Latest news with #DaisyHillHospital
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Eimear Hayes relishing the chance to claim elusive All-Ireland medal with Armagh
It is a fact now that many young women and men with serious ambitions of having inter-county careers in Gaelic Games choose professions conducive to pursuing that goal. You see lots of teachers. Not many self-employed. Few working in jobs with shift work at their core. Nursing is one of the worthiest professions there is, but its long hours, the night work, the physical and mental demands, don't necessarily align with sporting excellence, training, rest or recovery. READ MORE: Rory McIlroy feels there is hope after LIV Golf 'wake-up call' READ MORE: The last hurrah? - 10 Ulster GAA stars who could ponder retirement from county football But Eimear Hayes finds the balance suits her, working in the A&E department at Newry's Daisy Hill Hospital providing context when dealing with the so-called pressures of playing at the highest level, such as for Armagh's Glen Dimplex All-Ireland premier junior camogie final at Croke Park on Sunday, against Laois (1pm, live on RTÉ2). Thanks to the understanding of management, who have clearly wanted the Tullysaran defender in their ranks, work has never gotten in the way of camogie except for one year – 2020 – and that was her own call. It was Covid times. As a nurse working in the eye of the pandemic, Hayes did not feel that she could, in all conscience, go from the ward to the pitch, no matter what precautions were being taken. The price of that selfless act was watching on a laptop as her colleagues won the All-Ireland title, against Cavan at Kingspan Breffni. Of course she was delighted for them, and there is not even a hint of regret now. Indeed, in the spirit of all healthy dressing rooms, she is slagged as a hex, having played in three other finals – 2016, 2021 and 2022, when the Orchard's finest failed to get over the line. She takes that in fine heart too, and was ready to put her shoulder to the wheel once more, even after losing to Clare and Tipperary by a point at the penultimate stage of the last two championships. 'The one thing you want to be doing at the start of the year is that you want to be preparing for an All-Ireland final,' says Hayes. 'So it's a bit of a relief after the semi-finals, we've got to where we have planned to be. There's a good buzz. It was two years in a row we'd been beat in the semi-final by the team that's went on to win it. So it was 100% a big relief now to get over the line. 'It's funny, the girls joke with me about (the finals won and lost) but thank God, that was great, it was brilliant that they won it when I wasn't there.' The laughter is natural, not forced. There is more to life and she sees that most days at work. 'The hours are not great in terms of trying to manage playing camogie. People do say to you sometimes, 'God, fair play to ya,' or 'God, that must be awful,' but I'm like, no, because if I didn't have camogie…I'm lucky enough that I can play it because if I didn't have that release, and I think it's the same for everyone in sports, to be able to go from work, from that environment to, yes, training hard, but having the craic with 25 other girls, you genuinely forget about it. 'Och, I suppose it does put into perspective what you're doing. On the grand scheme of things, you might feel a bit tired, but you know what? Actually, you're really not that bad off. 'Management is great. And I suppose that's the very definition of manager and management but they're very, very good. And I have appreciated so much, they've been so accommodating. And I've never once been made to feel, 'Oh you're missing this or missing that,' they've always been excellent.' That someone of the calibre of PJ O'Mullan would come in as boss, just a few months after keeping Derry in the senior ranks, having stewarded the Oak Leafers' return to the big time, was a huge vote of confidence and another example, Hayes states, of the county board providing all they can to their camogs. She has relished the raising of the bar in all aspects but there was an impact, even before he came in. 'From the get-go, he's been incredibly professional, but he's been accommodating. He has basically pushed us to be better. He set standards maybe that, not that we're missing, but that we maybe didn't adhere to, or try our best to get to. In terms of training, he's not afraid to call us out which is an excellent thing. 'You go out every training trying to impress him, and every game, you try to impress them all - he has a great background team - because you know that they're watching. And they're not afraid to make changes. They're not afraid to make the hard calls. 'I suppose being a bit more high profile, for the younger girls, even me, there was a nervousness going out first night. You thought you really had to excel to try to impress him.' That is something indeed as Hayes is one of the most experienced members of the panel, one of five survivors from the 2016 group along with current captain Ciara Hill, Rachael Merry, Nicola Woods and Ciarrai Devlin. That is vital nous, given that there has been a huge turnover since last year, with she reckons, 13 players gone from 2024. That they have reached this stage is a huge achievement in those circumstances. The years roll by and she can't remember if it was a year or two before that she was called up. What is inarguable is that she turned 30 last month. Once more, the dressing room did what dressing rooms do. 'It took a bit of a while (to deal with it),' she jokes. 'I got a lot of grief from the girls. But you know what? They keep telling me it's just a number, but I don't know how I feel about that in the mornings after training!' This sounds like a very healthy, tight-knit group. You give it, you take it and you have each other's backs. Like any family. Hayes' focus on balance extended to going travelling with her partner in the latter half of 2022. Four months in southeast Asia, six weeks in New Zealand, six weeks in Australia and four months in South America. 'It was savage. And it definitely scratched an itch. I've had that period now and then you go straight back into focusing on camogie.' Which brings her back to Croke Park. Win or lose, Hayes will go into work dealing at times with life or death, and know that there are worse things than losing a match and better things than winning one. And that the core of life is the relationships in them, and that she and her friends gave their all standing shoulder to shoulder. That said, you take your joy where you can get it and winning would be brilliant. 'I suppose from a camogie perspective, there's 26 other counties or whatever that won't feature in an All-Ireland final. "And I suppose you do have to look at it that from that side of things, that you're the lucky one to be building up to it. You've trained since November to be in this position, to put yourself in with a chance of winning an All-Ireland. There's nerves and you'd love to get on with it but you have to enjoy it too. 'The men being in the football final last year, the buzz after that semi-final, for a whole county to share, the joy and the buzz and the excitement that came within then two weeks in the lead-up, was just unbelievable. Obviously this is not at the same scale but in my own club, everyone is talking about it and wishing you well. So you have to embrace it and get on with it.'
Irish Independent
06-06-2025
- Irish Independent
Louth motorist with previous dangerous driving causing death conviction sentenced over high-speed crash
Peter Mohan, Rathkeelan Park, Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh, pleaded guilty to a charge of endangerment stemming from a collision on the Castleblayney Road out of Dundalk, at Annavackey, Hackballscross, on November 2, 2023. The defendant has a previous conviction for dangerous driving causing death for which he received a prison sentence and disqualification. The impact in question occurred on a blind hillcrest and evidence was heard that the drivers only saw each other at the last second, with Mr Mohan on the wrong side of the road. Gda Bernard Keown testified that a Volkswagen Passat containing two people was travelling from Crossmaglen to Dundalk at 7.40pm when the driver saw lights coming towards him. He attempted to swerve but was hit by a Vauxhall Insignia driven by the accused. The Passat flipped and came to a stop in the middle of the road. His passenger got out and after crawling into the back of the car, the driver was able to get out through the same passenger door. The passenger remembered the other vehicle on the wrong side of the road. There was not much time to react. It happened at the top of a hill, a blind hillcrest. The speed limit was 80kmh and the road governed by a double continuous white line. Gda Keown said that the Insignia was 'propelled' into a field. Another driver gave a statement about Mr Mohan's car 'overtaking aggressively' forcing him into evasive action by slowing to make space so that there was no head-on collision. A different man, behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Caddy, said that the Insignia overtook him at such speed his van 'shook'. He estimated it was doing 'over 100mph'. He heard a bang and saw the Passat sliding on its roof. The defendant's car was in a field. Mr Mohan was not at the scene having been taken to Daisy Hill Hospital by a car which pulled up. He was discharged the next morning. His father had turned up at the scene and was sympathetic to the two young men in the other car. That driver was taken by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. He had cuts and bruises, pain to the right shoulder and back. He also had pain in his legs, and suffered nerve tingling in his hands and feet and found it difficult to concentrate for a number of months. Gda Keown said that a blood sample taken from the Insignia matched the DNA of Mr Mohan. He went to Dundalk Garda Station by arrangement and in an interview said that he couldn't remember what happened and woke up in hospital. He had turned off the M1 alone in his father's car, a journey he made four or five times a week. The court heard of four previous convictions, including for dangerous driving causing death for which an 18-month sentence and eight-year disqualification were imposed at Monaghan Circuit Court in 2002. The other convictions were for dangerous driving reduced to careless driving and handling stolen property. Gda Keown replied to senior counsel Garnet Orange, instructed by solicitor Ciarán Hughes, that from M1 Junction 17 to Hackballscross the road was wide and had a 100kmh speed limit. Counsel submitted that a good stretch of road funneled into a bad stretch but that doesn't excuse Mr Mohan driving at 'grossly excessive speed'. He had no reasonable explanation. A driver for a living, he was on his way home from work having driven from Wexford. It could have gone an awful lot worse. There was no one to blame but him. He should have been 100% concentrating on driving. He was nearly home after a long drive. The defendant wanted to apologise. He co-operated and his early plea of guilty must be of some value. Letters from two physicians treating Mr Mohan's family were handed into court, as well as notes from him and his partner. Their daughter had significant difficulties and health challenges and he was actively involved in looking after her. Mr Orange said that the defendant was dealing with the mental and physical consequences of the collision. Judge Dara Hayes said that this was a serious matter which he would finalise on July 30.
