Latest news with #Hughie
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Fair City on Friday: 'Have you been drinking?'
Fears grow for Hughie's welfare in Friday's Fair City on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player. Already reeling from the discovery that Melanie was involved in the theft of his car, Hughie has now fallen out with the wrongfully accused Zoe, who saw red after Hughie agreed a deal to stay quiet. In Friday's episode, Hughie attempts to mend things with Zoe, but she is not for turning. Later, when Melanie tracks down Hughie, she becomes suspicious that he has been drinking again. "Hughie, have you been drinking?" she asks. Watch what happens next on Friday on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player at 7:30pm.
RTÉ News
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Fair City on Sunday: 'I know for a fact it was you'
A furious Hughie confronts Melanie in Sunday's Fair City on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player. Hughie has discovered that Melanie was involved in the theft of his car. "I'm giving you a chance to own up," he says. "I'm sorry, I don't understand," replies Melanie. "I'm talking about the theft of my car," says Hughie. "I know for a fact it was you." Fans can watch what happens next on Sunday on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player at 8:30pm.
Sunday World
27-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Celeb pals ditch partying for praying after pilgrimage to French holy town
Big Brother and Love Island pals relax in spa hotel after spending their holidays attending vigils during pilgrimage to French town Celebrity best friends Shannen Reilly McGrath and Hughie Maughan gave up the chance of a sun holiday to party island Ibiza in order to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Love Island star Shannen had initially planned to go to the famous French holy town with her boyfriend Luke, having had fond memories going there as a child with her granny. But when Luke could not get time off work she knew that her Big Brother pal Hughie would be up for going with her. He too visited Lourdes as a child, and the pair decided to book into a spa hotel in the town where they could relax after spending the day praying and attending vigils. Hughie and Shannen 'I think people would think me and Hughie would be in Ibiza but I said 'I know it's your birthday coming up, Luke can't come with me, would you love you to go?' and he said he was there as a child as well and religion is very close to his heart,' explains Shannen (31). 'It's just a sense of healing and spiritual. If you lose someone and you kind of go and you see a lot of people who are sick. Like my nana died from cancer, I have friends with sick family members, my granddad has dementia. 'I felt like going would be a sense of healing and praying for others. Like I would have a belief in that anyway. So it was kind of to go and get a sense of belief and a bit of luck, that's my kind of thing. I think the way the world is going we want some calmness and something to believe in. Important 'I know in this day and age people want to be in Ibiza and they want to be on social media. But family should be important to people as well.' Shannen, who grew up in Tallaght and now lives in Lusk, visited Lourdes as an 11-year-old with her granny Tess. Hughie all smiles in Lourdes 'I remember it was the most uncoolest thing ever. I didn't even want to tell people in school but I had such a nice time with her, but I was embarrassed with her at the time. The two of us went with her local parish, Mount Argus next to Harold's Cross,' she recalls. She explains her granny passed away recently and her granddad in now in a home with dementia, so it's been a tough time for her family. 'I would never pass a church without going in and lighting a candle,' she stresses. ' And like any trip id be on with my partner or even with mam or whatever and I'd see a nice church and light a candle. 'We wouldn't be really holy, in that sense, but I'd always go into a church and light a candle or say a prayer. I've a big thing for St Anthony, like my mammy was always saying 'if you lose something pray to St Anthony'. I had him in my purse going around. 'Our family would be religious, but not to the point of going to Mass every week. I would have a strong belief in it though, the likes of christenings, communions, weddings, my family would do.' She admits both friends and family were taken aback by her decision to go to Lourdes. 'They'd say in disbelieve, 'you're going to Lourdes?' and kind of a bit shocked by it,' she smiles. 'But I just feel like people don't really appreciate it and they kind of think there's something wrong with it.' She booked a package trip and flew over with Hughie on a Ryanair flight. 'We were over there we met a pilgrimage from Donegal, they actually asked us to carry their flag. There was a Malahide group there and there was young people there and I think they were with their mothers and grandmothers,' she explains. Shannen and Hughie's snaps from Lourdes . . The pair made themselves useful. 'We volunteered at the vigils to help. So that was lovely to be involved,' she said. ' We had to carry the flag, and also to go up on the alter at the end of it and look down at all the sick being blessed and say the prayers. 'We had our times for masses, times for vigils. We went to the holy baths and We went to different towns, Bernadette's house. We did get a bit of sun walking around and I did go to the pool a few times in the evenings. 'You see people in their wheelchairs and they're looking for hope and to be blessed. There's also a lot of sick kids. Wheeled 'On one of the nights we went four times, and there's a lot of sick children being wheeled in and laid out on hospital type beds, so it's kind of surreal when you're there.' She stresses that people worry about stupid things when there are others with serious illnesses and praying for a miracle. 'Like I've suffered from trolling and I didn't want to get out of bed over something someone said about me, but when you're over there and you see people who are basically crippled and they can't walk, some people don't have arms,' she reflects. She and Hughie, who is gay, shared a bed for five days. 'One of the nights we went out and went partying a bit' she adds. 'There are a lot of students out there volunteering. The town is busy. The sun is shining. 'We actually went to a karaoke bar and there were loads of people out there in their volunteer outfits. There were older women from Ireland out singing in the bars. It's nice to see, as you see them having a good time and they're making memories.' Hughie, (31) was in Lourdes twice before, in 2004 and 2005. He is a Traveller, a community known to have a deep connection with the Catholic faith. Shannen and Hughie's snaps from Lourdes . . 'When I was young me and my mam and dad and family went on a road trip in a campervan around France. We started in the north of France and drove all the way down to Lourdes. 'Then we made our way to various pilgrimage sites. We actually went to where St Bernadette's actual body is, where her grave is. Climbing 'We went to home of St Therese. We went to Paris and visited the big churches like Notre Dame. Of course as kids we went to Disneyland there too.' He's also been to Fatima, Medjugorje, Knock, and other religious sites in Poland, as well as climbing Croagh Patrick and going on retreat to Lough Derg. 'I have my own relationship with God. Every single night I pray. I have holy little shrines in my home, and holy water. I'd go to mass on special occasions. I wouldn't go every day or every Sunday,' he maintains. 'It is probably surprising as a gay man I'm like this, but I don't look at religious or God being anti-gay, I think it's just people and propaganda.' He admits he was surprised when Shannen suggested they go to Lourdes together. 'I was surprised, but at the same time we've had many conversations in the past about her going with her nanny and her having her beliefs,' he notes. 'A lot of people have prejudices about the church because of the Magdalene laundries. But I'm very religious and Shannen is too.' He says the couple got recognised a lot on the trip from Irish people who'd seen them on TV. 'We'd tell people we were just friends if people asked us. I'd never keep it secret me being gay,' he insists. Shannen and Hughie are all smiles in Lourdes Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th
Telegraph
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Royal Portrush's opening hole is a potential card-wrecker
'Hughie'. It sounds like your pet dog, or your friendly Scottish cousin. It is in fact one of the hardest opening holes on the Open rota. Possibly the hardest, certainly in recent years. Six years ago, when the championship was last held here at Portrush, Hughie put paid to Rory McIlroy's hopes of home glory within minutes, the Northern Irishman infamously tugging his tee shot left out of bounds, taking an unplayable lie for another penalty stroke, before eventually having to put the dreaded 'snowman' on his scorecard. A quadruple-bogey eight, from which there was no return. McIlroy went on to miss the cut. For one terrible moment on Thursday, it looked as if McIlroy might repeat the trick. Having waited all day to get his Open under way, and with Wayne 'Radar' Riley having done his best to jinx his opening tee shot by declaring 'I can't see this going left', his tee shot, which he played with an iron to be safe, duly headed out left towards the out-of-bounds area (which to be fair is only a few yards off the fairway). Fortunately his ball stayed in bounds, nestled in the rough. Unfortunately, having managed to find the green with his approach, McIlroy then three-putted for a bogey. There was a lot of that going around on Hughie on Thursday. In total, there were 45 bogeys from a field of 156. There were also five double-bogeys and one triple, courtesy of the unfortunate Rikuya Hoshino. The Japanese then steadied himself beautifully and played the rest of the round in level par. But that is what Hughie can do to you. With only 12 birdies on the day, the hole played 4.29 shots on average. If it keeps that up, it will be the hardest opening hole on the Open rota for at least 10 years, which covers all the statistics kept by the R&A on its media website. The tricky thing about Hughie is not simply the fact that anything left is out of bounds. It is that anything right is, too. Having out of bounds on both sides of the fairway is actually pretty rare. Usually players have a bail-out option, particularly on the first tee of a championship, with heart rate going at 150bpm. But when they tee it up at Portrush, they know they are aiming for a small patch of fairway, no more than 70 yards wide, a good 250 yards away, with a strong breeze more than likely blowing in off the Atlantic, and the dreaded white stakes visible on both sides. Even if you keep it in bounds, there are a couple of fairway bunkers, nastily positioned, one left, one right, in the 250-300 yard landing zone. And if you avoid those, there is still a tricky uphill approach to an elevated two-tier green with a false front. 'With the boundary on both sides, it can really play on the players' minds when you're stood on the tee,' admits Gary McNeill, Royal Portrush's head professional since 1999. 'There are a couple of fairway bunkers and players tend to play quite conservatively from the tee, which leaves quite a long second shot uphill. The elevation change is quite steep and if you get caught on the wrong portion of that green, it can be quite a difficult two-putt, so I think getting through the first hole unscathed is very important.' The fact that Hughie tripped up McIlroy so publicly six years ago has only made the test of mettle more difficult. 'Rory has made that first shot a lot scarier,' admitted his fellow Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin after his opening round 72 on Thursday, which included a bogey five on Hughie. 'That's all I could think about for the past three days. I wasn't too nervous, I just didn't want to hit that bad a shot and I was very happy to get under way.' Padraig Harrington, who hit the first tee shot in the 153rd Open at 6.35am on Thursday, confessed to being terrified. 'It's not a comfortable tee shot for anybody,' he said. In the end, his opening-hole bogey did not spell doom and gloom for McIlroy on Thursday. The local hero ended up posting a respectable one-under-par 70 to lie three shots off the overnight lead. But Hughie will be waiting to bare its teeth again on Friday.
RTÉ News
16-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Hole-by-hole guide: The Open at Royal Portrush
Royal Portrush, hosting the Open Championship for just the third time, will measure 7,381 yards - only 37 yards longer than when Shane Lowry lifted the Claret Jug in 2019. Here is a closer look at the venue. 1st (Hughie's), 420 yards, par 4: Most players will take a three wood or long iron and although there is out of bounds to the right, the key is avoiding the fairway bunker on the left to set up an approach to an elevated green which sits across you. 2nd (Giant's Grave), 575 yards, par 5: The hole is almost 50 yards longer than it was in 2012 and a good drive will need to hug the left-hand side of the fairway to have a chance of reaching in two, although the green is guarded by pot bunkers around 30 yards short. 3rd (Islay), 176 yards, par 3: A relatively-straightforward hole with just one bunker but the green slopes from right to left so the ideal shot in would be a fade for right-handers. 4th (Fred Daly's), 502 yards, par 4: Now 20 yards longer than 2019. Quite a narrow tee shot with the wall on the right and a bunker on the left which must be avoided. Approaches from the left can be partially blocked out by the mound short of the green. The Claret Jug on the fifth hole at Royal Portrush 5th (White Rocks), 372 yards, par 4: If it plays downwind, you can be aggressive and cut the corner of the dog leg and get close to the green, but it is tough to pick the right line. Laying back off the tee leaves a tougher second to an angled green with the Atlantic beyond. 6th (Harry Colt's), 193 yards, par 3: A classic links par three away from the water so club selection is what is going to be difficult into a sloping green which sits across you. 7th (Curran Point), 607 yards, par 5: The second hole on the front nine which has extended by 15 yards, but will be a birdie chance downwind if you avoid the massive bunker on the right - a recreation of the "Big Nellie" bunker on the now-defunct 17th - and a smaller one to the left of the fairway. 8th (Dunluce), 434 yards, par 4: New in 2019, the hole gives players the option to lay up short of the fairway bunkers or take them on to get closer to a large, undulating green which is protected by a solitary bunker on the right. 9th (PG Stevenson's), 432 yards, par 4: A radio mast in the distance is the target off the tee and it is a must to find the narrow fairway. Rough and mounds to the left make it difficult to get close to the green and there is a little more room right than you think. 10th (Himalayas), 450 yards, par 4: The hole doglegs from left to right and it is important to hit the undulating fairway otherwise you will be hitting across the long, narrow green which will make club selection on the second shot key. 11th (Tavern), 475 yards, par 4: At the 2012 Irish Open, this hole was a par five and it was the joint-hardest hole when Lowry won the Claret Jug in 2019. There is a big dip in front of a very narrow green with a lot of trouble around it. The biggest grandstand is on the final hole 12th (Dhu Varren), 532 yards, par 5: The easiest hole of the 2019 championship. A good chance for a birdie if you can stay out of the bunkers on the right, although if it plays into the wind you are going to be worried about the bunker around 70 yards short of the green. 13th (Feather Bed), 199 yards, par 3: Five yards have been added but a downhill tee shot means it plays shorter than the yardage suggests, although it is quite a small green and surrounded by five bunkers. 14th (Causeway), 466 yards, par 4: Seven yards shorter than six years ago, when it was the joint-hardest of the tournament, and one of the widest tee shots on the course so it is almost a free hit and - while that offers a good chance of birdie if you can avoid the two bunkers on the right of the fairway - less than a third of players found the green with their approach last time round. 15th (Skerries), 429 yards, par 4: Probably an iron down the right as long as you can carry the bunkers on the right and run it down the hill. The green nestles down into the dell and is well protected. 16th (Calamity), 236 yards, par 3: A great par three with a long carry to quite a big green and you need to guard against missing it right. A lot of second shots will be played from left of the green. 17th (Purgatory), 409 yards, par 4: Tee shots will land on a downslope and if the wind is in the right direction, the bigger hitters will have the chance to drive a green protected by bunkers on the front left and right. 18th (Babington's), 474 yards, par 4: A left-to-right dogleg with quite a generous fairway and the biggest danger is the two bunkers to the right. Find those off the tee and cross bunkers short of the green also come into play.
