Latest news with #Kildare
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
I'm LGFA star running in Vhi Mini Marathon while nine months pregnant – everyone's saying I'm mad & could go into labour
GRACE CLIFFORD joked "my husband is on standby" ahead of running in the Vhi Women's Mini Marathon despite being nine months pregnant. The Kildare footballer is one of 28,000 people who will participate in the marathon in Dublin on Sunday. That is despite being 37 weeks pregnant on her first child, with Clifford insisting she has a back-up plan should the time come. "Everyone's saying, 'God, you're mad, you could go into labour'. "I was like, 'well, look, at least I'm near Holles Street [The National Maternity Hospital]'. Read More on LGFA "I can nip across if I need to. 'The hospital bags have been ready for the last couple of weeks anyway, and my husband is on standby. "Luckily enough too we only live about half an hour from Dublin.' On Friday, Clifford finished her final day of term as the director of extra-curricular activities in Mount Sackville Secondary School in Dublin. Most read in GAA Football She has had to step aside from gaelic football with Kildare, with whom she won an All-Ireland intermediate medal in 2023. Clifford is targeting a return both to the Lilywhites and for her club Eadestown as early as the end of this summer. Young Kerry LGFA fan steals the show with sign during All-Ireland final win over Galway She admitted to signing up for the mini marathon knowing that it would align with her due date. With this in mind, she sought and got the green light from her doctor to pursue it. And she wants to do her part to encourage other expecting women to do the same where possible. She added: 'Nobody's saying that if you don't that you're lazy or anything like that, it's just that everybody's journey is different. 'Now don't get me wrong, I'm extremely grateful that I'm in a position to exercise, but if I wasn't, I wouldn't. 'You have to put your baby and your body first. "That's first and foremost when you're pregnant. 'If I thought that I was hindering any of that, trust me, I wouldn't be doing it.' 1 Grace Clifford of Kildare during the 2023 TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Intermediate Football Championship Final Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
RTÉ News
12 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Mayo hurling on the rise as David Kenny eyes Croke Park glory
Kerry versus Mayo, 2014. It's likely your mind immediately drifts back to Limerick's Gaelic Grounds rocking to the beat of an All-Ireland football semi-final replay encounter for the ages. David Kenny certainly hasn't forgotten that extra-time epic. He was a promising young footballer at the time, between All-Ireland minor (2013) and U-21 (2016) wins with his county. He lined out in both of those finals. But he was also a hurler at heart and when he talks now about Kerry versus Mayo in 2014, he's moreso thinking of their Christy Ring Cup semi-final encounter that year. Still a teenager, Kenny was already a senior Mayo hurler. The Ring Cup amounted to hurling's second tier at the time, as the Joe McDonagh Cup hadn't yet been established, and Mayo were right there at the forefront of the teams pushing for silverware. "We were up at half-time in that Christy Ring semi-final," recalled Kenny. "The game was in MacHale Park, so we had home advantage, I can't remember why that was for a semi-final but it was the case. We just lost out on that one in the end." Kenny's recall isn't fully accurate. Kerry were well ahead at half-time but Mayo did outscore them in the second-half by 1-13 to 0-6. Kildare went on to beat Kerry narrowly in the final and subsequently played Westmeath in a promotion/relegation game to see who would compete in the 2015 Leinster SHC. Just over a decade on, Mayo hurling has slipped back considerably from those heights. There are all sorts of reasons for that, one of which is the pull of football for talented young dual players. Whilst Kenny was happy to stick with hurling, other talented stick men opted to go down the football route. It's a tale as old as time in football dominated counties. "Shane Boland, our corner-forward, his brother is Fergal, who is with the footballers," said defender Kenny. "Fergal's a brilliant hurler too. Jack Carney is another man who was a brilliant hurler growing up. Jack Coyne, corner-back with the footballers, he's a very good corner-back, still plays hurling. He'd be extremely sticky. "It's hard to see, as a hurling person, that quality and that talent not being available but it happens all the time, not just in Mayo." The great Keith Higgins managed to straddle both codes for a while. When his football career was over, he returned to hurl exclusively and captained Mayo to the 2021 Rackard title, their last at the grade. For all of the difficulties that the Mayo footballers are currently experiencing, an invite to join them is still seen as a golden ticket for any young dual performers in the county. There are only three senior hurling clubs in Mayo after all, four if you include the St Ciaran's amalgamation which comprises players from more than half a dozen junior clubs. Kenny is optimistic about the future of hurling in his county though. They had a pre-final meet and greet in Tooreen recently and there was a big turnout. He has noticed more younger players getting involved generally. And if the flagship senior county team could return to the Ring Cup, they would become an even more attractive proposition. Mayo fell at the final hurdle last year, losing by four points to Donegal. Neighbours Roscommon are the opposition this time. If their Round 1 encounter in the group stage is anything to go, when Mayo beat the Rossies by seven points, this could be their day. "We'd absolutely love to go back up to the Ring Cup but obviously Roscommon are thinking the same thing," shrugged Kenny, a schoolteacher at St Jarlath's College in Tuam. "Roscommon are a great side, physically very strong. They're also very good in the air. They have lads like Brendan Mulry and Sean Canning inside, speed merchants. They've got a lot of threats but we'll do our best to hold them down."
Irish Times
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Photographer John Minihan: ‘I've seen a lot of heartache in my life but I've never been unhappy'
How agreeable are you? It's been one of my problems all of my life – I rarely say no to anything. I have done, of course, but generally speaking, I'm one of those affable human beings. I like to please everybody. What's your middle name, and what do you think of it? My middle name is Joseph. I'm quite fond of it, John Joseph Minihan. It has a religious inflection, and that pleases me. Where is your favourite place in Ireland? My favourite place in Ireland has to be Athy, Co Kildare. I was born in Dublin, but after my father died, my mother left me to be reared in Athy by my aunt and uncle. That was the starting point for my sense of vision. I lived in my eyes in that town, and experienced events there as a child that had a profound effect on me. So much so, that I spent 34 years photographing the town, photographing love, life and death there. The photographs are in Shadows from the Pale: Portrait of an Irish Town, which was published by Secker & Warburg in 1996. Describe yourself in three words. I am blessed. READ MORE When did you last get angry? I got angry about 15 minutes ago because I am a photojournalist newshound, and I can't stay away from the news. I was watching CNN and saw the barbarous slaughtering of innocent children strewn around that arid desert called Gaza. It's just awful. What have you lost that you would like to have back? When you say something like that, it seems a bit frivolous to me. But it's the people in my life, my aunt and uncle, and a very good friend, a very courageous man who died years ago from cancer. I mean, it's only people I'd like to have back. Artefacts? Not at all. They come and go, and they're replaceable. You go on the journey with people you love and who have been a contributing factor in your life. What is your strongest childhood memory? My strongest childhood memory is being in Athy with my aunt and uncle, and, absolutely, just being loved. My mother left me, remarried, went to England and had another three sons. After that, I met my mother only once, in Dublin, in Kimmage – she came over to visit one of her sisters. I was about six or seven, and on the mantelpiece was a photograph of my mother and father on their wedding day. I was just there, I think I was sitting down, and my mother looked at me and said, 'You're not as handsome as your father.' I looked at her and I knew at that moment she said something that wasn't a loving statement from a mother to her son. At that point, I realised the journey for me was going to take a few extra furlongs. Samual Beckett. Photograph: John Minihan Where do you come in your family's birth order, and has this defined you? I have three half-brothers, and we keep in touch; we phone and text. Being the firstborn, and after my father died, however, I felt I was on my own. No question about it. What do you expect to happen when you die? I expect to die with a smile on my face. Simple as that. When were you happiest? I've seen a lot of heartache in my life, and I've seen a lot of awful things happen, but I've never really been unhappy. My energy, the idea that even now, at nearly 80 years of age, to be able to get on to an aeroplane, to go and take photographs of what I really enjoy – the most recent of which was of Gary Oldman in Mr [Samuel] Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape in York – is just wonderful. Lady Diana Spencer. Photograph: John Minihan Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life? I never think about something like that. My greatest achievement is to have seen my pictures in print hanging on walls, be it in pubs, galleries, museums or institutions that celebrate photography. An actor in a biopic? That's a bit of a silly question. What is your biggest career/personal regret? I regret nothing, and I'm marching on. As I said, the only thing I want is that when I die, God will call me. I want to go to bed, lights out, and have a smile on my face. I want all my loved ones not to worry about me. I'll be happy if someone just says a prayer. Have you any psychological quirks? I have a particular interest in photographing religious artefacts. I'll photograph statues or something like the Corpus Christi processions in Schull or Ballydehob. Some people find that rather odd, or that Minihan has lost the plot. I don't know why they should think that, because every time I go out with a camera and photograph something, I feel that I'm giving something back. In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea.
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Spike in number of drivers caught on their mobile phones across Ireland
New Garda figures show a spike in the number of drivers caught driving with a mobile phone between 2023 and 2024 across multiple counties. Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has pleaded with drivers to put down the mobile phone this bank holiday weekend. Advertisement Dublin performed extremely poorly in the figures which show year on year increases in the numbers of people caught on their mobile phone whilst driving with percentage increases of up to 237 per cent. The Cork county Garda division recorded a 25 per cent year on year increase in the number of drivers caught using their mobile phones and Galway recorded a 21 per cent increase. Kildare stood out, having recorded a 47 per cent increase in the number of drivers caught by gardaí using their mobile whilst driving between 2023 and 2024. Dublin was the worst offender with significant increases across all Garda divisions in Dublin. Advertisement Fixed charge notices issued by gardaí for holding a phone whilst driving between 2023 and 2024 Garda Division Q4 2023 Q4 2024 % change Cork County 199 248 +25 per cent Galway 215 260 +21 per cent Wexford/Wicklow 187 212 +13 per cent Kildare 348 511 +47 per cent Dublin West 263 473 +80 per cent Dublin South 137 226 +65 per cent Dublin Central 158 257 +63 per cent Dublin North 194 306 +58 per cent Dublin East 43 145 +237 per cent Limerick 230 246 +7 per cent Clare/Tipp 270 279 +3.3 per cent Ní Mhurchú welcomed the fact that Garda divisions in Kerry, Cork city, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Waterford, Kilkenny, and Carlow all recorded year on year decreases in the number of people caught driving using their mobile phones. Assuming detection efforts are static from year to year, Ní Mhurchú described this as a silver lining in the Garda figures. Ireland Half of Irish adults say their DIY skills are 'wel... Read More The MEP has called for increased use of unmarked Garda lorries which have proved extremely effective at catching drivers using their mobiles. The high cab trucks are accompanied by a patrol car or an unmarked interceptor vehicle and offer gardaí a birds eye view of bad behaviour on our roads. She said all options should be on the table to tackle the epidemic of drivers using their mobile phones, including discounted insurance policies for drivers who are willing to install or use technology that blocks phones whilst driving. The penalty for using your phone while driving is a fixed charge of €120, and three penalty points.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Homes in Kildare affordable housing scheme above price limit for State-backed mortgages
Houses for sale in an affordable housing scheme in Co Kildare are priced above the threshold of what the State deems affordable in its local authority home loan scheme. Eight new homes at Lattin Place, on the Rathasker Road in Naas, went on sale on Wednesday with prices ranging from €295,000 for a two-bed house, €365,000 for a mid-terrace three-bed house and €370,000 for an end-terrace three-bed property . As of 3pm on Wednesday there had been over 100 applications for the eight homes . The house price limit for State-backed mortgages under the local authority home loan scheme is €360,000 in Co Kildare. Two working families with two children each and who have approval for the local authority loan are locked out of these affordable purchase homes, because the price of the three-bed homes is above the purchase price limit of the loan scheme. READ MORE Sandra Rowe says she and her husband are 'really, really frightened for the future' and is calling on the State to increase the threshold on the loan scheme. The couple, who both work full time, were refused a traditional mortgage through a bank because their income was too low. They are currently renting a house in Naas with their two children – a 12-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl. 'The rent is crazy, and we have no stability here. The biggest thing you want as a parent is stability for your children, and we thought the local authority loan and the affordable housing scheme would be our pathway,' Ms Rowe says. Aishling Conway with her husband Shane and their two children, Ella May (6) and Jack (2). Similarly Aishling Conway and her husband have also been locked out of the scheme, with Ms Conway saying 'it's quite strange that they're advertised as affordable housing, but then on their own mortgage, you can't even get it'. The couple, who both work full time and have two young children, a six-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy, were unable to secure a traditional mortgage from a bank because of their ages – they are both in their mid-forties – and so applied for the local authority home loan scheme. They have been house hunting for almost four years and had been hoping to avail of the affordable homes at Lattin Place. [ How much can I earn and still qualify for social housing? Opens in new window ] 'It's quite frustrating, especially with the way the market's going. At the moment, you bid on a house, and it just shoots up. One house we bid on jumped €9,000 in eight minutes, and it kept going up and up because two parties were bidding against each other,' Ms Conway says. The couple have very recently gone sale-agreed on another three-bed home in Naas for €320,000, and acknowledge they are 'very lucky' to get a house in the town for that price. Cllr Bill Clear at Lattin Place, Naas Local Independent councillor Bill Clear has been assisting local families in securing schemes to help them on to the property ladder, but says this situation is particularly frustrating. 'There is a silo in operation here, this is a Department of Housing loan, and a Department of Housing affordable purchase scheme – but the two aren't talking to each other. It is another abject failure of this Government,' Mr Clear says. Both Ms Rowe and Ms Conway are 'stuck in the middle', he says. 'They are all working, so they're locked out of social housing, but yet they're on too low of pay for the house prices in Naas. They are the working poor.' The homes at Lattin Place are a 'small drop in the ocean' of what is needed in Naas, Mr Clear says. There is another affordable housing scheme coming up at the former Devoy Barracks site in the town, which will have 219 units when completed. Prices for the first phase of the Land Development Agency project, due to launch in 2025, have not yet been released. Mr Clear, however, believes the project will be 'massively oversubscribed'. He says he is 'so frustrated and angry' at the situation. [ 'Without people to build homes, it won't happen': Construction workers decry shortage of tradespeople Opens in new window ] 'There is no data on people like this stuck in the middle. There are some homes in Kildare now with three generations living together, it's not only children living at home, but grandchildren are there now too. It's not right,' Mr Clear says. Ms Rowe will be one of those waiting on the Devoy Barracks scheme and calls on the Government to either increase the threshold of the local authority loan scheme, or to ensure the affordable homes fall within their price range. 'The one thing that we need as a family is either the threshold to be made higher or the affordable homes to come in at the threshold that has been set. That's what we need and what we're hoping for. We're putting all our eggs in the basket for this one,' Ms Rowe says. Without that, the future is uncertain for Ms Rowe and her young family. 'Myself and my husband are really, really frightened for the future. We know these houses [at Devoy Barracks] are coming up soon but we're just petrified now that if the prices are higher than what Lattin Place is, or if they come in at the same price, and the threshold isn't made higher – then we're in big, big trouble. Our hands are completely tied.'
