Latest news with #Dempsey
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘This isn't Cul camps' – Hurling icon rubbishes Wexford complaints about harshness of All-Ireland structure
KILKENNY legend Richie Hogan was bemused by the comments of Tony Dempsey regarding the Yellowbellies' early exit from the hurling championship. Former Wexford manager Dempsey claimed during the week hurling is "under threat" unless the hurling championship is moved to the prime summer months. 2 Wexford haven't reached a Leinster final since winning it in 2019 2 The hurling analyst was humoured by the Wexford native's comments This outburst came as his beloved Wexford as well as Clare and Waterford were knocked out of the All-Ireland series before the schools even close for Summer. Dempsey told RTE: "We're bitterly disappointed because the summer is when young people share the joy of school holidays with being able to watch their elite performers. "In our case Lee Chin and Rory O'Connor, and not only to watch them but to enjoy them without the problem of trying to attend school on a Monday. "So school holidays will now be a time for Wexford, Waterford and of course Clare and many other counties when the performers will be gone from there. Read more on GAA "We won't be able to see them." Hogan shot down the claims by Dempsey on The seven time All-Ireland winner joked: "As a man who is married to a teacher has two sisters who are teachers, brother's a teacher and 60-70% of my friends are teachers, I would love to see them get more school holidays." "This is not the Cul Camps, we can't all play on All-Ireland final day. Most read in GAA Hurling "Do they want some festival on Saturday and Sunday where every team gets a chance? "If you don't have consequences for losing there is no joy in winning." Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - The four-time All-Star's stance on the matter is that the All-Ireland championship places have to be earned and not everyone can be included in the select few. Hogan went on to explain: "Waterford have lost three games, they have four Munster championship games. "I won an All-Ireland in 2015, we only played four games in the whole championship season." In 2015 Kilkenny were given an automatic spot in the Leinster semi-final where they overcame Wexford by 24 points before going through Galway then Waterford before playing Galway again on their way to All-Ireland victory. Waterford had a tough Munster championship campaign only recording one win against Clare, losing by six points to Limerick and Cork and nine points at the hands of Tipperary. The All-Ireland champions Clare disappointed in their attempt at retaining their title. They began with Similarly Wexford struggled in the Leinster championship, recording wins against Offaly and Antrim. But loses to Dublin and Galway meant their fate was sealed before
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Former inter-county boss says 'hurling under threat' and rubbishes split season
Former Wexford manager Tony Dempsey has claimed that hurling is 'under threat' and insists that prime Championship action must be restored to the summer months. Of the 11 counties that partake in the top tier, the campaign is over for five of them as of last Sunday, including Dempsey's native county. Indeed, Wexford had been eliminated from the Championship seven days before they played their final game against Kilkenny last Sunday, which was a dead rubber in Chadwicks Wexford Park, while outgoing All-Ireland champions Clare were in the same predicament ahead of their trip to Limerick. And although Offaly and Antrim jousted to avoid relegation in Tullamore on Sunday, it was guaranteed to be their last game of the year regardless of the outcome. "We're bitterly disappointed because the summer is when young people share the joy of school holidays with being able to watch their elite performers - in our case Lee Chin and Rory O'Connor - and not only to watch them but to enjoy them without the problem of trying to attend school on a Monday," Dempsey told RTE's Morning Ireland. "So school holidays will now be a time for Wexford, Waterford and of course Clare and many other counties when the performers will be gone from there. We won't be able to see them. "The reality is we promote and market our games - every sport that does that through the performance of their best elite athletes. We hand over the summer, the best time for an elderly person or a youngster who doesn't have the worry of school to attend and to support and to watch our hurlers and indeed our footballers. So we've handed it over to other sports." The split season model, which sees the inter-county season wrap up some two months earlier than was traditionally the case, was introduced to give a clear run for club games in the second half of the year but Dempsey described the notion that the club and county can't run in tandem as 'nonsense'. "You could start your club championships and play inter-county games at the same time. It's happened for over a century.' Saying that 'hurling is under threat', Dempsey, who is also a former county board chairman, acknowledged that the likes of Wexford and Waterford could drop into the Joe McDonagh Cup, something that nearly befell his own county two years ago. 'Hopefully that won't happen but there is a danger that it can happen. "You perform best during summer, you improve your skills, you hone your skills in summer. County teams in Wexford, now that's gone. We're not in minor, we're not in under-21, we're not in senior. "So I think it's possible to have competitions for our clubs and inter-county during the best time of the year." Dempsey's comments come in light of Waterford manager Peer Queally and his Offaly counterpart Johnny Kelly decrying the fact that their season is over before the month of May is out. Speaking after defeat to Cork sealed his side's elimination last Sunday, Queally said: 'I've had conversations with fellas who have decided to opt out because of, 'Well, I can give all this and I might not be able to hurl in the summer.' 'People are deciding not to play because of the amount of effort and training that's asked of them all through the winter months. 'Then you come up against three awesome hurling teams and you're putting away your hurley in the summer evenings when all you want to do is hurl." He added: 'Maybe it's following suit with our football counterparts, where you have your provincial Championship and then you have your All-Ireland series.' Kelly, meanwhile, said that the split season 'isn't working' after watching his side beat Antrim. He said: 'I was an advocate of the split season at the start because, honestly, it's no harm to try these things and see. But it isn't working in my view anyway. There's a couple more around that have the same view. 'I was even down at my own club training [on Sunday morning] in Portumna, watching the boys train. So, we have one set of players that are actually [playing] five games in six weeks. Then we have another set of players, club players, that are ambling around since last January with no game in sight, waiting for the thing to finish.'
The Herald Scotland
7 days ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Could Scotland learn from Ireland's exam-free fourth year?
In Scotland, the main qualifications in upper secondary – National 5, Higher and, to a lesser degree, Advanced Higher – are one-year courses; in contrast, Ireland certifies school leavers via a two-year programme known as the Leaving Certificate. As with the Scottish system, Ireland's culminates in a set of high-stakes exams that serve a key role in university applications. But a single, two-year course for school leavers opens an obvious gap in the fourth year of secondary school, when Scottish students typically take six or seven one-year National 5 courses. The experience for the vast majority of their Irish peers is radically different. Ireland encourages young people at this age to participate in something called a Transition Year (TY), which is part of the latter stage of secondary, but is not assessed using formal exams or structured around an exam-focused timetable. The Transition Year concept was introduced in 1974 in response to what the then Minister for Education called the 'growing pressures on students for high grades and competitive success'. This phenomenon, he warned, meant that education systems were 'becoming increasingly academic treadmills' and schools, 'because of these pressures', were also 'losing contact with life outside.' In the early years results were good, but uptake was low. In the mid-80s, the provision of greater support and the effects of wider structural changes led to an increase in the number of schools offering the programme; further guidance and major senior cycle reform then sparked a huge jump in provision, with the number of participating schools jumping from 19 percent in 1993 to 60 percent the following year. At this point, just under a third of all students took up the offer of a Transition Year. Over the next two decades, both figures continuously increased: by 2021 coverage had reached 98 percent of schools, with 74 percent of pupils taking up the option of a Transition Year. According to Dr Majella Dempsey, Associate Professor of Education at Maynooth University, the programme is almost entirely unique. The only other country to offer something similar is Korea – which like Ireland, is a high-performing country in PISA international tests, and which has actually been inspired to introduce its own programme by the success of the Irish approach. Although there is 'no designated curriculum', schools do operate under a 'framework for how they can organise the year.' This decentralised approach leaves schools free to develop their own programmes, incorporating various different subjects, broader areas of study, specialist educational modules, one-off events, out-of-school learning activities, and more. 'They can't just use the class time to do a three-year Leaving Cert,' Dr Dempsey notes. 'Students tend to do a lot of project-based learning, and even travelling to other European countries all sorts of different things.' Subjects studied all year as part of the 'core' layer include Gaeilge, English, Maths, PE, ICT and RE. A 'subject sampling' layer allows students to complete modules from a range of other traditional subjects, and a 'Transition Year specific layer' provides opportunities to study areas such as photography, mental health, tourism, innovation, psychology and more. The final 'calendar' layer means that programmes such as work experience, outdoor pursuits, field trips, and dramatic or musical productions can all be included in the Transition Year model. A major part of the focus for schools is on supporting the development of independent learning skills while encouraging students to explore both existing and emerging areas of interest. Irish actor Cillian Murphy has spoken about the positive effect that the Transition Year had on him, once describing the period as a 'real oasis' and himself as a 'big advocate' of the system. According to a 2022 report as part of updates to the TY programme, 'students and teachers describe the classroom as liberated due to the learning-led focus of TY and the absence of exam-pressure.' Evidence also suggests that the benefits of the Transition Year are carried over in some way into Leaving Certificate studies. Students participating in the programme have been found to be more engaged in their studies overall, and a report for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment states that there is 'reliable evidence that students who do TY achieve a substantially higher performance in the Leaving Certificate' – although it adds that the precise reasons for this correlation remain unclear. It's also clear that the system isn't perfect. Around a quarter of young people report being disappointed or underwhelmed by their Transition Year, with an apparently common complaint being the feeling that some teachers don't take the classes as seriously as others. According to Dr Dempsey the quality of a student's Transition Year is also affected by socioeconomic factors, because some of the activities that a school might want to consider – like foreign travel – cannot be entirely funded by schools. But even at its weakest, she adds, the research would say that the Transition Year, and being free from exams throughout that period, 'is very good for young people.'
Irish Independent
23-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
Religious believers have healthier hearts and cope better with stress, UL researchers say
'People with deeply internalised beliefs – whose faith is personally meaningful – tend to see more of these health benefits,' PhD student Ailbhe Dempsey said. Ms Dempsey was supervised by Professor Siobhán Howard and Stephen Gallagher in the Department of Psychology, Study of Anxiety, Stress and Health Laboratory at the University of Limerick (UL). The findings, reported in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, involved a meta-analysis – or comprehensive review – of all the existing scientific research into the links between religious belief and heart health. Most studies reviewed determined that people with religious or spiritual beliefs were better protected against acute stressors – the kind of daily stresses we experience – like running late for work. Religious or spiritual people appear to react better to such stress, Ms Dempsey said, and have better measures of heart health like blood pressure and heart rate. Religiosity, she said, is a system of beliefs, rituals and symbols promoting a relationship to and understanding of one's God or a higher power. Spirituality, meanwhile, involves seeking meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about the sacred or transcendent, meditation and mindfulness. As for 'lapsed Catholics', the heart health benefits, she said, do not extend to people who attend church. Data from previous studies, when added to this study, indicate that religious and spiritual people have an 18pc lower risk of dying from heart disease when compared with individuals who are neither religious nor spiritual. The UL findings are supported by other research, which shows that believers are better protected from cancer, dementia and depression. They tend to adapt healthier lifestyle choices, such as reducing or eliminating smoking or alcohol Scientists do not fully understand what precisely happens in believers' bodies that protects their heart health, but there are several theories. One is that they tend to adapt healthier lifestyle choices, such as reducing or eliminating smoking or alcohol. Another is that public participation in religious practice comes with social benefits and supports, which studies show benefit health. And the 'coherence hypothesis', proposes that health benefits arise when individuals join together to find meaning and purpose in life.
7NEWS
22-05-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Geelong coach Chris Scott questions AFL's goal-line technology after controversial review
Geelong coach Chris Scott has intimated he has 'inside information' that the AFL's goal-line technology isn't up to scratch after Oliver Dempsey was controversially denied a goal. Cats wingman Dempsey thought he had poked home a goal during the second quarter of his side's 20.7 (127) to 16.17 (113) win over the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night. But the goal umpire's decision was overturned on review due to a slight spike on the 'Edge' technology, which indicated the ball had nicked the post on the way through. 'This is controversial, probably, but I'd love to see the technology around the Edge with that shot at goal,' Scott said. 'The goal umpire was 30 centimetres away from that. 'If he can't hear that or see that, then something's wrong. Like, the technology, please.' Scott did not want to comment on a Dempsey mark that appeared to be taken over the boundary line at a crucial stage of the final quarter. The call to pay the mark left Bulldogs players stunned and led to an important goal for the Cats. Scott said he did not have a good view of that incident, but went back a second time to Dempsey's overturned goal and challenged the AFL. 'I am prepared to say with the Edge technology, show us that it works,' the two-time premiership coach said. 'They're saying it works off sound but the goal umpire's 30 centimetres away from it. 'If he doesn't think that it hit the post — I back him over the technology any day. 'And I might have a bit of inside information that it doesn't work that well.' The decision to pay Dempsey's fourth-quarter mark raised the ire of Bulldogs coach Beveridge, whose side was also on the wrong end of a 26-12 free kick count. 'Critical part of the game, lots of eyes on it, but as I always say, swings and roundabouts, they happen,' Beveridge said. 'No one's sitting in our rooms thinking about the free kick differential and no one's talking about it. It just happens here and there.' Fans however were more ferocious about the umpiring, and that boundary umpire call. 'Boundary and field umpires loving the Cats tonight, 24-11 in last,' one fan said on social media. Another said: 'He marked it in the car park, what a joke.' And another: 'Another woeful performance by the AFL umpires. I can't watch the rubbish served up by the AFL anymore.' And another: 'I can't believe how bad AFL boundary umpires are at judging whether a ball is over the line or not. This is isn't an isolated incident either.'
