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Irish Times
27 minutes ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Tony O'Reilly, the ‘boy wonder' who took the Lions tour of South Africa by storm
No matter how well the Irish international rugby players perform on the current British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, none of them is likely to match the impact that Dubliner Tony O'Reilly made 70 years ago this summer during the 1955 Lions tour of South Africa . Not yet three months past his 19th birthday, he scored two tries on his Lions debut and he played in all four test matches against South Africa in August and September when South Africa were regarded as the best team in the world. He was top scorer on that tour with 15 tries, including one in the first and fourth test matches. 'His speed shook the Springboks ,' said the Sunday Press report on the first test, which the Lions won 23-22, in Johannesburg. The accompanying photograph was captioned: 'The fast-running Tony O'Reilly, whose great individual efforts were rewarded by scoring a try.' Another try in the fourth and final test in Port Elizabeth, where South Africa won by 22 points to 8 to share the series 2-2, enabled the same paper to headline its match report: O'Reilly Stars As Tourists Go Down. The Irish Times report was more phlegmatic. 'He dislocated his shoulder when scoring, but the bone was later replaced successfully,' it said. (Idiosyncratic house styles dictated that the The Irish Times called the travelling team 'British Isles' while the Sunday Press called them 'British and Irish XV' or 'the Tourists'.) READ MORE During the subsequent Lions tour of Australia, New Zealand and Canada in 1959, O'Reilly scored a try in each of the test wins over Australia and in two of the four tests against New Zealand. His combined total of 37 tries on the 1955 and 1959 tours remains a Lions record. The 17 tries he scored in New Zealand in 1959 is also a Lions record. O'Reilly won his first Irish international cap, aged 18, in January 1955, less than two months after he was hailed as 'an up-and-coming boy wonder' in the Sunday Press, then the country's best-bestselling paper. Already 'attracting attention as a great attacking player' on the Old Belvedere senior team, the 6ft 3.5in, 14-stone O'Reilly had also achieved success at cricket, tennis and soccer, it noted. 'He has four School Cup medals for tennis and was on the Belvedere team which won the Schools Cricket Cup as a wicketkeeper and opening bat,' the report said, adding: 'In cricket he has provincial honours and was a reserve for the Schools of Ireland team. At soccer Tony played for Home Farm and got a trial as a centre-forward for the Irish Schools against England, but was unable to play because of a Rugby Cup match.' Rugby renown was followed by a successful business career, initially as general manager of An Bord Báinne, the Irish Dairy Board, for whom he oversaw the launch of the internationally successful Kerrygold butter brand. He became chairman and chief executive of the giant US food group Heinz and owner of the Waterford Wedgwood crystal glass and ceramics brands. [ Tony O'Reilly: A dazzling star who left a mark on many facets of Irish society Opens in new window ] He also enjoyed more than 35 years as a 'media magnate' (a now obsolescent term), peaking in ownership of 128 newspapers and a number of radio stations and TV cable interests in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Britain. He gained control of the Irish Independent group in 1973 and he became majority owner of Ireland's bestselling Sunday World five years later. After another five years he had full control over the Independent Group and from about 1990 onwards he was in effect bankrolling the Sunday Tribune. He was also joint owner of the Anglo-Irish tabloid Daily Star and owner of the Belfast Telegraph. His investments in the Sunday Tribune and in the London Independent and Independent on Sunday probably never made a penny profit, however. Neither did his multimillion pound 1994 investment and loan to the owners of the newspaper that had first heralded his sporting prowess, the Sunday Press, and its sister daily and evening titles. The State's Competition Authority found that the investment and loan amounted to 'very serious breaches' of the Competition Act and 'an abuse of a dominant position' by O'Reilly's Independent group. The Press group collapsed in May 1995 and O'Reilly was ousted from Independent News & Media (INM) in 2009. His shareholdings in INM and Waterford Wedgwood nosedived in value, foreshadowing his serious illness and bankruptcy. His long-serving INM chief executive Vincent Crowley was asked later what value had been attributed to the Press shareholding in its annual reports. He replied: 'Zero.'
RTÉ News
10 hours ago
- Climate
- RTÉ News
Thirty dead as China hit by heavy rain and landslides
Denis Staunton, China Correspondent for The Irish Times, reports that at least 30 people were killed as heavy rain in the Chinese capital Beijing prompted authorities to evacuate 80,000.
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First Post
a day ago
- First Post
Australia, Ireland and beyond: Are attacks on Indians abroad on the rise?
On July 19, two Indians were brutally attacked in two separate incidents — one in Ireland's Dublin and the other in Australia's Adelaide. However, data suggests that these aren't one-off incidents and hatred against Indians is on the rise across the globe read more Data shows there has been a rise in incidents of hate-related attacks on Indians, notably on students, abroad. Representational image/AFP On July 19, an Indian man was brutally attacked by a mob in Ireland's Dublin, leaving him dripping in blood from his head to toe. On the very same day, in Australia's Adelaide, a 23-year-old Indian was brutally beaten after being ambushed by five men following a dispute over a parking spot. The two incidents occurred thousands of kilometres away, but has the same theme — hatred against Indians on foreign soil. In fact, data reveals that such attacks on Indians are rising in recent times. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD We take a closer look at how a rising number of Indians are becoming victims of attacks; in some extreme cases, the incidents are even fatal. Indians attacked in Dublin On July 19, a married father of one, who had left his wife and child in India to take up a job in Dublin just weeks before, was brutally assaulted, robbed and stripped of some of his clothes in Tallaght, a suburb in the Irish capital. The attack by a gang of teenagers came after they had falsely accused the man of acting inappropriately around children. These claims were later spread online, including by prominent far-right and anti-immigrant accounts, said a report by The Irish Times. However, the Irish police, Garda, said there is no truth to accusations the man was acting inappropriately. A friend of the man, who was attacked, told The Irish Times that it all began when he had set off on foot to the Vinayaka Hindu temple in Kingswood, following a Google Maps route on July 19. While walking through Kilnamanagh, he was approached by a group of teenagers who started taunting him and asking why he was in Ireland. 'He tried explaining he'd been hired by a tech company to fill a skills gap here in Ireland. And then they hit him badly on the head. For 10 to 12 seconds he didn't know where he was and then he realised blood was oozing from his forehead.' Following the attack, the group stripped him of his pants, leaving him to wander in a dazed state through the residential area. 'He was trying to take cover and seek help; he was so ashamed. A couple of cars passed him and one man hurled abuse at him. There's a video of that.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Local resident, Jennifer Murray, who was travelling on the same route, spotted him bloodied, and gave him a blanket, waiting with him for an ambulance to arrive. An emotional Murray broke down while recounting the incident, saying the man kept thanking her repeatedly. However, while this incident has garnered a lot of attention, it isn't the only one that has occurred in Dublin. Another Indian, Vikram Jain, an Irish citizen for some years now, recounted how his tenant had also been attacked by a gang. The young man, who is studying for a master's degree at Dublin Business School, arrived back at Jain's home with a broken nose. The student was walking through Sean Walsh Park in Tallaght about 6 pm when, he said, he was approached by a group of teenagers. 'They started hurling verbal abuse at him and then they punched him in the face and all over his body,' Jain told The Irish Times. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Indian student thrashed in Adelaide Notably, at the same time when the 40-year-old Indian was being beaten up in Dublin, a 23-year-old was assaulted in Adelaide following what he described as a dispute over parking and alleged racist remarks. The incident took place on Saturday night on Kintore Avenue. The man involved in the attack, identified as Charanpreet Singh, who is in the Australian city for his education, said it all unfolded when a group approached his vehicle, hurled racial slurs and then repeatedly punched him to the ground. Twenty-three-year-old Charanpreet Singh in hospital after being attacked in Adelaide, Australia. Image Courtesy: SBS/X 'They just said 'f**k off, Indian', and after that they just started punching,' Singh told 9News from his hospital bed. 'I tried to fight back, but they beat me until I was unconscious.' He sustained severe injuries, including brain trauma and multiple facial fractures. He was rushed to the hospital, where he remained under medical care overnight. The following day, the South Australia Police arrested a 20-year-old man from Enfield and charged him with assault causing harm. However, the rest of the attackers are yet to be identified. Police have appealed for public assistance in tracking them down. The assault has sparked outrage among Adelaide's Indian community and raised concerns about the safety of international students and immigrants in Australia. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Prior to this, in October 2022, a 28-year-old, pursuing his PhD from in mechanical engineering from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, was brutally attacked with a knife and allegedly stabbed 11 times. The student, identified as Shubham Garg, was reportedly attacked in a racial attack. Indians assaulted on foreign soil The two recent incidents of Indians being attacked aren't one-off incidents; it's part of a growing pattern across the world. Data from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reveals that a total of 91 Indian students have been attacked abroad in the past five years. Moreover, data reveals that in the past five years, 30 students have lost their lives in such attacks. As per the numbers, there were 40 violent attacks on Indian students in 2024, 28 in 2023, four in 2022, two in 2021 and three in 2020. According to the data provided by the MEA, Canada accounted for the highest number of cases, reporting 27 violent attacks, of which 16 were fatal. Russia recorded 15 incidents with no reported deaths. Until April 2025, a total of 91 Indian students have been attacked abroad since 2020. Representational image/AFP The United Kingdom and Germany followed with 12 and 11 cases, respectively, with one death reported in each country. The United States saw nine violent attacks — all of which resulted in the deaths of Indian students. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Additionally, one fatal case each was reported from China and Kyrgyzstan. Ireland, the Philippines, Italy and Iran reported four, three, three, and one case respectively, none of which led to fatalities. Australia recorded four incidents, including one death. The MEA has also separately issued figures for attacks on Indians overseas. Eighty-six Indians were attacked in 2023 — with the most cases being reported in the US (12), the UK (10), Saudi Arabia (10) and Canada (10). This is an increase from 57 in 2022 and 29 in 2021. Separately, an RTI filed by activist Dr Vivek Pandey last year revealed that up to 28,458 Indians have died abroad in the past three years. According to the reply, 24,278 Indians died of natural causes, 1,622 in accidents, 686 due to occupational hazards, 1,736 from suicide, and 136 from violence and murder. 'Some of which [deaths] pertain to Indian students,' Praveen Kumar Munjal, Chief Public Information Officer, MEA stated. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It's left to be seen what comes next — but officials note that more needs to be done to ensure that Indians are safe abroad. With inputs from agencies
The Journal
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Simon Harris says he will try to make a 'national day of protest over Gaza' happen
TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS took to Instagram today to endorse a letter advocating for a national day of protest over Gaza, and said that he will talk to colleagues on 'how to make this happen'. Harris was responding to a letter written by Micheal Cush that was published in The Irish Times on Thursday. The letter states that the Irish government has been strong in its condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza, but that the government and the people of Ireland are growing frustrated as they feel 'helpless' to prevent the ongoing conflict. Advertisement 'But together, the Government and the people might be much more influential,' Dublin man Cush wrote in his letter. 'If the Government were to call a national day of protest, making clear that it was a condemnation of atrocities in Gaza, not of Israel's right to self-determination or self-defence, the turnout would likely be enormous.' Today, Harris posted the letter alongside a statement endorsing Cush's suggestion. 'The people of Ireland stand with the people of Palestine. We stand for human rights, for international law, for a two state solution, for aid to flow, for hostages to be released. We stand for peace. We stand for an end to genocide,' Harris wrote. 'The suggestion for a national day or moment of solidarity made by Michael Cush in the letter above is sensible and a good idea. It could be powerful if many countries did it together. I will now talk to colleagues on how to make this happen.' Related Reads EU tells Israel to 'stop killing people' who are seeking food and aid 'Humanitarian city' for Palestinians would be a 'concentration camp', says former Israeli PM The Irish government has been one of the few within Europe that have labelled Israel's actions in Gaza as 'genocide'. However, it has faced intense criticism from staunch supporters of the 'Free Palestine' movement over the Central Bank's role in facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds, as well as the delay in passing the Occupied Territories Bill. Internationally, pressure has been ramping up on countries to take decisive action as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens. The territory's population is facing malnutrition and starvation as an aid crisis continues. Overnight, at least 25 people were killed by Israeli air strikes and gunshots , according to health officials and the ambulance service today. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Tánaiste backs national day of protest over Gaza: ‘I will talk to colleagues on how to make this happen'
Mr Harris was responding to a letter written by Michael Cush and published in The Irish Times earlier this week, asking for the government to call a national day of protest. The letter outlined this would be a condemnation of 'atrocities in Gaza, not of Israel's right to self-determination or self-defence', predicting the turnout would be 'enormous'. In a social media post shared on Saturday, the Tánaiste said he plans to talk with Government colleagues about how to bring plans for a national day of protest forward. 'The people of Ireland stand with the people of Palestine. We stand for human rights, for international law, for a two state solution, for aid to flow, for hostages to be released. We stand for peace. We stand for an end to genocide,' he wrote in a statement on Instagram alongside the letter. 'The suggestion for a national day or moment of solidarity made by Michael Cush in the letter above is sensible and a good idea. It could be powerful if many countries did it together. I will now talk to colleagues on how to make this happen.' This move comes as the starvation crisis in Gaza deepens further. Health ministry officials earlier this week said more than 110 people had starved to death in the besieged enclave, many of them children. Reports earlier in the week from journalists in Gaza told of how doctors were now fainting from hunger as they battled to save the lives of many sick with malnutrition issues, as well as those injured in shootings and bombings by the Israeli Defence Forces. A statement from news organisations in recent days said many of their journalists who are operating within Gaza are also now at risk of starvation, as well as much of the 2.2m people in the Gaza strip. More than 55,000 people have been killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including thousands of women and children. This followed a terrorist attack by militant group Hamas and affiliates inside Israel on October 7, which saw 1,200 Israelis killed as well as 250 more kidnapped. Some are still held captive in Gaza, nearly two years later.
