Watch: news2day Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Stream the show on RTÉ Player or watch it now by pressing play on the image above.
Florence takes to the water to paddle along with some new friends at a DLR Sportsability Water Camp. Barry goes to The Ark in Dublin as they celebrate their 30th birthday.
RTÉ's Tony O'Donoghue is in Denver with a report from the Ireland WNT camp. And we see two bears who are cooling down with a bath!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
13 hours ago
- The 42
Meet the League One trio leading the sudden rise of Irish managers in England
A YEAR AGO, Mark Kennedy of Swindon Town was the sole Irish manager across England's 92 clubs, stretching from the Premier League down to League Two. Twelve months on and the picture has changed. Though Kennedy's currently out of work, there are six Irish managers in English league club positions as their respective 25/26 seasons begin. Keith Andrews has been the shock hire at Premier League Brentford, of course, while Athlone native Alan Sheehan is in permanent charge of Championship side Swansea having steadied the club during his caretaker term last season. Elsewhere, Dubliner Dean Brennan has led Barnet to League Two, while there are a trio of Irish managers in League One, whose childhood homes are all fall within a hundred-mile radius. There are similarities in the journeys of Brian Barry-Murphy (Cardiff City), Noel Hunt (Reading), and Conor Hourihane (Barnsley), but each have trod a different path to this point of mutual convergence. Brian Barry-Murphy. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Barry-Murphy is the only one of the trio not to be capped at senior international level – his most elevated cap was at U21 level – but it is he who arrives into League One from the highest-profile environment, buttressing his coaching reputation as head coach of Manchester City's elite development squad (their U23s in more plainspeak.) Barry-Murphy is, of course, the son of Jimmy, a fact he could not escape in Ireland, especially when playing hurling. Speaking a couple of years ago to an in-house Man City podcast, he explained he drifted to playing soccer almost sub-consciously, as there he felt less pressure at being his father's son. He didn't have the traditional career experience of the time, playing first-team LOI football with Cork City before getting a break in the UK, initially with Preston under David Moyes. He went on to find more regular football with Sheffield Wednesday, Bury, and finally League One Rochdale, where he evolved from player to player/coach to caretaker manager to outright manager, succeeding Keith Hill. Determined to do something different with a comparatively meagre budget at Rochdale, Barry-Murphy evolved the style of play to that which would catch Manchester City's eye, under the persuasive principle that 'if we have the ball, the opposition can't score.' He twice kept Rochdale in England's third tier before succumbing to gravity in his third season, resigning after relegation before being hired by City. This was a chance for Barry-Murphy to see the game's cutting edge, for he had spent his career in England to that point at the sport's more jagged edges. Life as Rochdale manager was about avoiding relegation, and that was experience for much of his playing days: while he went up to League One with Rochdale in 2014, there were more relegation battles than promotion pushes and his average league finish across 15 seasons with Wednesday, Bury and Rochdale was 13th. Advertisement This bred in him a certain anxiety that he might be forced to go back to Ireland for work, then widely seen as an admission of failure. It wasn't until his playing days were drawing to a close that he learned to stop worrying about these kinds of consequences, and he took this lesson into his work with young players at City. 'I no longer had a sense of fear or anxiety of failing anymore, or going back home, and it was liberating', Barry-Murphy told City's in-house podcast. 'I thought if I had this when I was younger. . . if I can show young players the value of being confident and expressive and almost enjoy making mistakes, it would give them better careers. What held me back wouldn't hold them back.' He won back-to-back PL2 titles with City's academy, where he worked with Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Morgan Rogers, and Romeo Lavia. He bridles at the notion that stepping away from men's first-team football for City's academy meant stepping away from pressure, telling that City podcast that he had never been under such pressure, given he had to give Pep Guardiola players on a daily basis, and they had to be ready to fulfil Guardiola's exacting demands. Fail to do so, and Guardiola would train upon Barry-Murphy his icy stare during which, in Barry-Murphy's own words, 'time stood still.' He also benefitted from studying Guardiola first-hand, and says today that he always knew what he wanted to do as a first-team manager, but Guardiola showed him how to do it. Barry-Murphy's belief in possession-based football has not wavered, but he speaks now of a desire to be more aggressive in getting the ball forward more quickly, to deny opponents a chance to flood their defence. Barry-Murphy left City's academy last year, feeling his own education complete, but retains close relationships at the club. He did some Premier League radio commentaries for Off the Ball last season, and rarely have so many City players and staff stopped in a post-game mixed zone as when Barry-Murphy made an appearance after City's loss at Anfield last season. City are far from Barry-Murphy's only admirers: Stephen Kenny once sounded him out for a then-vacant role on his Irish coaching staff. He spent the latter half of last season as a coach at Leicester City – brought in after Ruud Van Nistelrooy's appointment as manager – but failed to salvage a sinking ship. He has now been handed the keys to Cardiff City, who meet the description of a fallen giant. The capital club are suddenly the poor relation of Welsh football: relegation last season saw them drop out of England's top two tiers for the first time in more than 20 years, while they were passed out by Wrexham on the way up. A club drifting for some time has turned to Barry-Murphy not just for success but also to instil a sense of identity. He will be expected to deliver promotion, however, though he has not exactly been dealt a strong hand. The club has sold Callum O'Dowda to Ferencvaros and are thus far yet to make a significant signing. Still, it could be worse. Even by the EFL's regular standards of dysfunction, Reading have stood out in the last couple of years. Things looked promising when they were bought by Chinese investor Dai Yongge in 2017, with the club agonisingly close to a Premier League return later that year, beaten on penalties in the play-off final. It was to be the acme of Yongge's ownership. His interest dwindled and the club slid, dropping into League One in 2023. The late filing of accounts and missed payments led to points deductions totalling 18 points, along with frequent transfer embargoes. The women's team withdrew from the league when Yongge cut funding, and a men's league game against Port Vale was abandoned when protesting fans stormed the pitch. Yongge was disqualified as a director by the EFL in April and forced to sell up, and a failure to do so would have risked the club's expulsion from the EFL. A deal has mercifully been done, and American Rob Couhig has taken over, and it is into this light at the end of the tunnel that Noel Hunt is now stepping. Noel Hunt. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Hunt's rugged, tenacious style of play as a player belied his more forward-thinking qualities, and he worked with a sports psychologist throughout his career. He is bringing some of that perspective to management, explaining he has a philosophy of 'no disappointments.' Pain is merely information on what must be improved. This is perhaps what kept him sane at Reading. Having first joined the club as a development coach in 2022, he briefly served as interim coach in 2023 before taking charge permanently last December, after Ruben Selles packed it in for a job at Hull. Given his constraints – the club couldn't sign anyone in January – Hunt did a remarkable job, steering Reading to a seventh-place finish, finishing just three points outside the play-off places. A recent interview with The Sunday Times offered some insight into how Hunt dealt with the turbulence: when staff were spun into a panic having heard Yongge had put the training ground up for sale, Hunt expressed unity by organising a staff football match, pulling in a couple of players as referees. The build-up to this season has been one of comparative normality, even if it began with only six senior players remaining under contract. Hunt has a very young squad – only two outfield players are over 28 – so he has added some experience with the free transfer of Paudie O'Connor. New owner Couhig has made it clear his preference is for Hunt to shop for loan players or free agents. Goalscoring looks to be Reading's main challenge this season, as they have lost Harvey Knibbs and Sam Smith, who scored 25 goals between them last year. Hunt has signed Irish underage striker Mark O'Mahony on loan from Brighton, whose performances will likely dictate Reading's ceiling this season. Conor Hourihane. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Perhaps most intriguing of all is how Conor Hourihane performs at Barnsley. Hourihane is just 34, and has quickly ascended to his first managerial gig. He joined Barnsley in a player-coach role at the start of last season, but retired during Christmas week to replace Dean Whitehead on the coaching staff, and was in temporary charge of the whole ship by March. He signed a two-year contract a month later. While it's a speedy ascent, those who knew Hourihane even from international camps are unsurprised at his career change. He undertook his B-licence badges with the FAI during 2020, and then coached part-time Stourbridge for a year while he was doing his A-licence. Then, when playing at Derby County, he took charge of Aston Villa's U16s. He has given a lengthy run-down of his coaching style and attitude to the terrific Coach's Voice website, during which he gave an insight into the modernity of his ideas. Less relevant than formations, he says, are principles of play, specifically on how his team will build from the back and how they will press from the front. He also revealed he is following in Unai Emery's steps by insisting he does all his video analysis himself, which includes the technical jobs of cutting and stitching together clips. He has sought similar levels of control at Barnsley, insisting on greater input to transfers. He's also added an Irish splash. Along with retaining Irish midfielder Luca Connell as captain, he has signed his veteran former team-mate David McGoldrick, and recruited Richard Keogh as his assistant. He also has former Shamrock Rovers attacker Neil Farrugia among his squad. The club may have ambitions of returning to the Championship but they haven't given Hourihane a budget to match it, and a fairer measure of success would be a return to the play-offs and some on-field stability to a side that leaked goals last year. This is English football, however, which has no truck with good, common-sense patience and continuity. Hourihane is Barnsley's 10th permanent manager in seven years, while Barry-Murphy is Cardiff's ninth in that same time-frame. Reading somehow pass for relative stability here: Hunt is their seventh permanent boss since 2018. Such is English football's regrettable churn, success for Barry-Murphy, Hunt, and Hourihane will be if they remain the trio of Irish coaches in League One come the season's end.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Fair City on Sunday: 'Don't push me...'
Sash's offer to help Ian with his marital problems is not well received in Sunday's Fair City on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player. Maxine tells Sash that things have been rough for Ian because his wife Imelda is suffering with post-natal depression. In an honest conversation with Ian, Sash confides that she also suffered from post-natal depression and offers to speak to Imelda. "I could talk to Imelda," says Sash. "Convince her to get the help she needs." "You stay the hell away from her," warns Ian. "Or what?" says Sash. "Don't push me," Ian replies. Fans can watch what happens next on Sunday on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player at 8:30pm.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- RTÉ News
Fair City on Friday: 'He's attractive... I'm only human'
It's all eyes on Babs and Gar in Friday's Fair City on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player. In Friday's episode, Erica becomes increasingly suspicious as Babs and Gar continue to flirt with each other. Erica asks Babs: "Are you telling me you don't find him attractive?" "Me and Gar, we're just friends," Babs replies. "And yeah, he's attractive. Whatever. I'm only human," she adds. Watch what happens next on Friday on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player at 7:30pm.
