Latest news with #Bryansford
Belfast Telegraph
06-08-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Kilcoo star opens up on how illness battle has given him fresh drive to taste success
He may have won All-Ireland, Ulster and Down silverware with his club, but even though he has rendered 13 years' service to the Kilcoo cause, Devlin is particularly keen to see his side extend their stay in the honours list. A viral infection restricted his involvement with Kilcoo earlier in 2025 and hospitalised him for a spell, which is one of the reasons why he is so eager to don the jersey again. Indeed, his appetite has been further whetted as Kilcoo brace to meet Bryansford in their Championship opener at Liatroim Fontenoys on August 25. Kilcoo are now under the management of Monaghan man Martin Corey and Tyrone All-Ireland winner Joe McMahon, with the experienced Paddy Crozier having a key role to play as well. For now, though, nothing is being taken for granted as Kilcoo set out to try and recapture the glory days they have experienced in recent years. 'There is no doubt that the club has tasted success, but we cannot sit back and bask in that,' points out Devlin. 'We are very keen to make further progress, and with a good management team in charge of operations, we feel that we can possibly make headway again. 'Obviously, other clubs will be keen to get their hands on the Down title, but we have to live with that.' The fact that Kilcoo have won six Down titles in a row has heaped a little more pressure on the side, but with some new faces having come in, hopes are high that the team might be able to extend their lucrative sequence. The fact that the team won Ulster titles in 2019 and 2021 and lifted the All-Ireland title under Mickey Moran in 2022 has further cemented Kilcoo's reputation as one of the most consistent teams in the country. But Devlin fired out a warning shot as his team prepare to step up their Championship preparations. 'The fact of the matter is that there are several teams in the mix who could potentially win the Down title this year, and you can be sure that we will not be resting on our laurels,' says Devlin. 'I certainly missed being involved in the action when I was out ill in the earlier part of the year and, to be honest, I am keen to make up for lost time. Obviously, competition for places in the team is particularly keen.' The Kilcoo side still carries considerable experience, with five members of the famed Branagan clan – Darryl, Niall, Aidan, Aaron and Eugene – joined by Johnston duo Ryan and Jerome along with Ryan McAvoy, Dylan Ward and Anthony Morgan among others. 'We will be ready for the Championship, and I just hope that we can extend our winning ways,' smiles Devlin.
BBC News
03-08-2025
- General
- BBC News
Tollymore: Fears for future of mothballed outdoor activity centre
Sports enthusiasts have voiced their disappointment and frustration that Tollymore National Outdoor Centre in County Down will be closed for up to a year, while a review of the centre's future is carried Bryansford-based activity centre has been closed since January, following damage from Storm É NI, which operates the centre, said the current operating model was no longer financially sustainable and would result in "a small number of local redundancies".Kath Maguire, who trained as an instructor at the centre, and is founder of The Feel Good Factor, a multi-sports club for women, said her group had "really missed" the facility. Located on the outskirts of Tollymore Forest Park, the centre provides a range of courses in rock-climbing, hillwalking, canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, mountaineering and orienteering."The Tollymore staff team have been exceptional and supportive to The Feel Good Factor over the 10 years and we are disappointed at the redundancies for local staff," she said. "We are hopeful that a solution will be found to help this fabulous resource in the heart of Mourne thrive."I have been an instructor for 25 years, since getting my qualification there."Hopefully this will not see the centre closed on a permanent basis and it will be brought back stronger and much better used."Ms Maguire said the club had been invited to take part in the Sport NI review."I have sent an email to Sport NI saying I am concerned," she added."It is a facility we love and our community hub."Sport NI said the review would look at a wide range of options aimed at reimagining the role and function of Tollymore National Outdoor Centre "in a financially sustainable way, and ensuring it continues to develop our outdoors sector in an impactful and effective way". 'A brilliant place' Maxi Scullion, secretary of Gilford Youth Climbing Club, said she was disappointed, describing the centre as "a brilliant and unique place".She said more than 50 members had stayed at the facility two years ago and participated in a range of activities."We slept in the accommodation, used the climbing wall and high ropes, and also had some food there," she said."They supplied instructors to help with the climbing wall and the high ropes course that we did."We had a great time, a lot of the children in our group had never done a high ropes course before."The feedback was hugely positive, it was brilliant." Alliance Party assembly member Andrew McMurray said his first association with the Tollymore centre, was as a teenager learning how to later blossomed when he met his future wife Shalene there as a trainee got married at the centre in has since introduced his two children to the facility."You have to see these centres as living organisms, they are a residential centre, so there's always people about them, they are a 24/7 operation," he said."As a trainee, it is almost like a second home, to a certain degree."A lot of happy memories, and a lot of associations and I know a lot of other people will have similar memories, so it is very disappointing to see that it has got to this stage."McMurray previously worked as an instructor at the outdoor learning centre at Ardnabannon in County Down, which closed in 2017 and said staff facing redundancy should be engaged with in a "respectful manner".He highlighted the important role Tollymore played in training instructors and facilitating activities for clubs and schools."Tollymore National Outdoor Centre is the last remaining bespoke outdoor centre that trains coaches left on the island of Ireland," he said it was "incumbent" on Sport NI that whatever model it decided on was implemented Education Authority confirmed that after a review of its outdoor education facilities in 2017, the decision was taken to close the outdoor education centres at Ardnabannon, Bushmills, Killowen and Killyleagh "based on economic viability and proximity to other outdoor education centres". Shimna Integrated College principal, Steve Pagan, said he was "very concerned to hear about the challenges facing the centre".The school is near Tollymore and pupils are regular users of the centre."No less than many other schools across Northern Ireland, the centre has been a fantastic resource down the years, facilitating practical activities as part of examination courses, supporting our extra-curricular programme and providing essential staff training for the Duke of Edinburgh Award," he described it as a "tremendous asset". 'Exceptional waste of resources' The trade union Nipsa has expressed "deep concern and disappointment" at news of the review into the future of the outdoor said six staff had been identified as being at risk of assistant secretary Alan Law said it was an "exceptional waste of resources because the centre was deemed to be the jewel in the crown of Sport NI provision". Richard Archibald, interim chief executive of Sport NI, said "very regrettably" the organisation had started redundancy consultation with some of the centre's permanent added that while the centre was never intended to be profit-making, Sport NI had "a duty to ensure value for money for the public purse and for the whole sports sector".Sport NI said the centre generated an income of about £250,000 in 2024, while it cost over £1.3m to run.
