Latest news with #O'Carroll
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘All the pressure is really on Derry' claims London ace ahead of Christy Ring Cup final in Croke Park
LONDON ace Conor O'Carroll insists that all the pressure will be on Derry when the Christy Ring Cup is up for grabs this weekend. Appearing in their fourth final since 2021, the Oak Leafers are seeking to win the competition for the first time. But having beaten former holders the Exiles in their last seven meetings, Johnny McGarvey's men are odds-on favourites in tomorrow's Croke Park showpiece. London, who were Christy Ring winners in 2012, are back in their first decider since losing to Kildare in 2018. Following the disappointment of their NHL Division 3 final defeat to Mayo in March, Neil Rogers' men are determined to capitalise on the chance to achieve their primary objective for 2025. St Gabriel's club man O'Carroll said: 'The goal was never to make it to Croke Park, the goal was to win in Croke Park. Read more on GAA 'But we're putting ourselves in that position now to take the win. 'The league final was disappointing. We obviously would have liked some silverware from the year. But our main focus was always on the Christy Ring.' O'Carroll was a member of the Kilkenny panel that lost the 2017 All-Ireland Under-21 final in Thurles against a formidable Limerick outfit that included Cian Lynch, Aaron Gillane, Seán Finn and Kyle Hayes. But tomorrow will mark a Croker debut for the former Trinity College student who relocated to the English capital in 2022. Most read in GAA Hurling O'Carroll, who bagged 2-3 against Tyrone as London booked their place in the final, said: "It's everyone's dream really when you're playing hurling to play in Croke Park. 'It's important not to let the occasion get to us. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - "But of course there's no denying that it'll be a special occasion for a lot of lads whose first time it is playing there.' With former Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash joining the backroom team this year, O'Carroll feels the experience of the two-time All-Star will be invaluable in helping the London players cope with lining out on big stage. Lisdowney native O'Carroll said: 'We haven't beaten Derry in a long time and Derry have been in three of the last four Christy Ring finals. 'But in a way, that helps us a little bit because all the pressure is really on Derry, the way we see it. 'We're kind of coming in as underdogs and we get to go underneath the pressure.' 1 London are looking for redemption for their league final defeat London were two points to the good in the second half of the most recent clash between the teams, only for Derry to make the most of their numerical advantage after O'Carroll was red-carded. He added: 'It was soft but it was definitely the right call. 'But in a way, that helps us as well because we were down to 14 men for whatever it was, the last 25 minutes, and still had a very tight game. 'So we'll know as well coming into the match that we have something extra there.'
The 42
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'Watershed moment' as IABA joins World Boxing and secures Olympic future
THE IRISH ATHLETIC Boxing Association [IABA] has officially joined World Boxing, securing its Olympic future. World Boxing's executive board today approved the applications of 17 national federations, bringing its membership to 106. Advertisement 'This is a watershed moment for Irish Boxing, following the resounding 'yes' of member clubs to safeguarding our Olympic future at our EGM in April,' said Niall O'Carroll, Chair of IABA's Board of Directors. 'Every kid in every boxing club in the Association deserves the Olympic dream – and their clubs have made sure that dream can live on, to LA 2028 and beyond.' Ireland has won 19 Olympic boxing medals, stretching back to its first involvement at Paris 1923, making it the country's most successful Olympic sport. O'Carroll named Kellie Harrington, Katie Taylor and Michael Carruth as 'the best of us' but stressed there are 'more Olympic podiums to climb, more medals to win — and our joining of World Boxing today ensures that'. While the various stakeholders involved were thanked in an IABA press release, President Anto Donnelly added: 'This is a red letter day for the Irish Boxing family, and all the more important because our membership of World Boxing was the express will and wish of IABA's clubs. 'It's vital that we move forward, together. Our joining of World Boxing today represents the unity of Irish boxing, but also the value we place on our Olympic heritage and our Olympic future. 'No club knows when the Olympic medalists of the future will walk through their doors – and its in support of that possibility, in support of that dream, that we have such a comprehensive volunteer-led underage training and competition programmes at local, regional, national and international levels. With World Boxing, we can continue to strive to build on our standing as Ireland's most successful Olympic sport.'
The Journal
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Journal
The Journal Investigates work on exposing data centre emissions shortlisted for global award
AN IN-DEPTH investigation which revealed the huge quantities of carbon dioxide being released from data centre generators has been shortlisted for the 2025 Sigma Awards. These prestigious international awards celebrate the best data journalism from around the world. This project from The Journal Investigates was the only Irish investigation on the shortlist. The nominated article was by investigative journalist Conor O'Carroll. It was part of a project examining the environment cost of the AI boom in Europe with Pablo Jiménez Arandia, a freelance reporter in Spain. Advertisement It was shortlisted alongside publications from across the world including the Guardian, BBC News, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, Al Jazeera and Financial Times. The Irish Times were also nominated as part the Dubai Unlocked investigation, a collaborative project involving over 70 outlets across the globe. In total 37 project and 13 portfolios made the shortlist, out of almost 500 data journalism projects from dozens of countries who entered. Editor of The Journal Investigates Maria Delaney said it was an honour to be on a list with such an array of strong and impactful data journalism projects from around the world. One of our key focuses in our investigative unit is to utilise data to expose the impact that issues are having on our society and environment. 'Support from our readers has really enabled our team to spend time honing our skills in this important area of journalism over the past number of years.' Related Reads What happens now? Data centres being built outside Ireland may be better for the environment Campaigners call on government to pause data centre growth due to climate commitment threat Ireland's data centres turning to fossil fuels after maxing out country's electricity grid Support The Journal Investigates Trawling through over 20 years of planning files Our investigation revealed that data centres in Ireland using backup and emergency generators are releasing huge quantities of carbon dioxide emissions. Our series was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe . These backup generators are used to keep the energy-hungry equipment in these centres operational during times of grid connectivity issues. They are not connected to the electricity grid and run on fossil fuels. We uncovered that over 135,000 tonnes of CO2 was emitted from these centres in the last five years. As companies don't reliably report this information, O'Carroll sourced this data from an EU database. O'Carroll also trawled through 20 years worth of planning records to build a list of data centres that had been granted planning permission in Ireland. Sign up The Journal Investigates is dedicated to lifting the lid on how Ireland works. Our newsletter gives you an inside look at how we do this. Sign up here... Sign up .spinner{transform-origin:center;animation:spinner .75s infinite linear}@keyframes spinner{100%{transform:rotate(360deg)}} You are now signed up Our findings highlighted how some planned data centres intend to be powered by natural gas because they cannot be connected to the grid as it is under such strain. This pivot to natural gas was described by climate experts as damaging to Ireland's ability to meet legally-binding climate targets. You can browse the full shortlist here >> Investigations like this don't happen without your support... Impactful investigative reporting is powered by people like you. Over 5,000 readers have already supported our mission with a monthly or one-off payment. Join them here: Support The Journal
BBC News
12-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
IABA World Boxing vote boosts Irish Olympic hopes
Ireland's hopes of having boxers compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics moved a significant step closer on Saturday as the Irish Athletic Boxing Association [IABA] overwhelmingly voted in favour of submitting an application to join World an extraordinary general meeting [EGM] 116 out of the 117 clubs represented voted for constitutional reform which paves the way for international federation dual membership with the International Boxing Association [IBA] and World IABA, which governs amateur boxing in Ireland, had previously been solely affiliated to the development comes after the International Olympic Committee's [IOC] executive board last month recommended the inclusion of boxing in the LA 2028 summer Olympics programme, having already provisionally granted recognition to World boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Games was run by the IOC after it had stripped the IBA of recognition in 2023 over its failure to implement reforms on governance and IOC had originally not included boxing on the initial LA 2028 schedule, having encouraged the sport's national federations to create a new global Boxing, now with more than 80 national federations as members, was launched in IOC said only athletes whose national federations were members of World Boxing by the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympics could take part in Los October 2024, the IABA removed all references to the IBA from its constitution before the IABA chairperson Niall O'Carroll last month indicated that it would issue a 'Letter of Intent' to join World Boxing which would then be voted on at an EGM. 'Irish Boxing has spoken today' Chair of IABA's Board of Directors, Niall O'Carroll, said: "Irish Boxing has spoken today, and has chosen to be able to plot its own course. "The removal of reference to IBA/AIBA in our constitution isn't about any one international federation, it's about clubs giving themselves the ability to choose. "They've exercised that right for the first time today, voting to also affiliate with World Boxing."O'Carroll added that the move would result in better opportunities for young boxers to plot their path to Olympic competition."The Olympics is the dream of every kid who walks in to any boxing club – but getting there needs high level international competition. "For the last few years, our clubs have been constrained in the federations that they can work with at a grassroots level on a club-to-club basis. Many of those federations were long-standing partners. "Those constraints have now been lifted, and our clubs, as well as our national teams, can travel to any federation in the world to train and compete. It's a huge day for clubs, and for our federation."Boxing has been Ireland's most successful Olympic sport, having won 19 of Team Ireland's 42 medals, including Kellie Harrington's unprecedented defence of her Tokyo 2020 gold at Paris 2024.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
One brave woman wrenched back control of her data from the tech giants. Now, go and do the same
Social media companies are the global corporate giants of our time. They make vast profits and hold great influence over our governments and institutions. However, the inconvenient truth is that they have only managed to become so powerful and profitable because they help themselves to our personal data. These are mostly US companies – but they extract and exploit vast amounts of data, and with that data economic value, from British citizens. At a time when many are struggling with the cost of living, it is paradoxical that vast amounts of money are being made by the richest companies in history from the data being provided by the same people. This data often contains extremely intimate personal information, which is then used to influence people's behaviour. Despite protections under British law, the social media companies have been allowed to get away with these activities largely unchallenged. They need to be reminded that they are not too big to have to abide by our laws. That is why the news that Tanya O'Carroll, a human rights campaigner from London, has reached a settlement in her landmark case against Facebook's parent company, Meta, is a most important development. Four years ago, O'Carroll wrote to Meta stating that she wished to exercise her right under Europe's general data protection regulation or GDPR to object to the processing of her personal data. The law is clear that the right to object is absolute when it comes to targeted advertising, and people are entitled to exercise the right free of charge. O'Carroll was worried about the extremely detailed and private information that Facebook was using to target advertisements at her – including matters such as her family relationships, financial interests and political views. This wasn't information that Tanya had provided to Facebook, but characteristics it had inferred about her based on her activity online. Now, just days before going to trial, Meta has agreed, for the first time, to stop targeting advertising to a user, based on their personal data. O'Carroll's case is certainly a watershed: it suddenly opens up the possibility for millions of people across the UK to follow in her footsteps, and object to the processing of their personal data by Meta. The nonprofit organisation Ekō is running a campaign to help people do just that. By using their right to object, people could trigger a change in their relationship with tech giants. Instead of continuing to passively be the product that these companies sell to advertisers for vast profit, social media users may now be able to force these companies to rethink the value they offer them. Locking in users and huge, seemingly guaranteed, profits have long created hubris among the social media platforms – and, in recent years, a sharp decline in the quality of the product that they offer. This could therefore be a significant moment in the short history of social media in our country. It is crucial that our courts and regulators now robustly enforce the law. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) intervened in support of O'Carroll in the run-up to this outcome. Now, if Meta starts to push back, the ICO must enforce the right for others to object. But the government could still get in the way. The tech giants have considerable influence over politics around the world, and the UK is no different. The government has suggested that it will create a favourable policy environment for these US companies to do what they like with British consumers. The decision to replace the head of the Competition and Markets Authority with a former Amazon boss looks like a step in this direction and this must not happen with the ICO and other regulators. It is also crucial that potential legislative changes under the data (use and access) bill do not undermine the ICO's independence. If the law is now properly enforced, O'Carroll winning her right to privacy against one of the wealthiest companies in history represents a significant tip in the balance of power between social media platforms and ordinary people in our country. It is also a reminder of the importance of public interest cases, and how crucial it is that they are adequately funded and thus able to be brought. For too long Meta has used its size and influence to lobby its way out of accountability. The law exists to protect citizens and uphold their rights. It is high time technology giants were obliged to respect these rights. Dominic Grieve was Conservative MP for Beaconsfield from 1997 to 2019, and attorney general from 2010 to 2014
