Latest news with #KnockAirport
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Ryanair launch new flash sale with flights to top city break spots including London and Edinburgh
RYANAIR has launched a new flash sale for Irish holidaymakers - with cheap flights to top destinations in Europe from just €19.99. For those planning on taking a city break in Europe in the coming months, the budget airline has you covered with its fantastic fares. 5 Ryanair has launched a new flash sale for cheap flights to European city spots Credit: AFP or licensors 5 The sale starts from just €19.99 Credit: Getty Images - Getty 5 All Irish airports are included in the sale Credit: Alamy However, holidaymakers must act fast, as the offer ends tomorrow at midnight on August 7. The flash sale includes a range of European hotspots, providing an affordable opportunity for those planning their 2025 getaways before winter approaches. But the cheap seats are quickly selling out, as thousands of holidaymakers are busy making their last-minute travel plans. Ryanair offers cheap flights from Dublin Airport to hotspots of the United Kingdom, including Birmingham, Glasgow, London and Manchester. And there are flights to Luxembourg, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, as it boasts incredible wine regions, fantastic local festivals and gorgeous landscape views. The major sale also applies to Kerry Airport, Knock Airport, Cork Airport and Shannon Airport. Kerry Airport only offers flights to Manchester and London in the United Kingdom. And Knock Airport offers cheap flights to Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Cologne. Cork Airport provides cheap fares to Birmingham, Edinburgh, London, Liverpool and Manchester. Lastly, Shannon Airport offers flights to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and London. Fans shocked as rock star worth £111m is seen queuing for Ryanair flight LIMITED DAYS However, some airports only offer a limited number of flight opportunities, as Kerry Airport offers flights to Manchester on Mondays and Fridays. Knock Airport to Cologne, Germany, can only be flown on Thursdays and Sundays. Cork Airport only offers four days of flight opportunities during the week for Birmingham. Shannon Airport offers flights to Liverpool on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. Most airports with flights to London and Edinburgh are mostly operated every day. The valid travel period is from September 1 and October 30, 2025. Ryanair said: "Terms and conditions apply and promotional fares are subject to availability. "Read more here. Book by 07/08/25 for travel between 01/09/25 and 30/10/25." 5 Irish holidaymakers can travel to the UK, Germany or Luxembourg Credit: Getty Images - Getty
Irish Independent
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Liverpool and Mayo have never been closer, thanks to Knock Airport: Celebrating 30 years of Westport Liverpool Supporters Club
Back then, devices like the one you're using to read this article did not exist anywhere in the world, never mind in John Pat's native Aughagower. In a time before Sky Sports, dodgy boxes, push notifications, social media and accumulator bets, the physical newspaper was the only way to follow the old First Division. 'All you had was the Irish Independent ,' John Pat, a founding member of the Westport Liverpool Supporters Club, says from a high stool in the pub behind the shop from which he sells the aforementioned publication. 'I was interested in soccer at the time and the Irish team weren't doing that well, I remember reading about this guy called Steve Heighway, who was making his debut for Ireland, but he was playing for Liverpool as well. And when I seen him play for Liverpool I thought 'Jeez, this guy is magic'. I couldn't believe it. Then he started playing for Ireland.' A seed was sown in the mind of an impressionable young soccer fan from west Mayo. In 1971, Heighway stormed down the left wing to score from a near-impossible angle against Arsenal in the FA Cup final. 'From then I was hooked, with Heighway and with Liverpool,' says John Pat. When not running Aughagower's only shop, pub and post office, John Pat follows Liverpool FC. But he had been following them for well over a decade before he actually got to see them play at Anfield. Back then, before Ryanair and Knock Airport – which did not open until 1986 – it took much longer to get to games, no matter what part of Ireland you lived in. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more John Pat Scott's first trips to Liverpool involved driving Dublin to get a six-hour long ferry to Holyhead to get the bus to Liverpool – and back again. 'You were literally going for 24 or 36 hours,' he says. Knock Airport changed everything. Now, there are days when it's possible to leave Aughagower at 3pm and be strolling along Anfield Road at 6pm. 'You go to any match here during the season and the planes are 75pc filled with fans going across. If the Liverpool thing wasn't in it, I'd say the planes wouldn't be half full.' John Pat finally made it to Anfield sometime in the 1980s. Liverpool, who'd been cresting an unprecedented wave of domestic and European success since the mid-70s, were playing Manchester United. The game finished in a draw. It is a long-forgotten memory for most who witnessed it. But not the young postman from Aughagower. 'I remember the first time I was at Anfield, I says: 'God, I'm home'. I could feel the hairs rising on the back of my neck,' recalls John Pat. Liverpool was not always the thriving, resplendent, metropolis it is today. 'It was a dreary place really. Because it had been abandoned by the Tories that time,' says John Pat. 'The old owners were still there at that stage. The place was a bit ran down, but the atmosphere was still absolutely unbelievable. That was the thing about it. That's what everyone told me, compared to any other ground they were in, be it in Old Trafford or down in London, that the atmosphere was just so lightning and so magic.' John Pat is flanked by two fellow Liverpool die-hards on the Tuesday evening the Irish Independent called to Aughagower. Peter Flynn, Darryl O'Toole and John Pat and over 120 other Liverpool supporters are in WhatsApp group used to organise and administer the 30-year-old, Westport Liverpool Supporters Club. The idea to found it came when John Pat Scott had an unlikely encounter with the late Christy Moran. 'Christy was in the army. I remember going to Galway to the camp. I had a Liverpool bag with me at some match out in Renmore,' recalls John Pat. 'I seen this guy coming up to me: 'Howya Cove. Are you a Liverpool supporter?' I hadn't a clue who he was. He says 'Wherever you are, I'll look after you. I look after all the Liverpool lads'. Then later on I met him around town a few times and we were talking about it and we just said 'Jesus, we should have a supporters club'.' In 1997, a gang of 30-odd headed east to watch Liverpool play Aston Villa. Their itinerary was as follows: train to Dublin, bus to Dun Laoghaire, ferry to Holyhead, train Liverpool, lodgings five miles outside the city and a fortune on taxis. The great Christy Moran was in tears walking into Anfield, Jamie Carragher scored, and a good time was had by all. Little did they know just how well this new supporters' club would stand the test of time. 'At that time, a supporters' clubs used to get about 30-40 tickets for five or six games. It was easy to get tickets,' explains Peter Flynn. 'It has changed so much over the years. It has become near-on impossible to get tickets. If you get tickets to four or five games a year, if we get 15 tickets, we're doing awful well, even though our membership has gone from 30-40 to 120-plus. 'That's the only reason we get tickets is the longevity of the club,' adds Darryl O'Toole. 'New clubs starting up now, they are wasting their time. They have no entitlement to a ticket at all.' Darryl well remembers the struggle for match tickets before he joined the Westport Liverpool Supporters' Club. 'Many a time you'd be in a phone box – you had to ring in back then to buy the tickets – I often remember going in with 20 quid in 50 pences, and you'd be hanging for an hour waiting to get through to someone to say 'Oh ya there's tickets left. Give me one!'' Times have certainly changed. The Premier League is now a multi-billion-pound juggernaut that captures the eyes, ears and spectators from around the world. Back in the 90s, a crowd at Anfield would be typically 90pc Irish or English. These days, you could see 5,000 Scandinavians at a Liverpool game. But the one thing that has never changed about Liverpool is her people. 'The people are lovely, that's the one constant, I'll always say. The people of Liverpool are the nicest people you will ever meet,' says Peter. 'We are going there for 30 years and we haven't had one incident, in all the years. Not one person has been in a row, been robbed, nothing, despite the stuff that you hear. It's an amazing city.' 'The Irish-English thing, that would never be cast up to you in Liverpool,' Darryl adds. 'I think most people in Liverpool have some kind of Irish relation. They would always say, 'What county are you from?' 'Mayo' 'Oh I have a cousin in County Clare, do you know County Clare?' They are so friendly, in fairness.' These three crusaders can recall the days when Liverpool captured 10 league titles and four European titles between 1975 and 1990. But for a long time, following Liverpool was a bit like following Mayo. Thereabouts, but not quite there. Nearly always in the top five but never top of the league. Rarely a match for Ferguson's United or Mourinho oligarch-bankrolled Chelsea team. 'At least with Mayo, it's Mayo, but when I was growing up, I'd say 90pc of the lads I grew up with were all Man' United fans,' recalls Darryl. 'They were giving it to you all the time and you were saying 'Jeez, will we ever have our day?' It was tough going at times, I can tell you, especially in the Fergie years.' In 2005, the nearly-men from Merseyside produced 'The Miracle of Istanbul'. Enough has been said and written about that Champions League final to fill several books. There's been far less said what John Pat Scott did to behind the goal where Jerzey Dudek denied Andriy Shevchenko to secure Liverpool's greatest, most unlikely and most audacious European victory. Not long after Liverpool beat Chelsea in the semi-final thanks to Luis Garcia's 'Ghost Goal', John Pat booked flights and accommodation in Istanbul. A bit like getting from Aughagower to Anfield Road in the 1980s, there were a fair few swings and roundabouts to navigate. Direct flights to Istanbul were up to €1,100. So John Pat logged onto some obscure website to book flights from Dublin to Gatwick, Gatwick to Athens, Athens to Alexandroupolis, for less than half of that. But there was one major problem. 'I remember going home [from the Chelsea game], we were on a high. I said to Darryl, 'I'm going to try and get a ticket'. I knew I hadn't a hope in hell of getting a ticket. There wasn't enough credits in the club to get a ticket,' explains John Pat. But off he went on Monday, May 23, 2005, with no ticket for Wednesday's game. En route from Gatwick to Athens, he met a man from Dundalk on the same mission as him. 'He had a ticket, but no accommodation, I had accommodation but no ticket. So he shared with me,' says John Pat. On Tuesday, he reached Istanbul with his new mate from Dundalk after a five-and-a-half-hour bus journey from Alexandroupolis. Still no ticket. But there were plenty of tickets around on Tuesday night – many selling for €500 or €600. 'As the night was going on it was getting a bit cheaper,' explains John Pat. 'I remember meeting these Italians. I was talking to this guy, he had good English, he had a ticket, but it was for the Milan end into the ground. He was looking for €250. But I beat him down to €150. I said 'If I get into the ground, I don't give a damn. If I get inside, I'm sound'. So that's the ticket that's up there,' he says, pointing to the freshest of five fading Champions League tickets framed proudly above the bar. 'I got in. A €50 face [value], but paid €150. But to get out there was the problem. It was about nine miles outside the city and sure it was mayhem.' But he made it. The barely finished 80,597-seater Atatürk Olympic Stadium was 'like a building site' with security fences and concrete blocks all over the place. The fella from Dundalk took take his place on the Liverpool end while John Pat went the other way, down into a flock of Milanos and a handful of Liverpudlians. He made his way up behind the goal for what would prove to be the best seat in the house. 'I was up near Dudek's goal for three first half goals, three second half goals and the penalty shootout, the whole lot. It was unreal, especially when it came to half time, we were saying 'What's going on here?'' As you probably know, Liverpool went 3-0 to a team of superstars. Shevchenko, Maldini, Kaka, Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso, titans, legends, world-class players. The Liverpool fans that trekked to Turkey could barely watch. 'Annihilated, we were literally annihilated,' says John Pat. 'We could have been five- or six-nil down.' The lads watching back home in Westport were just as devastated. 'Most of the club was in The West,' recalls Peter Flynn. If someone had said to me 3-0 at half-time, we'd take 3-0 at full-time. It looked like we were going to lose about 10-0, Milan were that good.' Darryl O'Toole and his wife, Siobhán, watched the game in Shane Moran's on Mill Street from two seats under the television. By the time Paolo Maldini and Hernán Crespo (twice) scored, he had seen enough. 'There was two Man United fans sitting at the counter giving me jib, and I said to herself, 'Come on. I'm going home. I'm not sitting here for the second half listening to that fella.'' Darryl recalls. 'We had a baby at the time, so I said 'No, I'm gone'. I went home and the young lady was very young at the time, she was hard to put down. I said I'd go up and lie in the bed with her and I'd watch it [the game] on the portable and I was lying there, she was kind of lying across my chest. It was the only time I could get her to go to sleep.' Then Liverpool got two goals in two minutes; Steven Gerrard from a header, Vladimír Šmicer from outside the box. Then Xabi Alonso levelled with a rebound from a penalty. 'I was lying there watching it and she had gone off and I was afraid to move, and we started scoring,' smiles Darryl. 'And next thing Siobhán came up and she said 'Are you watching this match?' I was there with the sound down. I said 'Yeah, but I can't move the child will wake'. 'So eventually we managed to move the child off me and I went straight back up the town again! It was some night.' It took Liverpool another 15 years to lift their first ever Premier League title - they'd won the old First Division eighteen times, but not since 1989. Those 15 years brought plenty of highs and lows. Gerrard's screamer in the 2006 FA Cup final, his slip that cost them the league in 2014, the Hillsborough inquest in 2018, a controversial club takeover by American investors, two Champions League final defeats followed by a win over Tottenham in 2019. But being crowned Premier League champions was a day that John Pat Scott, Darryl O'Toole, and Peter Flynn had longed to see. But the pandemic intervened. So Jurgen Klopp's troops lifted the trophy in an empty Anfield in the middle of July while John Pat, Peter and Darryl watched from the recluse of their own homes. 'It was so much of a downer. It just felt like we never won it,' says John Pat. 'That's why I think there was such exuberance this time.' He is, of course, referring to the million people that thronged the banks of the Mersey to see Liverpool crowned Premier League champions in April – for real, this time. Damped by bad weather and general disorganisation, the occasion was marred when several people were hospitalised after a car ploughed into crowds as the victory parade snaked its way through the proud old city. 'Everyone was horrified, you couldn't believe it that such a thing that happened on such a huge, joyous occasion for everyone,' John Pat told the Irish Independent in the aftermath of the incident back in May. Last week, John Pat was away from Aughagower went his phone started pinging. Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, had died in a road accident. Jota was 28, and left behind a wife, three sons and legions of adoring Liverpool fans. Tragedy had befallen Merseyside yet again. 'The club members have been all shook,' John Pat told the Irish Independent this week. 'It's just crazy. It takes a while to sink in, but it's only when you see the funeral and you see the actual pictures. He was only married two weeks ago, and he has three young sons with him there and his wife and childhood sweetheart. You just get a drop. It just, it's a kick in the stomach, it just knocks you out of your step for the day.' Liverpool FC's connection with Ireland is a rare one. While Man' City, Man' United and Chelsea supporters come and go with the tide, Liverpool's appeal endures through good times and bad. Times. 'I think it's the connection with the city, honestly,' says Peter Flynn, when asked why the Irish hold such a grá for the club. 'I'd always say even in the bad days when the football was rubbish and the results were rubbish you still always had a great time over in Liverpool. It's a great city and the people are so nice, so easy to get on with and I don't think you'll ever lose that. 'Football is obviously what we all go for, but it's the other piece of it as well.' Thanks to Knock Airport, Mayo and Liverpool have never been closer, geographically or metaphorically. 'I'll tell you what I love to see, is young kids going to their first match in Anfield,' says Peter. 'None of us got to do that because it was different times. But it's lovely to see young kids going into a match for the first time and enjoying it. It is magical. There is no beating that, just the camaraderie as well.' 'There wouldn't be a time when you'd go to a match, win, lose or draw, that you'd be on the plane or in an airport and you'd be booking your next trip,' adds Darryl. 'You never came back saying 'I had a bad time' or 'I'm never going again'. You were always within a few days; you were kind of looking 'I might get a ticket for that one'.' The new Premier League season starts on August 16. With Mayo gone, that day can't come quick enough for the Westport Liverpool Supporters Club.
Daily Mirror
28-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Pilot battles to land plane with 70 people after engine fails in strong winds
A dramatic video caught the moment a plane, with 70 passengers onboard, battled strong winds when it was forced to make an emergency landing after an engine failed A heroic pilot battled to land a plane with 70 passengers onboard after the engine failed in strong winds. The aircraft, which had taken off from Birmingham, was forced to land just after it departed at 3pm on Sunday May 25. A nail-biting video showed the Blue Islands flight, which was bound for Jersey, unsteadily rocking from side to side in the air while it fought 30mph crosswinds. The aircraft was seen approaching the ground before veering across the runway. Emergency crews scrambled to the plane, as a precaution, when it landed back at the airport it took off from. Onlookers saw the propeller-driven plane lurch from side to side before it came to a stop. The pilot of the ATR 72 aircraft was praised after the safe landing. Michael North said: "Absolutely insane level of control there. Three times he saved that from a slide and a possible rollover." Stevie Vincent added: "The crew were using thrust reversal with the propeller. Because only one engine was operating, it caused the aircraft to yaw. "He counteracted this with the use of brakes. It was not an intentional slide to slow the airframe." And Jason Hammond said: "And that's why air pilots are worth all of the pay." A Blue Islands spokesperson said: "Blue Islands flight SI2265 from Birmingham to Jersey returned safely to stand in Birmingham on Sunday (25 May). "On departing Birmingham, the crew observed an indication which, following the standard operating procedure, the aircraft returned to stand and passengers disembarked normally. The aircraft is being attended to by our engineers." The airline also explained what onboard crews did after the engine issue was noticed. The spokesperson added: "The safety of our passengers, crew and aircraft is our highest priority. The engine at no time stopped working in an uncontrolled way. "The flight crew received a cockpit indication of a technical issue. They then followed the aircraft manufacturers' approved procedures to deal with that issue. "These procedures have an abundance of caution built into them to ensure passenger safety." This has not been the first time a plane has been forced to make an emergency landing after one of its engines stopped working. A Ryanair flight, from Knock Airport from Milan Bergamo, Italy, had to divert to Dublin Airport, in July 2024. The aircraft was said to have experienced "strong vibrations" on its left engine which caused it to be briefly powered by just the one engine. The plane safely landed before passengers were moved onto a replacement plane to continue onto its final destination. A Ryanair spokeswoman said: "This flight from Milan to Knock (18 July) diverted to Dublin due to a minor technical issue with the aircraft. The aircraft landed normally and was taken for inspection by engineers."
RTÉ News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Mayo woman recalls honour of meeting Pope Francis in Knock
A Mayo woman has recalled being given the special honour of welcoming Pope Francis to Knock Airport when he visited Ireland in 2018. The 88-year-old pontiff died yesterday after a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure, the Vatican said. His funeral will take place on Saturday. Mary McCarthy, from Charlestown, Co Mayo, was given the special honour of welcoming Pope Francis to Knock Airport in 2018. Speaking on RTÉ's Oliver Callan programme, she said that she could not believe her family were chosen, and enjoyed shaking hands with him and greeting him. The pontiff visited Ireland for two days in August 2018, which included a visit to Knock, a meeting with victims of clerical abuse, and a visit to a homeless centre run by the Capuchin order. Ms McCarthy explained that he gave her family rosary beads and that asked them to pray for him, but he was not preaching in his approach. "He seemed like a man that was just like us. There was a great aura about him about him, of peace and joy." She said that she took peace in the fact that he died over Easter, and he pushed himself to say goodbye to everyone. "I think he will be a Saint in time," she added. Survivors of abuse 'painted a picture for Pope' Speaking on RTÉ's Oliver Callan programme, survivor of clerical abuse, former Independent councillor Damian O'Farrell, who met Pope Francis in 2018, said he was wary about attending at the beginning, due to trauma. He said that the survivors of abuse painted a picture for the Pope in telling him what they had gone through in terms of the depravity and cruelty and what they endured. "He wasn't aware of the Magdelene laundries at all, and he was ashamed. He hadn't been briefed and he was disappointed and embarrassed about that. He knew it was bad form on his behalf," said Mr O'Farrell. He said that the meeting made them see the Pope as a human being, and that he was competing to be in charge among traditionalists and had a limited time in leadership. "There's a lot more to do but he brought the baton further than any Pope before him, but possibly not far enough," added Mr O'Farrell. Francis introduced a sense of openness, says Redemptorist priest Speaking on the same programme, Fr Tony Flannery, a member of the Redemptorist congregation, said that Pope Francis brought an enormous freedom to the church in terms of being able to speak your mind without fear. He said that Pope Francis changed the atmosphere and introduced a sense of openness. "He did as much as I could have possibly have hoped from him. I don't hold anything against him, quite the opposite." In 2012, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith instructed the Redemptorist authorities to remove Fr Flannery indefinitely from his priestly ministry. The redemptorist priest was silenced by the Vatican for publicly expressing support for women's ordination and same-sex marriage, as well as liberal views on homosexuality. Fr Flannery said that if it had not been 2012 and had been more modern times, this would not have happened but he did not hold it against Pope Francis for not intervening in his case. Varadkar praises Pope Francis for reaching out to gay community Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar praised Pope Francis for reaching out to the LGBT+ community, saying it made him feel "more comfortable" going to church services. Mr Varadkar, who was taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and again from 2022 to 2024, met Francis during the Pope's visit to Ireland in 2018. The former Fine Gael leader introduced his partner, Matt, to the Pope during their meeting. In 2023, Francis stated that laws criminalising homosexuality were "unjust" and that "being homosexual isn't a crime". Speaking on Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, Mr Varadkar said: "I think the way he reached out to groups like ours, like LGBT people, did matter and certainly made me feel more comfortable going to church services," Mr Varadkar said. "One thing he did, which I think was significant, was he spoke out against criminalisation of gay and lesbian people. "In Ireland, it's easy to forget that while there are 30 countries where gay people can get married, there are 70 where it's still a crime. "For the Pope to speak out against that in places like Africa, is actually a real significance - and bear in mind, at the moment, in politics around the world there are people who claim that God is on their side while they try to reduce the rights of LGBT people, while they try to treat migrants badly, while they try to deny climate action. "Having a pope, the head of the largest Christian church, saying that refugees should be sheltered, saying that our planet was sick and that we needed to act to save it, saying that LGBT people should not be criminalised - that that did matter. "I do hope that [his] successor is of a similar mind," added Mr Varadkar. Pope was not afraid to go against the current - Senator In a statement, Senator Rónán Mullen said: "I had the honour of meeting Pope Francis on numerous occasions when attending the annual Catholic legislators' network meeting in Rome. "In recent years I was deeply impressed by his generosity and self-giving as he insisted on meeting all present even when he was clearly tired and struggling. "I recall his words on one occasion when we met: 'Andate contro il corrente' (Go against the current). Pope Francis practised what he preached. He was not afraid to go against powerful currents of opinion when fidelity to the Gospel was at stake. "His unambiguous championing of the dignity of every human life from its beginning to the natural end, his love for the poor and those 'on the peripheries' in every way, his emphasis on God's tender mercy and his concern for all of creation, will continue to inspire and challenge us all," he added.
