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Irish Examiner
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Tyrone's thirty-somethings bolstered by young guns in pursuit of All-Ireland glory
We keep going because we love the game – Peter Harte's philosophy on the sporting longevity of Tyrone's thirty-somethings. Along with Mattie Donnelly and Niall Morgan, Harte is still going strong 15 years after his inter-county debut and chasing a second All-Ireland title. And one of the reasons for his passion for gaelic football comes calling again this weekend when he throws himself into another high stakes championship battle with old adversaries Kerry. 'Myself and Niall and Mattie are very similar, we love football,' he said. 'When you play this long, you put an awful lot of your life into it, and you do grow an appreciation of trying to make the most out of it, if you can. 'Very soon you'll not be playing, you'll be coming down with your family to watch matches, so you want to make the most of it when you are playing, and please God, we can do that.' Young blood breaking through the Red Hand ranks has added a freshness to an evolving squad that has been moulded by manager Malachy O'Rourke into a force with genuine ambitions to bring Sam back to the county for a fifth time. 'Thankfully we have some great young lads, and we're starting to see just how good they are,' said Harte (34). 'We've seen them in club football a lot, and we're just hoping that that can continue, because as we've seen over the years, you need a big impact in the last few minutes in Croke Park to win these games.' Tyrone suffered an alarming slump following their All-Ireland triumph in 2021, failing to make it past the quarter-final stage, and last year suffered a shock exit at home to Roscommon. 'We have been the ones that were watching over the last few years, sitting at home and not getting to Croke Park on the bigger days. 'You probably appreciate it more in the latter part of your career, but it's great to be back, but it's about making the most of it now. 'Beating Dublin and then going out in the semi-final would still be a disappointment, that's the harsh reality of the sport you play, so we just want to keep building, keep the heads down and train hard for the next day against a serious operator.' Harte believes any one of this weekend's semi-finalists can have realistic aspirations of going all the way, such is the unpredictability of the new-look game. 'There's definitely an openness feeling towards it all now. 'When the Dubs were at their peak, unless they didn't play to their full potential, you knew that they had the team that was very hard to rein in. 'But now everybody left in it has serious ambitions to win it. 'We just want to make sure that we're there with them, that we put our best foot forward in an All-Ireland semi-final again.' Kerry go into Saturday's semi-final as favourites to advance to the decider, thanks to their stunning victory over reigning champions Armagh, while Tyrone needed a late flourish to get the better of an off-colour Dublin side. 'We have plenty of things to learn and work on, but there was great grit and determination in that last ten minutes to wrestle the game back in our favour, and then when we got that bit of momentum, we had the quality with boys coming off the bench to kick us over the line,' Harte said. 'It probably wasn't the cleanest game of football by any stretch. In Croke Park you're basically playing on a new surface, you play with new footballs, and when it's greasy like that, mistakes just seem to happen more readily. 'The new rules mean that every minute you're attacking and defending, and if you don't win enough of those wee breaks, you probably lose the game over not doing an awful lot wrong.'
The Irish Sun
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
I brought GAA to Palestine after visiting the West Bank – one member has lost more than 60 people in his family in Gaza
THE first thing Stephen Redmond noticed when he arrived into the West Bank was the kindness of a people living through horror. In January 2024, the London-Irishman made the trip to the occupied territory with the goal of doing something – anything – to ease the suffering shown all around the world on 3 Stephen Redmond, top left, brought GAA to Palestine in January 2024 Credit: GAA Palestine 3 He is hoping to bring 33 kids and 17 coaches to Ireland later this month Credit: GAA Palestine He brought with him the idea of threads that bond Redmond explained to SunSport: 'I know my own 'I know what the 'It was still a form of resistance, you know? We weren't going to be told we can't play our own sport. 'We can help them, so they're not walking alone. They know they have a nation that has been through what they've been through in many ways, and we can support them with the lessons we've learned.' While born in family spent time in Ireland which he considers his spiritual home. No stranger to gaelic football , he played for a spell in He learned Irish in night classes in Camden, which proved to be an unlikely advantage when he came to learn Arabic. The 56-year-old said: 'That basic understanding of Irish helped me understand the language of the Palestinians, the Levantine Arabic. 'I've actually spoken to Arabic people who were born in the Middle East and come to Ireland. Palestine GAA players watch camogie match on laptop "It would be easier for them to learn Irish than English or any other language, because our language is based fairly similar with the pronouns, etc." It is commonalities such as the above that motivated Redmond's decision to journey to the West Bank. A student of Irish and Palestinian history, the dad-of-two links the two nations together both from a cultural and historical perspective. There are the shared experiences such as both countries being subject to occupation, as well as the far more profound. In 1922, with the island of Ireland partitioned into War of Independence, the Black & Tans were of no further use south of the border. Redmond added: 'Any nation that has suffered settler occupation, dehumanization, subjugation, apartheid, religious persecution, language genocide, food genocide, penal laws, colonization - any nation that has any of those has been affected by any of those will have a natural empathy for another nation. 'Ireland has experienced all of those things and more. And Palestine has experienced much of that too. 'Our link to Palestine is so unique. It is so unique.' ROAD TO HEBRON By the time Redmond made his trip, Gaza had been on the receiving end of relentless bombardment by That attack instigated the latest chapter in a conflict that has its origins in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which outlined the UK's commitment to a Jewish state in Palestine. Per some reports, as many as 100,000 Gazans have been killed since October 7. All the while, illegal settlements continue to propagate in the West Bank. Redmond got an up close and personal look at the extent to which Israel maintains control over who gets in and out of the besieged territory when he made his trip. He outlined: 'They start speaking to you in Hebrew. If you can't speak Hebrew, you're asked to join a separate line, so they start breaking you down initially and putting us into a different line. 'They said why are you going and I had no answer. No matter what you think up, it's not going to work . They'll ask you have you got any business connections there? No. Any family there? No. 'They took away my bag, and what I thought was, in case I do get stopped, I need to have a few props here. 'I brought a number of Irish flags because I wanted to put up Irish flags to show that the Irish are now here, that we're with the Palestinians. 'I wrapped it in an Israeli flag, and I put a skull cap in it as well, and that's what got me through. 'There was a rally in thanks to Court about genocide. "I brought a number of Irish flags there. The Palestinians took the flag off me. They put it right at the front with a girl to show the flag off in front of all the other flags. "Poor girl had it around the wrong way but it didn't matter." 'One member has lost in excess of 60 members of his family in Gaza, so this is normal life.' Redmond found a place to stay in Hebron before going on to travel to Ramallah while his driver convinced him to abandon a plan to make his way to Gaza itself. In the months that followed, work was done to build the foundations of gaelic games in the West Bank. The first club was founded in Ramallah and was eventually named in honour of Moataz Sarsour, a volunteer who was killed by the IDF in August 2024. There is also the story of Maher Haroun, the PRO of Moataz Sarsour who has been in prison for over 200 days and who Redmond claims has lost 20kg in weight and is suffering from untreated scabies. Then there is the story of one of the club's coaches, the identity of whom was not provided for his own security . Redmond said: 'They bulldozed his house down. 'He had tried to get close to it a number of times, but they were sniping at them, so he couldn't get to his own apartment after being kicked out of his original house. 'He wanted to get back to collect stuff out of it, so he eventually got in a few days later, and after this sniping incident. 'The TV was all broken up by the soldiers , everything was broken. 'Next thing, he had two flashbang grenades thrown in behind him. They went in, smashed his head against the wall, which nearly knocked him out. 'They beat him up and then they threw him over the first floor [balcony], left him dead below. 'He is alive though, and God willing, he's going to be all right. 'One member has lost in excess of 60 members of his family in Gaza, so this is normal life.' 3 A young player in a Palestine GAA jersey Credit: GAA Palestine Yet, in spite of it all, humanity and community has prevailed, almost as if an act of defiance in and of itself. Redmond gushed: 'What a lovely people. 'I remember going in, they were offering me all the services for free. The doctor, the dentist, the sports therapist. 'I remember speaking to a lady in Gaza. 'My aunt fell over. We thought she was going to die. 'She's in a nursing home, and I sent out a message to a few people, just to say some prayers for my aunt. 'You know what they did in Gaza? They spoke of her, to say prayers for her, in the open air, during the prayers of the Friday. 'She had the whole community praying for an Irish nun in a nursing home in Glasgow , and they've been bombed the f*****g s**t out of over there. 'That young fellow that was thrown out of the first floor? He phoned me yesterday to see how I am.' "We believed we needed to bring them because we felt they might not even be around next year." Since the birth of Moataz Sarsour GAA, four other clubs have been established, in Hebron, Tulkaram, South Bethlehem, and Jenin. Meanwhile, there are plans to introduce gaelic games to 10,000 kids across up to 40 schools in Al Bireh. The provision of resources has been tricky, but two hurley producers have been set up in the West Bank. Indeed, despite the plan being to introduce Meanwhile, a group of young girls picked up the sticks to play camogie in January 2025 in an indoor complex provided by a Chinese entity. Infrastructure is naturally modest, with the training ground in Tulkaram amounting to a lane out the back of a house. They have been donated land in that municipality, although are hesitant to build on it lest it be a target for air strikes , such is the danger with which the people live every day. Redmond added: "When I first arrived in the camps, one lad said to me, 'be careful with the soldiers, it's not like where you come from.' "It was actually very chilling. He said, 'they will kill you before they see your blue eyes.'" VISA ISSUES Plans are in place for GAA Palestine to visit Ireland later this month. Thirty-three A Yet obstacles remain , with Redmond revealing visas have not yet been provided for the trip by the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv. He said: "We were given roughly 10 weeks in which to submit all our documents to the Irish Embassy. "They added in more requirements which were going to be difficult like birth certificates in English. "I speak to the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv pretty much every day. "Then Iran started bombing Israel so they closed the embassy down. They've opened up. Then I got an apology from the embassy that the 14 documents I sent them, they had not saved properly. "We have spent in excess of $38,000 on flights and hotels before we get them into Ireland. "We had to show proof of purchase to apply for the visas, so had no option but to purchase them, and there is insurance protection. "This issue with the visas needs to be resolved. I was told that they are doing the best but they still can't give a final answer as they're waiting for a response from "I'm asking all political representatives to please support this. This is a major national tour. This will be in the history books . "We believed we needed to bring them because we felt they might not even be around next year."
Belfast Telegraph
06-06-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
FD Technologies: the story of a Newry tech giant
The journey of FD Technologies, from a bedroom in Conlon's family home to become one of Northern Ireland's biggest technology companies – via an old converted corn warehouse next to the canal in Newry – is remarkable. The software specialist business – which provided products and consulting services to large global financial, technology and energy institutions – evolved from that bedroom to the stock markets of London and Amsterdam. Now another chapter in FD's 30-year journey has been written. In May, 2025, the company, which is headed by Seamus Keating, accepted a takeover bid from a private equity investor from Boston which valued the business at £550m. Donna Troy, chairwoman of FD, said the board unanimously thought the deal, based on an offer for £24.50 per share, 'delivers appropriate value to shareholders'. Over the last 30 years, FD (one of a handful of listed companies from Northern Ireland), grew from its Newry home across the Americas, Europe and Asia. And it has come a long way to get here. Brian Conlon was born in 1966 in Newry. He studied accountancy in Queen's University while playing gaelic football for his native Down. In 1987 he sustained a knee injury during a match for Queen's, forcing early retirement from the sport. He then turned his attention to the capital markets sector where he trained with a major accountancy firm. 'I spent the first year counting concrete and pick-up trucks and wanted something more challenging,' he told the Sunday Independent in an interview in 2008. Like many of his generation, Conlon migrated to London where he joined the risk management team in Morgan Stanley. From there he worked as a capital markets consultant in SunGard, a global derivatives software house. Rather than settle in England, he opted to return home and bring his experience with him. There was a gap in the market, he realised, for software consultancy. 'Most of the software firms were focused on selling the licences and not on services. There was an opening to help banks write financial models and help them with quantitative analysis,' Conlon said in 2008. He established First Derivatives in 1996 in the spare bedroom of his mother's home in Newry, using a £5,000 loan from the Newry Credit Union to help him get started. Years of organic growth followed. In the autumn of 1998, a few months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Brian Conlon took his fledgling team on a trade mission to California's Silicon Valley alongside a handful of other local software companies, including Kainos. California was receptive. The following year Kx Systems, a software company from Paolo Alto which specialsed in financial modelling and data analyses, sold its marketing rights to FD and the two businesses would prove a perfect couple over the following decades. By 2002, First Derivatives had just 26 employees and a £2m turnover, but Conlon decided to float his business on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in the London Stock Exchange (LSE), initially offering four million shares at a price of 50p per share. 'FD at the start was small of scale but the vision attracted investors,' Ryan Preston, the company's chief financial officer, told Ulster Business in 2022. 'You have to follow up and deliver the vision. When we first floated on the LSE we attracted an investor base that was primarily driven by revenue growth and dividends. We delivered on that very successfully over many years.' Annual reports over the next decade reported consistent profit growth. The company steadily increased its stake in Kx Systems and added more strings to its bow, including the acquisition in 2008 of Market Resource Partners (MRP), a Philadelphia-based business which employed data analytics for software and technology firms. By now Conlon's operations spanned the globe – from Singapore to Sydney, Vienna to Vancouver, London to Los Angeles. The company even purchased residential for its staff. 'We have up to 60 people working in London and 25 in New York so we decided that rather than pay rents we would buy apartments,' Conlon said in 2008. 'It worked because we only bought in nice places like Mayfair and Kensington in London and around Chelsea or the Village in New York.' The world was its stage but Newry remained home for First Derivatives. 'Brian spotted global opportunity where no one else did,' said Justin McNulty, an SDLP MLA who worked at the business. 'But on top of that he combined pride in his home town of Newry with his knowledge that the people of the North have the education and drive to excel.' The business leader was keen to spread some of his knowledge and in 2012 established The First Derivatives Trading Room, NI's first financial trading facility, at Queen's. In June 2019, First Derivatives announced it had taken entire ownership of Kx Systems for $53.8m (£39.9m) in cash. This was an important milestone, Conlon said at the time: 'Since we acquired a controlling stake in Kx in October 2014 we have invested heavily to deliver the performance advantages of our combined solutions, branded as Kx technology, to a range of end-markets.' Sadly, this was his final deal. The following month, July 2019, Brian Conlon died in Newry not long after being diagnosed with cancer. But his baby First Derivatives – which changed its name in 2021 to FD Technologies (to incorporate its three operations, First Derivative, Kx and MRP) – had grown wings of its own. The company was by now a technology powerhouse, providing software and services to major banks and servicing marketing technology and the automotive industry. In 2020 the company 'recognised there was a huge opportunity in Kx, our software business, and we came back to market with an accelerated growth strategy,' said Ryan Preston. FD ultimately decided to restructure the business to focus on Kx, which uses an approach to data analysis that helps companies predict and respond to market conditions in real time. In early 2024, it merged MRP, its marketing technology division, with Contentgine, a US firm. FD retained 49% of this merged entity. Late in 2024 it sold its consulting wing First Derivative to EPAM Systems, a US software company for a reported £205m. Since then, the company has focused on growing subscription sales of Kx products. Following its sale to TA Associates, an investment firm with reported assets under management of over $60bn, will FD have to part ways with Newry? Not necessarily. TA Associates said it intends to keep headquarters in Newry. Some jobs could be subject to 'reorganisation, reduction or redeployment but the deal will 'create greater employment opportunities for existing and future employees over the long term'. FD has come a long way to get here – and it looks as though the journey is not over yet.
Irish Independent
30-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Former Clare county minor gaelic football captain jailed for sexually assaulting woman
A former Clare county minor gaelic football captain has been jailed for two years and four months for the sexual assault of a woman.
Belfast Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
DUP minister vows commitment to all sports as he attends first senior GAA game
The DUP Sports Minister was welcomed to the Athletic Grounds in Armagh on Saturday afternoon for the gaelic football match between All-Ireland champions Armagh and Derry. Mr Lyons did not take his seat in the main stand until after the traditional pre-match singing of the Irish national anthem, Amhran na bhFiann. Arriving at the venue around 40 minutes before throw-in, he was greeted by senior Ulster GAA representatives, president Michael Geoghegan and chief executive officer Brian McAvoy. Mr Geoghegan and Mr McAvoy sat either side of the minister during the game. The DUP minister had faced criticism for not having attending a senior-level GAA match in his first 15 months as Communities Minister – a portfolio that includes responsibilities for sports in Northern Ireland. Speaking to reporters as he arrived at the ground, Mr Lyons said he wanted the focus of his visit to remain on the sporting action. 'Last week, I received an invite from Ulster GAA to come to the match here in Armagh today and I'm pleased to have been able to have accepted that invitation,' he said. 'As minister for sports in Northern Ireland I want to see more people get more active, more often, and I recognise the role that the GAA has to play in us achieving that ambition. 'I'm looking forward to engaging with officials, with players and with staff today, and I hope I am once more demonstrating my commitment to all sport in all areas, at all levels in Northern Ireland, and that's where the focus should be on today – on the sport.' Mr Geoghegan said it was a 'great day' for both the GAA and the minister. 'It's a great day for us, it's a great day for the minister,' he said. 'I believe he's going to see a full house here and going to see a very exciting game in the all-Ireland series. So we're delighted to have him as our guest here today.' Mr McAvoy said while it would have made it 'easier' if Mr Lyons had attended a game earlier in his time as minister, he acknowledged the issues he had coming to events on a Sunday. 'It probably would have been easier for both parties had it happened sooner,' he said. 'But we do understand the minister, that we play a lot of our games on a Sunday, and obviously due to his beliefs he doesn't attend any sporting events on a Sunday, and we respect that. 'So, it's good that we finally managed to synchronise diaries.' Mr Lyons' attendance comes ahead of an expected funding decision on the troubled redevelopment of the derelict GAA ground at Casement Park in west Belfast. Plans for a 34,000-capacity venue at Casement Park remain in limbo due to a major funding gap of around £150 million. The £270 million project has faced years of delay due to disputes over planning and funding. Last September, the UK Government ended hopes that the Belfast venue would host Euro 2028 soccer games when it said it would not bridge the funding gap to deliver the reconstruction in time. The Stormont Executive has committed £62.5 million to the redevelopment, the Irish Government has offered roughly £42 million while the GAA has pledged to contribute at least £15 million. The UK Government has said it will decide if it will make a contribution to the build costs as part of next month's UK-wide Spending Review. However, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has made clear that even if the Government does divert money to the project, the sum will not alone bridge the current funding gap. Mr Lyons, who has oversight for the project, has rejected claims he is not prioritising the rebuild, while Mr Benn has also pushed back at suggestions the impasse is the fault of the UK Government. The minister did not comment on the Casement issues as he spoke to the media on Saturday. Mr Geoghegan expressed hope that the UK Government would deliver a funding boost for the Casement rebuild. 'We're hopeful, the GAA public at large are very hopeful that something will be coming our way,' he said. 'Because, as you can see, we have a full stadium here today. We had a full stadium there a fortnight ago in Clones (for the Ulster Senior Football Championship final). 'The crowds are coming and we need better facilities to host our games.' Mr Lyons was not the first DUP politician to go to a GAA match. Former party leaders Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster attended games, and current DUP deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and former communities minister and current Education minister Paul Givan have tried their hands at Gaelic games during visits to GAA clubs. Mr Lyons was also not the only Stormont minister at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday. Sinn Fein Infrastructure minister and Armagh fan Liz Kimmins was at the game, as were several other politicians, including Sinn Fein senator Conor Murphy and party MLA Cathal Boylan. SDLP MLA and former Armagh player Justin McNulty was also in the stands.
