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Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Con O'Callaghan's loss highlights how long it's been since Dublin found a diamond
No Con . That's what they're telling us anyway. If Hamlet was a Central Council delegate, he'd point out that the rules around intercounty teams announcing their squads on a Friday – and, more to the point, sticking with them across the weekend – have been honoured more in the breach than the observance during this championship. But even so, it seems that this one is likely true. Dublin are about to play a significant championship match without Con O'Callaghan for the first time since Kerry beat them in 2023. When the squad for the weekend was announced late on Thursday night, his name was the first and last thing most people looked for. If you got sent a screenshot, it was the only comment worth making or worth receiving. No Con. For all the good Dublin would have taken out of nicking the win in Salthill a fortnight ago, suddenly Dessie Farrell's cupboard undeniably looks a little bare. Armagh are coming to HQ to face a Dublin squad – and again, we're taking it on trust here that the 26 Dessie Farrell has named is the 26 that will be fielded – in which no fewer than 10 players have never started a championship game in Croke Park. Eight of them have never played a minute of championship football there full-stop. With Con in the mix, that might get brushed over or feel like a kind of a statistical quirk. Dublin could rely on him to bang in a goal and pop over a few two-pointers and lay on a few more and generally just Be Con. As long as he's doing that, who really cares what names are filling out the bench? READ MORE Without Con, suddenly the humble Dub is shook. You mean to tell us that 40 per cent of the Dublin squad don't have their own bespoke ass groove in the Hogan Stand dressingroom nearest the Hill? That anything up to half a dozen of them might get their first taste of champo at Croker this weekend with the All-Ireland champions pawing the dirt and hunting for scalps? Isn't that sort of thing only supposed to happen to hayseeds and culchies? [ Darragh Ó Sé: Rian O'Neill being back for Armagh is good news for everyone, especially Rian O'Neill Opens in new window ] If nothing else, Con's absence this weekend will probably mean that the churn in the Dublin panel will become far more obvious to far more people than has heretofore been the case. Of the starting 15 who played Galway in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final, five have left the squad and two more are injured. That septet reads Mick Fitzsimons, Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey, Eoin Murchan and now Con O'Callaghan. James McCarthy and Michael Fitzsimons after last year's All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Widen it out and of the 26-man panel who suited up for that Galway game, only 15 are named this weekend. For the sake of comparison, look at Galway then and Galway now. Of the 26 named by Pádraic Joyce last June, 21 are in the panel this weekend. Thirteen of the starting 15 are named to start again. In and of itself, a bit of churn is no harm. It's to be welcomed, in fact. Keeps everyone pulling on the rope, trying to find the inches. It feels like no time at all since Bernard Brogan was spending a full season torturing himself at training just to make the match day 26 for an All-Ireland final replay. But of course that's six years ago now. A lifetime. It's so long in the past that some of the Dublin players who have come through to fill the gaps left by the immortals are already longer in the tooth than you think. Colm Basquel is 29, Paddy Small is 28, Seán Bugler and Seán MacMahon are both 27, Peadar Ó Coifigh Byrne is 26. The supporting cast in the times of plenty who are the officer class now – the likes of Davy Byrne, Cormac Costello and Niall Scully – are all either 31 or 32 this year. It won't be long until they start ageing out too. Now look. This is clearly a first-world problem. The Liffey will not dry up, Dublin will not run short on footballers. But equally, it's been obvious for a while that for all the demographic and financial advantages at their disposal, Dublin haven't been bringing through anything like the quality of player that was once routine. When the rest of the country wrung its hands over the idea of a permanent Dub empire, it was the annual injection of elite quality that really scared the horses. It started with McCarthy in 2011, Kilkenny and Dean Rock in 2012, Mannion and McCaffrey in 2013, Fenton and John Small in 2015, O'Callaghan in 2016, Murchan and Brian Howard in 2018. The key attribute they all shared wasn't just that they were so good, it was that they were so good so very quickly. Of those 10 players, eight were under 25 when they won their first All Star. Only Rock and Small had to wait until they were older than that and both had won multiple All-Irelands by then anyway and nobody doubted their worth. By contrast, of the 14 All Stars Dublin have won this decade, only two have gone to players under the age of 25. Con and Eoin Murchan were both 24 in 2020 – since then, the youngest Dub to win an All Star was then 27-year-old Basquel in 2023. The point is, it's a very long time since Dublin produced anyone that immediately got the Hill abuzz. Lee Gannon is probably the closest but he's been wracked by injuries since his debut season. Otherwise, it's been a lot of dutiful, solid, honest players who come in and do their job and keep the Dublin show rolling. As for the remaining all-timers, Stephen Cluxton is 107, John Small and Ciarán Kilkenny are 32 and O'Callaghan himself is 29. Dublin are going to need to source some stardust from somewhere in the coming years. Nothing will highlight that more than a weekend with no Con.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Jewish leader calls for 'caution' as German criticism of Israel rises
The Central Council of Jews in Germany has called for "caution" amid mounting German criticism of the Israeli military's actions in Gaza. "I call for caution in the debate: Politicians should avoid using anti-Semitic narratives that relativize hatred of Jews by referring to Israel's conduct of the war," Central Council President Josef Schuster told dpa on Tuesday. Schuster said he did not oppose Chancellor Friedrich Merz's rare rebuke of the Israeli government on Monday, agreeing that "civilian casualties must be minimized as much as possible and humanitarian aid for the civilian population in Gaza is necessary." But he warned that the fight against the Hamas "terrorist militia" is existential for Israel, and said that Jews in Germany must not be collectively made responsible for the Israeli military's actions. "This exonerates all the Jew-haters who follow precisely this anti-Semitic logic," said Schuster. "The result is a normalization of Israel-related anti-Semitism, which worries the Jewish community in Germany." "In this fight, Germany must stand unwaveringly by Israel's side," he added. Schuster said Hamas bears responsibility for the suffering in Gaza, and could end it by releasing the hostages and laying down its weapons.
RTÉ News
24-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Jarlath Burns and Tom Ryan to meet with Mayo officials amid financial situation
GAA president Jarlath Burns and director general Tom Ryan are to attend a special meeting of the Mayo county board on Monday evening. Mayo have been in the headlines recently concerning a revenue audit during which a voluntary disclosure of almost €120,000 was made in relation to potential tax liability for the Cúl Camps programme. At their county convention last December, Mayo GAA stated that the amount was a "legacy issue relating to outstanding tax liabilities from our Cúl Camp's programme in 2018 and 2019." Furthermore a loan extended to Mayo by the GAA's Central Council in 2015 to assume the county's debt has been the subject of speculation which was denied last week by the treasurer of the Mayo board. After March's Allianz Football League final in Croke Park, which Mayo lost to Kerry, Burns made remarks in his presentation speech which were clearly supportive of Mayo's officers. Burns' and Ryan's presence at the special meeting on Monday night in Westport is seen as extending further support as well as giving delegates an opportunity to clarify any queries.
Irish Examiner
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Clock/hooter set to feature in remaining Sam Maguire Cup games
The public clock/hooter is set to be operational in every forthcoming All-Ireland senior football game despite the previous policy it would only be applicable to broadcasted or streamed matches. The GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) have confirmed to the Irish Examiner that this weekend's Meath-Cork and Armagh-Derry matches will also be subject to the technology. The clock/hooter was only in use for televised or streamed provincial matches due to logistical and financial reasons. Last weekend's two All-Ireland matches which weren't broadcasted – Mayo v Cavan and Clare v Sligo – didn't feature the countdown clock or siren either. In early April, Football Review Committee chairman Jim Gavin explained why Central Council couldn't apply the technology across the board: "Obviously from an FRC perspective, we'd like to see it everywhere. The harsh reality is that some grounds aren't ready. "Central Council are proposing now – voted on by the counties on Monday night – only venues where matches are broadcast or streamed live. That ground will have to be ready." However, a CCCC spokesperson said they are going to try and have the clock/hooter in place for all of the remaining Sam Maguire Cup games irrespective of whether they are broadcasted or not, subject to hardware personnel availability. Four of next weekend's second round All-Ireland group games are not being televised on RTÉ or carried by GAA+ but it is expected they too will feature the clock/hooter. Of the remaining 31 games in the All-Ireland SFC (Sam Maguire Cup) series, 21 are due to be screened including every game from next month's All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals onwards. As thing stand, televised or streamed Tailteann Cup matches will continue to be the only games played under the clock/hooter but that could change depending on resources. RTÉ will show football's second tier championship semi-finals and finals, while GAA+ will stream the final round meeting of Fermanagh-Wexford in Croke Park on June 1 as well as two of the four preliminary quarter-finals on June 7 and two of the quarter-finals on June 14.
New Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
CJI Khanna defers pleas on Waqf Act to May 15, says Centre's reply needs 'consideration'; to be heard by successor
"Deliberate, purposeful and intentionally misleading narrative, is built very mischievously giving an impression that those Waqfs (including 'waqf by user') which do not have document to support their claims will be affected. This is not only untrue and false but purposefully and deliberately misleading this court,' the affidavit said. The affidavit also justified the provision giving sweeping powers to the district Collector to determine the ownership of a government land which is identified as Waqf stating that it is to "set the revenue records right." The Centre, in its 1,332-page preliminary counter affidavit, submitted that there cannot be a "blanket stay" on the law as there was a "presumption of its constitutionality." It also claimed that the law was not violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. "The amendments are only for the regulation of the secular aspect regarding the management of the properties and hence, there was no violation of the religious freedoms guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution," it said. Justifying the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Waqf Boards, a move widely criticised as a direct attack against the religious freedom of Muslim community, the Centre said, "The maximum possible number of non-Muslims in the Central Council is four out of 22 members and three out of 11 members in State Waf Boards, assuming the ex-officio members are also non-muslims." Coming down heavily on the Centre's plan to include non-Muslims in the Waqf Boards, the court during the initial hearing on April 17 had asked, "Are you suggesting that Muslims could now be part of Hindu endowment boards as well? Please state it openly." In its affidavit, the Centre further justified the inclusion of non-Muslims claiming that managing large number of waqf properties across the country which include land, buildings, and financial assets dedicated to charitable and religious causes "involves significant secular activities. " "Maintaining accurate records, preventing misappropriation, resolving disputes, and ensuring that the income is used for the intended charitable purposes, such as education, healthcare, and assistance to the needy. Further, such properties often deal with the rights of people of other communities and their claims to such properties. The regulation of such properties, therefore, may have a public order aspect as well," the Centre said in its affidavit. The Centre notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, last month after it got President Droupadi Murmu's assent on April 5. The Bill was cleared by the Lok Sabha with the support of 288 members while 232 MPs were against it. The Rajya Sabha saw 128 members voting in its favour and 95 against it. The law was widely criticised as a blatant intrusion into the religious matters of the Muslim community sparking widespread protests across the country. Several political parties such as the DMK, YSRCP, AIMIM, the Left parties, civil society groups such as NGOs, Muslim bodies and others have moved the apex court challenging the validity of the Act.
