Latest news with #SydneyParade
Irish Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Skipper Gaby Lewis stars with the bat again as Ireland wrap up T20 series against Zimbabwe
Second T20 international: Ireland 176-4 (20 ovs) (G Lewis 87, O Prendergast 52; T Makusha 2-30), Zimbabwe 111 (20 ovs) (K Ndhlovu 46; C Murray 3-17, L Paul 2-9, O Prendergast 2-17). Ireland won by 65 runs and win series 2-0 Skipper Gaby Lewis kept up her brilliant form with the bat as she hit 87 from 50 balls to secure a convincing 65-run victory and a T20 series win over Zimbabwe at Sydney Parade on Tuesday. Zimbabwe won the toss and put the home side into bat, and they got the early breakthrough when Tendai Makusha trapped Amy Hunter lbw for one in the second over. From 14 for one, however, Lewis came together with Orla Prendergast and the pair formed a 131-run partnership which occupied 14 of the 20 overs. READ MORE Lewis – who also top-scored with 67 in Sunday's series opener – was caught by Beloved Biza off Makusha for 87 as she tried to accelerate to three figures. Prendergast made 52 before being bowled by Kelis Ndhlovu as Ireland finished on 176 for four. Ireland took wickets at regular intervals to stop Zimbabwe from making a mark on the run chase but while Ndhlovu was at the crease, the tourists were in the contest as she top-scored with 46. But once the opener fell victim to Prendergast, Zimbabwe started to lose wickets at speed – Cara Murray claiming three for 17, Prendergast two for 17 and Leah Paul two for nine to ensure Zimbabwe fell a long way short of their target. The series concludes at the same venue on Wednesday, with a pair of one-day internationals to follow next week in Belfast.
Irish Independent
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Lara McBride set for Ireland debut in women's ODI and T20 series
McBride, a 19-year-old off-spinner who plays for The Hills, was one of the standout performers at the U-19 World Cup in January and has continued to impress in domestic competitions. Lloyd Tennant, the new head coach of the women's team, is looking forward to the five matches – three T20s at Sydney Parade, and two ODIs in Belfast – and hopes to expand on the work of predecessor Ed Joyce who stood down at the end of April. 'My aim during the next few weeks and months is to build on the strong foundations already in place but, where possible, look to move our game forward,' Tennant said. 'I've had a very warm welcome since arriving, and there are plenty of incredibly talented players here in Ireland to work with.' The Girls in Green have an impressive record against Zimbabwe, having beaten them in all seven T20 meetings between the sides, and six of the eight ODIs they have contested. T20I SQUAD: Gaby Lewis (c) (Phoenix), Ava Canning (Leinster), Christina Coulter Reilly (Clontarf), Laura Delany (Leinster), Amy Hunter (Instonians), Arlene Kelly (Malahide), Louise Little (Pembroke), Sophie MacMahon (Leinster), Jane Maguire (The Hills), Lara McBride (The Hills), Cara Murray (Waringstown/Clontarf), Leah Paul (Merrion), Orla Prendergast (Pembroke), Rebecca Stokell (Merrion).
Irish Examiner
19-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
Child sexual assault and indecent exposures among 4,300 complaints made to Irish Rail last year
Irish Rail received nearly 4,300 messages to its dedicated text line for reporting antisocial behaviour on train services last year, with passengers complaining about drug use, violence, sexual assault, and indecent exposure. Among the incidents reported in 2024 include a man defecating in the middle of a carriage, a fist-fight involving a man and a woman, a passenger brandishing a sword, and a child allegedly being sexually assaulted. A government TD is now calling for a dedicated public transport unit of An Garda Síochána. Records released under freedom of information laws suggest that drugs are regularly being openly abused on train services, with children even observed smoking cannabis on the Dart in January of last year. In February, one commuter texted Irish Rail to report a couple openly using cocaine on a train service with their baby in a pram in front of them, while a man on a train near Killiney last May was reported to have removed his trousers while smoking cannabis. Alcohol consumption was also a recurring problem. On February 29, a 'violent, aggressive drunk man' was removed from a train at Clara, after which distressed passengers watched him 'vomiting and trying to fight'. In July, a passenger contacted Irish Rail to report that a 75-year-old man had exposed himself to a young girl on an afternoon train service. She was 'visibly upset', they said. Similarly, a man on a train heading for Sydney Parade in Dublin last June was reported for 'exposing his d**k', and a man on a train at Booterstown was 'exposing his bare arse to young girls' in January. There were a number of complaints about couples engaging in 'sexually explicit acts' on trains. On October 11, an individual reported that two fellow passengers were 'openly fingering each other and making out'. In August, a troubling text message reported that a child had been sexually assaulted by a group of adolescents on a train early in the evening. The child disembarked at Bayside station, according to the report. Also in August, a passenger was made to feel very uncomfortable by a man who was walking up and down the train dressed as a clown. In March, a man boarded a train to Maynooth with a sword, according to two reports. In late July, a passenger reported that a man and woman were punching each other on board a train, noting that 'she had him in a headlock at one point'. On April 9, a knife fight was reported on the Sligo-Dublin service around 11am, while a man 'slapped' a girl during a 'lovers' quarrel' on the Howth train near Connolly Station in January. There were frequent instances of racist abuse on train services last year. In March, it was reported that two males were racially abusing 'a little boy' on a train, while a woman and her child were the targets of racist abuse near Connollly Station in September. In May, passengers on a train at Howth Junction had a rock thrown through the window, while one commuter reported that a group of 'young lads' had been travelling on the outside of the train before jumping off at Lansdowne Road. A man was reported to have defecated on a train in January and, in an unrelated incident, a passenger discovered 'an actual bag of faeces' in the middle of a carriage in September while travelling to Bray. There were several complaints about the presence of blood on walls, windows and seats on carriages, as well as 'puddles' of vomit on floors, and 'dog poo' on some of the seats. A number of passengers who reported antisocial or criminal behaviour to Irish Rail via the text line said they had to get off the train for their own safety. Reaction Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin described the incidents described in the text messages as 'awful', and said there was a need to expedite plans for public transport policing contained in the Programme for Government. 'What's proposed at this stage is a standalone public transport service. My own preference would be that it would be a unit of An Garda Síochana,' he said. 'This is why we definitely need to have more monitors, more proactive and visible deterrents on public transport – on carriages and platforms. Nobody wants to see these awful elements, particularly for youngsters. We need to ensure they are safe.' A spokesman for Irish Rail said antisocial behaviour was a societal issue to which train services were not immune, but added that there were a range of proactive and preventative measures in place to address it. 'The text line allows people to discreetly alert us to issues of concern, and is live monitored through our central security hub, who are in direct contact with our security teams on the network to co-ordinate response,' he explained. 'The vast majority of 50.1 million journeys on our network take place without incident, but we will continue to prioritise prevention of incidents, and rapid response working with our partners.' Read More Gardaí rostered at Cork hospital due to violence towards staff
Irish Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Crampton-built home on secret street at Sydney Parade for €1.395m
Address : 4 Ailesbury Gardens, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Price : €1,395,000 Agent : DNG View this property on On the Sandymount side of the level crossing at Sydney Parade Dart station, this secret street runs parallel to the train line and links to the seafront at Sandymount's Strand Road via St Alban's Park. It is also within a couple of minutes' walk of the Merrion Centre. If you run out of milk, you could put the kettle on and probably be back home before it had boiled. This Dublin 4 road features 1930s Crampton-built homes that come with an unusual added extra: a small plot of land on the far side of the street that abuts the station's granite wall. Number 4 , tucked behind a privet hedge, is a well-maintained four-bedroom house whose entrance is to the side, giving you extra space inside and the full width at the front of this home to inhabit. READ MORE The front door opens into a decent-sized hallway with a nicely proportioned livingroom and a family room immediately on the left and facing out on to the front garden. Some neighbours have opened these two rooms up to create interconnecting spaces. [ Look inside: Superbly designed house and mews with unparalleled views over Killiney Bay for €7.25m Opens in new window ] Livingroom Kitchen and dining area Library Conservatory-diningroom There is a guest WC off the hall and the staircase winds around it. A signature style of homes of this vintage, it means the stairs are visually unobtrusive. The back of the house is where a new owner may look to make some changes. One could, for example, decide to merge the this home's office, conservatory-diningroom and kitchen to take better advantage of the morning sun that streams into the rear of the property. [ Rathmichael home offers rarified retreat in serene, sylvan setting for €3.25m Opens in new window ] The house's dining area opens out to a large garden that extends to about 30m (98ft) in length and is very private. There is scope to extend here subject to the conditions surrounding planning permission governing rear extensions. Bedroom Landing Hall Driveway Rear The detached garage, is set well the back from the house and can also be accessed from the garden. Upstairs there are four bedrooms with a separate WC and bathroom. While many would consider this to be somewhat old-fashioned, it's a practical layout that allows busy morning households to make use of both rooms simultaneously. The property has off-street parking for two cars parked end to end and has a well-planted front garden that gets gorgeous western sun. The semi-d, which extends to a generous 164sq m (1,765sq ft) and has an E2 Ber rating, is seeking €1.395 million through agent DNG. These houses rarely come to market. The last one listed on the property price register was in October 2012, when number 2 sold for €851,000. Now there are two up for sale simultaneously. Three doors up, number 7 Ailesbury Gardens, is on the market through agent Allen & Jacob. It also has four bedrooms, with three bathrooms, and 202sq m (2,174sq ft) of space, and the D2 Ber-rated property is seeking €1.495 million.
Irish Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Gerry Thornley: Remembering my uncle Johnny Hughes - the man I have most admired in my life
A little like Charlie Haughey, I like to lay claim to a number of clubs around the country, but the first game I ever attended was a Clontarf match at Castle Avenue. Indeed, they would have been the first few games I ever witnessed. That was where my love of rugby first started. The reason was entirely due to the Clontarf outhalf being Johnny Hughes, my uncle and, as my dad died when I was young, without doubt the man I have most admired in my life. I wish I had told him that more often, or even at all, as he passed away this week. Maybe the memories are tinged with bias, but in my mind he was an uber cool, stylish outhalf – and that's perhaps because he was un uber cool, stylish man. He very much marched to his own beat, and if memory serves he retired from playing at 29 or 30, which seemed utterly unfathomable to his adoring nephew. Then, Johnny being Johnny, he took to running and seemed to get fitter after he stopped playing. Being the youngest of five to John, from Armagh, and Dympna, from Leitrim, he was the darling of the family, not least to Dympna senior, as well as his siblings, the eldest being my mum Petria. READ MORE One day, after listening to his sister Mary eulogise about Johnny, I overhead Petria say to her: 'Johnny's not perfect you know.' To which Mary responded: 'Well, he is actually.' Truly funny, warm and a pacifist who loved birds, Johnny was also very handsome. There's a black and white picture of him in which he could pass for James Dean. And he aged gracefully and coolly, in a Paul Newman kind of way. His son Aengus, who is also a Clontarf RFC man, is a credit to Johnny and Breda. After retiring, he remained a keen rugby fan; indeed his passion for the game seemed even to grow. If matches were on pay-per-view, he regularly called over to my mum's house to watch each and all of the provinces in action, and any Ireland games that weren't on terrestrial television as well. The successes of the Irish team, especially in latter years, gave him real joy. It's because of the millions like Johnny that the Six Nations should always be on terrestrial television, and why, by contrast, the Champions Cup has lost its reach. Johnny Hughes. Photograph: He always retained his personal perspective on the game, like he did on journalism, politics and pretty much everything else. He was never, ever dull; not for a minute. At extended family gatherings, everybody wanted to chat with Johnny and listen to his articulate and witty take on life. That's probably why John Dinan and his old Clontarf buddies used to always ask about him. So too did journalists as, luckily for me, Johnny was a subeditor for the Irish Independent, Irish Press and, latterly, The Irish Times. When, at the influence of my mum and the help of her cousin Jim Downey, I got my toenail into journalism, my first 'marking' was a 6-all draw between Monkstown and Young Munster in Sydney Parade. I took my notes, raced home and both Johnny and Petria helped me write my two paragraphs before I phoned the report into the Sunday Press. He always remained a sounding board and a wise counsel. Like all of that generation in my family tree, and probably in most others, he was very intelligent and extremely well read, as well as being progressive in his thinking and his politics. Johnny had loads of wise words. In the immediate days after my mum and his eldest sister died, I said to him: 'She was the biggest influence on my life.' To which he said: 'And she always will be'. And so will you Johnny. – A short service celebrating Johnny's life will take place in Glasnevin Crematorium on Saturday afternoon at 1.30.
