Latest news with #Moloney
Agriland
28-05-2025
- General
- Agriland
DAFM hoping to have GAEC 2 appeals system in place next month
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is hoping to have an appeals system for Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions 2 (GAEC 2) in place shortly. Michael Moloney, senior inspector in the integrated controls division of the department, was speaking at an Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) meeting in Co. Kerry last night (Tuesday, May 27). GAEC 2 is the conditionality standard of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) related to the protection of peatlands and wetlands. It formally entered into force on May 1, which means that any works carried out before that date do not come under the scope of the condition. GAEC 2 Moloney reiterated that there are no additional actions for a farmer and they can continue to farm as normal under GAEC 2. Under the condition, the senior inspector said that the maintenance of an existing drain on is permitted and replacement is acceptable. However, he said that new drainage on never-drained parcels of land will require planning permission or an exemption from the local authority, as is currently the case under national legislation. He added that the deepening of existing drains or the extension of the drained area beyond what was previously existed is considered new drainage. Michael Moloney, senior inspector with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Moloney told the meeting that ploughing on GAEC 2 lands is permitted to a maximum depth of 30cm on grass and arable land, which he said should not impact on farmers. Under GAEC 2, ploughing for reseeding grassland will be permitted one in every four years and annual ploughing is allowed on arable land. Appeals Approximately 35,000 farmers have been contacted by DAFM in relation to the 540,000ha covered by GAEC 2. Farmers or their advisors can check if their land is covered by the condition through the AgFood online portal. 'There will be an appeals mechanism established. We will have that out in due course, hopefully early next month. Farmers can appeal it. 'They'll have to provide evidence of soil samples etc., showing that there isn't 30% organic matter and the depth of the peat is not 30-45cm. 'The only person who really needs to appeal this is those that basically want to do something on this undrained soils in 2025. 'We'll prioritise those because we don't have the capacity to deal with a large number of people or appeals that just want to appeal it for the sake of it,' he said. Moloney noted that GAEC 2 is part of the current CAP cycle and may or may not be part of the post-2027 CAP. The DAFM senior inspector said that lands covered by GAEC 2 do not carry any legal designation, such as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) or Special Protection Areas (SPAs) 'GAEC 2 is not a designation, it is a classification for the basis of conditionality and it is baseline or minimum,' he said. Kerry IFA chair Jason Fleming said it is a 'massive inconvenience' for farmers having to apply for planning permission for new drains or deepening existing drains on GAEC 2 lands. 'I know you don't like using the word designation, but it feels to us like a form of designation,' he said.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'You are my heroes' - Antonio meets people who saved his life
Content warning: This article contains discussion around suicide and depression "Meeting these people who saved my life has been very humbling." West Ham striker Michail Antonio's near-death experience has changed him, compelling him to engage with a recovery process containing mental and physical obstacles. The 35-year-old was involved in a car crash almost six months ago that resulted in him spending over three weeks in hospital with a broken leg, facing a gruelling journey back to fitness. He is now up and walking, continuing his rehabilitation programme, after shattering a thigh bone when his Ferrari skidded off the road and struck a tree in Epping Forest. The Jamaica international had been on his way home from training. Antonio is looking back in an effort to move forward. He spent time with BBC One's Morning Live, retracing moments that not only threatened his career but his life, and met those who responded to emergency calls on 7 December. "I want to say thank you," he told Essex and Herts Air Ambulance paramedics Rob Moon and Dr James Moloney, "because obviously I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you guys. "You saved my life, so you guys are basically my heroes." Antonio, who previously explained he has no memory of the accident, crashed and was trapped in his car. He was freed by crew from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service who left him in the care of ambulance staff. West Ham, in an initial announcement about the crash, said their "thoughts and prayers" were with Antonio. The seriousness of the accident is not lost on the former Nottingham Forest player. He said of the paramedics: "I don't remember their faces at all. It's crazy because of how important you guys were to me." Moon explained how he and Dr Moloney knew who they were treating: "There was one clue - there was a West Ham shirt in the passenger seat with Antonio on it." Antonio asked if he was speaking after the incident, and Moloney told him: "Yes, you were incredibly repetitive, but that happens when people bump their head. "We kept asking about your football, who your manager was, whether you are enjoying your football. From our point of view, you were talking which was really reassuring for us." The paramedics explained Antonio was discovered on the back seat of the car and "quickly assessed" to have had fractured his femur. He was given pain relief, strapped to a board and put in an ambulance to shield him from the cold and rain. The crash came as Storm Darragh battered the UK. Meetings with paramedics are offered after life-threatening incidents to help patients rationalise what happened to them. Antonio was able to ask questions, including querying whether he was taken to hospital by air ambulance. Moloney clarified: "Whenever we can, we fly to hospital because it is quicker, but on the day the pilot quite rightly said no [because of the storm]." Antonio was driven to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. In a previous interview with Morning Live in March, Antonio said: "I've always been a fan of sports cars, but I can't lie to you, sports cars are not my friends. So right now, I have a Mercedes people carrier and my brother is my driver. "For now, anyway, I'm staying far away from sports cars." Antonio also met Trish Burton, a member of the patient and family team for the air ambulance, and told her how his loved ones "probably experienced the incident more than I did". "They've gone to the hospital, they've come to see me, they've seen how I was. I don't remember my face being cut or anything... and going down for surgery the next day, I don't remember doing that," Antonio said. "But they were all in the hospital, they have those memories, they lived it whereas I didn't live it as much as them." Antonio has previously explained he "almost wasn't there" for his children and how the crash affected his 13-year-old eldest in particular. Antonio said earlier this year it was "horrendous" for him to see a change of manager at West Ham during his lay-off, as Graham Potter replaced Julen Lopetegui. His contract expires in June and because of injury he has had no opportunity to impress Potter on the pitch, which Antonio said has affected his mental health. Antonio has been a public advocate for therapy since talking to the High Performance Podcast in May 2024. Past counselling sessions have helped to equip him for his latest setback. Antonio met with former Leeds, QPR and Burnley defender Clarke Carlisle, who explained how a serious knee injury in 2001 led him to alcoholism and how he made three suicide attempts between 2003 and 2017. Carlisle said: "The first time when adverse mental health came into my consciousness was in 2003 because I went into alcohol rehab. It is interesting timing because I got a knee injury in 2001 at QPR, which kept me out for two years. "I was told I was going to walk with a stick and never play again at 21 after I had just broken into the England Under-21s. "Even though that had happened in my life, and the club knew about it, we didn't treat it like a mental health thing that needed addressing. I didn't do anything about it until 2010 until I was officially diagnosed with depression. "It took two further suicide attempts in 2014 and 2017 for me to actually take action on my mental health." Carlisle said he had been raised with the message that "you do not talk about our business outside this house". He added: "I didn't want to engage with any of the resources out there but that's changing now." Antonio has previously explained he used to "push down" his emotions and could not celebrate West Ham's Uefa Conference League success in 2023 because of his mental health struggles. "When I was talking to Clarke I definitely identified with the culture side of things, not to put your business out to the world," Antonio said. "I definitely could feel what he was saying because that's what I had to experience when I was younger." Visit BBC Action Line for more information on issues raised in this article Latest West Ham news, analysis and fan views Get West Ham news sent straight to your phone
Perth Now
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Unretired Andrew Moloney back in world title frame
Andrew Moloney is back in world title contention less than a year since sensationally announcing his retirement from boxing after a controversial loss. AAP can reveal Australia's former super flyweight world champion (27-4-1) has been ordered to fight Mexico's Argi Cortes (27-4-2) in an IBF eliminator. Negotiations are now underway to determine a date and venue for the fight between a pair with remarkably similar records. The winner will become the mandatory challenger to the victor of this month's IBF title fight between Mexican pair Willibaldo Garcia and Rene Calixto. The chance comes less than a year after the 34-year-old Moloney quit the sport in a rage after losing on points to Pedro Guevara for the interim WBC super flyweight title. Moloney reversed his retirement decision later last year and has fought once since, comfortably beating Jakrawut Majungoen in December. He was also denied a world title in 2020 after a hugely controversial no-decision verdict when it was decided a cut to Joshua Franco's eye was caused by a headbutt and not a Moloney punch. Moloney's manager Tony Tolj said he held no concerns over the integrity of his charge's next fight. "If anyone deserves another world title opportunity it is Andrew," he told AAP. Cortes' only two losses since 2015 have been against two-weight world champion Juan Estrado and Japanese demolition man Junto Nakatani, who savagely knocked Moloney out in their 2023 title fight. "It's another massive fight and Argi is a great fighter, we believe better than the pair fighting for the IBF title this month," Tolj said. "We're working on it (a date and location) now." The opportunity comes after Andrew's twin brother's back-to-back losses to highly-rated Japanese bantamweights Tenshin Nasukawa and Yoshiki Takei since he won and defended his WBO crown.
Agriland
01-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
New grass variety brings 1.5t boost to spring growth
Over the last ten years, DLF Ireland have invested heavily in a lab-to-farm grass research and development (R&D) programme with the goal of finding the best grazing varieties for Irish farmers. Vast is the latest grass variety to be selected on Irish farms for Irish conditions and delivers on spring growth and grazing quality. Farm profitability is directly linked with the amount of grazed grass in the diet. For this reason, grazing quality and grass utilisation are prioritised during our variety evaluation and selection process. The DLF Grass Partner Grazing Trial has allowed us to assess and select new grass varieties on real farms under real grazing conditions. Source: DLF Ireland The first selection from these trials is a late tetraploid called Vast and it looks extremely promising. DLF's technical and product manager, Dr. Thomas Moloney, explained: 'Vast has excelled in our on-farm grazing trials over the last five years showing exceptional spring growth figures and the lowest graze-out' 'Vast is proving very easy to manage because of its quality and grazability but, when compared to the top grazing varieties currently available, Vast is blowing them away in terms of spring growth and grass utilisation. 'Vast is producing an extra 1.5t DM/ha in spring compared to some of the most popular grazing varieties out there.' Results from Teagasc trials have shown that each extra ton of grass utilised on farm is worth up to €181/ha per year. Results from the DLF Grass Partner Grazing Trial showed how well different varieties grazed out but also how much grass each variety utilised. Source: DLF Vast is available in a brand new mixture called Kiwi Grazer. This grazing mixture contains 75% tetraploid ryegrass varieties and is formulated to boost grass quality and utilisation on farms across the country. Such high tetraploid content in a grazing mixture is quite novel, but if we want to maximise grass quality and utilisation, then grazing mixtures need a lot of Tetraploid. DLF have already proved themselves as ambitious innovators on the Irish grass seed scene with their NxGen Tetraploids and 4N Grazer mixture proving a huge success since their introduction to Irish farms in 2020. 4N Grazer: a ground-breaking, all-tetraploid grass mixture Traditionally, grass mixtures contained at least 50% diploid varieties with the balance made up of Tetraploid varieties and maybe some clover. But time and time again, research and farmer experience has shown that tetraploid varieties have better quality, better graze-out and grass utilisation, and better animal performance than diploid varieties. 'If farmers want to get the best from grazing, they need to be sowing mixtures with a high tetraploid content. When it comes to grazing quality, most diploids offer very little,' Dr. Moloney said. 'Cows prefer to eat tetraploid grass varieties and farmers are now conscious of this when choosing grass mixtures.' Diploids are used in grass mixtures for their density and persistence, but unfortunately their density makes them difficult for cows to graze down to the target grazing residuals. 'Farmers also like the look of a dense sward, which is fair, but density has no nutritional value,' Dr. Moloney added. Source: DLF Ireland A breeding breakthrough may have solved this quality:density conundrum, however, as DLF's world class breeders have developed a NxGen batch of tetraploids. Some of our new tetraploid varieties like Nashota and Xenon carry the density of diploids but keep the quality and grazability of tetraploids. 'Having denser tetraploid varieties allow us to push up the inclusion rate of tetraploids to really maximise the quality of DLF grass mixtures,' said Dr. Moloney. In grazing mixtures especially, we can leave out unpalatable diploids without losing density. This kind of innovation will be key to increasing profitability on Irish farms.' With this in mind, DLF have blended their top grazing varieties to formulate the only NxGen Tetraploid mixture available in Ireland designed to dramatically improve grass quality and utilisation, and make grazing management easier for farmers. DLF 4N Grazer is the only grazing mix available with all 5-star grazing utilisation tetraploids.
Irish Independent
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
No appetite in Kerry for World War II anniversary – ‘I'm not asking for a street party'
One of the most cataclysmic conflicts in the history of civilisation that resulted in the loss of millions of lives is set to spark widespread commemorations across Europe later this month, But not, it seems, in Kerry. Labour Party Councillor Marie Moloney was aghast that her motion asking what plans Kerry County Council (KCC) had to mark the milestone event at a recent full meeting when it drew a muted response from her elected colleagues. After Cllr Moloney read out an impassioned statement mentioning the over 80,000 people – north and south of the island – who joined the Allied forces in the fight against Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945 in a conflict that resulted in the loss of millions of lives. Cllr Moloney said the 80th anniversary recognises the years of sacrifice during WWII and celebrations are an opportunity to honour the millions who fought and died and to preserve history while reflecting on the lessons of war. She insisted the loss of loved ones, 'horrific injuries and the hardship people experienced' merited some commemorative gesture in Kerry. Thousands of Irish people – men and women – also worked in the factories across Britain helping to sustain the Allied war effort. In reply, KCC said it is a matter for consideration by the members, and recommended it be referred to the Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht SPC for consideration. 'You have very little time given that May 8 is the official date. I cannot believe that no one within the council – officials or elected members – did even think of this,' she said. 'I'm not asking for a street party or anything like that. Something even as simple as laying a wreath. I think it's important that we mark it as we don't have time to be going to the SPC. I would ask the members to support my motion, please. Is nobody going to?' Cllr Moloney added. After an awkward few seconds, when it looked as though the motion would not be seconded, independent Councillor Charlie Farrelly stepped in. 'I second what is a well-worth motion. I'm glad to second it,' Cllr Farrelly said.
