, a Tailteann Cup final at Croke Park should suit Kildare and intimidate Limerick. In reality, the opposite may very well be the case. John Galvin may have stated earlier this week that he only played at Croke Park three times in his 15-year Limerick career, but the present team has already played there twice in 2025, and won both times. For some of the Limerick players, their only Croke Park experiences will have been winning ones. Kildare, meanwhile, have found GAA HQ to be a house of horrors. Prior to their laboured Tailteann Cup semi-final defeat of Fermanagh, they'd lost their previous five games at Croke Park, including this season's Division 3 final against Offaly. Stretch it out a little longer and they'd lost 20 of the 27 Championship games they'd played there since the 2010 All-Ireland semi-final against Down. As a player and then selector under Glenn Ryan between 2022 and 2024, Johnny Doyle experienced the Croke Park curs, though the AIB GAA ambassador said it should never be used as an excuse. "It's not something I'd have a huge fear of," said Doyle of the Croke Park factor. "I know it has been said about Croke Park, you know, a half empty stadium and all these different things come into it when you lose, people look for every excuse but I certainly would never have bought into that. "As a player, I loved playing at Croke Park and it didn't really matter whether it was full or not. Obviously when it's full there's a huge atmosphere but that brings its own pressure. Look, the two teams go in under the same conditions and one will win. "So I wouldn't be using that. I wouldn't have any fear about the Croke Park element. It just doesn't wash with me at all. "It's the best stadium, it's the best surface, so you should be able to produce your best football in those conditions and if we come out beaten this weekend, I don't think it'll be down to Croke Park. Others may but I certainly won't, and I wouldn't use it as an excuse." Likewise, Doyle doesn't have much time for the narrative that Kildare should be able to take a Division 4 team like Limerick, albeit the Division 4 champions this year, in their stride. "They'll beat them when they've them beaten and they won't beat them before that," insisted the Allenwood man. "We've been guilty, teams I've been on myself in the past, when people say, 'Oh you should win that' and we don't win and that's the consistency we probably lacked over the last few years." After a difficult few years under Ryan, when Kildare were twice relegated, their large support base craves success. Doyle acknowledged the tough times, particularly after the losses. "I remember one game we lost, after the Laois game when they beat us in the Tailteann Cup last year, and my sister ringing me saying, 'Are you okay?'" said Doyle. "I said, 'Yeah, I'm okay, I'm disappointed'. And she was like, 'It's just that they're going mad online'. "But that's part of it, we just have to accept that but, yeah, it was tough. It was tough for everybody."
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
John Galvin believes Tailteann Cup winners should re-enter All-Ireland fray immediately
Former Limerick football star John Galvin reckons the Tailteann Cup winners should be catapulted back into the current season's All-Ireland SFC race. Limerick will face Kildare in tomorrow's tier two decider with the winners set to secure their spot in the 2026 Sam Maguire Cup competition. But ex-midfielder Galvin, three times an All-Star nominee, believes it would make more sense to parachute the winners into the current year's Championship race, allowing them to capitalise on their momentum. He said the reality is that Limerick could win tomorrow and then find themselves struggling by the time next year's Championship comes around. "I love the idea that there's a motivation for the Tailteann Cup winners to get into the All-Ireland series," said AIB GAA ambassador Galvin. "My only issue is that it's not the All-Ireland series of this year. "Limerick are coming off this serious run, and Kildare are coming off a serious run. But then you're saying, right, play the final and it's the following year you're getting into the All-Ireland series. "But Limerick is a weaker county, a couple of injuries could crop up. Limerick could have a brutal run in the league next year and all of a sudden they're being thrown in against the Dublins and the Donegals and the Kerrys and stuff like that. It could be a disaster. "I think if you really wanted to inspire players to play in the Tailteann Cup, and for them to play in the senior championship, it would want to be in the same season. "Whether the Tailteann Cup finalists get into a preliminary quarter-final or a quarter-final or something like that, that's where you'd need to be joining in. I think that would really make a massive difference. After a great run of games, you'd like to think you could give it a serious crack off one of the big teams then." Even under the current system, Galvin is confident that the majority of the panel will be back for 2026 and that Limerick won't suffer the high drop out rates they have in recent years. Beyond that, he isn't sure what the future holds for a sport probably ranked fourth in the county behind hurling, rugby and soccer. "It you were to start in the morning, you're probably still talking about a seven, eight-year project," said Galvin of making Limerick a top six or eight team. "You need a serious conveyor belt of players coming through and keep working your way up then slowly to get there. But can it be done? Of course it can be done."
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Limerick legend calls for radical Tailteann Cup overhaul as Treaty bid for title
Former Limerick star John Galvin has called for Tailteann Cup winners to be afforded a spot in the All-Ireland series in the same season. As it stands, whoever wins the second tier competition is guaranteed a spot in the top tier the following year, with 2024 champions Down taking their place in the All-Ireland group stages despite being relegated to Division Three this year. But Galvin feels that much of the momentum of going all the way is lost come the following year, as Limerick face Kildare in tomorrow's final at Croke Park. He said: 'I love the idea that there's a motivation for the Tailteann Cup winners to get into the All-Ireland series. My only issue with it is that it's not in the All-Ireland series this year. 'Limerick is after this serious run, and Kildare is after this serious run. And then you go and you play the final. And then the following year you're into the All-Ireland series. 'But like, Limerick is a weak [football] county. A couple of injuries, things like that. Limerick could have a brutal run in the League next year. And all of a sudden they're being thrown in against the Dublins and Donegals and Kerrys and stuff like that and it could be a disaster. 'I know it's time management. I think if you were really wanting to inspire a player to play in the Tailteann Cup and give the senior Championship a crack, they'd want to be on the same season. That's just my opinion. 'I don't know how you do it with time and schedules and stuff like that, or where they'd fall in. But I would try and get them to fall in there somewhere else. That's the way I do it.' Fixture-makers would point to a lack of room in the schedule but the three-week gap between the Tailteann semi-finals and final is an obvious juncture where significant time could be made up to allow for what Galvin is calling for. 'There's no need for that [gap]. You probably need to put it back a week or two and whether the Tailteann Cup finalists get into a preliminary quarter-final or a quarter-final or something like that, that's where you need to be joining. 'But I think that that would really make it massive. That would really make the goal. Next year's a really long time to be thinking about it.' Galvin, who was the standout player on a Limerick team that came agonisingly close to a Munster title under the late Liam Kearns and Mickey Ned O'Sullivan from 2003-10 in particular, said he was unsure about the Tailteann Cup concept initially and rubbished suggestions that there a third tier should be introduced. 'There's a massive difference between the top and the bottom teams. I think GAA created that by, when there was Division 1A, Division 1B, Division 2A, Division 2B and when they separated it all up, they all put all the top teams together. 'I think that is one of the reasons the gaps have opened up and opened up and opened up. That's why they're so wide now. 'I'd just be afraid if you make a third tier that you're just spreading it out again and the gap is going to get wider again and there's teams that are at the bottom that will never be able to get up the ladder.'
