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Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Rutland Rap gets a remix as pupils keep their love of music going 10 years on
Fourth class pupils from Rutland National School have written an updated version of a song titled, What Music Is, which previous students of the school released in 2015. The 2015 song was written with the help of Irish rap star Garry McCarthy, aka GMC Beats, who spent time with the children, teaching them to write, create and record their rap. The lyrics included: 'Music is the game and I am the player, and everybody knows I'm a sick rhyme sayer." Their creative efforts featured in the Herald in October 2015, and the latest song brings the story full circle as it features one student whose brother was part of the original 'Rutland Rap'. The school is also no stranger to the spotlight, as students from Rutland Street National School created the now infamous Give Up Your Aul Sins recordings over 60 years ago. But in 2025, the students choose to communicate through the medium of rap. The new song draws inspiration from the Kabin Crew's summer hit, The Spark, which gained international attention last year and has almost 8 million views on YouTube. Fourth Class teacher Niamh Bermingham said the idea of rewriting the school's 'Rutland Rap' came about in January when a student teacher who was musically inclined joined the class. 'I had previously taught my class the original Rutland Rap,' Ms Bermingham said. Darren, one of her students, wanted to make an updated version because his brother had featured in the 2015 song. ADVERTISEMENT ' My brother was in the old one and I wanted to make a new one,' he said. 'You have to take a lot of responsibility to do a rap. If you make one mistake, your whole rap is gone. 'You have to just keep on going until you get the right line.' he added. Ms Bermingham, along with fellow teacher Liam McDonald, helped the students write the song, which pays homage to local hero Kellie Harrington. Ms Bermingham said the double Olympic gold medal winner has been a huge role model to the children growing up in the north inner city. The new lyrics include the line: 'Rutland Street, we're the best, we are here to stay. Good as Kellie Harrington because she is proper slay.' When asked what the best part of the song writing process was, one pupil, Darcy, said it was 'missing Irish'. Other students are rethinking their after-school plans, with Darren saying: ' I would like to be a rapper because like you get paid [well]. 'Like it's not about the money, it's about the music that you're making and it makes other people enjoy their life.' Ian Sherry, Vice Principal of the Rutland Street National School, said the students are very excited about the updated rap song. ' You walk past the class and you could hear them singing and making music and just having fun,' he said. 'There's a sense of community and there's a buzz around the school because all the other classes know there's a new rap being written.' He believes the benefits of making a new school rap extends far beyond just music. 'There's a lot of learning going on in the background, they've also produced a fantastic video to go along with it. So even practicing all those skills like editing is fantastic'. The school has won the DCU Changemakers award for their song writing efforts and hope to make another song when they are in sixth class.
RTÉ News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
New York have high hopes ahead of Monaghan battle
New York will compete in an All-Ireland hurling competition for the first time in almost 20 years when they take on Monaghan in the Lory Meagher Cup semi-final in Mullingar this afternoon, and expectations are high in the Big Apple. It is not long since the sport was in disarray in New York, which boasted just two senior clubs and no inter-county team as recently as three years ago. There may be some understandable displeasure with the Exiles being parachuted in at the penultimate stage of the competition, with Monaghan manager Arthur Hughes labelling it "an absolute disgrace", but that's unlikely to bother New York. The sport has experienced a complete revival across those last three years, with club and player numbers growing exponentially since 2022 when the New York county team was reformed. There are now six senior clubs competing across New York in addition to five junior clubs and three junior B clubs – and the benefits for the New York county team have been pretty much instantaneous. New York claimed silverware in the 2024 Connacht Hurling League, seeing off a Galway development side in the semi-finals before cruising to victory against Mayo in the final. That victory, coupled with the growth of the sport over the past three years, has given players and management hope of winning more silverware in 2025, the first step being today's semi-final against Monaghan at Cusack Park. The winners of Saturday's semi-final will earn a place in the final against group winners Cavan, with promotion to the Nicky Rackard Cup on the line. New York manager Richie Hartnett said the team has "full aspirations" of winning the competition but is well aware of the challenge posed by a motivated Monaghan. He noted that both Monaghan and Cavan have numerous competitive games under their belt, while New York have been restricted to in-house training games throughout 2025. "It's very hard to keep the boys, for lack of better word, from getting bored or doing the same thing every week and seeing the same faces. It's hard for us (management) to try and pick your best 15 as well. "But look, it's part of being in New York that we have to deal with. Now we just have to go with the blows and go home with our best foot forward for the semi-final." James Bermingham, who is part of the New York squad ahead of Saturday's semi-final, said New York's first championship game in 19 years means the team is travelling into unchartered waters. "We don't really know what we're going to be up against until we go back," Bermingham said. Bermingham has also set his sights on moving through the tiers with the New York team and believes the team's inclusion in the Lory Meagher is only the beginning. "You've got to start somewhere. No one really knows what New York are capable of, so hopefully we go in there and get off to a good start and make a name for ourselves." New York's last appearance in an All-Ireland competition has been the source of legend and anecdote for years. The team caused a shock by beating Derry on US soil in the 2006 Ulster Hurling Championship but could not travel home for the Ulster final against Antrim because a significant portion of their players were undocumented. Antrim eventually prevailed in a rescheduled Ulster final in Boston five months later, marking the end of New York's participation in the Ulster championship. There are no such concerns about a trip home on this occasion, with a number of US-born players also set to represent the Exiles in their upcoming game against Monaghan. James Breen, who captained New York to the Connacht Hurling League title last year, is one of those players. Breen said it would be "special" to represent New York in an All-Ireland competition, especially as someone who grew up playing the sport in Yonkers. GAA President Jarlath Burns recently travelled in March to Yonkers to "turn on the lights" for New York GAA's state-of-the-art facility at Redmond Park, which features a full-sized pitch and two training pitches. The facility, operated by the New York Minor Board, will facilitate the expansion of Gaelic games in Yonkers, allowing hurling to expand among American-born youths. Michael Stones, a Westmeath native overseeing the logistics of the team's trip to Ireland for the Lory Meagher semi-final, said the New York Minor Board has already carried out "huge work" at underage level from Under-10s through to minor in order to encourage the growth of the sport among local communities. "We have a couple of Irish-American born players playing here," Stones said. "It's massive. It means a lot to New York GAA." Stones added that it is "absolutely phenomenal" for New York to be involved in the Lory Meagher and said players and management are taking the competition "very seriously." "They know what's at stake – to go home and play. The aim is to go home and play in Croke Park," he added. "It's all baby steps, but to get to be asked over into the Lory Meagher is a huge step for New York GAA and the progression of hurling in New York itself." Hartnett said New York's inclusion in the Lory Meagher will help boost playing numbers in New York even further, providing players with an opportunity to play intercounty hurling. Aidan Organ, who is part of the squad for Saturday and who represented New York during their Connacht Hurling League success, said he has seen a notable rise in quality in the club scene since the New York intercounty team was reformed three years ago. "The standard has gone way up since I came here for summer four or five years ago," Organ said. "It just drives lads on more."
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Aussies warned against 'prohibited' act causing major beach damage
Beachgoers have been accused of a damaging act that is putting the local ecosystem at risk as many attempt to catch a glimpse of the wild conditions brought by Ex-Cyclone Alfred. People are now being urged to stay far away from the sand dunes, which have taken a recent battering along the Aussie coastline. Photos show despite widespread beaches closures, visitors have been sighted walking atop the delicate dune systems, and volunteers have said while climbing and jumping off the eroded dunes may seem "harmless fun", it has the potential to be dangerous and cause even greater dune collapse. They are incredibly important in holding sand in place, creating a natural flood barrier, a buffer for wind erosion and are a nesting ground for native birds and endangered turtles. "Please help protect our eroded dunes and the turtle nests in them," Coolum and North Shore Coast Care shared online. "Some nests are only a metre or so from the edge and we are monitoring them closely. "Vegetation is so important to hold the sand in place and the turtle eggs safe until they hatch." It comes as Sunshine Coast's Beach Matters president Rachael Bermingham told Yahoo News a cluster of endangered loggerhead turtle nests were recently rescued at the edge of an escarpment created by massive swells at Peregian Beach, near Noosa. READ MORE: 🌀 Cyclone Alfred live updates "One of our locals called it in, and turtle volunteers swung into action," she told Yahoo. "It really does highlight the immense work volunteers do to get endangered loggerhead turtle numbers up. "Please remember dunes are protected and prohibited. Stay off them, they are very fragile and take a long time to recover." Across large stretches of the east coast either side of the Queensland-NSW border, photos show drop offs as steep as six metres where the damaging waves have ripped the sand away from the beach and washed it away. It's not the first time irresponsible visitors have been blasted in the area for bad behaviour on the dunes, with Yahoo reporting in January e-bike tracks were spotted on Peregian Beach. 4WDs have also been called out for the "tremendous damage" their reckless behaviour is inflicting on wildlife. Bermingham echoed comments made by University of the Sunshine Coast's Dr Javier Leon who earlier told Yahoo News the dunes could take "years" to recover. "Our greatest concern is what is to come in terms of the swell, waves, wind," she told Yahoo. "The beaches have copped an absolute flogging all along the coastline. It will take a few years for these beaches to come back to their pre-cyclone state". Bermingham believes "a lot of people don't know" that dunes and their vegetation are protected. "People are inadvertently sitting on protected dunes which is making them more fragile and compromising them more," she said. "Because the dunes have eroded so badly, we're seeing lots of turtle nests at high risk and relocate them on the fly," Bermingham said. "[Volunteers] have done an outstanding job in the most ridiculous of conditions to jump into gear and save the eggs and relocate them to areas where they are not so at risk." Safer conditions look like sheltered areas with plenty of vegetation on higher ground and out of the way of large ocean swells. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Aussies warned against 'harmless' act causing major beach damage
Beachgoers have been accused of a damaging act that is putting the local ecosystem at risk as many attempt to catch a glimpse of the wild conditions brought by Ex-Cyclone Alfred. People are now being urged to stay far away from the sand dunes, which have taken a recent battering along the Aussie coastline. Photos show despite widespread beaches closures, visitors have been sighted walking atop the delicate dune systems, and volunteers have said while climbing and jumping off the eroded dunes may seem "harmless fun", it has the potential to be dangerous and cause even greater dune collapse. They are incredibly important in holding sand in place, creating a natural flood barrier, a buffer for wind erosion and are a nesting ground for native birds and endangered turtles. "Please help protect our eroded dunes and the turtle nests in them," Coolum and North Shore Coast Care shared online. "Some nests are only a metre or so from the edge and we are monitoring them closely. "Vegetation is so important to hold the sand in place and the turtle eggs safe until they hatch." It comes as Sunshine Coast's Beach Matters president Rachael Bermingham told Yahoo News a cluster of endangered loggerhead turtle nests were recently rescued at the edge of an escarpment created by massive swells at Peregian Beach, near Noosa. READ MORE: 🌀 Cyclone Alfred live updates "One of our locals called it in, and turtle volunteers swung into action," she told Yahoo. "It really does highlight the immense work volunteers do to get endangered loggerhead turtle numbers up. "Please remember dunes are protected and prohibited. Stay off them, they are very fragile and take a long time to recover." Across large stretches of the east coast either side of the Queensland-NSW border, photos show drop offs as steep as six metres where the damaging waves have ripped the sand away from the beach and washed it away. It's not the first time irresponsible visitors have been blasted in the area for bad behaviour on the dunes, with Yahoo reporting in January e-bike tracks were spotted on Peregian Beach. 4WDs have also been called out for the "tremendous damage" their reckless behaviour is inflicting on wildlife. Bermingham echoed comments made by University of the Sunshine Coast's Dr Javier Leon who earlier told Yahoo News the dunes could take "years" to recover. "Our greatest concern is what is to come in terms of the swell, waves, wind," she told Yahoo. "The beaches have copped an absolute flogging all along the coastline. It will take a few years for these beaches to come back to their pre-cyclone state". Bermingham believes "a lot of people don't know" that dunes and their vegetation are protected. "People are inadvertently sitting on protected dunes which is making them more fragile and compromising them more," she said. "Because the dunes have eroded so badly, we're seeing lots of turtle nests at high risk and relocate them on the fly," Bermingham said. "[Volunteers] have done an outstanding job in the most ridiculous of conditions to jump into gear and save the eggs and relocate them to areas where they are not so at risk." Safer conditions look like sheltered areas with plenty of vegetation on higher ground and out of the way of large ocean swells. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
