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Irish Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Paralympic champion rumoured to be new coach on RTE's Ireland's Fittest Family
Paralympic champion Ellen Keane has reportedly signed up as a new coach on RTE's Ireland's Fittest Family as the show undergoes a major revamp. The gold medallist swimmer became Ireland's youngest ever athlete when she swam in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and has remained at the top of her game ever since, winning gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The former Dancing With The Stars contestant announced her retirement in 2024, saying at the time: 'How lucky am I to have something, that makes saying goodbye so hard. 'A night of smiling, a night of love & friendship, a night of being incredibly proud to be Irish. 'Thank you Michael for sharing this experience with me. Thank you to my teammates for cheering SO loud that it was so easy to find you in the crowd. Thank you to the Paralympic community for being my home for so long.' A show insider revealed that Ellen has now signed up to be a coach on the 13th series of the RTE One hit show, which is hosted by 2FM star Laura Fox. She is rumoured to be the latest coach, alongside a former Dublin footballer, who has yet to be revealed. Ellen will join coaches Davy Fitzgerald, Anna Geary, Donncha O'Callaghan and Sonia O'Sullivan. It comes in the wake of Anna teasing major changes to the format. She told the RTE Guide last month: 'Oh, wait until people find out what's happening in Ireland's Fittest Family! 'No, I'm not going to be the person to let the cat out of the bag because I'll absolutely be taken down by the production team. 'But what I will say is never before has what is about to happen, happened on the show. 'Let me tell you, as a coach, I was more shocked than anybody. 'There are big changes, big twists, you're going to see a changed format, new locations. Oh my God! It's going to completely shake things up.' Last season, the Cummins family from Kilkenny, coached by hurling legend Davy Fitzgerald, took home the crown. Dad Paul said of their win: 'What an unbelievable experience taking part in Ireland's Fittest Family has been. 'As individuals, we have had success, representing our country in multiple sports, but to compete with zero expectations except to give it a good go. The air date for the new series has not yet been released but it will be streamed on RTE Player and RTE One. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Irish Independent
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Davy Fitzgerald set to stay in charge of Antrim hurlers for 2026 season
Davy Fitzgerald looks set to extend his stay as Antrim senior hurling manager into a second season with the 2013 All-Ireland SHC-winning boss expected to remain in charge for 2026.
Irish Daily Mirror
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jason Forde - the Tipperary hurler with interesting day job and GAA scandal
Jason Forde, the stalwart of Tipperary hurling, has been a mainstay in the team for over ten years. The Silvermines native and double All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship victor is a formidable presence on the field, with his impressive list of honours to prove it. Let's delve into his eventful life both on and off the GAA pitch. Tipperary Career Jason was just 16 years of age when he was first called up to the Tipperary minor panel. He played in the 2010 and 2011 seasons before moving to the U/21 set up in 2012. He enjoyed three years at the grade, including captaining the side in 2014, but he never won any silverware. The Silvermines man got immediate success at senior level after inter-county debut in the semi-final of the 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup, winning Munster Senior Hurling Championship medals in 2015 and 2016. He added two All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medals to his collection in 2016 and 2019. He was nominated for an All-Star Award for his solo efforts on the pitch in 2019. "The big aim was to get back to Croke Park this year," he told RTÉ recently. "These younger players need to get there and experience that. A lot of that team have never played in Croke Park before with the under 20 matches being in Nowlan Park and different places. "We'll be relishing it, another two weeks, back to training on Tuesday and go as it as hard as we can." Suspension Following Davy Fitzgerald Controversy Jason missed the opening round of the Munster hurling championship back in 2017 after he was hit with a one-match ban following an on field scuffle with the then Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald. The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) charged Forde with an alleged "assault on an opposing team official" after Davy stormed on to the pitch after a decision from the referee. "The whole thing with social media, it kind of steamrolled from there," he said afterwards. "The cameras picked it up and there was more made out of it than probably needed to be. "The CCCC have their job to do, they have to pick up on incidents that happen. They just ran with it from there then." Jason originally thought that Tipperary boss Michael Ryan was joking when he told him he faced a ban from playing the game. He said: "When he was telling me down the phone I thought to myself, 'Is he actually being serious here, or what's the story?' "Unfortunately it was serious and we ended up having to go up to Croke Park a couple of times as well. It definitely wasn't ideal. "Looking back, the way it panned out, you wish you didn't get into that altercation. "These things happen. Davy Fitzgerald, in fairness to him, he came out and said there wasn't much in it. "I think most people would be in agreement that there wasn't much in it but I suppose the GAA have a job to do as well and they made a decision. That was kind of hard to take at the time. "To be dealing with all that stuff, the possibility of being suspended... I didn't know whether I was or I wasn't and I ended up playing in the League final but then you find out that you do (have to serve a suspension) and you miss the first round of the Championship." Relationship and Girlfriend Jason was photographed with Claire Collins when they stepped out together for PwC All Stars awards at the Convention Centre in Dublin in 2018 and 2019. They also previously shared pictures together on social media. It is unknown if he is currently in a relationship. Day Job Away from his busy hurling schedule, Jason runs a very successful personal training business. He focuses on structured programming and training and nutrition both online and in person. He began this business after taking a break from his day job as a secondary school teacher in Nenagh College. "It's a large scope of people. I have GAA athletes who are looking to work on certain performance markers. Increasing speed and acceleration is a big one I've had over the last number of months," he told "Especially now that you're in the off-season, people try to work on different things. We have various ways of testing those and putting parameters on their sporting goals. "You have people looking to lose a bit of weight, get back into the shape that they were in previously, just improve their overall health." Age, Height and Where He's From Jason was born on December 1993, making him 31 years of age. He is 6 ft 1 in height. The two time All-Ireland winner plays for his local GAA club, Silvermines.
Irish Times
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Donegal a victim of 'rushed' championship, writes Darragh Ó Sé
Donegal's six-day turnaround before their quarter-final against Monaghan on Saturday? 'They are 100 per cent right to be annoyed,' says Darragh Ó Sé, player welfare trailing again behind the needs of 'the money men in Croke Park and the TV companies' . And it's all caused by a brilliant season 'being rushed through… like we've opened a two-grand bottle of wine and we're swigging it from the neck'. But, no, those Croke Park concerts can't be pushed in to September, because 'it might rain on Oasis' or 'Robbie Williams might have to wear a jumper'. The Dubs, though, have seven days to rest their weary bones after playing Cork, Gordon Manning hearing from the legend that is Barney Rock about their meeting with Tyrone - who beat them by seven points in the league back in March. In hurling, Davy Fitzgerald is not unfamiliar with run-ins with officialdom when he's pacing up and down the sideline. A possible solution to all this aggro? Why not 'take the management off the sideline and put them in the stand, the same as rugby does,' he suggests to Gordon. Seán Moran, meanwhile, is reflecting on the Dublin hurlers' startling win over Limerick , a 'seismic shock' that our tactical analysis maestro Jeffrey Lynskey examines. READ MORE In rugby, Gerry Thornley hears Ronan O'Gara back off a touch from his ambitions to coach an international team , while his old mucker Gordon D'Arcy reflects on his own Lions experiences - including his name being accidentally omitted from the squad announcement in 2005. 'An inauspicious start, but a start nonetheless.' Angus Fontaine brings the view from Australia ahead of the tour, Joe Schmidt's crew heartened by the Lions' loss to Argentina. 'It put blood in the water and proved the tourists are beatable.' Happily, there's no blood in the water at all between Dan Sheehan and Ellis Genge. ' He's definitely someone that surprises you that he's not a dickhead ,' says Sheehan of his old foe. 'It's mad how fast you can go from despising people to hanging around to go for a coffee with them.' The magic of the Lions, that. And ahead of Ireland's tests against Georgia and Portugal next month, John O'Sullivan hears from attack coach Mike Prendergast who talks about the input Andy Farrell will still have on team selection for the games, despite being a bit busy down under. In football, Keith Andrews faces a daunting but thrilling challenge after agreeing a deal to become manager of Premier League club Brentford , and we talk to Crystal Palace defender Hayley Nolan ahead of the Republic of Ireland's friendlies against the United States. And in racing, Brian O'Connor tells us that the bookmakers reckon Tennessee Stud is the biggest Irish Derby threat to Lambourn . Tennessee Stud is trained by Joseph O'Brien, Lambourn by his Da Aidan. A family affair. TV Watch : If you'd like to see what talent is coming up through the ranks of four of football's big shots, then tune in to today's semi-finals in the under-21 European championships. At 5.0, defending champions England play the Netherlands (Channel 4), and at 8.0 Germany meet France on a channel called 4Seven which some of us are still trying to find on our telly boxes.
Irish Daily Mirror
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Davy Fitz explains emotions after winning battle for clarification over reports
Davy Fitzgerald says he is happy to be vindicated after a clarification was published in a Sunday newspaper over reports from 2021 over his time as Clare manager and the hurling supporters' club. Fitzgerald's legal team posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, 'Pleased to secure this important clarification on behalf of our client Davy Fitzgerald. Integrity is critical in sporting and public life and Mr Fitzgerald is satisfied that his good name and reputation stands vindicated'.The post also included a statement from the Sunday Independent that read: 'In March 2021 a series of articles were published in the Sunday Independent concerning Clare hurling, two of which included references to David Fitzgerald, former Clare manager, and his 2018 biography, At All Costs.'Those articles reported on potential divisions in Clare hurling, and the separation between Clare County Board and the hurling supporters' club active between 2012 and 2016, including extracts from Mr Fitzgerald's biography.'Medahuis, publisher of the Sunday Independent, is happy to clarify that, in discussing those subjects, the articles did not contain, not were they intended to contain, a suggestion of dishonesty on Mr Fitzgerald's part'.Speaking about the clarification yesterday, the current Antrim boss admitted it was a "big thing personally" after a four year ordeal for himself and his family. Fitzgerald explained: "To have to wake up on a number of Sunday mornings and read stuff that affects you and your family, and for there to be insinuated certain things against you, is hard to take. "But I made a decision there and then that I wasn't going to let that go. Some of my friends have said to me, 'We know what the story is, don't bother'."I couldn't let that go and I'd like to thank my legal team, who were absolutely unreal for the last three or four years. I'm happy with the vindication. I'm happy it's done."Did it hurt? There are probably two things that hurt me in the last number of years. That was one of them. When some people would actually think that that might be true, some of the stuff that was insinuated, that was terrible. "But I'm glad that it's out there. It was tough not to deal with it at the time, to come out roaring and screaming, but I wanted more than that."My legal team knew everything and they were very happy to go as long as it took to do it. I'm delighted for the family as well that people get to see that side and it means a lot to me."Fitzgerald's father, Pat, stepped down as Clare secretary in 2022, a year after taking a civil case against a social media website. Davy revealed that his father had intended to step down in 2018 to pursue another opportunity but had to stay in his role because of the case. "I would have actually loved to see him gone then and he probably would have himself, but he's happy," said Fitzgerald. "I think he kind of said on Sunday that, 'Do you know what now, that's that'." And the former All-Ireland winning goalkeeper agrees with that sentiment. "It's just nice for people to know what the story is because when stuff is put out there and you wake up on a Sunday morning and you and your family are reading stuff, that's not right," Fitzgerald said. "I think you can see it with me, I'm not actually bitter or anything like that anymore. I'm just glad it's done. It's over now. And that small little group of people, some of the things that were done, not good."Fitzgerald also mentioned the hurt he felt when, while in charge of Wexford in 2020 against Clare, he says he "got absolutely abused personally" by a member of the Clare backroom team."That's not right," he said. "No one should have to put up with that. And it was during Covid, some of my friends said to me afterwards that you could hear it on the television."I suppose the only thing on that day was nearly every single member of the Clare team came up to me afterwards and shook my hand, which meant the world to me."The one thing I said to myself afterwards about these two things is that it's only a very small minority, a few powerful people, that were probably behind this campaign."I look at the supporters in Clare, the Clare players, they're absolutely top class. The clubs in Clare, top class. I've benefited from the clubs in Clare, I won an All-Ireland because the clubs in Clare did their job and I'm so proud."But that did hurt. That campaign hurt. That clarification meant the world because you don't get them too easily, I can tell you that."But you know what? It's done. It's closed. I want to forget about it now. I'm happy with that. But it's over now and it's move on. But I'm delighted to have persisted with it, to have got that." *Davy Fitzgerald was speaking at the launch of the 24th annual Circet All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge in aid of GAA-related charities at Michael Lyng Motors (Ford) in Kilkenny
