Latest news with #MarkBarry
Irish Independent
13-08-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Wicklow candlelight vigil will ‘call for an end to suffering in Gaza'
The vigil will begin at 8pm at Burnaby Park and proceed through the town to the Cove, via Greystones Harbour, with participants carrying flags, candles and messages of peace. The community group said families, friends, and neighbours are invited to take part. 'Bring your buggy, bring the kids and show your support. Local sports clubs, community groups, and residents are all welcome to walk together in unity.' Speaking ahead of the event, Social Democrats councillor Mark Barry – who joined 45 other delegates from Ireland to take part in the Global March to Gaza, earlier in June this year – explained the motivation behind the event. 'This is a simple but powerful way for our community to come together in compassion, to remember those who have lost their lives, and to call for an end to the suffering in Gaza. We are asking people to join us – no matter your age – to walk together, light a candle, and stand for peace and humanity.' Group organiser Fionna Saintraint added: 'As Palestinians face starvation, are killed seeking aid, and now confront full occupation, the humane response is to show solidarity and bear witness. 'Just 200 years ago, the Irish were also purposefully starved for existing on their own land. We shouldn't excuse inaction by comparing ourselves to a failing EU.' Fionna said: 'Ireland is complicit by hosting Microsoft data used in targeting victims, and by trading €3.3bn annually with Israel. How many bombs does that buy? This is about caring enough to walk our own streets against genocide.' Greystones for Palestine meets every Wednesday and Friday morning for a peaceful gathering from 7.30am to 8am in the Burnaby Park opposite the dart station.
Irish Independent
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Wicklow councillor caught up in Egypt ordeal on Global March still committed to reaching Gaza
Social Democrats councillor Mark Barry was planning to link up with demonstrators from 80 countries who planned to march to Egypt's border with Gaza last Thursday, but Egyptian authorities detained many of the activists, while security forces in eastern Libya blocked a many more en route to meet them. The 'Global March on Gaza' was pitched as the largest demonstration of its kind in recent years, but organisers said hundreds arriving in Cairo last week had been detained and deported. While attempts to contact Cllr Barry were unsuccessful, his colleagues have been assured of his safety and in a recent social media post, he said: 'Despite our attempts to march being stalled due to legal hurdles and coordination challenges, we remain committed to our cause." There were fears for Cllr Barry when the march from Al Arish to the Egyptian border was met with resistance by authorities and he was amongst those whose passports were confiscated and were forced to turn back. Others on the march had been detained. While there were plans to regroup at a campsite outside of Cairo to prepare for a Sunday march, there was no clearance given, despite hopes the protestors wanted to 'proceed peacefully under the guidance of Egyptian authorities'. On Father's Day, Sunday, the Greystones councillor posted a touching and heartfelt message dedicated to his two sons from a rather sparse hotel room, in which he said he 'can't help thinking about the kind of world they are growing up in. A world where genocide is happening in real time – again'. 'Our parents believed they had left that horror behind in history. But here we are. We speak up because we must,' he said. 'Because dignity, freedom, and justice for the Palestinian people is non-negotiable. Because a world that allows man-made famine and genocide is not a world I want for my children. "Together, we are calling for the immediate opening of the border to allow vital aid into Gaza, so that aid workers can distribute food and water to save lives. We're demanding an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.' Cllr Barry described how the previous night 'power was cut off to Gaza. It went black. No internet, before the people were bombed while they slept in their beds." He said he was 'calling on our government and the governments across the EU and I'm asking the people of Wicklow in Ireland, contact your public representatives, contact your government, contact the Department of Foreign Affairs, get on to anybody you can, media outlets. This is not good enough. Now is the time we all have to stand up and take action.' He urged people to 'remember why 3,000 people from all over the world are here', which was, he said, 'to march peacefully in solidarity with the Palestinian people and put pressure on governments across the world to take all action needed to re open the borders with Gaza to allow humanitarian aide into the people of Gaza.' Despite the harrowing scenes that emerged over the weekend, he added that 'we are not here to protest or disrupt the Egyptian authorities', but noted that 'we are being monitored, and some delegates were detained from their hotels last night'. While previous posts seemed hopeful for the group of protesters, who had 'regrouped' and were planning 'the next steps we can take safely and peacefully', an air of resignation, or perhaps realisation, has set in and now the message from cllr Barry was for 'all delegates to return home safely' in the coming days. 'We are actively strategizing our next steps to keep and increase pressure on our governments and the EU to heed the voices of those who elected them – voices demanding justice and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people. We have energy, we are mobile, we are many – and we're heading to Europe!'
Wales Online
06-06-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
The UK Government has to deliver £4bn of rail investment in Wales
The UK Government has to deliver £4bn of rail investment in Wales | Mark Barry Transport expert Professor Mark Barry of Cardiff University makes the case for UK rail enhancement investment in Wales to help address years of under investment out to 2040 The UK Government needs to get serious on rail investment in Wales says Prof Barry. (Image: John Myers ) Chancellor Rachel Reeves will next week present the UK Government's next three year spending commitments in the comprehensive spending review (CSR). That should, if London is listening, see some major pledges for rail enhancement investment in Wales. Instead of focusing on the case for rail devolution, the failings of the Barnett formula and decades of relative underspend on Wales's rail network by various UK governments, I want to focus on looking ahead and arguing for £4bn rail investment to 2040. As I set out in a letter to Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander last December, this is based on rail enhancement commitments likely in England of approximately £80bn over the same period. These commitments include to complete HS2, TransPennine upgrade, East West Rail, and some new schemes in England - some of which have been announced ahead of the CSR including more trams in Manchester, Leeds-Bradford tram, Liverpool, Bristol and the West of England. Some £4bn for Wales would be a commensurate and a fair Barnett allocation and can be directed at schemes in Wales already subject to significant business case and scheme development. Article continues below To be clear, Wales needs this investment not just because its fair or right, but because of the benefits, especially economic, that can be realised. These include mode shift and reduced carbon emissions, economic agglomeration and development benefits, more transit oriented development , reduced road traffic accidents, improved air quality, more financially efficient public transport operations, reduced road congestion (freeing up road space for those that need to use them) and less wear and tear of our roads. Bus reform in Wales and how it could play out READ MORE: As I set out in my book How to build a Metro, in Wales via Transport for Wales, Welsh Government, the regions and local authorities, we have already developed a range of rail enhancement schemes to at least outline business case, commensurate with that scale of investment and which will deliver these wider benefits to 2040. In summary they are: South Wales Main Line (SWML) upgrade £1bn) We need to see the five Burns stations (pretty much along the lines of the proposals in the 2013 Metro Impact Study and later presented in the Western Gateway 2050 Rail Vision). This would see new stations at Cardiff East, Parkway, Newport West, Maindy, Llanwern and Magor and the complementary relief lines upgrade. We also need: More electrification heading west to Swansea and Carmarthen. New services including Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff, with some continuing west from Cardiff to Swansea and Carmarthen. I would also explore whether we could route one via the Vale of Glamorgan Line and Cardiff Airport. The new open access Lumo (part of FirstGroup) fast Carmarthen-Cardiff-London service which will skip Swansea High Street and Neath (but stopping at Gowerton) enabling Carmarthen to function as a Parkway for West Wales. I would also like to see the GWR services into South Wales mapped into the Transport for Wales franchise or GBR Cymru arrangements post the establishment of Great British Railways. Swansea Bay and West Wales £500m There is very good initial phase of a Metro in Swansea/Neath/Llanelli which has been subject to significant scheme and business case development. The first key phases of this urban area rail Metro include two new key routes and services with: Bury Port to Swansea High Street with a new station at Cockett. Pontardulais-Llandarcy-Neath-Swansea service using the Swansea District Line (SDL) and a new chord connection to the South Wales Mainline at Britton Ferry to allow direct services to Swansea High Street from the SDL. This can support new local Metro stations at Morriston, Llandarcy, Pontlliw. Felindre, etc. We also need enhanced local rail services west of Swansea all the way to Milford Haven aligned to a range of tactical infrastructure enhancement – these complement some of the South Wales Mainline service measures set out above This work needs to be combined with a focus on more and greater transit-oriented development at primary stations like Llandarcy, Neath, Llanelli and in/around Swansea High Street stations. North Wales £1bn Transport Secretary Ken Skates set out a big vision for North Wales at a transport conference in Wrexham last month. This vision needs to see some early measures and focused delivery with an initial £1bn programme that includes: Upgrade of borderlands and integration with Merseyrail and use of their new 777s electric stock; early measures to deliver capacity for freight at Padeswood. North Wales Main Line (NWML) line speed and capacity upgrades to allow more services – both local all stopper with increased frequency, and long-distance express. A rolling electrification programme. New stations and key station upgrade for example, Shotton (as an interchange), Deeside Industrial Estate and especially Chester to allow more capacity through the station. Longer term the application of tram-train in both north east and north west Wales. Cardiff Capital Region Metro £500m Now there are good cases to be made for at least a further £2bn of rail and metro investment in the Cardiff Capital Region. This includes the full Cardiff Crossrail, Aberdare-Hirwaun, Cross Valley, Caerphilly-Newport and an extension in Merthyr. However, the initial and pragmatic focus has to be: Deliver a Metro in Cardiff (which is not really delivered as part of the current South Wales Metro programme. This means Cardiff Crossrail phase two. At its core this needs to see the City and Coryton lines operate with at least 4 trains per hour (tph) instead of the 2tph planed, this needs work at Cardiff West junction, and a Coryton loop. Station Link at Central to connect Crossrail Phase 1a (to the Bay) to the west, electrification to Penarth and tram-trains on Penarth – Coryton via the Bay. Then further Metro stations, including Roath Park, Ely Mill, Gabalfa, Treforest Industrial Estate, Pontypridd North and a new platform at Cogan on a Penarth branch served by tram-trains. Some further double tracking to the Core Valley Lines to improve capacity and reliability. New Ebbw Valley line services planned (to get 4tph south of Llanhilleth) routing to the Marches line and Abergavenny with a new stop at Caerleon and perhaps Sebastopol (this a better investment than the short extension to Abertillery). Maesteg line measure to deliver at least 2tph. Then perhaps, the Coryton-Radyr link (in whatever form is appropriate) as this connection helps build our connected public transport grid. It will also make the new Velindre hospital more accessible from the north of Cardiff. Marches Line £500m This line supports what is perhaps Transport for Wales' most profitable service. It needs to be upgraded so we can offer a reliable sub three hour Cardiff-Manchester journey time. This will require: Some passing sections upgraded track and signalling and some electrification. In some places new local services in NE and SE Wales so that local stations (eg Pontypool, Caerleon (new), Ruabon, Chirk, etc can be taken off long distance services and served instead by new local Metro services. Further measures may be required at Crewe. Finally To conclude giving the tens of billions committed in England (which I welcome outside London) we need to see a forward commitment of at least £4bn to 2040 in Wales, anything less is just not acceptable, and would be politically toxic. And for my perspective we still need full rail devolution to Wales. In addition to this core rail investment, we need to integrate these interventions with our new post bus reform redesigned bus networks (which will also need more investment. Article continues below The Welsh Government and the regional joint corporate committees also need to find the further infrastructure investment needed to deliver more bus priority and bus lanes, especially in our urban areas. This will improve both the attractiveness of bus services and the financial efficiency of bus operations.
The Irish Sun
01-06-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Mark Barry's last-gasp penalty sends Wicklow wild as Laois shock Offaly
Mark Barry was the toast of both Laois and Wicklow last night after his last-gasp penalty gave Laois a dramatic 3-18 to 3-16 win over Offaly. The result which meant that Wicklow secured top spot in Group Two of the Tailteann cup, and with it a home quarter-final. 2 Mark Barry and Laois shocked Offaly in the Tailteann Cup on Saturday 2 Offaly's were favourites heading into the clash and were rocked by two Damon Larkin goals Offaly were the favourites going into the game in Newbridge but they took a while to use the breeze in the first half, and were rocked by two Damon Larkin goals, the second a stunning strike. Cillian Bourke, soon to start his Leaving Cert, was Offaly's star man and he got the goal that put the Faithful 1-10 to 2-6 ahead at the break. But it felt like they needed more as Laois fired over two-pointers from Killian Roche and Niall Corbet to take the lead. Keith O'Neill set up Jordan Hayes for a fine goal midway through the second half but Laois again took control, with Brian Byrne and Ronan Coffey hitting points to nudge them 2-17 to 2-15 in front. read more on gaa After just joining the action with under ten minutes to play, Ruairí McNamee found the time to be both Offaly's hero and villain in a dramatic finale. Bourke set him up for a goal with three minutes to play and after Patrick O'Sullivan levelled the game, the Rhode man popped up again in the first minute of stoppage time with a point. His good work was undone however as he pushed Patrick O'Sullivan in the square, and up stepped Barry to slam the penalty to the net to win the game. Ironically a point and a draw would still have left Laois as a third-placed team, it was only Wicklow who benefited from Barry going for broke. Most read in GAA Football The Garden County beat Waterford by 3-29 to 0-21, giving them a three-point advantage over Offaly at the top of the table on scoring difference, but at half-time in Wexford Park they were five points adrift and would have taken any win at all. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - Jason Curry hit an incredible 0-15 in total and he was on fire in the first half, helping Waterford to lead by 0-16 to 0-6 at one stage. A goal from Eoin Darcy in the last minute of the first half made Wicklow's task a lot more manageable however and while the first four points of the second half were shared equally. Oisín McConville's men outscored Waterford by 2-19 to 0-3 from there. Oisín McGraynor (0-6) and Dean Healy (1-4) led the scoring with Joe Prendergast adding the other Wicklow goal. The other game yesterday was in Group 3 in Portlaoise where Limerick pulled off a minor shock, edging out Westmeath by 0-19 to 0-18 to take that top spot and force Westmeath to host a preliminary quarter-final next weekend. Westmeath's Luke Loughlin (0-7) and James Naughton (0-8) did their usual job of leading the scoring in a contest where Limerick took a two-point lead into the start of the second half and then went on a run of four points in a row to take control of proceedings by the 50th minute. Instead Westmeath took over to rattle off seven in a row, with Loughlin and Ronan Wallace hitting two each to seemingly set up the midlanders for a third consecutive win. They couldn't see it out however as Naughton, Robbie Childs and Josh Ryan pointed to nudge Limerick a point in front. Loughlin levelled matters in the second minute of stoppage time, and Emmet Rigter popped up to score his third of the match and the crucial winner with the last attack.
Irish Times
31-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Tailteann Cup: Limerick stun Westmeath, comeback wins for Laois and Wicklow
The standout result from Round 3 of the Tailteann Cup on Saturday was a fantastic shock win for Limerick over a high-flying Westmeath . Limerick's dramatic 0-19 to 0-18 win assured them of the top spot in Group 3 and a direct route to the quarter-finals, while Westmeath will play a preliminary quarter-final next weekend against New York or one of the best third-placed teams. There was also a huge result in Group 2 as Wicklow staged a terrific comeback to beat Waterford 3-29 to 0-21 and also earn a quarter-final spot. Laois snatched a 3-18 to 3-16 win over Offaly with an injury-time goal from Mark Barry, leaving them tied with Wicklow and Offaly on four points – Wicklow taking the top spot, Offaly second and Laois third due to scoring difference. Limerick were delighted with their win over one of the Tailteann Cup favourites. The Shannonsiders settled early and were level on 0-5 apiece after 20 minutes. Westmeath grabbed the initiative with a great two-pointer from Ray Connellan, but Limerick responded to put themselves 0-10 to 0-8 ahead by the break. READ MORE With James Naughton flying in attack, the Treaty men extended their lead, 0-15 to 0-10, after 52 minutes but Westmeath finally found top gear, scoring seven points without reply. Once again Limerick found a response and got their noses back in front with time almost up. A Luke Loughlin free levelled it – a draw would have put Westmeath through on scoring difference – but up stepped Emmett Ridger to claim his third point and the top spot for Limerick in the process. In Newbridge, Laois and Offaly served up an entertaining local derby, with two first-half goals putting Laois 2-4 to 0-4 ahead after 22 minutes. But Offaly got to work and points began to flow, helped along by a 34th-minute goal from Cillian Bourke for a 1-10 to 2-6 half-time lead. Ruari McNamee's 67th-minute goal put Offaly 3-15 to 2-17 ahead in the 67th-minute and they were clinging to a one-point lead deep in injury time when the concession of a careless penalty condemned them to defeat. At Wexford Park, Waterford had the stronger start to lead Wicklow 0-16 to 1-8 at half-time, but a rampant second half saw Oisín McConville's side fight back to record a 17-point win. Results: Westmeath 0-18 Limerick 0-19 Offaly 3-16 Laois 3-18 Wicklow 3-29 Waterford 0-21
