Latest news with #Donoghue
The 42
8 hours ago
- General
- The 42
Galway still leaning on the same few warriors as Micheál Donoghue searches for consistency
BACK IN 2016, when Micheál Donoghue undertook his first tour of duty as Galway manager, the jigsaw pieces were already on the table. The team had come off a second All-Ireland final defeat in four years. Still, the players saw room for improvement, judging by the acrimonious vote of no confidence which put paid to Anthony Cunningham's tenure. They had come close to the mountain top and were now launching a mutiny to climb even higher. For their first league outing, an impressive six-point win over Cork, Donoghue sent out a team featuring a dozen of those beaten finalists of the previous September. Eleven who played that day would feature a year and a half later when Donoghue led Galway to the promised land. This time around, Donoghue returned to the hot seat with seven debutants and a 12-point defeat to Tipperary. What Donoghue witnessed fell far short of the minimum requirements for work rate, which the Clarinbridge native has emphasised at every opportunity across the subsequent four months. Only five of the starting team survived to face Kilkenny the following week. None of the 10 excluded have regained their places in his preferred championship team. However, that game could neither be counted as a turning point nor has progression been linear since then. That 12-point margin of defeat has recurred three more times; against Limerick, Cork, and Kilkenny in consecutive road trips across March and April. In that time, Donoghue has trialled a whopping 57 players, giving game time to 40. The experimentation has continued into championship, particularly in their attack. He called on 29 players in the Leinster round-robin. Galway's defeat to Kilkenny prompted a rethink. Leah Scholes / INPHO Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO Compared to their position of strength back in 2017, when they pocketed Liam MacCarthy and the first of four consecutive All-Ireland minor titles in one memorable afternoon, their squad looks callow. Six of those All-Ireland winners remain ever-present cogs. But those minor teams have been slow to produce senior dividends. The first of those champion sides developed the likes of Darach Fahy, Darren Morrissey, Cianan Fahy, Ronan Glennon, and recent debutant Colm Molloy. Of the 2018 victors, however, only Dónal O'Shea has featured at any stage for the Tribesmen this term. Even the transition to U20 hasn't quite worked. They haven't won an All-Ireland at that grade since 2011, and were beaten by double-digits in both finals they've reached in the meantime. Perhaps the defining characteristic of Donoghue's 2017 champions was the combination of size, power, and ball-winning ability, plus the sharp scoring touch, of their forwards. An attack built around Joseph Cooney, Joe Canning, Johnny Glynn, Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney, and Cathal Mannion was an imposing mix for any opponent. Advertisement Currently, Galway have a rotating cast of inside snipers. Declan McLoughlin bagged 2-2 against Kilkenny in the league as a late call-up. The next day, Anthony Burns stepped forward with 2-3 against Clare on his first start. That same evening, Evan Niland nailed 0-9 from 10 shots. Against Offaly, Molloy was a late change for his first start and raised 0-5 from play. They have each been in and out of the team as Donoghue seeks the right mix of grafters and scorers. Making the ball stick is the first imperative. Then, the score-taking comes in. Whelan and Mannion remain the heartbeat of their forward line as the players who best perform both roles. Similarly, Pádraic Mannion and Daithí Burke have filled in as the full-back-line anchors, while David Burke has provided the midfield shield. They still need those warriors to compensate for inexperience elsewhere. Conor Whelan signs autographs after the victory over Dublin. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO Donoghue pointed to players 'learning the trade' after Dublin pilfered a couple of late goals to take the gloss off an eye-catching result at Parnell Park. Transition and evolution remain part of the vocabulary at this early stage. 'We're still only a short time here and everything is still evolving for us,' he added. 'We're still trying to get the magic number, if you like, of lads in their best positions.' All along, there has been hit-and-miss progress. Where they lost four games by 12 points, they have now taken care of business in the last four by an average margin of 14 points per victory. Where Mannion accounted for 49% of their scoring total in the first three championship games, they managed to construct an appropriate haul in his absence against Antrim and suitably diversified responsibility against Dublin. Where they didn't reach the 30-point barrier in their first seven games, they have broken it in three and clocked 0-29 in their fourth match since then. The goal-scoring balance remains an issue. They have only kept one clean sheet in 11 games this year. At the other end, they have been shut out four times themselves; even if Donoghue's side didn't need goals back in '17 either. They will be tested at both ends by Kilkenny in the Leinster final. There remains a significant distance to travel before Galway could be classed as Liam MacCarthy contenders. But should they smuggle the Bob O'Keeffe Cup back across the Shannon after six years characterised by near misses and flops, their prize would be an All-Ireland semi-final. One that avoids the Munster champions too. From there, a return to the biggest stage wouldn't look so far. They have cast off one hex by beating Dublin, and with that, accomplished a significant marker of progress from the early elimination that ended Henry Shefflin's reign. Donoghue, as the Dubs' head honcho, was responsible for that downfall. His return has reinstituted the minimum acceptable levels of performance for this new-look group. Consistency is the next marker. Then, a Leinster title. Then, we would get a better sense of what's achievable in the rest of Donoghue's four-year term.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- General
- RTÉ News
Man jailed over false imprisonment of pensioner in Offaly
A man has been jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to the false imprisonment of a pensioner at his home in Co Offaly. Patrick McDonagh, 24, with an address at St Margaret's Park, Ballymun, Dublin 11 was one of four men involved in the incident, which happened at the home of James 'Jimmy' Donoghue in Walsh Island on 26 February last year. Judge Keenan Johnson told Tullamore Circuit Criminal Court said it was a "nasty, vile, mean and horrible" crime and it was "clear the victim was terrorised by the culprits". Judge Johnson set the headline sentence at ten years and reduced that to seven when he took mitigating factors into account, including the repayment of €1,000 to the victim, now aged 67. The judge said he would not suspend any portion of the sentence because less than a year before the offence McDonagh had been given a two-year suspended sentence for drug possession. He said behaviour such as McDonagh's had a hugely negative impact on rural dwellers and the easy-going approach to security, along with trust in the community, had been destroyed. Previously, a sentencing hearing had been told that two cars were seen about 2km away from the crime scene and residents were concerned enough to contact the gardaí. McDonagh was identified as the driver of one of them, a Ford Focus, and an item of his clothing was found to have bloodstains on it which matched the victim. An Audi Q7, stolen that day, was used to drive to the farmhouse. The court heard earlier that gardaí received a call from the victim's brother shortly before 8pm on 26 February. John Donoghue had called to his brother's home, where he found him in a state with the house ransacked. He had been assaulted and tied up with a necktie. In a victim impact statement, Mr Donoghue said he was scared for his life when the men came into his house shouting "Where is the money?" and they ransacked his house, took €1,000 from him and a bank card and book. Mr Donoghue said he was "grabbed by the clothes and shook" when the men were demanding money. He had blood coming from an ear where he had been punched in the head. Mr Donoghue said he was very nervous leaving home since and kept a chain around his gate at the end of his lane so people would think it was always locked.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gym equipment lugged up mountain for charity
More than 200 people from a fitness group and their families have taken part in a charity challenge to lug 1680kg of gym equipment to the top of Pen y Fan and back again. Women from Commando Bootcamp, based near Bristol in Yate, South Gloucestershire, took part in the ascent with family members on Saturday in aid of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Bristol's Southmead Hospital. They have previously taken part in several challenges, including a half marathon while carrying white goods in aid of the homeless in 2024. Bootcamp member Sian Donoghue said the latest challenge had raised more than £5,000 for the unit, which had helped look after her son Jack when he was born at 23 weeks old. "He was quite premature and it was quite a shock to everybody," she said of her son, who spent two months in the NICU before being allowed home, but sadly later died. "That was out of everyone's control and since [then] everybody has been so supportive," she said. Ms Donoghue said raising money for the unit had been "emotional", especially as other women in the bootcamp had also spent time with their children there. "Everything that goes on, it's incredible because I don't think people see, unless you've been in there, you don't see what NICU does for people." She added: "It's not just the fact that they are incredible to your child. "They're incredible to any family member that's in there. The nurses and doctors become your family," she said. "All the little things that you never see, so all the things that comfort a baby, they've got it all and that all has to come from somewhere and the only way they really get it is by fundraising," she added. Ms Donoghue said she had joined the group after the Covid-19 pandemic and they had since raised about £46,000 for local charitable causes over the past four years. Despite the weather being "horrendous" for their challenge, Ms Donoghue said it had been "amazing" to see everyone come together. "The amount of people that were donating, it was really lovely," she said. Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. 'Once you start you can't stop' - Fitness fundraiser Friends climb peak in memory of man killed in Gaza Soldier carries rowing machine in peak challenge
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
Score a bonus with these video gaming tips: Extra life in the real world
In video games, all players usually need to do to stay healthy is to drink the occasional healing potion or perhaps grab a floating heart. Avoiding zombies and killer aliens helps, too. In real life, deadly monsters may be less common, but maintaining health is trickier. Luckily, it doesn't take a secret hack to stay well while playing, experts say – and some of their advice might even help you level up your game. Gaming has its benefits Some aspects of gaming can be good for you, said Dr. Joanne Donoghue, director of clinical research at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury. "There's definitely a plus side," said Donoghue, who has led several studies on professional gamers' health. Some action video games have been shown to improve reaction time and may help with multitasking, she said. And unlike gamers from earlier eras, modern players sitting with their headphones and microphones are "live and interacting with a lot of people at one time. So there is a social component." Dr. Jason Nagata, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, has studied the effects of screen time, including video games, on children and adolescents. He said digital media is "not inherently good or bad. There are some risks but also some benefits." The risks from gaming are both broad and specific. For starters, there are only 24 hours in a day, and "if you're sitting on a couch playing your video game for however many hours, that's basically time that you're not outside, walking, being physically active," or doing anything else that's good for your physical or mental health, Nagata said. Excessive video game time also can be associated with lack of sleep and poor nutrition, he said. That can affect heart health. Donoghue's research published in 2019 in BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine showed that competitive gamers, also called esports athletes, frequently report problems such as eye fatigue and neck, back, hand and wrist pain. Donoghue led another study, published in April in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, that showed men who were competitive gamers had significantly higher body fat levels and significantly less muscle mass than noncompetitive gamers with the same body mass index, or BMI. "When you're sedentary, and you're not putting in the hours of exercise or strength training, essentially your muscles are atrophying," she said. Meanwhile, players' heart rates can soar in an unhealthy stress response. Combining stress with immobility may raise the risk of a type of dangerous blood clot called deep vein thrombosis, which typically forms in the legs, arms or pelvis. "Gamer's thrombosis" has been documented in players as young as 12 years old. In 2004, a 24-year-old South Korean who played a game for 80 hours straight died after a blood clot traveled to his lungs. Prolonged sitting at a computer at least 10 hours in a 24-hour period and at least two hours at a time without getting up has been associated with nearly triple the risk of developing dangerous blood clots, and the risk can rise for each hour seated without getting up. Video games are linked to mental health as well. Nagata led a review of data collected by the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Study that looked at the effects of screen time and social media use, including video games, on more than 11,000 adolescents. The analysis by Nagata and his colleagues was published in the journal Current Opinion in Pediatrics in April. The ABCD study showed that greater screen time is associated with depression, anxiety and other problems, he said. The social nature of gaming can also expose teens to problems such as cyberbullying. And while video game addiction is not an official diagnosis, Nagata said, psychologists acknowledge that some gamers can show signs of addiction, including withdrawal symptoms when not playing, loss of interest in other activities and "a general loss of control related to video gaming." Luckily, six simple steps can help prevent many gaming-related problems, Nagata and Donoghue said. 1. Move something besides your thumbs A little exercise can make a difference, Donoghue said. Donoghue and her colleagues have measured the effects of taking an hourly 6-minute walking break on a small group of competitive gamers. In one study, published in 2024 in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, gamers who took such a break saw significant improvement in their blood flow volume and velocity. Wearing sock-like compression sleeves also provided a small benefit. In that study, about two-thirds of the participants believed that the break had helped their gaming performance. In a separate study Donoghue led, published in 2021 in BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, competitive players who took a walk break improved cognitive performance, with shorter planning and solution times on problem-solving tasks. Other researchers, who published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise in 2020, found that a short bout of intense exercise improved video game performance. Which all underpins Donoghue's advice to gamers: Set a timer, take breaks and stay active. "You've got to get the exercise in. You've got to move your body. The body is meant for motion, and muscles atrophy, no matter what age you're at." Federal physical activity guidelines call for at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both. The guidelines also discourage people from being sedentary and suggest they participate in moderate- to high-intensity activities to strengthen muscles at least two days per week. 2. Fuel up carefully In research on young adolescents, more time gaming has been associated with a less nutritious diet and a higher BMI, Nagata said. "Some of the potential reasons for that are that if you are eating while you're distracted, you're more likely to eat junk foods," he said. "You're also less likely to pay attention to your hunger or fullness cues, so you might eat more than you otherwise would if you were not distracted in front of screens." So avoid mixing eating and gaming, he said. High-caffeine energy drinks have become part of gaming culture, Donoghue said, but such drinks have been linked to a risk of a variety of health problems, including heart rhythm issues and cardiac arrest. A consortium of health groups, including the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, issued recommendations in January that say caffeinated beverages are not recommended for children younger than 18. 3. Try active games Some games do encourage motion, Nagata said. These "exergames" can help players avoid being sedentary. "And some of those associations that we see related to weight gain and poor eating are probably not the case when you're exergaming or moving around a little bit more," he said. 4. Turn off screens before bed "When people play video games at night right before bedtime, that can take away from the time they have to sleep," Nagata said. In a 2024 survey by the Pew Research Center, 41% of teens said video games had hurt their sleep. A study published in March in Frontiers in Psychiatry found that among Norwegian college students, an hour of screen time before bed was associated with a loss of 24 minutes of sleep. The AAP recommends turning off screens an hour before bedtime and keeping video games in common areas to help parents keep an eye on use. 5. Monitor and get buy-in Parents need to be aware that some games just aren't suitable for kids, Donoghue said. "I don't think they realize how interactive they are and how toxic they can become." Parents should pay attention to ratings, which can help keep inappropriate games away from children, she said. Nagata said it's important to get buy-in from children on restrictions, though. "You have to pick your battles," he said. For him, the most important health-related limits would be limiting games at meals and bedtime. The AAP recommends having a family media plan, which Nagata described as "a set of guidelines that is individualized to your household and that can take into account your kids' ages, what devices you have" and other factors. It should involve regular conversations and check-ins with the whole family. Parents can start by modeling good behavior, he said. Parents' own media use is a big predictor of video game time in kids. "If you are going to make rules about household screen use, it's important that you follow them and act as a good example for your kids." 6. Have fun, but check yourself Video games are about entertainment, leisure and recreation, Nagata said. "If they are fun for you, and it's not displacing other things, then it's fine to play them in moderation." But every so often, he said, ask yourself how you're feeling. If your reply is, "Oh, wow, the last hour has passed – I don't know what happened, and I kind of feel tired and cranky," then it might be time to also ask, "What else could I be doing? Maybe go outside. Maybe take a walk or meet up with some friends in person."
Irish Examiner
28-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
76-acre farm near Bandon already under offer
A 76-acre farm in the heart of one of Munster's most sought-after locations is certain to get the pulses racing. The property is new to the market with Clonakilty-based auctioneers Hodnett Forde Property Services, and is located near Bandon and Innishannon — the eastern end of what can be considered West Cork and an area that has been in high demand for a long time. The farm comes with a selection of outbuildings in the townland of Garryhankard, north of the N71, 3km from Innishannon and 6.5km from Bandon. 'It's a really good, gravelly area there also,' says selling agent Andy Donoghue. 'It's in a mixture of grass and tillage — there are even daffodils being grown on part of it. Crops are rotated every couple of years so the soil quality is excellent as a result… It's mostly level and the parts that are sloping are in a south-westerly direction.' The farm comes with a selection of outbuildings. The only small area of wastage is a thin stretch on one side between the roadway and a stream. The property is being sold as a going concern as it is under a 10-year lease until March 31, 2030. That fact, however, does not seem to be dampening demand for this farm in any way. In fact, it's a positive the holding already comes with an income in the region of €27,000 a year. 'I think that the location of it, the fact that it's all in one block and the quality of the land make up for any potential deduction that anyone might have in their mind for a farm that doesn't have vacant possession,' says Mr Donoghue. There is excellent access to the farm, with multiple entry points. There is also a farmyard with a collection of outbuildings. 'Access to the property is via a gravel internal road which leads to the central farmyard,' Mr Donoghue says. 'The yard contains a selection of old farm buildings including some with cubicles and slatted floors.' With a price guide in the region of €1,300,000 (€17,100/acre), the property is already under offer. Read More 60-acre farm near Cork drawing keen interest and offers
