Irish Echo August 2017

DECLAN O’ROURKE

QUEENSLAND

PAGE 4

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One-Time Australian Returns For National Tour

Dubliner Falls Seven Storeys In Workplace Accident

For breaking news visit www.irishecho.com.au

AUST RALI A’ S I RI S H N E WS PA P E R August, 2017 | Volume 30 – Number 8

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Ballet-mór Swan Lake meets Children Of Lir at the Opera House PAGE 4

EXCLUSIVE :: IRISH RUGBY STARS SET FOR THREE-TEST TOUR OF AUSTRALIA IN 2018

Ireland to tour in 2018

PLANS are at an advanced stage for Ireland to play three Tests against the Wallabies in Australia next year.

While no official annoucement has been made, sources in Ireland and Australia have told the Irish Echo that the tour is “definitely on”.

Negotiations are ongoing between the Australian Rugby Union and the Irish Rugby Football Union about venues and dates, the Irish Echo understands. An official announcement is expected within weeks.

If the tour goes ahead as expected, it will be the first multi-Test Irish tour of Australia since 1999.

That tour, on which 20-year-old Brian O’Driscoll made his Test debut at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane, was dominated by the Wallabies, who won both Tests convincingly.

Australia has not hosted Ireland since 2010 when the Wallabies prevailed 22-15 in Brisbane.

Ireland have enjoyed the upper hand in recent encounters, winning three of the past four meetings, including a nine-point win at Auckland’s Eden Park during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 1979, the Irish came to Australia for a two-Test series and prevailed thanks to the trusty boot of Ollie Campbell. After a 27 to 12 win at Ballymore, the Irish wrapped up the

series with a dour 9-3 win at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Sydney’s large Irish community will be hoping that one of the Tests takes place in the harbour city. The last time Ireland played in Sydney was 23 years ago in June 1994 when a team led by Michael Bradley lost 32-18 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

During subsequent tours, Tests between the nations have been played at Subiaco Oval in Perth (3), Ballymore in Brisbane (1), Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane (1) and Etihad Stadium in Melbourne (1). Ireland are currently ranked three in the world, one above the Wallabies, which will add extra interest to the tour.

The teams also fought out a nailbiting World Cup clash in Melbourne in 2003, when the Wallabies prevailed by a single point, 17 to 16.

The sides have met on 33 occasions.

The Wallabies have won 21 of those Tests, Ireland have won 11 and there was a solitary draw in Dublin in 2009.

Of the 13 Tests between them in Australia, Ireland have won only three.

The first of those was in 1967 at the Sydney Cricket Ground when the Irish, featuring superstars Mike Gibson and Willie John McBride, won 11 points to five. The result made histor y because it was the first time a northern hemisphere side won a Test match in the southern hemisphere.

Ireland will tour Australia next year.

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

news DUBLINER FELL ‘SEVEN STOREYS’

Dad faces long recovery road after 20m fall

FUN RUN IN SUPPORT OF OTHERS’ WELL-BEING

David Hennessy

AN Irish tradesman and father has suffered severe injuries after falling 20 metres on a construction site on the Gold Coast.

David Conway, 37, faces a long recover y after sustaining serious injuries, including a ruptured heart, a collapsed lung and several broken bones. when he fell from a Varsity Lakes construction site on July 10.

Mr Conway’s family rushed from Rathcoole, Dublin to be with him at Gold Coast University Hospital.

An appeal has been made to raise funds to help defray some of his medical costs because it is expected that Mr Conway will need several more operations.

Mr Conway was put into an induced coma soon after the acciendt. He has since had both feet amputated.

Although his condition is still said to be critical, as we go to press, the family is just thankful he is alive.

Mr Conway’s brothers, Stephen and Richie, and his parents, Connie and Shay, made their way from Ireland to join his wife Viv and his daughter Keisha, seven, at his bedside.

“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” Stephen Conway told The Irish Echo.

“To fall seven storeys and be alive.

“He’s stable but critical. It’s surreal.

We’re living in a nightmare but we have to think of the positives as well. We have to stay strong for him.”

Mr Conway has already had four operations, each lasting 10 hours, inclcuding skin grafts on his arms.

“He hasn’t really woken up yet.

We’re just hoping and praying nothing goes wrong. If nothing goes wrong, it’s a good day. ” Mr Conway is expected to need operations on his pelvis. and his liver was a concern for more than a week after the operation. The accident happened on his daughter Keisha’s birthday.

“We got the news on the same day as his daughter’s seventh birthday,” Stephen Conway said. “I got an emergency passport and have been here since hoping and praying he can wake up.

David Conway, in happier times with wife Viv and daughter Keisha.

“He’s not out of the woods yet, doctors keep telling us. It’s going to be a long, long journey.

“We would love to thank the staff.

We’re at Gold Coast University Hospital – the best in the world. It’s amazing.

I don’t think he would have got this treatment anywhere.”

Developer Alder Construction say s an investigation into the accident is under way.

A crowdfunding page has been set up to help Mr Conway’s recovery. It has already raised $40,000 of its $50,000 goal. “We’re getting huge support: [social media] shares, likes, fundraisers. It’s amazing. We would just like to thank everyone so much,” Stephen Conway said.

One donation was particularly generous and it came from another local Irish emigrant. “A 97-year-old Irishman, Michael Kennedy from Tipperar y, came into the hospital. He didn’t know Dave, he just read about it on the paper and wanted to help.

“He wanted to donate online but didn’t know how so he came in. His [David’s] wife didn’t want to take it, she thought he might need his money but he insisted, insisted, insisted and wrote a $5,000 cheque and gave $50 to his daughter.”

To make a donation, visit www.youcaring.com and search for David Conway

SURF’S UP: Two of the most vibrant Irish community associations in Sydney, the Irish Support Agency and the Sydney Queer Irish, are teaming up for The Green Movement in this year’s City To Surf on Sunday, August 13. Event organiser Lorna Markey Hennessy of the Sydney Queer Irish said the initiative was designed to “support health and well-being among Irish people living in Sydney”. To find out more about joining The Green Movement, search for TheGreenMovementatCity2Surf on Facebook

NO JAIL FOR BOUNCER WHO ASSAULTED IRISHMAN

Attack ‘out of character’, judge rules A FORMER hotel security officer in Queensland has avoided jail after pleading guilty to an assault that left an Irishman with injuries to his spine and a fractured eye socket.

Christin ‘Papa’ Anderson (35), who was working at the Central Hotel in Bundaberg as a security officer, admitted assaulting Barry Smith on October 25, 2014, causing bodily harm.

Handing down a suspended 18-month sentence at Bundaberg Courthouse last week, judge Terry Martin found that Anderson’s behaviour was out of character.

Mr Smith had been forced to the ground and had fallen against a car.

His injuries included a fracture to his right eye and fractures to his lumbar spine area.

The court earlier heard that the Irishman was refused entry to the hotel because he had no ID on him at the time and when leaving the area to go to a McDonald’s he had “slapped” a red car belonging to the bouncer, causing no damage to the vehicle.

The bouncer’s lawyer said that “he had been provoked and reacted spontaneously in the context of being exhausted by working three jobs, and it was an over-reaction to his provocative conduct”.

Two other employees of the hotel did not receive criminal convictions for

their part in the incident, which involved chasing Mr Smith and bringing him down on to the road. They pleaded guilty to the same charge and were both ordered to pay fines.

Mr Smith told the local newspaper, the NewsMail, that he still liked Bundaberg despite the violent incident.

He was working in Bundaberg in 2014 when the assualt ocurred.

Now living in Sydney, he returned to the town to attend the trial.

Outside Bundaberg courthouse, Mr Smith expressed his relief that Anderson had changed his plea to guilty.

He said it should be a lesson to hotel bouncers to “look after people”.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS RAISE FUNDS TO BRING BODY HOME TO IRELAND

Corkman Kristian Crowley dies after Melbourne fall

David Hennessy

TRIBUTES have been paid to Kristian Crowley, a 28-year-old from Cork who died following a fall in Melbourne.

The Ballygar van native suf fered serious injuries in the accident before he died in hospital on Sunday July 23.

He had been resident in Australia since 2012.

The accident occurred on Sunday July 16. He was treated for his injuries at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne before dying a week later.

Fundraising had begun in an effort to help his family make it from Ireland to be at his bedside as he fought for his life in hospital. Now, donations continue to come in to help the family prepare to bring him home and to deal with medical expenses.

A friend, Julie O’Driscoll, announced

the sad news of Mr Crowley’s death and said they would continue to raise money to help bring him home.

“Tragically, our friend Kristian passed away in Melbourne on Sunday the 23rd of July,” Ms O’Driscoll wrote.

“His family and friends want to thank everyone who have taken the time to donate and help. We are all more grateful than you could ever know.

“However we now need your help more than ever to bring Kristian home with his family back to Ireland.

“Any and every donation big or small will make the world of difference for his family and friends at this heartbreaking time,” Ms O’Driscoll wrote.

The donations have continued to roll in and so have the tributes.

Ballygar van GAA paid tribute on Facebook: “Ballygar van GAA club would like to offer our sympathy to the

Crowley family on the sad passing of Kristian in Australia.

“Kristian was a brilliant under-age player with Ballygarvan and his loss is devastating.

“To his Mom, Dad, Leon and Karla, we offer our deepest condolences. Ar dheis de go raibh an ainm.”

UCC Security wrote alongside their donation: “RIP Kristian from your friends in UCC Security Department”.

Fionnuala O’Connor wrote on Gofundme: “My deepest condolences on the loss of your beautiful son.”

Philomena Fogar ty added: “Thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Kristian. Deepest sympathies to all.”

Mairead Dunne said: “Very sorry to hear this news. Kindest thoughts to everyone effected by this.

“Thanks for the opportunity to be

able to help in little way. I’m sure the Irish community will rally round and help this family at this hard time.”

Gordon O’Mahony added: “RIP buddy, so sorr y to all the Crowley family on yr loss , but u can lay him to rest known that he brought joy to a lot of ppl️”.

Will Peters wrote: “RIP, a terrible tragedy for the Irish community again.”

Marie McDonnell said: “RIP Kristian, hope your family can have you home very soon.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to the family. Almost $40,000 has been raised by the online appeal star ted by Kristian’s friends and family.

Donations can be made by going to www.gofundme.com and search for Kristian Crowley

FATAL INJURIES: Kristian Crowley.

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

local news ACCLAIMED IRISH REIMAGINING OF SWAN LAKE COMES TO SYDNEY

Shades of Lir in reworked ballet

by David Hennessy

A WELL-KNOWN Irish folklore story is set to hit the Sydney Opera House stage.

A contemporary reimagining of both the Irish stor y Children of Lir and Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet Swan Lake will be performed at the iconic Australian venue at the end of August.

Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, which uses dance, theatre and the music of Irish trio Clouds Moving Slowly, makes its Australian debut, having had extraordinary success on the European festival circuit.

Directed by lauded Dublin choreographer and director Michael KeeganDolan, the piece stars Michael Murfi, a seasoned Irish actor, and Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, founder of Australian Dance Theatre. Described as “bleak and beautiful” by The Guardian, it brings both stories up to date with gritty realism.

“It certainly goes down very well with the locals when I tell them we’re going to Sydney Opera House,” Keegan-Dolan tells The Irish Echo.

“The idea feels very exciting but in reality we have to deliver a fantastic performance and send people away feeling inspired.

“It’s quite a complicated piece that we’ve generated in that it has several layers. The clear narrative line that goes through the centre of the piece is very similar to the ballet of Swan Lake but within that we’ve woven in elements of the story of Children of Lir but then there’s also two other narratives inter woven, which are a little more complex.”

These other narratives include one based on the killing in 2000 of John Carthy, a Longford man with psych iatric illness, who was shot dead by the Garda after a 25-hour siege.

“I thought it was important to tie the story of Swan Lake into Irish culture and also a contemporary event so it had a meaning and importance to it. [This] can be challenging for people but ever ywhere we have gone with the show so far, people have been very positive about it.”

Children of Lir is the story of four

children Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn who are turned into swans by their jealous stepmother and forced to spend 900 years on lakes and streams.

However, in this reimagining the jealous stepmother is replaced by an abusive priest who turns the children into swans to keep them silent about his abuse of the eldest child and only girl, Fionnuala.

Clerical abuse is not the only Irish issue tackled in the piece; the corruption of Garda and councillors also features. “I suppose these kind of institutional figures, figures of perceived importance interest me, and Ireland would be a good case if you wanted to explore the dynamic of that.

“Up until recently, the politicians and the priests ran Ireland; probably the priests and politicians, in that order.

“I always felt as a child growing up it was important that the person who ended up in charge was a good person, had some sort of class to them.

“Unfortunately, as we see today all over the world, often the people who end up in positions of power are complete idiots and there can be terrible consequences for normal, regular people because they end up having to dance to tunes whistled by these idiots.

“I played with the [Swan Lake] idea and found modern applications of it, a corrupt councillor or a twisted priest.

“It sounds like the piece is really dark but it has very beautiful elements to it. The message it will end with is resoundingly beautiful, I hope.”

Tackling Irish issues and folklore is fer tile ground for Keegan-Dolan, whose previous work The Bull drew on the Cúchulainn tale, The Cattle Raid of Cooleye and made a statement about the Celtic Tiger.

Keegan-Dolan has been nominated for Olivier Awards for The Bull as well as The Rite of Spring and Giselle. He has previously brought his work to the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Festivals as well as other venues in Australia.

Looking ahead to debuting his latest work in Australia, Keegan-Dolan says: “Hopefully people will come with an open mind.”

‘COME WITH AN OPEN MIND’: A scene from Loch na hEala, which will be performed at the Sydney Opera House from August 30 to September 2. (Inset) The show’s director, Michael Keegan-Dolan.

FORTHCOMING TOURS

One-time Aussie O’Rourke returns for national tour

BACK TO HIS ROOTS: Declan O’Rourke returns to Australia for the first time since 2014.

IRISH singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke returns to Australia this September and October for a very special series of concerts in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide, plus the Dashville Skyline festival in the Hunter Valley.

The tour, his first since 2014, will mark something of a homecoming for O’Rourke who spent eight of his childhood years in Australia.

He and his family lived in the Victorian town of Kyabram where, at the age of 13, a local priest gave O’Rourke his first guitar.

His award-winning first album, inspired by his Australian adventures, is called Since Kyabram.

He was nominated for three Meteor Awards on the back of the album’s success and Since Kyabram went double platinum in Ireland.

The Dubliner, who now lives on the wild windswept west coast of Ireland, has recently released his fifth studio album In Full Colour, recorded with a full 50-piece orchestra. His latest song-cycle entitled Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine will be launched in Ireland in November.

O’Rourke returns to Australia for seven concerts only before heading to festivals in New Zealand.

O’Rourke’s songs have been admired by James Taylor, John Sheahan (The Dubliners), Eddi Reader and Paul Weller among others, and O’Rourke has toured and worked with the likes of Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), Eric Bogle and Leah Flanagan.

In his last appearance in Australia, O’Rourke played alongside Paul Kelly and Shane Howard as part of the acclaimed show Exile: Songs and Tales of Irish Australia.

A U ST R A LI A’ S I R I SH N E WSPA P E R

Telephone: +61 2 9555 9199 Facsimile: +61 2 9555 9186 Postal Address: PO Box 256, Balmain, NSW 2041, Australia E-mail (Admin): mail@irishecho.com.au E-mail (Editorial): editor@irishecho.com.au Web: www.irishecho.com.au The Irish Echo is a national publication published monthly by The Irish Exile P/L Printed by Spot Press Distributed by Network Distribution Services

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

ireland - brexit IRELAND WILL NOT HELP BRITAIN DESIGN BORDER, TAOISEACH SAYS

‘Onus on Britain’ to justify Brexit IRELAND will not help Britain design an economic border for Brexiteers, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

The Taoiseach declared his opposition to creating such a frontier during a robust intervention in Dublin. He said the onus was on the British government to say how it would work.

The boundary between Northern Ireland and the Republic is the UK’s only land border with an EU country and is a major issue for negotiators in Brussels.

“What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,” Mr Varadkar said.

“It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and, first of all, convince their own people, their own voters, that this is actually a good idea.

“As far as this Government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border. We don’t want one.”

The Dublin administration is uncon-

vinced by Britain’s plans to use technology to maintain the invisible land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The Times newspaper suggested the Republic’s preferred option was for customs and immigration checks to be located at ports and airports instead.

‘IREXIT’

BREXIT QUESTION OVER NEW FERRY CROSSING ‘MUST BE RESOLVED’ SWIFTLY

Ireland must consider EU exit, says think tank

TOUGH TALK: The European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.

Mr Varadkar is said to want customs and immigration checks moved away from the land border to por ts and airports – effectively drawing a new border in the Irish Sea. “There is no proposal that is suggesting that there be a border in the Irish Sea,” Department of Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney told RTÉ.

“What we do not want to pretend is that we can solve the problems of the border on the island of Ireland through technical solutions like cameras and pre-registration and so on. That is not going to work.

“Any barrier or border on the island of Ireland … risks undermining a very hard-won peace process and all of the parties in Northern Ireland, whether they are unionist or nationalist, recognise that we want to keep the free movement of people and goods and services and livelihoods.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s parliamentar y allies, 10

Democratic Unionist Party MPs, have rejected the notion of a sea border.

The DUP’s leader in the Commons, Nigel Dodds, said such a move would be unacceptable to the DUP, which the Prime Minister relies on to prop up her minority administration in the House of Commons.

A sea border “may give the Republic of Ireland a special economic status within Northern Ireland but the heavy price would be new barriers to trade in the UK” for Northern Irish firms, Mr Dodds said.

“This appar ent har dening of attitudes within the Irish Government is untimely and unhelpful.

“The DUP will not tolerate a border on the Irish Sea after Brexit that makes it more difficult to live, work and travel between different parts of the United Kingdom,” he said.

“At Westminster we will continue to use the influence of our 10 MPs to ensure that respect for the integrity of

the UK remains at the core of the negotiations process.”

The European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the British Government had to clarify how the common travel area would be maintained and also raised concerns about the impact of Brexit on the Good Friday Agreement.

“We agree that the important issue of the Good Friday Agreement between Ireland and the UK … requires more detailed discussions. In par ticular, more work needs to be done to protect Nor th-South co-operation between Ireland and Northern Ireland,” Mr Barnier said.

“Today, that co-operation is embedded in the common framework of EU law and EU policies. We need to better understand how the UK intends ensuring the continuation of this co-operation after Brexit. The UK should clarify how it intends maintaining the common travel area after leaving the EU.”

Michael McHugh

IRELAND should give “serious consideration” to following Britain out of the EU, an influential conservative British think tank has said.

The Republic could opt to remain within the UK in a customs and free -trade area, while negotiating as favourable as possible trade and investment terms with the remaining 26 member states, Policy Exchange added.

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny firmly rejected any suggestion that Ireland should leave the EU, saying the foundation of Ireland’s prosperity and the bedrock of its modern society was its membership of the European Union.

However, Policy Exchange’s report said: “In the circumstances, Ireland must give serious consideration to other options, including Irexit.”

The document was drawn up by Ray Bassett, a former first secretary at the Irish Embassy in Canber ra and Ambassador to Canada.

It said Ireland faced a huge choice.

“Whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, there will be a price to pay. For Ireland, there is really no upside to Brexit,” it said.

“The question to be raised is what price is Ireland willing to pay to stand in solidarity with the remaining 26 EU countries? If the Irish Government is willing to pay that price, will the Dáil, and possibly the population in a referendum, be equally willing to do so?”

“Simply sitting on the sidelines and allowing the EU to negotiate for Ireland is essentially untenable. The first duty of the EU negotiators is to act on behalf of the European Union as an institution. The type of deal that Ireland’s interests requires, however, including free trade with the UK, is directly in contradiction with the Union negotiators’ mandate that anything relating to Ireland and her border which emerges from the Brexit negotiations” A recent poll suggested that 88 per cent of Irish people think Ireland should stay in the EU.

Pamela Houston, chief executive of Scenic Carlingford Ferry, at the inaugural service at Greencastle, Co Down. Picture: Michael McHugh

Ferry uncertain for start-up cross-border business Michael McHugh THE head of the newest transport link between Northern Ireland and the Republic has urged a speedy resolution to the Brexit border question.

A ferry has begun plying the scenic Carlingford Lough dividing the two countries with the 15-minute journey, promising a boost for local tourism and business.

Bad weather rather than paperwork delayed the inaugural service but chief executive Pamela Houston said an unimpeded frontier should endure after the UK exits the EU. “We are a frictionless border,” she added. “I think people are used to that.

I think it is good for business.”

Ms Houston said people were used to taking travel documents when they

flew and added that a duty-free shop could create opportunities for her firm.

However she added: “We don’t want to see any impediments to travel and hope that a resolution can be found.”

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said the British Government has to clarify how the common travel area would be maintained. He also raised concerns about Brexit’s impact on the Good Friday Agreement.

British Brexit Secretary David Davis has said a “flexible and imaginative” approach is needed on the border.

Dozens of cars, local families and tourists from local caravan parks queued for the inaugural trip on the ferry from Greencastle in Co Down to Greenore in Co Louth. One cyclist was among those in the queue waiting while

the blustery winds whipped up the sea underneath leaden skies. Des McConville, a memebr of the Armagh Down Cycling Club, waited to be the first cyclist on board.

He said his club cycled regularly in the Cooley Mountains and the Mourne Mountains, on either side of the rugged border, and could now cover both in one day.

“It is madness the whole Brexit issue, look at what we are doing here between a wee bit of water,” Mr McConville said.

“It will be fascinating to see if there will be some form of check going across the border, I have no idea what will happen, but it will not stop the cyclists. We will do it.”

Ensuring freedom of movement across the Irish border, the UK’s only land frontier with the EU, is one of the

first topics up for discussion between the UK and Europe and featured in last week’s Brussels negotiations.

Many people cross the border for work every day and local businesses are opposed to lengthy queues for people and goods. The ferry, which can carry 44 cars, will create 18 full-time jobs. It follows a €10 million nvestment

by Frazer Ferries Group, Limerick.

Meanwhile, the EU has withdrawn an offer of €17.4 million towards a bridge spanning Carlingford Lough because additional funding has not been found.

The cable-stayed bridge, 195 metres long, has been in the planning process for years and would have connected Cornamucklagh near Omeath, Co Louth, with Narrow Water near Warrenpoint, Co Down, at an historic crossing point.

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

ireland CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION A ‘MORAL NECESSITY’, MINISTER IN CHARGE OF PLAN SAYS

Ireland morally bound to step up green policies Dart line can be extended to Balbriggan by 2022 and that heavy goods vehicle speed limits could be lowered to 80km/h. It recommends 14 compressed natural gas refuelling stations for cars be set up and a grant scheme for electric vehicles by 2020.

Retrofitting of homes is also an important factor in energy efficiency, with a scheme to upgrade 1,500 properties, while landlords will come under pressure next year to have minimum thermal standards.

Guidelines on wind energy are to be finalised next year. Planners are being asked to consider integrated policies that would reduce travel demand and encourage more walking, cycling and public transport and cleaner transport.

The plan asks for an analysis of suitable reservoirs for carbon storage, more support for biomass and a review of how farming can be improved.

“On climate change, change is possible. Our role is to put the levers for change into peoples’ hands,” Mr Naughten said.

“This is our work at home, while abroad we stand firm in our commitment to the Paris Agreement.”

Ed Carty THE Government minister charged with overseeing Ireland’s new plan to combat climate change has declared it is a moral necessity.

More than 100 initiatives are proposed to reduce emissions, including cutting the speed limit on motorways from 120km/h to 110km/h and finding cleaner replacement fuel for Moneypoint power station.

Denis Naughten, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, said it was the first step in getting all of government to address the issue of greenhouse gases.

“As a country, we are playing catch-up on our obligations in relation to climate change,” he said. “This obligation is as much an opportunity as an obligation. In any event, it is a moral necessity and a vital national interest.”

The plan includes a considerable number of reviews over the next few years, such as one on the future of peat power plants and another setting out what subsidies are given for fossil fuels. It has a goal for all new cars to be zero emission in 2030, that the

Billy Collins from Wexford town riding his sulky past a field of wind turbines in Kilmore. Picture: Niall Carson

RENEWABLE ENERGY

EU to spend millions on renewable energy Michael McHugh

THE EU is to spend almost €10 million on researching renewable energy in Britain and Ireland.

The work will focus on the use of tidal power at Strangford Lough and the North Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland, ocean energy sites in Western Scotland and the potential for wave and tidal power generation in Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

A virtual centre of competence at Queen’s University Belfast will host cross-border studies into bio and marine-based power, the European funding organisation said.

“The region has a low level of industry relevant research and innovation within the renewable energy sector,” The chief executive officer of the Special EU Programmes Body

(SEUPB), Gina McIntyre, said. “The Br yden Centre project will help address this issue by creating a new centre of competence made up of dedicated PhD students creating high

“

A massive tidal energy project on the seabed off Ireland’s north coast is planned for next year.

”

quality research with strong commercial potential.”

Working with a number of crossborder partners the project will create the largest amount of cross-border research in this area to date.

It will recruit 34 doctoral and six

post-doctoral students to produce relevant research with the potential to produce strong commercial benefit.

The EU is contributing more than €9.3 million while matching funding for the project has been provided by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in Ireland and the Depar tment for the Economy in Northern Ireland. It will also focus on bioenergy, specifically heat, biogas and electricity which can be produced through the anaerobic digestion of agri-food waste.

A huge tidal energy project on the seabed off Northern Ireland’s north coast is planned for next year.

Cork-based DP Energy hopes to install a series of 100 megawatt (MW) turbines off Fair Head. It would generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 70,000 homes.

Tel: (02) 8243 2600 Fax: (02) 8243 2611 Email: georgina@celtictravel.com.au

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TRANSPORT

Network ‘creaking at seams’ Michael McHugh

IRELAND’S transpor t network is creaking at the seams because of insuf ficient investment, engineers have warned.

Bottlenecks are affecting daily life, with Dublin ranked in the top 20 most congested cities in the world, a report

by Engineers Ireland said.

It takes rush-hour commuters in Dublin almost twice as long to negotiate the traffic as in other cities, and the government needs to create a centralised organisation for addressing years of public under-spending, Engineers Ireland said.

“The lack of investment over a period of many years has resulted in a transport network that is creaking at the seams,” the reports.

The Government has said it will invest another €500 million in infrastructure in each of the years between 2019 and 2021.

Engineers Ireland wants a single infrastructure unit, to ensure effective delivery and long-term return on this investment.

It said a lack of capital investment

over the past few years, specifically in land transport, had resulted in bottlenecks and congestion which are beginning to impact on the day-to-day lives of people.

The repor t said development of Dublin’s Metro North and the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway must be accelerated. It called for M50 variable speed limits and multi-point tolling around Dublin’s ring road and construction of the Eastern Bypass to alleviate traffic queues on the M50 at peak times.

“Planning and deliver y in these areas [like housing and transport] are spread across Government departments, each competing for finite funding, with multiple layers of decision-making and little central oversight,” Engineers Ireland’s president, Kieran Feighan, said.

A single infrastructure unit, as in the UK and Switzerland, could work collaboratively with external experts to identify priority infrastr ucture projects as part of an integrated and long-term vision, speed up project delivery, and explore innovative financing and funding mechanisms.

AT LAST! ONE HOP WITH ONE STOP - TO IRELAND Call and let us show you how!

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

ireland IRISH ECONOMY TO GROW BY 4.5 PER CENT, CENTRAL BANK PREDICTS

Economic rebound continues Michael McHugh

THE Irish economy is expected to grow by 4.5 per cent this year after the Central Bank revised its outlook upwards.

Predictions for growth next year also rose to 3.6 per cent and the number in work is likely to reach 2.1 million for the first time since the economic crash a decade earlier.

Improving incomes and employment plus forecast export growth are largely responsible for the more optimistic projection.

“The Irish economy continues to grow at a strong pace and the prospects for sustained and solid economic growth remain positive,” the bank’s chief economist, Gabriel Fagan, said: “Revised projections for growth this year and in 2018 reflect both stronger momentum in the domestic economy and improved prospects for external demand, especially from our European trading partners.”

The Government has set out plans to spend an additional €1.5 billion between 2019 and 2021 after the

countr y emerged from recession.

House prices have rocketed and ministers forecast 55,000 new jobs next year. The bank warned that Brexit and the sensitivity to other potential international shocks still posed risks.

“Positive developments in the labour market have helped incomes to recover, in tur n suppor ting solid growth in consumer spending, though employment growth is expected to moderate next year following a period of exceptionally strong increases,” Mr Fagan said.

“Inflation remains subdued, reflecting the effect on goods prices of euro appreciation against sterling and weakness in energy prices.”

It said the headline inflation rate is expected to increase by 0.3 per cent in 2017, a downward revision from 0.7 per cent. Excluding energy, it is expected to remain flat this year and climb to 1 per cent next year.

“As a small and open economy, Ireland continues to face economic risks externally,” Mr Fagan added.

“And despite there being little new information emerging to date, it is clear

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is very upbeat about the Irish economy.

that the economic impact of Brexit on Ireland is set to be negative and material. At home, we must continue to pr udently monitor the risk of overheating.”

For the first time, the Central Bank measured the size of the Irish economy excluding the distor ting ef fects of multinational corporations’ activities on Gross Domestic Product.

“This new measurement results in

notably higher general government deficit and debt ratios as well as higher ratios of private sector indebtedness than when using the traditional measurement of GDP,” the bank said.

“As such, the Central Bank continues to underscore the importance of economic policies that underpin stability and reduce uncertainty.”

Meanwhile the Central Statistics Office, which has begun using new techniques to more accurately value business performance, said Ireland’s GDP grew by 5.1 per cent in 2016.

However, in the first three months of t h i s y e a r, t h i s s t a n d a r d assessment showed the economy had contracted by 2.6 per cent.

The CSO also said that when gross national product numbers are examined, which discount the effects of multinationals, the economy shrank by 7.1 per cent in the first quarter.

Despite the short-term dip, the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, said the numbers were very positive. “This confirms that Ireland was the fastest growing economy in the European Union in 2016,” he said.

MORE THAN 1500 DOGS EUTHANISED ACROSS IRELAND IN 2016

Three killed en route home from holiday THREE women, including a mother and daughter, have been killed in a road accident as they returned home from a holiday in Turkey.

The crash happened on the N2 a few minutes north of Ardee as a group travelled home to Donegal from Dublin Airport.

The women were named locally as Mairead Mundy and Rachael Cassidy Battles, both in their late 30s, and friends and neighbours who lived beside each other in the village of Bruckless, south Donegal. The third victim was Ms Mundy’s mother, 69-year-old Margaret McGonigle.

A six-year-old girl, one of Ms Battles’ four children, was seriously injured in the crash and taken to Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Aran ferry accident sparks safety fears AUTHORITIES have called for new safety measures on one of the Aran Islands after a man and woman fell into the sea while disembarking a ferry. The woman, who hurt her back, and the man, who could not swim, ended up in the water at Inis Oirr pier after a gangway came loose on the bank holiday Monday in June last year.

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board found that ropes used to fasten the stern of the ferry to the quayside had not been properly tied on. And it warned that the crew of the MV Rose of Aran, owned by Liscannor Ferry Company, was not trained or prepared for rescuing someone from the harbour.

Teenager drowns at Roscommon marina A TEENAGER has drowned while swimming in the River Shannon.

The 17-year-old boy got into difficulty at Harbour View marina near the village of Tarmonbarry in Co Roscommon. His body was recovered a short time later and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Minimum wage set to increase

Actress Pauline McLynn joins the protest outside the Department of Agriculture calling for a ban greyhound exports. Picture: Brian Lawless

Ireland in doghouse on canine welfare, activists claim

Ed Carty AT LEAST four stray or unwanted dogs were put down every day last year, official figures show.

Council pounds’ records show that 1,522 former pets were euthanised in 2016 – about 300 fewer than the previous year.

The highest euthanasia numbers were in Limerick City and county where 243 dogs, plus 31 greyhounds, were put down last year.

Figures released by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government show that the regions with the best records for keeping dogs alive included Leitrim, where only one out of 155 strays were put down. In Meath only four out of 339 dogs in the pound were euthanised while in Kilkenny it was six of 240 strays taken to the pound and in Monaghan it was eight out of 411.

Dublin Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals spokeswoman Gillian Bird called for a ban on the online trade in dogs. “We need more of a clampdown on how people sell animals.

“Dogs should only be available through registered kennel club breeders or rescue centres.”

Ms Bird also raised concerns about the number of dogs not being neutered in Ireland and how strong the links are between pounds and rescue centres.

“The reason the figures are so high … is because it is easy to access a dog,” she added.

“The solution: we start by banning the online trade and then move to regulation. That would reduce the number of backyard breeders and puppy farms.”

Some 9,244 stray pets were sent to the pound last year, the report showed.

Other areas with high levels of euthanasia were Wexford, where 171 dogs were put down; Tipperary (158

dogs, plus 37 greyhounds); Kerry (143 dogs, plus 44 greyhounds); and Clare (129 dogs).

The report also revealed 2,821 on-the-spot fines for breaches of the Control of Dogs Act for offences such as not muzzling a restricted breed or having no licence or identity tags.

Meanwhile, there have been calls for the State to ban the exportation of greyhounds overseas to end the slaughter and brutal treatment of dogs in countries such as China.

Thousands of Irish greyhounds that can no longer run in races, or have been overbred, are being shipped overseas each year where they face torturous treatment.

Independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan called on the State to reverse its “appalling record on animal welfare” and ensure that Irish greyhounds who have finished their domestic racing careers are no longer shipped overseas

where they face “horrible treatment and a painful death”.

The Irish Council Against Bloodsports (ICABS) and the UK group Caged (Campaign Against Greyhound Exploitation and Death) have begun a nationwide advertising campaign to highlight the cruelty towards greyhounds, in Ireland and abroad.

The Department of Agriculture said it maintained a close working relationship with animal welfare charities and had met those dealing with greyhound exports.

“Information received to date from the department’s local offices indicates that no greyhounds were exported directly from Ireland to China to date this year,” it said in a statement, adding that nine greyhounds were exported last year.

It said while it had data on exports to EU countries it could not track movements to subsequent destinations.

IRELAND’S minimum wage is set to increase by 30 cents an hour.

The lowest paid will receive €9.55 an hour, or an extra €12 for a 40-hour week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said.

Ireland’s Low Pay Commission made the recommendation.

“This would be a modest increase but it’s ahead of the rate of inflation and average increases in earnings,” Mr Varadkar said.

It would be the fourth increase in the minimum wage since 2011, the second under this Government, and a further step towards the Programme for Government commitment for a minimum wage of €10.50, the Taoiseach said.

Environmental fears for sensitive Lough PORT authorities near one of Ireland’s most environmentally sensitive regions have asked a waste firm to shelve plans for a new facility to process hazardous liquids.

Environment experts have been assessing an application by Re-Gen to operate the plant in Warrenpoint, Co Down amid opposition by oyster farmers and campaigners on both sides of the border.

There was no obligation to seek consent from the Environmental Protection Agency in the Republic.

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

news U2 PACK OUT CROKE PARK ON JOSHUA TREE TOUR

U2 relish in some sort of homecoming Katie Archer

U2 made a triumphant retur n to Dublin’s Croke Park on the only Irish date of their current world tour.

The band are celebrating the 30th anniversar y of their hit album The Joshua Tree by touring and stopped in for a homecoming show to play to a packed-out stadium.

Performing in front of a striking red background with a silhouette of a tree, the band were easily picked out by their thousands of fans even from the back of the stadium.

Hits from the 1987 album include Where The Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and With Or Without You. Earlier in the evening, the band tweeted a photo of the packed stadium that they were looking out at.

The band were supported by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Celebrity concer tgoers included Colin Farrell, Robbie Keane and his wife Claudine, Shane McGowan and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

During the gig, a touching tribute was paid to notable Irish women including former Presidents Mary Robinson and Mar y McAleese, and the late Captain Dara Fitzpatrick.

People living near Croke Park said that the concert was so loud, they could hear it for miles around.

“Ah lads, if I had wanted to hear U2 tonight, I’d have bought a ticket. I live 3km from Croke Park,” one person tweeted.

Another added: “U2 are so loud in Croke Park, despite being miles away at home, I can still hear them.”

However, fans also shared their views from inside the stadium, praising the band’s show.

The tour takes in dates in Europe, America, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. There is still no confirmation of Australian dates and venues.

Welcome home: (Main pic) U2 on stage in Croek Park. (From left) actor Colin Farrell: footballer Robbie Keane and wife Claudine with some local bean gardaí and a wheelchair-bound Shane McGowan.

UNIVERSITY UNDER FIRE FOR CONFERRAL

Regrets? I have a few, says former Taoiseach Cowen Deborah McAleese

FORMER Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said he regrets that a quarter of a million people lost their jobs during the recession.

In a rare public appearance, Mr Cowen insisted, however, that significant cuts in public expenditure had been necessary to ensure future economic success. Mr Cowen was speaking after he controversially received an honorar y degree from the National University of Ireland.

The former taoiseach received a law doctorate in recognition of his “role in Irish politics”.

The university’s chanceller, Maurice Manning, conferred the degree on Mr Cowen at a ceremony in Dublin Castle.

Mr Cowen took the opportunity to reflect upon the “arduous task” he faced as taoiseach with the onset of the financial crisis.

“The greatest hardship of the recession was the loss of employment for so many of our people – something which I deeply regret. Two hundred and fifty thousand of our two million workforce lost jobs,” he said.

“We knew that the required action would understandably be more unpopular than almost any policies in recent Irish histor y and that this thr eatened the sur vival of the Government and our hopes of election.

However ... to avoid taking the decisions would mean that future recovery could be put off by decades.”

But there has been a wave of public criticism following the conferral.

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Brian Cowen has been conferred with an honorary doctorate.

The founding president of University of Limerick has strongly criticised the NUI’s decision to honour Mr Cowen and will hand back his own honorary doctorate in protest.

Edward Walsh, a controversial figure in education circles, wrote to the NUI this week to express his “amazement” at the decision. “[Bertie] Ahern and Cowen inherited an Ireland which, in 2000, had full employment, was the fifth most competitive in the world and, after Luxembourg, had the lowest debt in Europe, ” he said .

“Through their inept stewardship, they brought Ireland to its knees and caused much hardship to its citizens.

In other jurisdictions, such people would find themselves held to account by society and suffer consequences,” Dr Walsh said.

It is a tradition in the NUI that former taoisigh and presidents are awarded honorary doctorates.

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

ireland IRISH SAILOR TO TAKE ON WORLD RACE USING ONLY TRADITIONAL NAVIGATION TOOLS

Have sextant, will travel for intrepid global sailor Ed Carty AN Irish sailor is attempting to turn back the clock as he competes in the second running of a unique round the world race that allows only traditional navigation skills.

Gregor McGuckin, originally from Dublin, is to spend about nine months at sea on a non-stop solo trip using only paper charts, a compass and sextant and a radio.

More people have been in space than have successfully completed the feat, which the 30-year-old has dubbed a “voyage for mad men”.

Mr McGuckin is one of 30 contenders in the 2018 Golden Globe Race, which a year from now will recreate the record-setting trip of Sir Robin KnoxJohnston in 1968 – the first man to sail single-handed around the world.

He was the only one of nine competitors to complete the race and it has never been re-run until now.

“I always had a plan that I’d get my own boat and ideally sail around the world... but I’d almost resigned myself to not doing it until this opportunity came along,” Mr McGuckin said.

The sailor put off telling his girlfriend Barbara for several months but she has embraced the adventure and is helping him prepare a primary schools’ course to allow children to follow his voyage while learning about the oceans.

“It’s not the easiest thing to ask of someone but I think she always knew it was coming,” he said.

Competitors will use old fashioned non-laminate cloth sails. Carbon fibre vessels are banned and GPS will only be used to send locations to race control. The sailors cannot bring laptops, MP3 players or tablets for fear they will be engineered to help with navigation.

“If it didn’t exist in the 1960s, then no,” Mr McGuckin said.

The race will set off from Plymouth on June 30, 2018 and cover 30,000 miles via Cape Horn and four rendezvous gates, including the Canaries and Tasmania in Australia.

Mr McGuckin said he has “maxed out” money raising efforts to get to the starting line, after getting the €10,000 entry fee and buying his Biscay ketch.

“Finding the boat was tough enough and then finding some way to finance it then is another story altogether.”

Gregor McGuckin will take on the Golden Globe Race, alsoknown as the “voyage for mad men”.

MORE THAN 500,000 IRISH PASSPORTS ISSUED SO FAR IN 2017

Spike in demand for passports continues David Young

APPLICATIONS for Irish passports from within the UK continue to surge, new figures show.

The number of people applying for Irish citizenship in Northern Ireland and Britain between January and June is up significantly on the same sixmonth period in 2016.

The authorities in Dublin have previously acknowledged the Brexit vote as a key factor in the ongoing increase, with application numbers having soared since the UK’s vote to leave the EU in June last year.

As one of the 27 remaining member states, anyone with an Irish passport will retain EU citizenship post-Brexit.

Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, anyone from Northern Ireland is eligible for an Irish passport. People from Great Britain must prove a close Irish family link.

In Nor thern Ireland, there have been 53,547 applications between January and June. In the same period

last year there were 37,537 – a rise of 43 per cent. In regard to applications from Great Britain, there have been 45,307 so far this year, with 27,671 between January and June 2016 – a 64 per cent increase. The number of applications from the UK this year are on course to be well ahead of 2016.

In 2017 so far there have been a combined 98,854, compared to 65,208

applications in the same period last year. Across the whole of last year there were a total of 132,968 from Northern Ireland and Great Britain (67,972 and 64,996 respectively) – a figure that also includes resubmitted applications, unlike the in-year date published by the Irish Government Overall, applications for Irish passports in the first six months of this year are up by 10 per cent, with more than 500,000 passports having been issued since January.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the introduction of an online application process in March had helped deal with the high demand.

“Online renewals now account for almost 17 per cent of all applications, well ahead of initial projections,” he said.

“I would ask that anyone applying for a passport would first be sure to visit our website, www.dfa.ie/passport, to find out which ser vice and turn around time suits them best.”

MURDER-ACCUSED BLAMES ‘THE POWER’, COURT HEARS

Mother charged with toddler’s murder Ed Carty

A WOMAN charged with murdering her toddler son told detectives “it was not me, it was the power”, a Dublin court has heard.

Maha Al Adheem, 42, appeared briefly before the Dublin District Court over the death of three-year-old Omar Omran. The child was found dead in the Riverside apartment complex in Kimmage, Dublin, where he lived with his mother.

Garda Sergeant Brendan O’Halloran told the cour t Ms Al Adheem was

arrested and charged with murder. He told the court that when charged she replied: “Yes, it was my knife. Yes it was my hand. It was not me, it was the power.”

Judge Michael Walsh remanded Ms Al Adheem in custody. An application for legal aid was made by solicitor Richard Young.

A makeshift shrine has been established at the gates to the Riverside apar tments. Balloons, flowers and messages have been attached to railings, and dozens of teddy bears and children’s toys were squeezed in

against a small wall at the entrance.

Some neighbours left records of their own memories of Omar, including one which read: “Dear Omar. Here are your toys back you little divil (sic).

“I’ve spent two years picking them up after you’d thrown them over the balcony down in front of us. All with a smile on my face of course.

“They all mean a lot to me. I always enjoyed hearing you acting the maggot. I’m so sorry this is the last time I’ll ever collect them.”

“I hope you are at peace now my pal,” another wrote.

OLDEST COUNTIES AND TOWNS REVEALED

Killarney has the highest average age of any Irish town.

Mayo, Kerry claim senior title as Fingal stays young Ed Carty

KERRY and Mayo can lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest counties, the census has revealed.

The average age of people in Ireland in April last year was 37.4 years old, up 1.3 years since 2011, with Fingal in north Dublin home to the most young people and an average age of 34.3.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) also reported that Ireland had 456 centenarians on census night, an increase of 17.2 per cent on 2011.

Its report on age profiles found that in the average age in Kerry and Mayo was 40.2. And it was also able to show the oldest and youngest towns in the country. Balbriggan in Co Dublin the most youthful with the average age just 30.8, followed by Maynooth at 31.9, Ashbourne at 32,.2, Navan at 33.1 and Portlaoise at 33.2.

And the most ageing towns were Killarney, where the average age was 40.9, followed by Wexford at 39.4, Malahide 38.6 and Clonmel and Sligo both with an average age of 38.5.

The CSO noted Ireland’s population, like most of western Europe, is ageing, and has been since the 1980s. There are now 637,567 people over 65.

And the repor t said the census showed since 2011 there has been a fall

in the number of children under four and the number of young adults aged 19 to 24.

“This profile report examines the age breakdown of Ireland’s population and the characteristics of different age groups by geographic area, accommodation and household composition,” CSO senior statistician Deirdre Cullen said. “It aims to build on the earlier results on age and sex composition.”

The census found 37 per cent of the population is aged 45 and over, compared with 34.4 per cent in 2011 and 27.6 per cent in 1986.

In rural areas the average age is 2.4 years older than in towns and cities with the CSO noting the influence that third-level colleges have on population due to the influx of 18-22-year-olds in some areas.

The census also found that women are on average 1.3 years older than men. It found that age dependency is rising, with the number of people aged under 14 and over 65 rising compared to those of working age.

The CSO said the number of people aged over 65 increased by 102,174 in the five years to April 2016 - twice the increase in the 15-64 age group.

There were 76,207 children living in apartments and 392,119 children in rental accommodation.

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

ireland PADDY JACKSON AND STUART OLDING TO FACE COURT

Rugby stars on rape charge David Young

TWO Ulster and Ireland rugby stars are to be prosecuted for rape.

Paddy Jackson, 25, and Stuar t Olding, 24, strenuously deny the offence, which was alleged to have happened in Belfast last June.

The Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby said they took the allegations “extremely seriously” and announced both players would be “relieved of their duties and obligations” until the conclusion of the court process. Given the length of time court proceedings take in Northern Ireland, it is likely both players will miss the entirety of the coming season.

The men were ar rested and questioned last summer. They were released pending a report being submitted to prosecutors in Nor thern Ireland. The Public Prosecution Ser vice (PPS) has said four men questioned in relation to the incident are to be prosecuted.

Jackson and Olding are to be prosecuted for rape. Another man is accused of sexual offences while the

other faces counts of withholding information and perverting the course of justice. They will appear in court to face the charges next month.

Fly-half Jackson has been capped for Ireland 25 times while centre Olding has played four times. The two Belfast men are established stars for Ulster Rugby. Lawyers for Jackson and Olding stressed that the men denied the charges.

“We are ver y disappointed at the decision of the PPS to prosecute, given the particular circumstances and facts known in this case,” Jackson’s solicitor Kevin Winters said.

“Our client rejects completely the allegations made against him and we are confident he will be exonerated in due course “Given that the case will be a jury trial it is absolutely critical that nothing is done or said in the media to prejudice due process and to that end we urge restraint on any sensationalist reporting. We will push for as early a hearing as possible as Patrick wants to quickly resume playing his rugby for Ulster and representing his country.”

Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding are due in court next month.

Olding’s solicitor Joe Rice said his client was determined to prove his innocence.

“It is disappointing that over a year since the original allegation was made that the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland has now issued a decision to prosecute,” said Mr Rice.

“He is not subject to any bail conditions and he’s anxious to restore his good name through the court process in Northern Ireland, where the charge

against him will be fully contested.”

The PPS has confirmed that a decision has been taken to prosecute four men for offences relating to an allegation of rape on June 28, 2016 in south Belfast.

A PPS spokesman said following a “careful review of all of the available evidence”, and in accordance with its code for prosecutors, it had been decided there was “sufficient evidence to prosecute four individuals”.

The IRFU and Ulster Rugby said they were aware that the two men had been charged “in relation to serious allegations made against them”.

“The players have co-operated fully and strenuously deny the charges,” the two organisations said in a statement.

“The IRFU and Ulster Rugby take these allegations extremely seriously.

“To allow the players time to address this matter fully, the IRFU and Ulster Rugby have agreed that they will be relieved of their duties and obligations until the conclusion of this process.

“Appropriate support structures will be put in place with them during this time,” they said.

SIMPLE IDEA AND PLENTY OF DRIVE PAYS OFF FOR BELFAST FIRM

Blowout in spending on First Communion NORTHERN Ireland families spent more than £500 on their child’s First Holy Communion this year, a survey has revealed.

Spending on gifts reached a five-year high among a small sample of parents interviewed on behalf of Ulster Bank. The average bill for the day hit £538 this year, an increase of £39 on last year.

Children received an average of £350 in gifts, a five-year high and an increase of 16 per cent on last year, the research shows.

Most of the bill for the day itself was spent on the party, celebrations or food and drink (an average of £245), the highest recorded in recent years. Children’s outfits accounted for 30 per cent of the total amount spent (an average of £161), up 26 per cent since 2013.

Ireland’s new chief justice revealed SUPREME Court judge Frank Clarke is to be Ireland new chief justice.

Current chief justice Susan Denham is retiring after six years as the country’s top judge.

Justice Clarke, 65, was selected at the Government’s last cabinet meeting before the summer recess.

The Dubliner became a Supreme Court judge in 2012.

Born in Walkinstown, Dublin, in 1951, he was educated at Drimnagh Castle CBS and University College Dublin where he was awarded a BA in Mathematics and Economics. He was called to the Bar in 1973.

Posthumous degree for mother-or-two THE first Irish Coast Guard volunteer to die on a search mission has been awarded a posthumous degree.

Caitriona Ros Lucas, 41, a librarian from Co Clare, had been studying for a BSc in information and library studies when she died at sea off the coast of Co Clare last September. The mother of two, who also volunteered with the Search and Rescue Dog Association and was an artist, drowned when the rescue boat she was in with two colleagues capsized in heavy Atlantic swell.

She had been studying by distance learning with Aberystwyth University in Wales since June 2015.

The college held a minute’s silence as it honoured her at a graduation ceremony attended by widower Bernard and the couple’s son Ben.

Rogue salmon turn up in Irish rivers EYES ON THE BALL: (From left) GolfNow vice-president Brian Smith, Invest Northern Ireland chairman Mark Ennis, BRS Golf co-founder Rory Smith and Mike McCarley (front), president, Golf, NBC Sports, at the official opening of GolfNow’s new international offices in Belfast.

Brothers chip in to help golf business tee off globally

David Young AN innovation developed by two Belfast brothers is helping golfers tee off around the world.

Technology experts Brian and Rory Smith reflected on an idea first hatched at a local golf club 14 years ago as they opened new £1.1 million offices in their home city.

Their software enabling golfers to book tee-times online is now being used internationally, particularly in the US and Canada, as a consequence of their acquisition by GolfNow – a company operated by US TV network NBC’s Golf Channel.

GolfNow’s investment has meant

a doubling of the Smith brothers’ workforce in Belfast to 71 employees and has paved the way for the opening of the office space in the City Quays complex.

Brian Smith, who sold his house to finance the business – called BRS Golf – in its early days, said the journey since 2003 had been “incredible”.

“We could not have even dreamt of being at this stage. It’s just unbelievable,” he said.

He first came up with the idea when having a chat with the manager of a local golf club about the effort needed to keep on top of phone calls from members and visitors wishing to secure a slot on the first tee.

“We reckon we were one of the first

in the world to develop an online tee sheet management system that allowed members and visitor to go on and book online,” Brian Smith said.

The GolfNow operation in Belfast now partners with more than 75 per cent of golf courses in Ireland and the UK, and has facilitated the booking of more than 700,000 rounds so far in 2017 and more than 2.1 million rounds in the last three years.

The president of golf at NBC Sports, Mike McCarley, was in Belfast to open the offices.

Noting that golfing great Arnold Palmer helped found the Golf Channel, he speculated the late sporting superstar would have approved of the technology developed in Belfast.

“He would be proud of this and what’s happening,” Mr McCarley said.

“What we had was two brothers from Belfast who believed in a business and believed in a concept.”

Both before and after the acquisition

by GolfNow, the Smith brothers have received financial backing from Stormont business development agency Invest NI. “Since its acquisition of BRS Golf in 2013, GolfNow has experienced unprecedented growth, which is a testament to the drive and focus of the management team, the quality of talent that it has been able to recruit here and to Northern Ireland’s reputation within the global technology sector,” Invest NI chairman Mark Ennis said.

PACIFIC salmon are turning up in Irish rivers, it has been revealed. Some of the country’s most prestigious angling spots have recorded the nonnative pink or humpback species, which originates on the west coasts of the US and Canada and Russian Arctic regions.

The invasive fish have been identified in the Foxford and Coolcronan fisheries on the River Moy in Mayo, in the Galway Fishery on the River Corrib, the River Cong and the Drowes Salmon Fishery on the Donegal-Leitrim border.

Shane Gallagher, manager of the Drowes fishery, said an angler on his river reported catching a pink salmon of about 5lb in weight.

“They are a complete unknown quantity,” he said..

The fish have some distinguishing features including large black oval spots on the tail. They also have between 11 and 19 rays on the anal fin and no dark spots on the gill

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

news RTE ANNOUNCES REVIEW OF ‘ROLE AND GENDER EQUALITY’ OVER PAY DISPARITY CONCERNS

Scrutiny for RTÉ’s gender pay gap R TÉ is to review “role and gender equality” across the organisation following concern over pay disparity.

The move comes after the BBC’s publication of top salaries sparked a row over gender pay inequality.

RTÉ said that details of a review of role and gender equality across the organisation will be announced “soon”.

The organisation added that as “an equal opportunities employer with a close to 50/50 gender split across the organisation, RTÉ takes its obligations very seriously”.

The BBC last week disclosed the salaries of its top presenters. Of the 96 names published only 34 were women.

Since then R TÉ has faced calls to reveal the salaries of all its presenters.

Currently, the broadcaster reveals just its top 10 salaries on a two-year delay. The organisation said it will

bring forward the publication of fees paid to its 10 highest-paid presenters and will release the details soon.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) had called for an external review of employment contracts and practices at the broadcaster.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten has said he wants RTÉ to reveal the salaries of any presenter on €100,000-plus every year.

Mr Naughten wants this system to replace RTÉ’s voluntary publishing of its top 10 salaries every two years.

Following RTÉ’s announcement, the NUJ said the decision to bring forward information about top earners does not address the union’s concerns.

“The union, and our members at RTÉ, are seeking transparency in relation to the process of pay negotiations at RTÉ, including clarification of how and why individuals are of fered preferential status compared to colleagues doing comparative work,” the

LITERATURE

HUGE GAME OF THRONES TAPESTRY GOES ON SHOW AT ULSTER MUSEUM

Deborah McAleese and repoRTÉrs

NUJ added. One of RTÉ’s best-known faces, SixOne news presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin told the Irish Indpendent that she is paid less than her colleague Bryan Dobson, despite a very similar role and almost identical responsibilities.

“I believe that I am well remunerated, but for the record, my pay is still considerably less than that of Bryan’s,” she told the newspaper.

Mr Dobson is among RTÉ’s top 10 earners, with an annual salar y of €195,816 in 2014. He is repoRTÉd to be moving to a role on Mor ning Ireland, RTÉ Radio’s flagship news and current affairs program.

The issue of men earning more than women in broadcasting was brought into sharp focus by revelations of significant pay disparities at the BBC. At least 10 female BBC presenters are now considering legal action if the corporation does not narrow the gender pay gap. The women, household

News anchor Sharon Ní Bheoláin

names from radio and television, were furious to learn that male colleagues who shared their job descriptions are significantly better paid.

One of those whose earnings were revealed was Ulster-based presenter Stephen Nolan.

His lucrative £400,000 to £449,000 salar y makes him one of the best rewarded in the corporation.

He presents seven days a week on Radio 5 Live, Radio Ulster and BBC One Northern Ireland and revealed he had turned down rival offers of more cash for significantly less work.

“I want to work as much as I can,” Nolan said. “I want to be the best I can be and I want to earn as much as I can.”

The list of top BBC earners revealed that Nolan is paid more than a number of well-known broadcasters and presenters, including Radio 4’s Today presenter Nick Robinson (£250,000 to £299,000).

Newsreader and Antiques Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce earns between £350,000 and £399,000, and the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg earns between £200,000 and £249,000.

Nolan was the only Nor ther n Ireland-based BBC broadcaster on the list of those receiving at least £150,000.

He said it was for others to decide on pay but he said it was a pleasure for him to work at the BBC.

Tóibín wins US literary peace prize Dan Sewell

NOVELIST, journalist and essayist Colm Tóibín is this year’s winner of a US lifetime achievement award that celebrates the power of literature to foster peace, social justice and global understanding.

Dayton Literary Peace Prize officials named Tóibín, whose wide range of work has drawn from his native Ireland, his life as a gay man and his travels as an international journalist, for the Richard C Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.

It is named after the late US diplomat who brokered the 1995 Bosnia peace accords reached in Ohio.

Among his novels are The Master, depicting the life of the famed writer Henry James; Brooklyn, a coming-ofage stor y about an Irish immigrant later made into an Oscar-nominated film; and the recent House Of Names, his reimagining of a Greek tragedy.

Dayton Literar y Peace Prize Foundation co-chair Sharon Rab said Tóibín’s writings “remind us of shared humanity and the possibility of reconciliation or simply of understanding ... the first steps to making peace. ” Tóibín, 62, said in a statement in response to winning the award.

“Good sentences offer us a way to imagine life in all its strangeness and ambiguity and possibility, alert us to the power of the imagination to transform and transcend our nature, offer us a blueprint not only for who we are but for who we might be, who we might become,” he said.

Previous winners include Studs Terkel, Taylor Branch, Gloria Steinem and Elie Wiesel. The award carries a US$10,000 cash prize.

Tourism Northern Ireland’s John McGrillen, CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons and CEO of the Ulster Museum Kathryn Thomson, with the tapestry

GOT a great idea? Ulster Museum has it sewn up Deborah McAleese MYTHICAL scenes from the hit fantasy drama Game Of Thrones have been immortalised in a spectacular new 77-metre tapestry.

Snaking along several walls in Belfast’s Ulster Museum, the embroidered Northern Ireland linen depicts key scenes from seasons one to six of one of the most popular TV dramas ever made.

The tapestry was woven and handembroidered from material provided

by Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen in Banbridge, one of the last working mills in Northern Ireland, as part of a new tourism campaign.

As season seven returns to the nation’s screens on Monday, a team of 30 embroiderers are hard at work extending the magnificent creation.

With each passing episode, a new section of the Bayeux-style tapestry will be unveiled, showing key scenes from that week’s show.

The linen, which depicts unforgettable scenes such as the red wedding,

wildfire at King’s Landing and white walkers prowling north of the Wall, is now on display in the Ulster Museum.

An exciting feature of the tapestry, which has so far taken about three months to make, is that it will feature hidden cameo appearances by a number of famous faces who have appeared on the show.

Tourism Ireland said its latest campaign, created in partnership with HBO and supported by Tourism NI, offers fans the chance to relive their favourite scenes from the show all year long.

The tapestry will be shared by Tourism Ireland on social media and fans of the show can download the app to find out more about the scenes.

Game Of Thrones has been filmed in Northern Ireland since 2010. The show’s mythical lands of the Seven Kingdoms are set in real life among Northern Ireland’s dramatic coastlines, historic castles and glens.

The long list of showcased areas includes the Causeway Coast, Cushendun Caves, Murlough Bay, Ballycastle, Castle Ward, the ruined monastery

The popular Game Of Thrones series is shot in Northern Ireland. of Inch Abbey and the surfing beach of Downhill Strand.

Since 2014, Tourism Ireland has been using Game Of Thrones to help promote Northern Ireland to visitors, aiming to capitalise on the show’s huge worldwide appeal.

“TV and film are recognised as strong influencers on travellers everywhere and the stellar popular-

ity of Game Of Thrones is a fantastic opportunity for us to promote Northern Ireland to a huge audience of potential visitors,” said Tourism Ireland CEO, Niall Gibbons.

“Our specially created Game Of Thrones tapestry is another truly innovative way to showcase the destination, creating a lasting legacy and a new visitor attraction to enhance the Game Of Thrones experience here for fans when they visit.”

Tourism NI chief executive John McGrillen said Game Of Thrones had been “transformative for Northern Ireland as a screen tourism destination.

The show has provided an opportunity for the tourism industry to develop new and innovative visitor experiences based on the Game Of Thrones theme,” he said. “This incredible tapestry gives visitors another way to explore the Game Of Thrones story in Northern Ireland, adding to the 25 stunning filming locations and the Journey of Doors passport.”

You can view the tapestry at Ireland.com/tapestry

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

ireland ‘NEW CHAPTER’ FOR FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED STAR PHILIP MULRYNE IN FIRST MASS AS PRIEST

Priesthood path calls for one-time Red Devil Michael McHugh A FORMER Manchester United and Northern Ireland footballer ordained to the priesthood has taken part in his first Mass.

Philip Mulryne, 39, returned to his native Belfast for a special Catholic religious service at St Oliver Plunkett Church. The new priest was joined by friends and well-wishers at the Mass, only a few miles from Windsor Park Stadium where he once donned the green jersey of Northern Ireland 27 times, flanked by white-robed members of his order.

Mulryne, a product of the youth system at Old Trafford, made his debut for the club’s first team in 1997.

His only league appearance for United was on the last day of the 1997–98 season.

He was unable to secure a regular place on legendary manager Alex Ferguson’s side and left Manchester to continue his playing career at clubs including Norwich City, where he played 161 matches, Cardiff City, Leyton Orient and finally King’s Lynn before retiring in 2008.

Tributes to victim of Dublin street attack THE father-of-three killed in a street attack in Swords, Co Dublin last month has been described as “one of the nicest and most genuine people anyone could meet”.

Dermot Byrne, 56, was a well-known pool player. Gardaí are treating his death as murder.

A 29-year-old man was arrested in connection with Mr Byrne’s death.

Shell sells stake in Corrib gas project ROYAL Dutch Shell has agreed a deal worth up to US$1.23billion to sell its stake in an Irish gas project in a move ending its exploration and production in the country.

The oil giant is offloading its 45 per cent stake in the Corrib gas venture to a subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Under the deal, Shell will exit its so-called upstream operations in Ireland, with its Shell Aviation joint venture based at Dublin airport set to be its sole remaining operation in the country.

The Corrib gas field was first discovered off the north west coast of Ireland in 1996, but it was mired in controversy and the first gas was only processed in late 2015, some 19 years later.

American tech firm creates 300 jobs A TECHNOLOGY firm is to create 300 jobs in Dublin.

Zendesk, which specialises in improving customer support, has more than 100,000 clients in 160 countries. The new Dublin base in Charlemont Place will oversee its work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

“I am particularly pleased to see Zendesk create new roles in technical areas, like engineering, infrastructure and mobile development … areas which are driving a global digital revolution,” Tánaiste and Jobs Minister Frances Fitzgerald said.

The clergyman said his vocation was a calling. “This is a new chapter now in my life,” he said.

He undertook the rites associated with Catholicism, assisted by a more senior cleric, involving the blessing of sacraments, according to Catholic doctrine transforming bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.

Mass-goers heard how his vocation as a friar preacher should be to “set hearts on fire” with the love of Jesus.

He was made a member of the Dominican Order at an ordination at St Saviour’s church in north Dublin at the weekend.

At the Mass, Fr John Walsh alluded to the bonfires which are traditionally lit in loyalist areas in Northern Ireland marking Twelfth of July festivities.

“Be an arsonist for Christ, to set the hearts as a friar preacher on fire with the love of Jesus,” he said. “May your years of priesthood be as happy as mine. May your Dominican years be long and fruitful.

“May you never forget the seed that was sown in this place ... [and those] who have come out in huge numbers to support you and your brothers.”

Fr Philip Mulryne at St Oliver Plunkett Church in Belfast and (inset) in his Mancheter United days.

BANK OF AMERICA PICKS DUBLIN FOR EUROPEAN HUB AFTER BREXIT

Brexit bank boost for Dublin Ed Carty

BANK of America has chosen Dublin as the base for its main European legal entities once Brexit kicks in.

The company, which has 700 staff in Ireland and about 6,500 in the UK, said that roles will be moved to other EU destinations.

Chairman and chief executive Brian Moynihan said the Irish capital was a natural choice for the move as the bank already has a fully licensed and operational Irish-domiciled subsidiary there.

“Dublin is the home of more of our employees than any other European city outside of the UK,” he said.

“We will move roles not only to Dublin but to other EU locations, with the focus on how we can best support our clients in these markets.

“While we await fur ther clarity around the Brexit negotiations, we are making all necessary preparations to ser ve our clients, however those

discussions conclude,” Mr Moynihan said. The exact scale and nature of Bank of America operations being switched to Dublin has not been confirmed.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met Mr Moynihan to discuss the plans. The decision was a strong endorsement for Ireland, he said.

“Bank of America has a long-standing commitment to Ireland and I look forward to this relationship growing and deepening in the years ahead,” Mr Varadkar said.

The announcement follows a number of big players in the city revealing post-Brexit plans.

Citigroup has opted for the German financial centre Frankfurt for its broker-dealer entity. Other banks, including Standard Chartered, Japan’s Daiwa and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG)and South Korea’s Woori Bank, have all confirmed plans for subsidiaries in Frankfurt.

Bank Of America will have its European base in Dublin, post Brexit.

Others, including JP Morgan, have indicated plans for a pan-European strategy, with proposals to spread staff acr oss sites including Dublin, Luxembourg and Frankfurt.

IDA Ireland, the country’s agency for attracting foreign investment, said Bank of America’s decision showed the

importance of Ireland as a gateway to the single market.

“This is yet another very important signal to the market that financial ser vices companies can come to Ireland and ser vice their European customers with minimum disruption to their business,” the IDA said.

NUMBER OF MARRIED PEOPLE IN IRELAND INCREASING, FIGURES REVEAL

Irish people increasingly wedded to being married David Young

More irish people are getting married, census figures show.

MARRIAGE rates in Ireland are on the increase, census figures indicate.

The number of mar ried people increased by almost 5 per cent to 1,792,151 between the 2011 and 2016 censuses, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) revealed.

The rate was higher than the overall population increase in Ireland over the same period – 3.8 per cent.

Married people, including those who were remarried, made up 47.7 per cent of the population in 2016.

Women were more likely to be married than single at the age of 33.

For men, it was 35.

While the popularity of marriage was on the up, the number of separated and

divorced people increased at more marked rate, up by almost 9 per cent to 222,073 from April 2011. The peak age for separation and divorce was 53.

The information was contained in the CSO’s ‘Households and Families’ report on the 2016 census.

“This profile report on Households and Families examines the family situations and living arrangements of the population in April 2016,” Senior CSO statistician Deirdre Cullen said.

“It provides a wealth of information and analysis on topics such as marital status, same-sex civil partnerships and the different types and sizes of family composition and households.”

The latest of 11 planned reports also showed almost 460,000 Irish adults live with their parents – an increase of 4.4

per cent. The majority (59 per cent) were men. Fewer than half (215,088) were at work, while 66,516 were unemployed and 152,269 were students.

The repor t showed there were 1,218,370 families in the state on census night 2016, an increase of 3.3 per cent since 2011.

The number of children per family remained unchanged since the 2011 census at 1.38 children.

Last year marked the first time the number of same-sex civil partnerships were recorded. There were 4,226, with 60 per cent being male couples.

There were 196,227 widowed people in 2016 – up by 5,168 over the five year period.

In April 2016, almost 400,000 people indicated that they lived alone.

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Raising the age bar VISA-BILITY YOUR IMMIGRATION QUESTIONS ANSWERED...

Co Antrim native and registered migration agent John McQuaid provides a uniquely Irish perspective on current visa and migration issues.

Send your immigration questions to John at

visability@irishecho.com.au

This Migration Column is intended to provide general information on migration issues and does not constitute legal or migration advice. While all care is taken, no responsibility is accepted by the Irish Echo or John McQuaid for the accuracy of material in the column.

People seeking advice on migration law should seek advice from a registered migration agent.

Hi John,

DEAR PAUL,

I’m from Ireland and here in Australia on a 12-month holiday visa with my partner who has a 417 working holiday visa.

ON July 1, 2017, the Australian Government changed the law to allow the working holiday visa 417 (WHV) and the 462 work and holiday visa to be granted to people up to the age of 35.

However, the Working Holiday Visa program runs on a reciprocal basis with each individual country.

So each country’s government makes an agreement with Australia to allow it is citizens to access the visa program both ways. For example, Irish people go to Australia; Australians go to Ireland.

For the new age limit law to take effect for Irish passport holders, Australia and Ireland must sign an agreement allowing people up to age 35 to access the program.

Once a new agreement with Ireland is set up, you would be able to apply for a 417 visa.

These agreements can take some time to be drawn up and enacted. It may well not happen within the time frame of your and your partner’s current visa.

One strategy might be for your partner to undertake the three months’ regional specified work to be eligible for a second year 417 visa.

I’m turning 33 in two months and wasn’t able to get a working holiday visa when we applied for my partner’s 417 last year. I’ve heard that the age limit for the working holiday visa is now up to 35?

Is this true? Could I apply for a working holiday visa now and get some work rights?

Thanks for any help, Paul O’Brien

The second visa could then be applied for anytime before your partner reaches the age limit for the visa. By this time the 35-year age limit may be introduced allowing you both to gain a 417 visa at the same time.

“When applying for

your first 417 visas the application must be made outside Australia.

”

When applying for your first 417 visas the application must be made outside Australia.

The second working holiday visa application can be made inside or outside Australia. The second visa application should only be made inside Australia if you want the new visa period to begin on the day the first visa expires, i.e. for a continuous two-year period.

If you wish to travel or return home for a time and use the second year

visa later, it is best to wait and apply outside Australia closer to the time of the planned return date to Australia.

The working holiday visa has work rights allowing a maximum of six months work with any one employer.

It is possible to work for the entire 12 months so long as you change employers.

Recently Immigration changed its policy regarding what it considers ‘one employer’. Under the new policy if an employer has businesses in multiple locations it is possible to work for the employer for six months in one establishment or location and then work for a further period in one of their other establishments / locations.

As an example, where a restaurant owner has three different restaurants, it would be possible to work in one for six months and then start work in one of the other restaurants for a further period and not break the six months work rule.

Where there is any doubt about how this policy is applied, it is best to check with Immigration or consult a migration agent before working beyond six months.

Find a registered migration agent at www.mia.org.au/find-an-agent Immigration: www.border.gov.au

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EW S PAPER

ireland PATIENTS WAITING UP TO NINE YEARS FOR HOSPITAL TREATMENT, DOCTORS CLAIM

Waiting lists ‘out of control’ Ed Carty

HOSPITAL waiting lists are out of control, consultants have claimed.

More than 589,000 patients are in queues for some form of treatment in Ireland’s public hospitals, the country’s top doctors have warned, with some people waiting up to nine years to be seen. In a submission to Government before the budget, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), said the number of surgical appointments has dropped by more than 100,000 in four years.

President of the association Dr Tom Ryan claimed that acute hospitals are being privatised by stealth.

“Public hospitals urgently need additional acute beds, intensive care beds, theatre operating time, consultants and other frontline staff,” he said.

“This is essential to reduce the unacceptable waiting lists, the overcrowding of emergency departments and the increasing number of patients being treated on trolleys.

“Currently our healthcare system appears to be more focused on balanc-

ing budgets and rationing care than treating patients.”

The consultants claimed that acute hospitals are attempting to treat patients with equipment that is increasingly obsolete.

“The current levels of funding do not even meet the cost of maintaining and replacing existing equipment never mind providing for much needed additional capacity,” Dr Ryan said.

The IHCA says there will be no money to replace obsolete equipment or develop additional capacity to provide care when funding for the new Children’s Hospital and the relocation of maternity centres is spent.

“Throughout the past decade the State has severely rationed healthcare, and with an increasing number of patients becoming reliant on private hospitals, in ef fect acute hospital ser vices are being privatised by stealth,” Dr Ryan added.

“Notably the private hospitals understand the increase in existing and future demand for health care services and have expanded their bed

‘Largest-ever’ school to be built in Kildare BUILDING work is getting under way on the largest ever state-funded school. About 2,000 pupils will be taught at the new €30million post-primary campus in Maynooth, Co Kildare.

One building replaces the old Maynooth Post Primary School and a second will be home to Maynooth Community College, a multidenominational school established in 2014. Both schools will share a standalone sports hall and the first pupils are due to start in 2019.

Lithuanian men drown off Donegal STRETCHED: Ireland’s hospital sector is struggling to keep up with demand for care, with almost 600,000 people waiting for treatment.

capacity, unlike the public hospitals.”

The consultants claim there were cuts to health budgets of almost €1.9 billion bewtwen 2016 to 2021, compared to 2008, and 15 per cent less wasbeing spent on mental health services than 10 years ago.

They also hit out at the low numbers of senior doctors being recruited and retained in the healthcare system.

“It is unacceptable that over 400 approved hospital consultant posts are either vacant or filled on a temporary/ agency basis,” Dr Ryan said.

The consultants described it as a false economy with medical agency costs topping €115 million a year while 70 non-specialist doctors have been appointed to consultant posts since 2008, they claimed.

LEADERS DISCUSS OPPORTUNITIES ARISING FROM US AND UK PROTECTIONISM

TWO Lithuanian men drowned after a boating accident off the coast of Co Donegal. The men are understood to have departed in a small boat from Teelin.

The bodies were found on the shore at Malinbeg, near Carrick.

A boat was recovered washed up on a rocky stretch of coastline.

They were later named as as 56-year-old Rimantis Barauskas, who lived in Oldcastle, Co Meath and 33-year-old Raimundas Jezdauskas, Ballymahon, Ct Longford.

Cannabis seizure

THIRTY kilos of herbal cannabis has been found in air filters after the cargo was tracked through Dublin Port from Spain.

Revenue Customs officers and the Garda drugs and organised crime squads were involved in intercepting the haul in Co Meath, estimated to be worth about €600,000.

The operation involved authorities tracking the shipment of large cylindrical air filters in what they described as a “controlled delivery”.

A man in his 30s was questioned about the haul.

Mayo syndicate wins $29 million jackpot

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau in Dublin. (Inset) The leaders go for a jog.

Trudeau visit strengthens Canadian-Irish relations Ed Carty CANADA and Ireland should cash in on Brexit and Donald Trump’s US presidency by encouraging people and businesses to relocate, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has said.

During a very successful visit to Ireland where he and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar struck up a warm friendship, Mr Trudeau said migration should be seen as a positive.

“There are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners, in the case of the UK and US, are turning inward – or at least turning in a different direction – to make the pitch that Canada and Ireland are places that are exciting and open to the world in a positive, progressive way,” Mr Trudeau said.

Trade issues were high on the

agenda when Mr Trudeau and Mr Varadkar met at Farmleigh House in Dublin, with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the Europe Union and Canada a key focus.

The deal, which has yet to be ratified by national parliaments, took seven years to negotiate. But it has controversial clauses, including concerns about giving companies the right to sue governments and questions about workers’ rights.

Mr Varadkar said the CETA deal is progressive and not just about big business, citing its focus on environmental protections.

“I understand that there are concerns,” the Taoiseach said.

“People always have concerns about free-trade agreements. But there are many more benefits for our country and our people, our economy than there are

downsides. It’s not just an agreement for big business.

“It’s also an agreement for small business, for workers and has huge potential for Ireland.”

On Brexit, Mr Varadkar said more people will want to come to Ireland as a result of the development.

“What I anticipate, because of our economic recovery, because we are the fastest-growing economy in Europe now for two years in a row, and potentially because of Brexit, more and more people will want to come to Ireland,” he said. “We will actually have more inward migration into Ireland.

“We will be able to import the skills that we need and the knowledge that we need and the new experiences we need through a positive, open, managed migration policy.”

Mr Varadkar said he sought advice from Mr Trudeau on how to encourage

more women into politics. Mr Trudeau has a 50/50 gender balance among his ministers and calls himself a feminist.

Outlining his ambitions for the next election, Mr Varadkar says he wants to get more women to run for parliament and win seats over the next few years.

“Fine Gael already has more female TDs than any other party, at 11,” he said, “but I want it to be much higher.

“I’d like it to be 50/50 but certainly at least 20 after the next general election thus giving me more scope to promote even more women.”

Mr Trudeau and the new Taoiseach appeared to strike up a firm friendship, even taking the opportunity to go for a quick jog together in the Phoenix Park. Both leaders have a penchant for colourful socks and the Taoiseach was accredited wth sock-diplomacy after wearing maple leaf socks for their first meeting.

A €29MILLION EuroMillions jackpot was won by a syndicate from the west of Ireland last month.

Lottery chiefs revealed the group collected their cheque in the offices in Dublin and chose to keep their identities secret.

A spokesman for the group said the life-changing impact of the win is only just sinking in.

“This has come as a huge shock but we are thrilled. This will certainly make life easier for us all and will secure our futures,” one of the winners said.

The winning quick pick ticket was purchased from Umesh Kumar’s Garryduff XL Store on Pound Road in Castlebar Co Mayo.

It is the second EuroMillions jackpot win for Castlebar.

In April 2014, a jackpot prize worth €15million was claimed on a ticket sold in Staunton’s Costcutter Express in Castlebar.

House fire claims two Kildare lives A PENSIONER and a man in his 30s have died in a house fire.

The roof of the semi-detached bungalow in Tully East, Co Kildare fell in after the alarm was raised.

One of the men was named locally as William Vaughan, 76, who was known as Charlie and owned the house, and the other man was John Paul Flood, 33.

Mr Flood, who was from the area but was not related to Mr Vaughan, is understood to have been living in the house.

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Mal Rogers scans Ireland’s regional media for what’s making news in your county BELFAST

Methodist church to become £2million pub PUB giant JD Wetherspoon has won the go-ahead for its £2m project to transform a former Belfast church into a bar.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the long-awaited decision to redevelop the Methodist Church on University Road has been approved.

The building has suffered substantial water damage and its pews and organ have already been removed.

But it still has original features including wrought ironwork, joinery and stone carvings.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin said: “I’m delighted. It’s a great building and it will make a wonderful pub. It’s a very big investment by us; it’ll cost around £2m just in the development phase.

“We hope it will create around 60 to 70 jobs and become a catalyst for other investment in that area.”

Mr Martin, who was partly brought up in the North as well as New Zealand, previously warned that the condition of the church was deteriorating.

The building joins the chain’s other new Belfast project, the former JJB Sports store on Royal Avenue, in awaiting a drinks’ licence.

“The recently approved application has been in progress since 2014,” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society chief executive, Nikki McVeigh, said.

“Given the time it has taken to obtain permission, with regard to the building’s current state of repair, it is now of urgent importance that restoration proceeds, as soon as possible.”

DOWN

Another truck hits not-so-sweet spot ANOTHER lorry has hit a Northern Ireland bridge, making it the fourth incident at the same spot within the past year, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

It happened as the lorry drove under The Cut in Banbridge, Co Down The road was closed for a short time and no injuries were reported.

Last year two vehicles hit the bridge within the space of a couple of days.

Among them was a prison van that lost its roof as it hit the bridge.

Now graffiti has appeared saying: “The Cut 3, Lorries 0.”

On approach to the bridge there are a number of signs warning motorists about the height of the bridge.

Michael Ferran, who runs Banbridge-based firm Transport Consulting Company and who teaches lorry drivers about safety, told the BBC that if the vehicles make a mistake and approach the bridge, there is little space for them to turn back.

LIMERICK

Missing pair of hikers found after extensive search in mountains A MIDDLE-AGED couple has been found safe and well after going missing while walking on the Ballyhoura Mountains.

The cpair were found after an extensive search operation.

The couple had embarked on a walking expedition of the Co Limerick countryside with another couple.

“There were only four people involved – two went one way and two went another way and they got disorientated and the pairs couldn’t find each other,” explained Jim Flynn, community employment scheme supervisor with Ballyhoura Heritage.

It is understood the couple got lost in the Ballinaboola Woods, about 6km from the village of Ardpatrick.

“They couldn’t find each other after walking for maybe an hour or two.

They had gone in separate directions and then they found that they couldn’t meet up and started getting panicky as it was getting dark,” Mr Flynn added.

“They had mobile phones but they were still not able to locate each other,” Mr Flynn added.

The alarm was raised by one couple and gardaí from Charleville along with the Civil Defence from Mallow, staff from the Outdoor Education Centre in Kilfinane and Coillte staff began the search.

KERRY

Kerry’s lost generation revealed THE huge number of young people who fled Kerry to escape the recession has been laid bare by the census, The Kerryman reports.

Until now it has been difficult to get a grasp on just how many people are part of Kerry’s so-called Lost Generation, but age profile data from the 2016 census provides a shocking insight into how many young men and women abandoned the county.

Between 2006 and 2011– as the recession began – the number of 20- to 30-year-olds in Kerry rose by 1,644.

By contrast, between 2011 and 2016 the number of 20- to 30-yearolds in the county plummeted by a massive 3,507.

During this time Kerry’s population increased by 1.5 per cent but the 20- to 30-year-old population in the county plunged by 16.7 per cent.

While emigration increased between 2008 to 2011 it is probably no coincidence that the surge in 20to 30-year-olds leaving Kerry took place at the height of the unemployment crisis in Kerry, which reached its peak in 2011 and 2012.

Of those 20- to 30-year-olds who left the county in the last six years, the majority (2,877) were between 25 and 30 which suggests many were graduates who left the county for work or better opportunities.

‘The Longest Journey’ at the Festival Gallery, Galway, part of artist Ana Maria Pacheco’s solo exhibition ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ for the Galway International Arts Festival. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

MEATH

Ledwidge ceremony in Belgium MAIREAD McGuinness MEP travelled to the Artillery Wood Cemetery in Belgium for a centennial commemoration of the death of Slane-born poet and soldier, Francis Ledwidge. Sometimes known as the “poet of the blackbirds”, Ledwidge was killed in action at the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I. The Meath Chronicle reports that a strong Irish contingent travelled to this event. As part of the commemoration Ms McGuinness hosted visitors, largely from Counties Meath and Louth, in the European Parliament the next day.

CAVAN

were filmed. A number of scenes were filmed at O’Connor’s bar in the centre of the village. The name of the bar was retained for the programme and will feature on the show when aired in the US later this year.

Starring Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, Sutton Foster and Nico Totorella the show tells the story of a fortysomething woman who poses as a 26-year-old to secure her dream job following the breakdown of her marriage.

It has received rave reviews in the US and has been nominated for several awards.

It is understood the location was selected thanks to a suggestion from Ardmore Studios. It seems that once the programme-makers viewed Tinahely, they were struck by its rural beauty.

LOUTH

Clampdown on Cavan town shoplifters

All roads lead to new ferry service

THE Anglo-Celt newspaper reports that local businesses and gardaí have stepped up their efforts to combat shop thefts in the county.

Photographs of 20 infamous shoplifters were circulated among Chamber of Commerce members at a meeting. The pictures comprised only convicted shoplifters.

Scores of business people crowded into this, the second in a series of meetings on the vexed issue, to express their growing concerns about shoplifting and other criminal activity in the county town.

Gardaí are to attend a follow-up meeting in the coming weeks to offer advise to business owners on how to deal with suspected shoplifters.

The chamber’s president, Eddie Coleman, organised the Business Watch meeting.

The list circulated included men and women, people from Cavan town and elsewhere, some of whom are in custody.

Inspector Micheál O’Donoghue said that everyone on the list had been convicted in court as a shoplifter. He urged shopkeepers to post immediate information on the chamber’s new WhatsApp group about the presence of any shoplifters.

THE scenic Carlingford Ferry is now in service. The long awaited ferry service links Greenore in the Republic with Greencastle in Co Down in the North.

There has been a frenzy of work in recent weeks with the installation of navigational lights to guide the ferry across the Lough as well as new specialist fenders at the slipways in Greenore and Greencastle The 44-vehicle ferry Gabrielle Aisling arrived in Carlingford Lough at the beginning of June, and the four captains and crew have been using the time to prepare for the service going into operation.

The €9.75million privately funded project involved the construction of a 60-metre long reinforced concrete slipway at Greenore, and a 58-metre long reinforced concrete suspended pier, supported by vertical tabular piles in Greencastle.

The construction work, also included berthing and fender piles to facilitate ferry berthing, steel gangway, new hard standings for parking and queuing. Distinctive directional signs for the ferry have also been erected on roads leading to Greenore.

WICKLOW

Lights, camera and action in Tinahely THE usually quiet south Wicklow village of Tinahely was brimming with excitement as an American film crew rolled into town.

The Wicklow People reports that the village, selected as a location for popular US sitcom Younger was surrounded by onlookers as scenes for the programme’s series four finale

KILDARE

Spending a penny is costing thousands KILDARE County Council spent €132,000 on its four public toilets last year but the revenue garnered from people “spending a penny” only amounting to just more than €3,000, the Kildare Nationalist reports.

The council provides four public toilets in the town centres of Kildare, Newbridge, Naas and Athy.

The net of VAT costs for operating

the units was €132,867 in 2015, €132,750 in 2016 and €65,926 up until June of this year. The net revenue generated by the units was €5,274 in 2015 and €3,569 in 2016.

The council say the costs “cover electricity supply to the units, the checking and monitoring of the many safety mechanisms on the units and to check the internal communication and operation systems”.

Other costs are “replenishing the soap, tissue and all other consumables, to check for and remove any graffiti, clean all internal components, this includes polishing mirrors and chrome fittings”.

Independent councillor for the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District Joanne Pender, says while public toilets are a public service and are needed she was concerned about the costs.

“If there’s a public building nearby, it could be opened up. There was another suggestion that maybe local businesses could put a sign up letting the public know they can use the toilets and they would get a grant,” Ms Pender said.

Sinn Féin councillor for the Athy Municipal District, Thomas Redmond, says the public toilets are “badly needed”.

However outsourcing the amenity, as happens at present, may not be the most cost-effective method of handling the ‘convenience’ needs of locals, tourists and visitors.

CORK

Famous baseball game by US sailors recreated in Cork A BASEBALL game that took place in Cork at the end of July recreated a famous one played exactly 100 years ago by the US Navy who had arrived in the region as the vanguard for their country’s entry into the First World War. The Irish Examiner reports that a team of visiting US students attending a summer camp at UCC, along with US ex-pats, took on the Cork Rebel Alliance. They recreated a game played at exactly the same location in 1917 by crews from two US warships.

UCC curator Michael Holland, who organised the event, said some of the proceeds would go to the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind charity.

Mr Holland said it is hoped a plaque will be erected at the cricket grounds to commemorate the centenary of the game.

He said that while US Navy operations took priority, there were other things to be considered, like the morale of the sailors, making friends locally, and promoting the Navy’s contribution to the war effort.

August, 2017 I www.irishecho.com.au

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Wimbledon’s Wicklow heckler a smash hit

Gardaí steal Frenchman’s walking stick YES, sadly that headline is correct.

And not only was the walking stick of considerable importance to its owner, it also happened to be part of the original true cross. As such, it once belonged to St Patrick, it was claimed. If that is true, it was perhaps the most impressive walking aids of all time.

The owner of the staff was Antonin Artaud (above), who visited Ireland exactly 80 years ago in August 1937. He travelled from Cobh to Galway in an effort to return the stick to its rightful home, although he didn’t exactly specify where that was.

The fact that Artaud spoke little English (even less Irish) did little to help his cause. But the experience wasn’t wasted. Artaud was a surrealist – he was founder of the Theatre of Cruelty, a tradition in which artists assault the senses of the audience, and allow them to feel the unexpressed emotions of the subconscious.

On his Irish visit, the Frenchman would probably not have been admitted at Cobh but for the fact that that he’d previously managed to obtain a ‘letter of introduction’ from the gullible Irish Minister Plenipotentiary in Paris at the time, one Art O’Briain.

The minister subsequently regretted his generosity of spirit.

Seán Murphy, Assistant Secretary, Department of External Affairs in Dublin eventually had to send the following letter to the hapless Minister O’Briain: “I am directed by the minister to inform you that

an Order for the deportation from Saorstát Eireann has been made against Antonin Marie Joseph Artaud, a French citizen who landed at Cobh on August 14 last. Artaud is being deported for being a destitute and undesirable alien. Artaud would have been refused permission to land by the Immigration Officer at Cobh were it not for the fact that he produced a letter of introduction signed by yourself.”

The letter continued: “Since his arrival in this country Artaud has failed to pay his hotel bill in Galway and has had to be removed from the grounds of Milltown Park where he had called to interview some members of the Jesuit community.

On being informed that the priests were on retreat he refused to leave the grounds. The Gardaí had to be called and he was confined in Mountjoy awaiting an order for his deportation.”

Artaud was eventually escorted on to a waiting ship in Cobh in a straitjacket, still demanding the return of his walking stick and a stiletto, also confiscated by the guards.

He was later to write: “I am Antonin Artaud, and I say this . . . immediately you will see my present body burst into fragments and remake itself under ten thousand notorious aspects a new body where you will never forget me.”

Somehow you can see how the gardaí way back in 1937 were a little mystified by the Frenchman.

But they shouldn’t have nicked his walking stick. That was just a little too avant gardaí.

Quiz

1. Dingy skipper, six spot burnet, comma, gatekeeper and pearl-bordered fritillary are all included in Ireland’s list of what?

2. What links Leo Varadkar, Ireland; Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland; Elio Di Rupo, Belgium; Ana Brnabic, Serbia?

3. Since the year 2000, which of these countries can claim most golf Major championship wins (in the Open, US Open, US Masters, USPGA): Australia, Ireland or Scotland?

4. Brian Friel, Flann O’Brien, Philomena Begley, Jimmy Kennedy (lyricist of Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Red Sails in the Sunset, South of the Border etc). Which county did they all come from?

5. Which book is set on June 16, 1904?

6. Which Liverpool-born activist, whose statue stands in O’Connell Street in Dublin, founded the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union?

7. In 1956 John Huston directed a film starring Gregory Peck, and shot it in the area round Youghal. The film included a character called Starbuck. What was the film?

8. What are the first three words of the Easter Proclamation read out by Padraig Pearse at the GPO, 1916?

9. Navan man Francis Beaufort invented the Beaufort Scale. He denoted ‘whole gale’ force with number 10 on the scale. What force is number 11?

10. Which plays do the following feature in: (a) Christy Mahon; (b) Lydia Languish; (c) Estragon?

A WIMBLEDON and internet star who squeezed into Kim Clijsters’s skirt after shouting advice from the crowd is to auction it for charity.

Chris Quinn, captain of Greystones Lawn Tennis Club in Wicklow, was pulled from the stands to tackle the former grand slam champion’s serve after heckling players in the ladies’ invitation doubles. But the 46-yearold’s antics became an online sensation when Clijsters spotted that his blue shorts and green T-shirt would breach the strict dress code at the All-England Club and offered him a loan of a skirt.

Quinn is to raffle the former gear for the Gavin Glynn Foundation which helps terminally ill children.

“I have the skirt, or the skort as they call it, and we are going to auction it for charity,” he said. “I wouldn’t normally be the extrovert like this. I’ll roll with it for as long as I can.”

Mr Quinn, on his first visit to the tournament, replaced one of Clijsters’s opponents on court, managed to return a serve but failed to hit the ball when he tried for a second point.

“My first notion when I put my first footsteps on the court was that I was expecting to be mugged by the security. Then I came to realise that I’m on court at Wimbledon; this is pretty cool.

“She [Kim] started to put the skirt on me and I said ‘You’re going to struggle’ and I just said ‘Give them to me’. There’s no point trying to be pretty about it. It’s not often you’d get Kim Clijsters and Conchita Martinez on the floor of the court at Wimbledon in stitches laughing.”

They said it...

“Irish Aid and the Irish NGOs and missionary organisations are already providing highly effective assistance to millions of people across the region. But a response at greater scale is required. We urgently need a renewed global effort to help prevent the deaths of millions of poor and marginalised people.”

President Michael D Higgins calling on the world to act on the famine in East Africa.

“The large number of people affected may shock us, but we must realise that behind these stark numbers are real people: mothers and fathers unable to provide for their hungry children.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, responding to the famine in East Africa.

“It’s essentially the big centre of Irish society. I’ve never put figures on it.

I would include people on the minimum wage. Over 70 per cent of people describe themselves as middle class.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

“The greatest hardship of the recession was the loss of employment for so many of our people — something which I deeply regret: 250,000 of our two million workforce lost jobs, the vast majority in construction and related industries and in retail … We knew that the required action would understandably be more unpopular than almost any policies in recent Irish history and that this threatened the survival of the government and our hopes of election. However, we also knew that to avoid taking the decisions would mean that future recovery could be put off by decades.”

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

“Europe forced certain countries such as Ireland, Spain and Portugal to implement inappropriate decisions such as protecting international bondholders … the property crash in Ireland was in part fuelled by an inappropriate euro currency system.”

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, strongly criticising the EU for its stance towards Ireland during the financial crisis some 10 years ago.

“I strongly refute what Dr Newell said. In Fermanagh, we are involved in outreach work with all sections of society.”

Former Ulster Unionist MP and prominent Fermanagh Orangeman Tom Elliott, answering Rev Ken Newell, who said there was sectarianism in the Orange Order.

“It is wrong and it shouldn’t have happened. In Fermanagh we don’t have any bonfires, it is unfortunate when things like this happen. It is about enjoying ourselves and it’s standing up for our faith and heritage.”

First Minister Arlene Foster commenting on July 12 celebrations which included one incident where a black coffin with the face of the late Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and the slogan ‘F*** the IRA’ was placed on a bonfire.

Crossword Clues across: 1. There’s been a wild one, an Irish one, a car, a dog, a Martian vehicle and a wanderer (5) 3. See in Derry yields US music and digging instrument (6) 9. English railway system hidden by foreigners initially (1,1,1,1) 10. To be mistaken in Derrinstown (3) 11. Irish/British singer who tends towards English traditional dance, it’s said (9) 12. A British astronomer easy to annoy, we hear (4) 13. Music in Kilrooskagh (3) 14. A drink from Aquitaine registered in the dear Magna Carta (8) 15. A bit of a smell in Tullyhumphrys (3) 17. Make sure someone is a complex sectarian (9) 19. Annul a twisted plant (6) 21. Wednesday could be the day for this tree (3) 23 across, 14 down: Deborah’s rear end explored in a poem

by Kavanagh? (5,3) 24. Fuss over a quadruped? (3) 27. Kind of rickety marina in Utah (12) 28. Crime, not particularly dirty, involved Ireland young men (5-10)

Clues down:

1

1 & 16 down: Anything Roman is confused with Irish world boxing champion (5,8) 2. A mere Rev can be a painter (7)

2

8. More bloody, or are really more uncommon here (5) 12. Ah, Mr Hart, fan in all directions to reach Dublin suburb (11) 13. Stone in Scotland could help towards making bakery (6) 14. see 23 across

5

6

9

7

10 11

12

13 14

6. Organ in Carnmoneyeford (3) 7. Mutt with appendage attached suspended (9)

4

8

4. Scottish, Irish man is hidden in dismal as dairy produce (8) 5. Herb, Ian in confusion join Irishsounding Scottish outfit (9)

3

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23 24

25

26

27

16. see 1 down 18. Lough in Swiss capital (4) 20. Heraldic gold and elemental calcium combine to form dangerous killer (6) 22. Enniskillen singer discovered by devilish Ann on tour (6) 23. Country hidden by broken yardstick (5) 25. See poet Ms Dickinson lose self and join Cashel (4) 26. Shivery cold place in Offaly we hear (4)

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LAST EDITION’S ANSWERS: Clues across: 1. Raphoe. 4. Donegal.

8. Hue. 9. Salsa. 10. Mumbles. 12. Experienced. 14 across, 21 down: New Jersey. 16. Reducing agent. 19. Antrim. 20. Oder. 21. Jeer. 22. Disc.

24. Bailey. 25. Bray. 27. Indians. 29. Teal. 32. Dyes. 33. Riled.

Clues down: 1. Risteard. 2. Polyp. 3. Ova. 4, 15 & 18 down: Democratic Unionist Party. 5. Nomad 6. Gel. 7. Les. 8. Hibernates. 11. Eden. 13. Richard.

17. Dove. 23. Clare. 24. Best. 26. Yips. 28. Den. 30. Eel. 31. Lad.

Answers: 1. Lepidoptera — moths and butterflies; 2. Openly gay prime ministers; 3. Ireland, with 8 wins. Australia have had 4, Scotland, the home of golf, zero; 4. Tyrone; 5. James Joyce’s Ulysses; 6. Jim Larkin; 7. Moby Dick; 8. “Irishmen and Irishwomen.” He went on to say, “In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.” 9. Storm force; 10. (a) The Playboy of the Western World; (b) The Rivals; (c) Waiting For Godot.

August, 2017 I www.irishecho.com.au

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review

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Absolute page-turners THE narrator in Sebastian Barry’s latest book is Tom McNulty who likes to be called Thomasina, because he is not entirely clear about his own gender. Many readers will be familiar with the surname, which he shares with the central characters in three of Barry’s earlier books, The Temporary Gentleman, The Secret Scripture and The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty.

This Tom McNulty left Sligo in Black ’47 at the age of 13 and managed to survive the coffin ships, joining “… people that were so hungry they might eat each other in the holds. The captain hisself he died of fever. When we reached Canada we were a ship without a steward. Into the fever sheds with us and that’s where hundreds died. I’m just writing all this down. The point is, we were nothing.

No one wanted us. Canada was a-feared of us. We were a plague. We were only rats of people.”

Tom teams up with another stray, a lad about his own age named John Cole, and they find that they can survive by hiring themselves as dancing partners for miners. When Cole becomes too tall to pass as a girl, they join the army to fight the Indians. Demobbed and back in civilian life, they return to the stage, before joining the Union army in the civil war.

Much of the book describes actions in the fighting against the tribes that used to have the plains of middle America for themselves before the white man came. Those encounters and massacres are exceeded in cruelty only when the north and the south take at each other a few years later. There is little spared in the telling and the result is

not for folk who are squeamish.

Through it all there is love and loyalty. The love is unusual in stories from this time. Tom and John Cole sleep together, a circumstance that would not have raised comment at a time when beds were scarce and reused. That they were lovers is made clear in one short sentence. Words like gay, queer or homosexual were not in the lexicon of the day and no one comments on their situation. A young Indian girl is captured by the army and taught to read and write.

She becomes friendly with Tom and Cole who, after being demobbed, pass her off as Cole’s daughter; since Tom sometimes dresses in women’s clothing, they seem to be no more than an unusual family.

Tom is the narrator throughout and it is clear that he is speaking long after the events he is describing.

His grammar is sometimes uncertain, but there is little wrong with his recall or his eloquence.

He can describe “mountains with their Jewish caps of snow” or “fences going over a turmoil of hills” or “two privates as dead as poked-out winkles.” You get to love too his elegant turn of phrase, understatement providing more eloquence than a rattle of words.

“If Maryland ain’t a pretty country, God’s a girl.” Or the wife of their commanding officer who is a perfect Boston lady and “ought to have been a preacher had she not been cloven.”

This is writing of the highest quality, the kind that reminds you that there are more grades of prose than there are abilities in your local golf club. And as you saunter out

“This is writing of the

highest quality, the kind that reminds you that there are more grades of prose than there are abilities in your local golf club.

”

BOOKS DAYS WITHOUT END Sebastian Barry faber & faber 259 pp $32.99

CCCCC THE TRESPASSER Tana French Hodder & Stoughton 496 pp $32.99

CCCC Frank O’Shea with your 30-something handicap, you can only stand and admire the players who defy the laws of physics and make the whole thing look easy. Sebastian Barry makes writing look easy.

I COULD probably find a number of things to complain about in this book. It is too long for a start, but then you don’t buy a Tana French book if you are after a short read.

There are too many interviews with suspects or with what are known as KAs, Known Associates, and need I say that those are also long. And there is the annoying habit of information being passed in changes of facial expression imperceptible to everyone except the people involved.

But here is another piece of information about the book: I started it on Tuesday and finished it on Thursday with a funeral-and-

afters taking up most of Wednesday. Granted that this was in January-Melbourne, which is the kind of hyphenated definition you could use to explain the meaning of the word moribund.

So those whinges in the opening paragraph did not stop me from devouring the whole 500 closelytyped pages in little more than two days.

So there you have it, an actual example of “couldn’t put it down”, surely the best endorsement you can give to any book. The story is set in old Dublin; the murder squad is based in Dublin Castle, just off Dame Street; the murder takes place in the evocatively named Stoneybatter and the main suspect has a bookshop in Ranelagh. No need to go to the wilds of Tallaght or Portmarnock or farther afield where culchies live.

Antoinette Conway is the central character, a detective with two problems: gender in an all-male murder squad and skin hue that suggested genetic material from places with much more sun than Dublin. And to top it off, the chip she has on her shoulder is growing by the day and threatening to distance her from her colleagues.

She is a wonderful creation, the

kind that would make a great central character in a television series.

Conway and her partner Moran are asked to investigate the murder of a young woman. It looks routine and there is a convenient and quite plausible suspect, so the fact that the couple examine alternative possibilities puts them at cross purposes in a city with plenty of work for a murder squad, what with Kinahan and The Monk and their pals.

In many stories of this type, one killing will be followed by others, but French will have none of that.

Her strength is the way that the murder squad go about their work, examining every possibility and even creating a few possible scenarios of their own. There is no love interest as such, although quite a bit of stray action by men incapable of keeping it in their trousers.

The story is as much an examination of tensions in the murder squad as of the methods they use and the success they achieve. It is a workplace that might not appeal to the sensitive or the squeamish, but is probably an accurate depiction of how these places work. If you are not afraid of bulk, you will love the book.

THE TOP 10 BOOK CHARTS FROM IRELAND BESTSELLERS 1

The Good Daughter

2

I Found My Tribe

3

The Couple Next Door

4

The Late Show

5

Holding

6

The World’s Worst Children 2

7

The Handmaid’s Tale

8

The Whistler

9

Into the Water

10 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

ORIGINAL FICTION Karin Slaughter

1

The Good Daughter

Ruth Fitzmaurice

2

The Late Show

The Couple Next Door

2

Holding

3

The Handmaid’s Tale

4

The Whistler

5

Secrets of a Happy Marriage

6

My Not So Perfect Life

7

Big Little Lies

8

Kill a Mockingbird for the 21st Century’

9

Truly Madly Guilty

10 The Dry

Karin Slaughter

1

Owning It - Bullsh*t Free Guide to Anxiety

Michael Connelly

2

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Caroline Foran

Elena Favilli/Francesca Cavallo

Shari Lapena

3

Into the Water

Paula Hawkins

3

A Pocket History of Ireland

Michael Connelly

4

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Gail Honeyman

4

Make Your Bed: Small things… Admiral William H. McRaven

Grahan Norton

5

The Woman in the Wood

David Walliams

6

What Happened That Night

Margaret Atwood

7

Camino Island

John Grisham

8

Conversations with Friends

Paula Hawkins

9

The Duchess

Gail Honeyman

10 The Woman at 72 Derry Lane

MASS MARKET FICTION 1

HARDBACK NON-FICTION

Joseph McCullough

Lesly Pearse

5

Cooking for Family and Friends:100 Lean Recipes... Joe Wicks

Sheila O’Flanagan

6

Pocket Irish Poetry

John Grisham

7

The Secret

Rhonda Byrne

Sally Rooney

8

Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Bus

Haemin Sunim

Danielle Steele

9

The Irish Granny’s Pocket Book of Bread and Baking Gill Books

Carmel Harper

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION

Gill & Macmillan

10 The Pocket Irish Pub Cookbook

Gill & Macmillan

CHILDREN’S

Shari Lapena

1

I Found My Tribe

Ruth Fitzmaurice

1

The World’s Worst Children 2

David Walliams

Grahan Norton

2

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and culture... J.D. Vance

2

Thirteen Reasons Why

Margaret Atwood

3

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

3

Wonder

John Grisham

4

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi

4

Resurrection: Skulduggery Pleasant

Cathy Kelly

5

The Cartel

Stephen Breen/Owen Conlon

5

Kid Normal

Sophie Kinsella

6

The Battle

Paul O’Connell

6

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J.K. Rowling

Liane Moriarty

7

Geography:Ten Maps That Tell You Everything... Tim Marshall

7

Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone

J.K. Rowling

Jodi Picoult

8

Behind the Major Motion Picture

Joshua Levine

8

Grandpa’s Great escape

Liane Moriarty

9

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Yuval Noah Harari

9

Asking For It

Jane Harper

10 Milk and Honey

Rupi Kaur

10 Demon Dentist

Jay Asher R. J. Palacio Derek Landy

Greg James and Chris Smith

David Walliams Louise O’Neill David Walliams

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sports FOOTBALL :: CELTIC’S WIN OVER LINFIELD PASSES WITHOUT MAJOR INCIDENT BETWEEN FANS

Tension but little violence as Hoops come to Belfast CELTIC’S victory over Linfield in the Champions League qualifier passed off without any major incident, despite a number of ugly moments during and after the first leg in Belfast.

Projectiles were thrown at Celtic corner takers Leigh Griffiths and Jonny Hayes from a Linfield section of Windsor Park and, at the final whistle, a number of fans of the home team attempted to access the pitch when Griffiths tied a scarf to the goal posts.

One supporter did make it onto the surface but was quickly ejected as police and stewards moved in to contain the situation.

Notwithstanding those incidents, the Glasgow side’s 2-0 win did not witness any serious disorder. While Celtic declined its ticket allocation for the Champions League qualifier, citing security concerns, around 200 Hoops fans secured tickets by other means.

Celtic refused tickets amid fears there would be trouble among the club’s supporters and fans of Linfield, a team with a strong unionist/loyalist support base.

Acknowledging the reality that Celtic fans would obtain tickets regardless of their club’s stance, especially with

so many based in Northern Ireland, hours before kick-off Linfield announced that a section of the ground would be reserved for away supporters.

With Windsor Park just over half full, Linfield were able to allocate a whole stand to the small number of Celtic fans. It meant supporters could enter the ground at opposite ends – a move that minimised opportunities for confrontation.

The fixture was moved from July 11/12 to avoid a clash with Orange Order commemorations at the height of the marching season. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) insisted that Celtic’s decision not to accept the allocation of away tickets was taken “solely by the football club”. However, Celtic officials later said they were surprised by the PSNI’s statement.

Police made one arrest, a 25-yearold man on suspicion of disorderly behaviour, during the operation.

After winning the first leg 2-0, Celtic made light work of Linfield in the return leg, winning 4-0. Celtic were fined €23,000 by Uefa after fans unfurled an “illicit banner” during the return leg.

Fans at Parkhead unfurled a banner featuring a man in paramilitary garb.

A Linfield fan is led away by police after making his way onto the pitch at Windsor Park in Belfast after Celtic’s win in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier.

GAELIC FOOTBALL

Kerry down Galway to claim semi spot KERRY are through to yet another All Ireland Senior Football semi-final after defeating Galway at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Mayo and Roscommon played out a thrilling draw and will have to meet again.

In the other side of the draw, Armagh and Monaghan qualified for the quarter finals following their respective wins over Kildare and Down last weekend.

Ulster champions Tyrone will face neighbours Armagh in a repeat of the 2003 All-Ireland final next weekend, while Leinster and All-Ireland champions Dublin have been paired with Monaghan. Both games will take place at Croke Park on Saturday, August 5 at 4pm and 6pm respectively with the winners facing off in the semi-final.

A textbook Kieran Donaghy (pictured) goal in the 13th minute laid the foundations for what was a comfortable Kerry victory over Galway in a tepid All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Croke Park. Donaghy gave an exhibition of high fielding and was a constant thorn in the side of the Galway defence

Roscommon

2-9

Mayo

1-12

Kerry

1-18

Galway 0-13

in a superb first half per formance before receiving a standing ovation from the Kingdom faithful after his substitution in the 57th minute. Paul Murphy, David Moran and substitute Stephen O’Brien also impressed for a Kerry team that was far from its best, yet still managed 1-18 as they progr essed to another All-Ir eland semi-final.

For Galway, it was a second successive All-Ireland quarter-final loss, but it wasn’t as if they didn’t have their chances against opponents who looked to be there for the taking. The beaten Connacht finalists passed up on at least

three guilt-edged goal-scoring opportunities – misses which proved costly as their 52-year wait for a championship win over Kerry continues.

A pulsating contest in the second All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals between Mayo and Roscommon ended 1-12 to 2-09 at Croke Park. Neither side deserved to lose, but both had chances to win it with Mayo guilty of some clear cut misses in the dying minutes of the game. There was nothing between the teams throughout even though Roscommon made the better start, but Mayo soon got into their stride.

A crowd of 65,746 witnessed the game as pride and bragging rights were at stake amongst these Connacht rivals. The performance of Lee Keegan, who scored 1-3, was a major talking point of the game.

AUSTRALIAN RULES

No Glass ceiling for talented Derryman IT’S turning into a golden season for Irish players in the AFL after Hawthorn’s Conor Glass impressed in his first two games for Hawthorn.

The 22-year-old Derryman clocked up 15 disposals in his first game against Fremantle and then followed up with 12 possessions against the Sydney Swans. He is yet to play in a losing side.

Those 15 disposals compare favourably with Glass’ fellow Irish debutantes throughout AFL history; Jim Stynes had five, Zac Tuohy three, Pearse Hanley 10, Conor McKenna four and

Tadhg Kennelly eight (per World Footy News).

Mark O’Connor (Geelong) also debuted this year while Colin O’Riordan (Sydney Swans), Cian Hanley (Brisbane) and Conor Nash (Hawthorn) are all hopeful of making the senior ranks in 2017.

Zac Tuohy continues his impressive season at Geelong and is ranked 32 for all players in terms of disposals.

Pearce Hanley is showing glimpses of his best for the Gold Coast while Conor McKenna has cemented his spot

in the Essendon Bombers side. Ciaran Byrne and Ciaran Sheehan continue to battle for selection at Carlton.

Meanwhile, emerging Armagh prospect Rian O’Neill has flown ou for a trial with AFL side North Melbourne.

The Crossmaglen for ward has enjoyed a fine underage career with the Orchard county and captained St Colman’s to this year’s MacRory Cup final, where they lost out to St Mary’s, Magherafelt. Tipperar y youngster Jack Kennedy is also currently on trial with North Melbourne.

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023

Match tickets ‘as low as €20’ if Irish bid succeeds Ed Carty

TICKETS for games at the 2023 Rugby World Cup could be as low as €20 if an all-Ireland bid for the tournament is successful, it has been claimed.

With a cross border bid for the tournament on the table, the Republic’s Minister for Transport, Tourism and Spor t Shane Ross also confirmed Ireland’s games will be broadcast for free. Some €200 million of taxpayer funds has been committed to bring stadiums, training centres and other infrastructure up to scratch for the competition.

Mr Ross also revealed that Ireland has been asked by both World Rugby and football governing body UEFA to look at issues around ticket reselling.

The minister said the Government was considering new laws to crack down on touting.

“It’s something we have got to be conscious of,” he said. “It would be reputationally damaging to the state if there was ticket touting on a massive scale.”

Twelve venues have been put on a longlist as part of the Irish Government and Northern Ireland Executive’s bid to host the Rugby World Cup in September-October 2023.

Taking questions at the Oireachtas Transport Committee on the benefits and risks from hosting the tournament, Mr Ross said tickets would be competitively priced.

“Let’s be quite straight about it. It’s meant to make a profit. This is not intended to run at a loss for anybody,” he said. “I’m not going to reveal any detailed figures. But some of the tickets will be as low as €20.”

Among the stadiums identified for games are Derry’s Celtic Park, a surprise inclusion, and Belfast’s Casement Park, which has yet to be built.

Flagship venues in Dublin include Croke Park and r ugby HQ in Lansdowne Road.

Others include Belfast’s Ravenhill, Dublin’s RDS, Kilkenny’s Nowlan Park,

Ireland is one of three candidates to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup alongside France and South Africa.

Cork’s new Pair c Ui Chaoimh, Killar ney’s Fitzgerald Stadium, Limerick’s Thomond Park, Galway’s Pearse Stadium and Castlebar’s McHale Park.

Forty training facilities in rugby and sports clubs around the country will also be upgraded while up-to-speed broadband is an essential.

The winning bid will be announced in November with France and South Africa also in the running.

Mr Ross also said Ireland should consider a bid for the Olympic Games, an idea laughed at in 1992 when then Lord Mayor of Dublin Gay Mitchell had accountants and other experts assess the idea.

“We’re now thinking in these terms and it’s really very, very exciting. Let’s think about the Olympics. Sure,” he told the committee.

Mr Ross also told the committee that hosting the 2023 Rugby World Cup would bring in 450,000 visitors spending about €760m and a financial return to the State of about €138m

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

sports DRAWN NEW ZEALAND SERIES HAS SAVED LIONS, SAYS WILLIE JOHN MCBRIDE

Lions legend wants longer tours to ‘gel squad’ Andy Hampson

Willie John McBride played 17 times for the Lions.

WILLIE John McBride believes the British and Irish Lions may have been saved from extinction by the performance of this year’s side in New Zealand.

The Lions surprised the world champions by recovering from defeat in the first Test to claim a share of the spoils in a drawn three-match series.

The viability of the Lions, a composite side of four nations making a lengthy tour every four years, is often debated because of the position in the world game’s calendar.

But McBride, a star of the last Lions side to win a series in New Zealand in 1971, wants to see the concept preserved and thinks the performance of Warren Gatland’s team has underlined its impor-

tant and unique status. “It’s a tremendous achievement and, quite honestly, I think it has shocked a few people,” McBride told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.

“A lot of people had written them off before they left because they didn’t really have enough time to put the team together. They have done a remarkable job. I think that this has, in many ways, saved the Lions.

“The concept is really unique and has gone now for well over 100 years. It would be dreadful in this professional era if it was ever messed around with.”

McBride believes Lions tours should be even longer.

This summer’s schedule saw the Lions play three Tests and seven other matches over five weeks, a much shortened fix-

ture list than in McBride’s day. In 1971, for example, the Lions played 26 games, including four Tests, and were in New Zealand for three months.

McBride, who played 17 Lions Tests as well as 63 for Ireland, said: “The one thing I feel sorry about is that the tour is actually too short. There are some tremendous players on this tour and they really haven’t had the time to gel together. Rugby is about a team. It’s probably the biggest team game you could possibly play. I think they have done remarkably well to put the team together that they did.”

McBride, however, does not believe the Lions should start playing matches at home, an idea recently revived by Sir Graham Henry, a former Lions and All Blacks coach.

“He must have had the head wobbles because the Lions concept is really about a touring team,” McBride said. “My answer to that is ‘no’. The concept of the Lions was to tour. To play at home would be a nonsense.”

Irish stars Robbie Henshaw, Sean O’Brien, Jared Payne and Jonathan Sexton all sustained injuries on tour.

While the extent of O’Brien’s shoulder injury remain unknown, Henshaw will be sidelined for the start of Leinster’s season and is in danger of missing his Ireland’s November test series after the full extent of his pectoral muscle injury was revealed.

Lions medical chief Dr Eanna Falvey revealed the Henshaw had torn the muscle off the bone and said: “It’s about a 16-week recovery.”

FOOTBALL :: BURNLEY BECOMING THE GO-TO CLUB FOR IRISH PLAYERS

Walters adds to Irish stocks BURNLEY have signed Republic of Ireland striker Jonathan Walters from Stoke.

Walters, 33, has put pen to paper on a two-year deal to end his seven-year spell at Stoke.

His arrival means that five Irish internationals are now among the Clarets ranks.

He joins Jef f Hendrick, Stephen Ward, Robbie Brady and Kevin Long in manager Sean Dyche’s squad.

Former Ipswich for ward Walters progressed through Blackburn’s academy and after moving on to Bolton he had loan spells at Hull, Crewe and Barnsley. He joined Hull permanently in 2004 but he was sold to Wrexham and after a spell at Chester his career took an upward turn with a move to Ipswich in 2007.

Walters scored 30 goals in 136 appearances for Ipswich and in 2010 completed a £3 million move to Premier League side Stoke. During seven years with the Potters, Walters struck 62 goals in 269 appearances. He has won 49 caps for his country and was voted Irish internationls player of the year in 2015.

“The Irish are taking over!” vowed Kevin Long, the longest serving of the crew.

All five started Ireland’s last game against Austria in June, and Long expects to see plenty of Mar tin O’Neill and Roy Keane during a campaign which

kicks off at Chelsea on August 12.

Not for the first time under O’Neill, Brady and Walters combined to snaffle the equaliser which dented Austria’s hopes of catching World Cup Group D co-leaders Ireland.

Brady believes a legion of Irish being at one club can be of benefit to O’Neill’s side on the campaign run-in.

“We were all talking the other day about how good it is for the Irish team having us together at one club,” said the winger. “The more Irish we get in, the handier it is for Ireland because we know how each other play.”

Ensuring he remains in Dyche’s central defence is paramount for Long if he’s also to keep hold of the ber th he manned alongside Shane Duffy against Austria for the doubleheader with Georgia and Serbia next month.

Having started the final three games of the season, he has his eye on filling the void left by Michael Keane’s departure to Everton but aware he’ll have to out-muscle one of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski to be granted a star t against the Premier League champions.

“Michael Keane and Ben had been the central-defensive partnership for the past two seasons, playing almost every single game,” said the former Cork City centre-back.

Son leads tributes to racing icon

Burnley’s Jonathan Walters (left) and Andre Gray (right) of Shamrock Rovers in action during the pre-season friendly match at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.

FOOTBALL :: NORTHERN IRELAND ACHIEVE THEIR HIGHEST EVER FIFA WORLD RANKING

Bragging rights for North as they leapfrog Republic Liam Blackburn

THE latest FIFA World Rankings make positive reading for Northern Ireland, but less so for Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland side.

Michael O’Neill’s men enjoyed wins in a friendly against New Zealand and a World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan to climb six places from 28th to 22nd in the latest world rankings, their highestever placing in the list.

The Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, had decidedly mixed for tunes last month. A 3-1 defeat to Mexico in New Jersey was followed up by a victory of the same scoreline against Uruguay, topped off with a 1-1 draw against Austria

HORSE RACING

in a World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium. They slip from 26th to 29th.

Elsewhere, England remain in 13th but it was a bad month for Wales as they slipped seven places to 20th. Scotland, meanwhile, climb three places to 58th.

At the top end of the rankings, Germany’s Confederations Cup success has helped them leapfrog Brazil and Argentina to the top of the pile. The 2014 World Cup winners had not been at number one for two years before this month. As a result, Brazil and Argentina slip to second and third respectively.

But for Northern Ireland, the rankings confirm Michael O’Neill’s stellar reign as coach. Four years and 11 months ago Michael O’Neill was three

games into his term when the game’s governing body published standings which saw them plummet to a new low of 129th, below Niger, Turkmenistan and New Caledonia. They are 10 spots above the Netherlands.

The victory over Azerbaijan in Baku leaves the Northern Irish with a fourpoint cushion in second spot in their World Cup qualification group ahead of September’s double header with San Marino and the Czech Republic.

Though it is assumed world champions Germany will win the group, the Northern Irish could guarantee second, and a likely play-off spot, with just a draw against the Czechs in Belfast if results in the previous round of fixtures go their

way. And with the eight best secondplaced teams from the nine groups going through to the play-offs, O’Neill’s side would stand an excellent chance of being just a two-legged tie away from reaching their first World Cup finals since 1986.

However, the draw for those play-offs will be seeded based on world rankings at the time, as it was for the 2014 tournament. So although Northern Ireland are currently one of the eight best secondplaced teams, there are four nations still above them in the latest world rankings, meaning they would be unseeded for that play-of f draw. The Republic of Ireland possibly face the same fate, raising the tantalsising/nightmare scenario of an all-Irish play-off.

PAUL Carberry led the tributes to his father Tommy (pictured) after the death of the Irish jump racing great at the age of 75.

The head of one of Ireland’s leading racing dynasties, Carberry achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Grand National both as a rider and a trainer.

He guided L’Escargot to victory over Red Rum in 1975 and saddled Bobbyjo to land the world’s greatest steeplechase in 1999, ridden by his son Paul, who confirmed the news. “He’d been ill for a while and fought it for a long time. He gave me a Grand National winner and has been great for Irish racing. He got the best out of everything he produced,” Paul said.

Born in County Meath, Carberry soon made his mark as a jockey and was a multiple champion National Hunt rider in Ireland in the 1970s. He enjoyed great success on L’Escargot, not only winning the National, but the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1970 and 1971.

Carberry also won the blue riband of jump racing on Ten Up, but was denied a fourth success when Tied Cottage, who was first past the post in 1980 was later disqualified.

He also won the Irish Grand National on Brown Lad in 1975 and 1976.

Meanwhile, Irish riding great and trainer Martin Molony, who was champion jump jockey between 1946 and 1951, has also died at the age of 91. He steered Silver Fame to win the 1951 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

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PAGE 3

One-Time Australian Returns For National Tour

Dubliner Falls Seven Storeys In Workplace Accident

For breaking news visit www.irishecho.com.au

AUST RALI A’ S I RI S H N E WS PA P E R August, 2017 | Volume 30 – Number 8

AUS $5.95 (incl GST)

Ballet-mór Swan Lake meets Children Of Lir at the Opera House PAGE 4

EXCLUSIVE :: IRISH RUGBY STARS SET FOR THREE-TEST TOUR OF AUSTRALIA IN 2018

Ireland to tour in 2018

PLANS are at an advanced stage for Ireland to play three Tests against the Wallabies in Australia next year.

While no official annoucement has been made, sources in Ireland and Australia have told the Irish Echo that the tour is “definitely on”.

Negotiations are ongoing between the Australian Rugby Union and the Irish Rugby Football Union about venues and dates, the Irish Echo understands. An official announcement is expected within weeks.

If the tour goes ahead as expected, it will be the first multi-Test Irish tour of Australia since 1999.

That tour, on which 20-year-old Brian O’Driscoll made his Test debut at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane, was dominated by the Wallabies, who won both Tests convincingly.

Australia has not hosted Ireland since 2010 when the Wallabies prevailed 22-15 in Brisbane.

Ireland have enjoyed the upper hand in recent encounters, winning three of the past four meetings, including a nine-point win at Auckland’s Eden Park during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 1979, the Irish came to Australia for a two-Test series and prevailed thanks to the trusty boot of Ollie Campbell. After a 27 to 12 win at Ballymore, the Irish wrapped up the

series with a dour 9-3 win at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Sydney’s large Irish community will be hoping that one of the Tests takes place in the harbour city. The last time Ireland played in Sydney was 23 years ago in June 1994 when a team led by Michael Bradley lost 32-18 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

During subsequent tours, Tests between the nations have been played at Subiaco Oval in Perth (3), Ballymore in Brisbane (1), Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane (1) and Etihad Stadium in Melbourne (1). Ireland are currently ranked three in the world, one above the Wallabies, which will add extra interest to the tour.

The teams also fought out a nailbiting World Cup clash in Melbourne in 2003, when the Wallabies prevailed by a single point, 17 to 16.

The sides have met on 33 occasions.

The Wallabies have won 21 of those Tests, Ireland have won 11 and there was a solitary draw in Dublin in 2009.

Of the 13 Tests between them in Australia, Ireland have won only three.

The first of those was in 1967 at the Sydney Cricket Ground when the Irish, featuring superstars Mike Gibson and Willie John McBride, won 11 points to five. The result made histor y because it was the first time a northern hemisphere side won a Test match in the southern hemisphere.

Ireland will tour Australia next year.

Irish Echo Australia | 02 9555 9199 | newsdesk@irishecho.com.au | (Admin): mail@irishecho.com.au | PO Box 256, Balmain, NSW 2041 I Print Post No 100007285

Print Post No 100007285

Billy Cantwell

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

news DUBLINER FELL ‘SEVEN STOREYS’

Dad faces long recovery road after 20m fall

FUN RUN IN SUPPORT OF OTHERS’ WELL-BEING

David Hennessy

AN Irish tradesman and father has suffered severe injuries after falling 20 metres on a construction site on the Gold Coast.

David Conway, 37, faces a long recover y after sustaining serious injuries, including a ruptured heart, a collapsed lung and several broken bones. when he fell from a Varsity Lakes construction site on July 10.

Mr Conway’s family rushed from Rathcoole, Dublin to be with him at Gold Coast University Hospital.

An appeal has been made to raise funds to help defray some of his medical costs because it is expected that Mr Conway will need several more operations.

Mr Conway was put into an induced coma soon after the acciendt. He has since had both feet amputated.

Although his condition is still said to be critical, as we go to press, the family is just thankful he is alive.

Mr Conway’s brothers, Stephen and Richie, and his parents, Connie and Shay, made their way from Ireland to join his wife Viv and his daughter Keisha, seven, at his bedside.

“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” Stephen Conway told The Irish Echo.

“To fall seven storeys and be alive.

“He’s stable but critical. It’s surreal.

We’re living in a nightmare but we have to think of the positives as well. We have to stay strong for him.”

Mr Conway has already had four operations, each lasting 10 hours, inclcuding skin grafts on his arms.

“He hasn’t really woken up yet.

We’re just hoping and praying nothing goes wrong. If nothing goes wrong, it’s a good day. ” Mr Conway is expected to need operations on his pelvis. and his liver was a concern for more than a week after the operation. The accident happened on his daughter Keisha’s birthday.

“We got the news on the same day as his daughter’s seventh birthday,” Stephen Conway said. “I got an emergency passport and have been here since hoping and praying he can wake up.

David Conway, in happier times with wife Viv and daughter Keisha.

“He’s not out of the woods yet, doctors keep telling us. It’s going to be a long, long journey.

“We would love to thank the staff.

We’re at Gold Coast University Hospital – the best in the world. It’s amazing.

I don’t think he would have got this treatment anywhere.”

Developer Alder Construction say s an investigation into the accident is under way.

A crowdfunding page has been set up to help Mr Conway’s recovery. It has already raised $40,000 of its $50,000 goal. “We’re getting huge support: [social media] shares, likes, fundraisers. It’s amazing. We would just like to thank everyone so much,” Stephen Conway said.

One donation was particularly generous and it came from another local Irish emigrant. “A 97-year-old Irishman, Michael Kennedy from Tipperar y, came into the hospital. He didn’t know Dave, he just read about it on the paper and wanted to help.

“He wanted to donate online but didn’t know how so he came in. His [David’s] wife didn’t want to take it, she thought he might need his money but he insisted, insisted, insisted and wrote a $5,000 cheque and gave $50 to his daughter.”

To make a donation, visit www.youcaring.com and search for David Conway

SURF’S UP: Two of the most vibrant Irish community associations in Sydney, the Irish Support Agency and the Sydney Queer Irish, are teaming up for The Green Movement in this year’s City To Surf on Sunday, August 13. Event organiser Lorna Markey Hennessy of the Sydney Queer Irish said the initiative was designed to “support health and well-being among Irish people living in Sydney”. To find out more about joining The Green Movement, search for TheGreenMovementatCity2Surf on Facebook

NO JAIL FOR BOUNCER WHO ASSAULTED IRISHMAN

Attack ‘out of character’, judge rules A FORMER hotel security officer in Queensland has avoided jail after pleading guilty to an assault that left an Irishman with injuries to his spine and a fractured eye socket.

Christin ‘Papa’ Anderson (35), who was working at the Central Hotel in Bundaberg as a security officer, admitted assaulting Barry Smith on October 25, 2014, causing bodily harm.

Handing down a suspended 18-month sentence at Bundaberg Courthouse last week, judge Terry Martin found that Anderson’s behaviour was out of character.

Mr Smith had been forced to the ground and had fallen against a car.

His injuries included a fracture to his right eye and fractures to his lumbar spine area.

The court earlier heard that the Irishman was refused entry to the hotel because he had no ID on him at the time and when leaving the area to go to a McDonald’s he had “slapped” a red car belonging to the bouncer, causing no damage to the vehicle.

The bouncer’s lawyer said that “he had been provoked and reacted spontaneously in the context of being exhausted by working three jobs, and it was an over-reaction to his provocative conduct”.

Two other employees of the hotel did not receive criminal convictions for

their part in the incident, which involved chasing Mr Smith and bringing him down on to the road. They pleaded guilty to the same charge and were both ordered to pay fines.

Mr Smith told the local newspaper, the NewsMail, that he still liked Bundaberg despite the violent incident.

He was working in Bundaberg in 2014 when the assualt ocurred.

Now living in Sydney, he returned to the town to attend the trial.

Outside Bundaberg courthouse, Mr Smith expressed his relief that Anderson had changed his plea to guilty.

He said it should be a lesson to hotel bouncers to “look after people”.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS RAISE FUNDS TO BRING BODY HOME TO IRELAND

Corkman Kristian Crowley dies after Melbourne fall

David Hennessy

TRIBUTES have been paid to Kristian Crowley, a 28-year-old from Cork who died following a fall in Melbourne.

The Ballygar van native suf fered serious injuries in the accident before he died in hospital on Sunday July 23.

He had been resident in Australia since 2012.

The accident occurred on Sunday July 16. He was treated for his injuries at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne before dying a week later.

Fundraising had begun in an effort to help his family make it from Ireland to be at his bedside as he fought for his life in hospital. Now, donations continue to come in to help the family prepare to bring him home and to deal with medical expenses.

A friend, Julie O’Driscoll, announced

the sad news of Mr Crowley’s death and said they would continue to raise money to help bring him home.

“Tragically, our friend Kristian passed away in Melbourne on Sunday the 23rd of July,” Ms O’Driscoll wrote.

“His family and friends want to thank everyone who have taken the time to donate and help. We are all more grateful than you could ever know.

“However we now need your help more than ever to bring Kristian home with his family back to Ireland.

“Any and every donation big or small will make the world of difference for his family and friends at this heartbreaking time,” Ms O’Driscoll wrote.

The donations have continued to roll in and so have the tributes.

Ballygar van GAA paid tribute on Facebook: “Ballygar van GAA club would like to offer our sympathy to the

Crowley family on the sad passing of Kristian in Australia.

“Kristian was a brilliant under-age player with Ballygarvan and his loss is devastating.

“To his Mom, Dad, Leon and Karla, we offer our deepest condolences. Ar dheis de go raibh an ainm.”

UCC Security wrote alongside their donation: “RIP Kristian from your friends in UCC Security Department”.

Fionnuala O’Connor wrote on Gofundme: “My deepest condolences on the loss of your beautiful son.”

Philomena Fogar ty added: “Thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Kristian. Deepest sympathies to all.”

Mairead Dunne said: “Very sorry to hear this news. Kindest thoughts to everyone effected by this.

“Thanks for the opportunity to be

able to help in little way. I’m sure the Irish community will rally round and help this family at this hard time.”

Gordon O’Mahony added: “RIP buddy, so sorr y to all the Crowley family on yr loss , but u can lay him to rest known that he brought joy to a lot of ppl️”.

Will Peters wrote: “RIP, a terrible tragedy for the Irish community again.”

Marie McDonnell said: “RIP Kristian, hope your family can have you home very soon.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to the family. Almost $40,000 has been raised by the online appeal star ted by Kristian’s friends and family.

Donations can be made by going to www.gofundme.com and search for Kristian Crowley

FATAL INJURIES: Kristian Crowley.

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

local news ACCLAIMED IRISH REIMAGINING OF SWAN LAKE COMES TO SYDNEY

Shades of Lir in reworked ballet

by David Hennessy

A WELL-KNOWN Irish folklore story is set to hit the Sydney Opera House stage.

A contemporary reimagining of both the Irish stor y Children of Lir and Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet Swan Lake will be performed at the iconic Australian venue at the end of August.

Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, which uses dance, theatre and the music of Irish trio Clouds Moving Slowly, makes its Australian debut, having had extraordinary success on the European festival circuit.

Directed by lauded Dublin choreographer and director Michael KeeganDolan, the piece stars Michael Murfi, a seasoned Irish actor, and Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, founder of Australian Dance Theatre. Described as “bleak and beautiful” by The Guardian, it brings both stories up to date with gritty realism.

“It certainly goes down very well with the locals when I tell them we’re going to Sydney Opera House,” Keegan-Dolan tells The Irish Echo.

“The idea feels very exciting but in reality we have to deliver a fantastic performance and send people away feeling inspired.

“It’s quite a complicated piece that we’ve generated in that it has several layers. The clear narrative line that goes through the centre of the piece is very similar to the ballet of Swan Lake but within that we’ve woven in elements of the story of Children of Lir but then there’s also two other narratives inter woven, which are a little more complex.”

These other narratives include one based on the killing in 2000 of John Carthy, a Longford man with psych iatric illness, who was shot dead by the Garda after a 25-hour siege.

“I thought it was important to tie the story of Swan Lake into Irish culture and also a contemporary event so it had a meaning and importance to it. [This] can be challenging for people but ever ywhere we have gone with the show so far, people have been very positive about it.”

Children of Lir is the story of four

children Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn who are turned into swans by their jealous stepmother and forced to spend 900 years on lakes and streams.

However, in this reimagining the jealous stepmother is replaced by an abusive priest who turns the children into swans to keep them silent about his abuse of the eldest child and only girl, Fionnuala.

Clerical abuse is not the only Irish issue tackled in the piece; the corruption of Garda and councillors also features. “I suppose these kind of institutional figures, figures of perceived importance interest me, and Ireland would be a good case if you wanted to explore the dynamic of that.

“Up until recently, the politicians and the priests ran Ireland; probably the priests and politicians, in that order.

“I always felt as a child growing up it was important that the person who ended up in charge was a good person, had some sort of class to them.

“Unfortunately, as we see today all over the world, often the people who end up in positions of power are complete idiots and there can be terrible consequences for normal, regular people because they end up having to dance to tunes whistled by these idiots.

“I played with the [Swan Lake] idea and found modern applications of it, a corrupt councillor or a twisted priest.

“It sounds like the piece is really dark but it has very beautiful elements to it. The message it will end with is resoundingly beautiful, I hope.”

Tackling Irish issues and folklore is fer tile ground for Keegan-Dolan, whose previous work The Bull drew on the Cúchulainn tale, The Cattle Raid of Cooleye and made a statement about the Celtic Tiger.

Keegan-Dolan has been nominated for Olivier Awards for The Bull as well as The Rite of Spring and Giselle. He has previously brought his work to the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Festivals as well as other venues in Australia.

Looking ahead to debuting his latest work in Australia, Keegan-Dolan says: “Hopefully people will come with an open mind.”

‘COME WITH AN OPEN MIND’: A scene from Loch na hEala, which will be performed at the Sydney Opera House from August 30 to September 2. (Inset) The show’s director, Michael Keegan-Dolan.

FORTHCOMING TOURS

One-time Aussie O’Rourke returns for national tour

BACK TO HIS ROOTS: Declan O’Rourke returns to Australia for the first time since 2014.

IRISH singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke returns to Australia this September and October for a very special series of concerts in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide, plus the Dashville Skyline festival in the Hunter Valley.

The tour, his first since 2014, will mark something of a homecoming for O’Rourke who spent eight of his childhood years in Australia.

He and his family lived in the Victorian town of Kyabram where, at the age of 13, a local priest gave O’Rourke his first guitar.

His award-winning first album, inspired by his Australian adventures, is called Since Kyabram.

He was nominated for three Meteor Awards on the back of the album’s success and Since Kyabram went double platinum in Ireland.

The Dubliner, who now lives on the wild windswept west coast of Ireland, has recently released his fifth studio album In Full Colour, recorded with a full 50-piece orchestra. His latest song-cycle entitled Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine will be launched in Ireland in November.

O’Rourke returns to Australia for seven concerts only before heading to festivals in New Zealand.

O’Rourke’s songs have been admired by James Taylor, John Sheahan (The Dubliners), Eddi Reader and Paul Weller among others, and O’Rourke has toured and worked with the likes of Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), Eric Bogle and Leah Flanagan.

In his last appearance in Australia, O’Rourke played alongside Paul Kelly and Shane Howard as part of the acclaimed show Exile: Songs and Tales of Irish Australia.

A U ST R A LI A’ S I R I SH N E WSPA P E R

Telephone: +61 2 9555 9199 Facsimile: +61 2 9555 9186 Postal Address: PO Box 256, Balmain, NSW 2041, Australia E-mail (Admin): mail@irishecho.com.au E-mail (Editorial): editor@irishecho.com.au Web: www.irishecho.com.au The Irish Echo is a national publication published monthly by The Irish Exile P/L Printed by Spot Press Distributed by Network Distribution Services

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ireland - brexit IRELAND WILL NOT HELP BRITAIN DESIGN BORDER, TAOISEACH SAYS

‘Onus on Britain’ to justify Brexit IRELAND will not help Britain design an economic border for Brexiteers, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

The Taoiseach declared his opposition to creating such a frontier during a robust intervention in Dublin. He said the onus was on the British government to say how it would work.

The boundary between Northern Ireland and the Republic is the UK’s only land border with an EU country and is a major issue for negotiators in Brussels.

“What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,” Mr Varadkar said.

“It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and, first of all, convince their own people, their own voters, that this is actually a good idea.

“As far as this Government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border. We don’t want one.”

The Dublin administration is uncon-

vinced by Britain’s plans to use technology to maintain the invisible land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The Times newspaper suggested the Republic’s preferred option was for customs and immigration checks to be located at ports and airports instead.

‘IREXIT’

BREXIT QUESTION OVER NEW FERRY CROSSING ‘MUST BE RESOLVED’ SWIFTLY

Ireland must consider EU exit, says think tank

TOUGH TALK: The European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.

Mr Varadkar is said to want customs and immigration checks moved away from the land border to por ts and airports – effectively drawing a new border in the Irish Sea. “There is no proposal that is suggesting that there be a border in the Irish Sea,” Department of Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney told RTÉ.

“What we do not want to pretend is that we can solve the problems of the border on the island of Ireland through technical solutions like cameras and pre-registration and so on. That is not going to work.

“Any barrier or border on the island of Ireland … risks undermining a very hard-won peace process and all of the parties in Northern Ireland, whether they are unionist or nationalist, recognise that we want to keep the free movement of people and goods and services and livelihoods.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s parliamentar y allies, 10

Democratic Unionist Party MPs, have rejected the notion of a sea border.

The DUP’s leader in the Commons, Nigel Dodds, said such a move would be unacceptable to the DUP, which the Prime Minister relies on to prop up her minority administration in the House of Commons.

A sea border “may give the Republic of Ireland a special economic status within Northern Ireland but the heavy price would be new barriers to trade in the UK” for Northern Irish firms, Mr Dodds said.

“This appar ent har dening of attitudes within the Irish Government is untimely and unhelpful.

“The DUP will not tolerate a border on the Irish Sea after Brexit that makes it more difficult to live, work and travel between different parts of the United Kingdom,” he said.

“At Westminster we will continue to use the influence of our 10 MPs to ensure that respect for the integrity of

the UK remains at the core of the negotiations process.”

The European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the British Government had to clarify how the common travel area would be maintained and also raised concerns about the impact of Brexit on the Good Friday Agreement.

“We agree that the important issue of the Good Friday Agreement between Ireland and the UK … requires more detailed discussions. In par ticular, more work needs to be done to protect Nor th-South co-operation between Ireland and Northern Ireland,” Mr Barnier said.

“Today, that co-operation is embedded in the common framework of EU law and EU policies. We need to better understand how the UK intends ensuring the continuation of this co-operation after Brexit. The UK should clarify how it intends maintaining the common travel area after leaving the EU.”

Michael McHugh

IRELAND should give “serious consideration” to following Britain out of the EU, an influential conservative British think tank has said.

The Republic could opt to remain within the UK in a customs and free -trade area, while negotiating as favourable as possible trade and investment terms with the remaining 26 member states, Policy Exchange added.

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny firmly rejected any suggestion that Ireland should leave the EU, saying the foundation of Ireland’s prosperity and the bedrock of its modern society was its membership of the European Union.

However, Policy Exchange’s report said: “In the circumstances, Ireland must give serious consideration to other options, including Irexit.”

The document was drawn up by Ray Bassett, a former first secretary at the Irish Embassy in Canber ra and Ambassador to Canada.

It said Ireland faced a huge choice.

“Whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, there will be a price to pay. For Ireland, there is really no upside to Brexit,” it said.

“The question to be raised is what price is Ireland willing to pay to stand in solidarity with the remaining 26 EU countries? If the Irish Government is willing to pay that price, will the Dáil, and possibly the population in a referendum, be equally willing to do so?”

“Simply sitting on the sidelines and allowing the EU to negotiate for Ireland is essentially untenable. The first duty of the EU negotiators is to act on behalf of the European Union as an institution. The type of deal that Ireland’s interests requires, however, including free trade with the UK, is directly in contradiction with the Union negotiators’ mandate that anything relating to Ireland and her border which emerges from the Brexit negotiations” A recent poll suggested that 88 per cent of Irish people think Ireland should stay in the EU.

Pamela Houston, chief executive of Scenic Carlingford Ferry, at the inaugural service at Greencastle, Co Down. Picture: Michael McHugh

Ferry uncertain for start-up cross-border business Michael McHugh THE head of the newest transport link between Northern Ireland and the Republic has urged a speedy resolution to the Brexit border question.

A ferry has begun plying the scenic Carlingford Lough dividing the two countries with the 15-minute journey, promising a boost for local tourism and business.

Bad weather rather than paperwork delayed the inaugural service but chief executive Pamela Houston said an unimpeded frontier should endure after the UK exits the EU. “We are a frictionless border,” she added. “I think people are used to that.

I think it is good for business.”

Ms Houston said people were used to taking travel documents when they

flew and added that a duty-free shop could create opportunities for her firm.

However she added: “We don’t want to see any impediments to travel and hope that a resolution can be found.”

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said the British Government has to clarify how the common travel area would be maintained. He also raised concerns about Brexit’s impact on the Good Friday Agreement.

British Brexit Secretary David Davis has said a “flexible and imaginative” approach is needed on the border.

Dozens of cars, local families and tourists from local caravan parks queued for the inaugural trip on the ferry from Greencastle in Co Down to Greenore in Co Louth. One cyclist was among those in the queue waiting while

the blustery winds whipped up the sea underneath leaden skies. Des McConville, a memebr of the Armagh Down Cycling Club, waited to be the first cyclist on board.

He said his club cycled regularly in the Cooley Mountains and the Mourne Mountains, on either side of the rugged border, and could now cover both in one day.

“It is madness the whole Brexit issue, look at what we are doing here between a wee bit of water,” Mr McConville said.

“It will be fascinating to see if there will be some form of check going across the border, I have no idea what will happen, but it will not stop the cyclists. We will do it.”

Ensuring freedom of movement across the Irish border, the UK’s only land frontier with the EU, is one of the

first topics up for discussion between the UK and Europe and featured in last week’s Brussels negotiations.

Many people cross the border for work every day and local businesses are opposed to lengthy queues for people and goods. The ferry, which can carry 44 cars, will create 18 full-time jobs. It follows a €10 million nvestment

by Frazer Ferries Group, Limerick.

Meanwhile, the EU has withdrawn an offer of €17.4 million towards a bridge spanning Carlingford Lough because additional funding has not been found.

The cable-stayed bridge, 195 metres long, has been in the planning process for years and would have connected Cornamucklagh near Omeath, Co Louth, with Narrow Water near Warrenpoint, Co Down, at an historic crossing point.

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

ireland CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION A ‘MORAL NECESSITY’, MINISTER IN CHARGE OF PLAN SAYS

Ireland morally bound to step up green policies Dart line can be extended to Balbriggan by 2022 and that heavy goods vehicle speed limits could be lowered to 80km/h. It recommends 14 compressed natural gas refuelling stations for cars be set up and a grant scheme for electric vehicles by 2020.

Retrofitting of homes is also an important factor in energy efficiency, with a scheme to upgrade 1,500 properties, while landlords will come under pressure next year to have minimum thermal standards.

Guidelines on wind energy are to be finalised next year. Planners are being asked to consider integrated policies that would reduce travel demand and encourage more walking, cycling and public transport and cleaner transport.

The plan asks for an analysis of suitable reservoirs for carbon storage, more support for biomass and a review of how farming can be improved.

“On climate change, change is possible. Our role is to put the levers for change into peoples’ hands,” Mr Naughten said.

“This is our work at home, while abroad we stand firm in our commitment to the Paris Agreement.”

Ed Carty THE Government minister charged with overseeing Ireland’s new plan to combat climate change has declared it is a moral necessity.

More than 100 initiatives are proposed to reduce emissions, including cutting the speed limit on motorways from 120km/h to 110km/h and finding cleaner replacement fuel for Moneypoint power station.

Denis Naughten, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, said it was the first step in getting all of government to address the issue of greenhouse gases.

“As a country, we are playing catch-up on our obligations in relation to climate change,” he said. “This obligation is as much an opportunity as an obligation. In any event, it is a moral necessity and a vital national interest.”

The plan includes a considerable number of reviews over the next few years, such as one on the future of peat power plants and another setting out what subsidies are given for fossil fuels. It has a goal for all new cars to be zero emission in 2030, that the

Billy Collins from Wexford town riding his sulky past a field of wind turbines in Kilmore. Picture: Niall Carson

RENEWABLE ENERGY

EU to spend millions on renewable energy Michael McHugh

THE EU is to spend almost €10 million on researching renewable energy in Britain and Ireland.

The work will focus on the use of tidal power at Strangford Lough and the North Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland, ocean energy sites in Western Scotland and the potential for wave and tidal power generation in Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

A virtual centre of competence at Queen’s University Belfast will host cross-border studies into bio and marine-based power, the European funding organisation said.

“The region has a low level of industry relevant research and innovation within the renewable energy sector,” The chief executive officer of the Special EU Programmes Body

(SEUPB), Gina McIntyre, said. “The Br yden Centre project will help address this issue by creating a new centre of competence made up of dedicated PhD students creating high

“

A massive tidal energy project on the seabed off Ireland’s north coast is planned for next year.

”

quality research with strong commercial potential.”

Working with a number of crossborder partners the project will create the largest amount of cross-border research in this area to date.

It will recruit 34 doctoral and six

post-doctoral students to produce relevant research with the potential to produce strong commercial benefit.

The EU is contributing more than €9.3 million while matching funding for the project has been provided by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in Ireland and the Depar tment for the Economy in Northern Ireland. It will also focus on bioenergy, specifically heat, biogas and electricity which can be produced through the anaerobic digestion of agri-food waste.

A huge tidal energy project on the seabed off Northern Ireland’s north coast is planned for next year.

Cork-based DP Energy hopes to install a series of 100 megawatt (MW) turbines off Fair Head. It would generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 70,000 homes.

Tel: (02) 8243 2600 Fax: (02) 8243 2611 Email: georgina@celtictravel.com.au

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TRANSPORT

Network ‘creaking at seams’ Michael McHugh

IRELAND’S transpor t network is creaking at the seams because of insuf ficient investment, engineers have warned.

Bottlenecks are affecting daily life, with Dublin ranked in the top 20 most congested cities in the world, a report

by Engineers Ireland said.

It takes rush-hour commuters in Dublin almost twice as long to negotiate the traffic as in other cities, and the government needs to create a centralised organisation for addressing years of public under-spending, Engineers Ireland said.

“The lack of investment over a period of many years has resulted in a transport network that is creaking at the seams,” the reports.

The Government has said it will invest another €500 million in infrastructure in each of the years between 2019 and 2021.

Engineers Ireland wants a single infrastructure unit, to ensure effective delivery and long-term return on this investment.

It said a lack of capital investment

over the past few years, specifically in land transport, had resulted in bottlenecks and congestion which are beginning to impact on the day-to-day lives of people.

The repor t said development of Dublin’s Metro North and the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway must be accelerated. It called for M50 variable speed limits and multi-point tolling around Dublin’s ring road and construction of the Eastern Bypass to alleviate traffic queues on the M50 at peak times.

“Planning and deliver y in these areas [like housing and transport] are spread across Government departments, each competing for finite funding, with multiple layers of decision-making and little central oversight,” Engineers Ireland’s president, Kieran Feighan, said.

A single infrastructure unit, as in the UK and Switzerland, could work collaboratively with external experts to identify priority infrastr ucture projects as part of an integrated and long-term vision, speed up project delivery, and explore innovative financing and funding mechanisms.

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

ireland IRISH ECONOMY TO GROW BY 4.5 PER CENT, CENTRAL BANK PREDICTS

Economic rebound continues Michael McHugh

THE Irish economy is expected to grow by 4.5 per cent this year after the Central Bank revised its outlook upwards.

Predictions for growth next year also rose to 3.6 per cent and the number in work is likely to reach 2.1 million for the first time since the economic crash a decade earlier.

Improving incomes and employment plus forecast export growth are largely responsible for the more optimistic projection.

“The Irish economy continues to grow at a strong pace and the prospects for sustained and solid economic growth remain positive,” the bank’s chief economist, Gabriel Fagan, said: “Revised projections for growth this year and in 2018 reflect both stronger momentum in the domestic economy and improved prospects for external demand, especially from our European trading partners.”

The Government has set out plans to spend an additional €1.5 billion between 2019 and 2021 after the

countr y emerged from recession.

House prices have rocketed and ministers forecast 55,000 new jobs next year. The bank warned that Brexit and the sensitivity to other potential international shocks still posed risks.

“Positive developments in the labour market have helped incomes to recover, in tur n suppor ting solid growth in consumer spending, though employment growth is expected to moderate next year following a period of exceptionally strong increases,” Mr Fagan said.

“Inflation remains subdued, reflecting the effect on goods prices of euro appreciation against sterling and weakness in energy prices.”

It said the headline inflation rate is expected to increase by 0.3 per cent in 2017, a downward revision from 0.7 per cent. Excluding energy, it is expected to remain flat this year and climb to 1 per cent next year.

“As a small and open economy, Ireland continues to face economic risks externally,” Mr Fagan added.

“And despite there being little new information emerging to date, it is clear

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is very upbeat about the Irish economy.

that the economic impact of Brexit on Ireland is set to be negative and material. At home, we must continue to pr udently monitor the risk of overheating.”

For the first time, the Central Bank measured the size of the Irish economy excluding the distor ting ef fects of multinational corporations’ activities on Gross Domestic Product.

“This new measurement results in

notably higher general government deficit and debt ratios as well as higher ratios of private sector indebtedness than when using the traditional measurement of GDP,” the bank said.

“As such, the Central Bank continues to underscore the importance of economic policies that underpin stability and reduce uncertainty.”

Meanwhile the Central Statistics Office, which has begun using new techniques to more accurately value business performance, said Ireland’s GDP grew by 5.1 per cent in 2016.

However, in the first three months of t h i s y e a r, t h i s s t a n d a r d assessment showed the economy had contracted by 2.6 per cent.

The CSO also said that when gross national product numbers are examined, which discount the effects of multinationals, the economy shrank by 7.1 per cent in the first quarter.

Despite the short-term dip, the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, said the numbers were very positive. “This confirms that Ireland was the fastest growing economy in the European Union in 2016,” he said.

MORE THAN 1500 DOGS EUTHANISED ACROSS IRELAND IN 2016

Three killed en route home from holiday THREE women, including a mother and daughter, have been killed in a road accident as they returned home from a holiday in Turkey.

The crash happened on the N2 a few minutes north of Ardee as a group travelled home to Donegal from Dublin Airport.

The women were named locally as Mairead Mundy and Rachael Cassidy Battles, both in their late 30s, and friends and neighbours who lived beside each other in the village of Bruckless, south Donegal. The third victim was Ms Mundy’s mother, 69-year-old Margaret McGonigle.

A six-year-old girl, one of Ms Battles’ four children, was seriously injured in the crash and taken to Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Aran ferry accident sparks safety fears AUTHORITIES have called for new safety measures on one of the Aran Islands after a man and woman fell into the sea while disembarking a ferry. The woman, who hurt her back, and the man, who could not swim, ended up in the water at Inis Oirr pier after a gangway came loose on the bank holiday Monday in June last year.

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board found that ropes used to fasten the stern of the ferry to the quayside had not been properly tied on. And it warned that the crew of the MV Rose of Aran, owned by Liscannor Ferry Company, was not trained or prepared for rescuing someone from the harbour.

Teenager drowns at Roscommon marina A TEENAGER has drowned while swimming in the River Shannon.

The 17-year-old boy got into difficulty at Harbour View marina near the village of Tarmonbarry in Co Roscommon. His body was recovered a short time later and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Minimum wage set to increase

Actress Pauline McLynn joins the protest outside the Department of Agriculture calling for a ban greyhound exports. Picture: Brian Lawless

Ireland in doghouse on canine welfare, activists claim

Ed Carty AT LEAST four stray or unwanted dogs were put down every day last year, official figures show.

Council pounds’ records show that 1,522 former pets were euthanised in 2016 – about 300 fewer than the previous year.

The highest euthanasia numbers were in Limerick City and county where 243 dogs, plus 31 greyhounds, were put down last year.

Figures released by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government show that the regions with the best records for keeping dogs alive included Leitrim, where only one out of 155 strays were put down. In Meath only four out of 339 dogs in the pound were euthanised while in Kilkenny it was six of 240 strays taken to the pound and in Monaghan it was eight out of 411.

Dublin Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals spokeswoman Gillian Bird called for a ban on the online trade in dogs. “We need more of a clampdown on how people sell animals.

“Dogs should only be available through registered kennel club breeders or rescue centres.”

Ms Bird also raised concerns about the number of dogs not being neutered in Ireland and how strong the links are between pounds and rescue centres.

“The reason the figures are so high … is because it is easy to access a dog,” she added.

“The solution: we start by banning the online trade and then move to regulation. That would reduce the number of backyard breeders and puppy farms.”

Some 9,244 stray pets were sent to the pound last year, the report showed.

Other areas with high levels of euthanasia were Wexford, where 171 dogs were put down; Tipperary (158

dogs, plus 37 greyhounds); Kerry (143 dogs, plus 44 greyhounds); and Clare (129 dogs).

The report also revealed 2,821 on-the-spot fines for breaches of the Control of Dogs Act for offences such as not muzzling a restricted breed or having no licence or identity tags.

Meanwhile, there have been calls for the State to ban the exportation of greyhounds overseas to end the slaughter and brutal treatment of dogs in countries such as China.

Thousands of Irish greyhounds that can no longer run in races, or have been overbred, are being shipped overseas each year where they face torturous treatment.

Independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan called on the State to reverse its “appalling record on animal welfare” and ensure that Irish greyhounds who have finished their domestic racing careers are no longer shipped overseas

where they face “horrible treatment and a painful death”.

The Irish Council Against Bloodsports (ICABS) and the UK group Caged (Campaign Against Greyhound Exploitation and Death) have begun a nationwide advertising campaign to highlight the cruelty towards greyhounds, in Ireland and abroad.

The Department of Agriculture said it maintained a close working relationship with animal welfare charities and had met those dealing with greyhound exports.

“Information received to date from the department’s local offices indicates that no greyhounds were exported directly from Ireland to China to date this year,” it said in a statement, adding that nine greyhounds were exported last year.

It said while it had data on exports to EU countries it could not track movements to subsequent destinations.

IRELAND’S minimum wage is set to increase by 30 cents an hour.

The lowest paid will receive €9.55 an hour, or an extra €12 for a 40-hour week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said.

Ireland’s Low Pay Commission made the recommendation.

“This would be a modest increase but it’s ahead of the rate of inflation and average increases in earnings,” Mr Varadkar said.

It would be the fourth increase in the minimum wage since 2011, the second under this Government, and a further step towards the Programme for Government commitment for a minimum wage of €10.50, the Taoiseach said.

Environmental fears for sensitive Lough PORT authorities near one of Ireland’s most environmentally sensitive regions have asked a waste firm to shelve plans for a new facility to process hazardous liquids.

Environment experts have been assessing an application by Re-Gen to operate the plant in Warrenpoint, Co Down amid opposition by oyster farmers and campaigners on both sides of the border.

There was no obligation to seek consent from the Environmental Protection Agency in the Republic.

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

news U2 PACK OUT CROKE PARK ON JOSHUA TREE TOUR

U2 relish in some sort of homecoming Katie Archer

U2 made a triumphant retur n to Dublin’s Croke Park on the only Irish date of their current world tour.

The band are celebrating the 30th anniversar y of their hit album The Joshua Tree by touring and stopped in for a homecoming show to play to a packed-out stadium.

Performing in front of a striking red background with a silhouette of a tree, the band were easily picked out by their thousands of fans even from the back of the stadium.

Hits from the 1987 album include Where The Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and With Or Without You. Earlier in the evening, the band tweeted a photo of the packed stadium that they were looking out at.

The band were supported by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Celebrity concer tgoers included Colin Farrell, Robbie Keane and his wife Claudine, Shane McGowan and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

During the gig, a touching tribute was paid to notable Irish women including former Presidents Mary Robinson and Mar y McAleese, and the late Captain Dara Fitzpatrick.

People living near Croke Park said that the concert was so loud, they could hear it for miles around.

“Ah lads, if I had wanted to hear U2 tonight, I’d have bought a ticket. I live 3km from Croke Park,” one person tweeted.

Another added: “U2 are so loud in Croke Park, despite being miles away at home, I can still hear them.”

However, fans also shared their views from inside the stadium, praising the band’s show.

The tour takes in dates in Europe, America, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. There is still no confirmation of Australian dates and venues.

Welcome home: (Main pic) U2 on stage in Croek Park. (From left) actor Colin Farrell: footballer Robbie Keane and wife Claudine with some local bean gardaí and a wheelchair-bound Shane McGowan.

UNIVERSITY UNDER FIRE FOR CONFERRAL

Regrets? I have a few, says former Taoiseach Cowen Deborah McAleese

FORMER Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said he regrets that a quarter of a million people lost their jobs during the recession.

In a rare public appearance, Mr Cowen insisted, however, that significant cuts in public expenditure had been necessary to ensure future economic success. Mr Cowen was speaking after he controversially received an honorar y degree from the National University of Ireland.

The former taoiseach received a law doctorate in recognition of his “role in Irish politics”.

The university’s chanceller, Maurice Manning, conferred the degree on Mr Cowen at a ceremony in Dublin Castle.

Mr Cowen took the opportunity to reflect upon the “arduous task” he faced as taoiseach with the onset of the financial crisis.

“The greatest hardship of the recession was the loss of employment for so many of our people – something which I deeply regret. Two hundred and fifty thousand of our two million workforce lost jobs,” he said.

“We knew that the required action would understandably be more unpopular than almost any policies in recent Irish histor y and that this thr eatened the sur vival of the Government and our hopes of election.

However ... to avoid taking the decisions would mean that future recovery could be put off by decades.”

But there has been a wave of public criticism following the conferral.

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Brian Cowen has been conferred with an honorary doctorate.

The founding president of University of Limerick has strongly criticised the NUI’s decision to honour Mr Cowen and will hand back his own honorary doctorate in protest.

Edward Walsh, a controversial figure in education circles, wrote to the NUI this week to express his “amazement” at the decision. “[Bertie] Ahern and Cowen inherited an Ireland which, in 2000, had full employment, was the fifth most competitive in the world and, after Luxembourg, had the lowest debt in Europe, ” he said .

“Through their inept stewardship, they brought Ireland to its knees and caused much hardship to its citizens.

In other jurisdictions, such people would find themselves held to account by society and suffer consequences,” Dr Walsh said.

It is a tradition in the NUI that former taoisigh and presidents are awarded honorary doctorates.

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

ireland IRISH SAILOR TO TAKE ON WORLD RACE USING ONLY TRADITIONAL NAVIGATION TOOLS

Have sextant, will travel for intrepid global sailor Ed Carty AN Irish sailor is attempting to turn back the clock as he competes in the second running of a unique round the world race that allows only traditional navigation skills.

Gregor McGuckin, originally from Dublin, is to spend about nine months at sea on a non-stop solo trip using only paper charts, a compass and sextant and a radio.

More people have been in space than have successfully completed the feat, which the 30-year-old has dubbed a “voyage for mad men”.

Mr McGuckin is one of 30 contenders in the 2018 Golden Globe Race, which a year from now will recreate the record-setting trip of Sir Robin KnoxJohnston in 1968 – the first man to sail single-handed around the world.

He was the only one of nine competitors to complete the race and it has never been re-run until now.

“I always had a plan that I’d get my own boat and ideally sail around the world... but I’d almost resigned myself to not doing it until this opportunity came along,” Mr McGuckin said.

The sailor put off telling his girlfriend Barbara for several months but she has embraced the adventure and is helping him prepare a primary schools’ course to allow children to follow his voyage while learning about the oceans.

“It’s not the easiest thing to ask of someone but I think she always knew it was coming,” he said.

Competitors will use old fashioned non-laminate cloth sails. Carbon fibre vessels are banned and GPS will only be used to send locations to race control. The sailors cannot bring laptops, MP3 players or tablets for fear they will be engineered to help with navigation.

“If it didn’t exist in the 1960s, then no,” Mr McGuckin said.

The race will set off from Plymouth on June 30, 2018 and cover 30,000 miles via Cape Horn and four rendezvous gates, including the Canaries and Tasmania in Australia.

Mr McGuckin said he has “maxed out” money raising efforts to get to the starting line, after getting the €10,000 entry fee and buying his Biscay ketch.

“Finding the boat was tough enough and then finding some way to finance it then is another story altogether.”

Gregor McGuckin will take on the Golden Globe Race, alsoknown as the “voyage for mad men”.

MORE THAN 500,000 IRISH PASSPORTS ISSUED SO FAR IN 2017

Spike in demand for passports continues David Young

APPLICATIONS for Irish passports from within the UK continue to surge, new figures show.

The number of people applying for Irish citizenship in Northern Ireland and Britain between January and June is up significantly on the same sixmonth period in 2016.

The authorities in Dublin have previously acknowledged the Brexit vote as a key factor in the ongoing increase, with application numbers having soared since the UK’s vote to leave the EU in June last year.

As one of the 27 remaining member states, anyone with an Irish passport will retain EU citizenship post-Brexit.

Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, anyone from Northern Ireland is eligible for an Irish passport. People from Great Britain must prove a close Irish family link.

In Nor thern Ireland, there have been 53,547 applications between January and June. In the same period

last year there were 37,537 – a rise of 43 per cent. In regard to applications from Great Britain, there have been 45,307 so far this year, with 27,671 between January and June 2016 – a 64 per cent increase. The number of applications from the UK this year are on course to be well ahead of 2016.

In 2017 so far there have been a combined 98,854, compared to 65,208

applications in the same period last year. Across the whole of last year there were a total of 132,968 from Northern Ireland and Great Britain (67,972 and 64,996 respectively) – a figure that also includes resubmitted applications, unlike the in-year date published by the Irish Government Overall, applications for Irish passports in the first six months of this year are up by 10 per cent, with more than 500,000 passports having been issued since January.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the introduction of an online application process in March had helped deal with the high demand.

“Online renewals now account for almost 17 per cent of all applications, well ahead of initial projections,” he said.

“I would ask that anyone applying for a passport would first be sure to visit our website, www.dfa.ie/passport, to find out which ser vice and turn around time suits them best.”

MURDER-ACCUSED BLAMES ‘THE POWER’, COURT HEARS

Mother charged with toddler’s murder Ed Carty

A WOMAN charged with murdering her toddler son told detectives “it was not me, it was the power”, a Dublin court has heard.

Maha Al Adheem, 42, appeared briefly before the Dublin District Court over the death of three-year-old Omar Omran. The child was found dead in the Riverside apartment complex in Kimmage, Dublin, where he lived with his mother.

Garda Sergeant Brendan O’Halloran told the cour t Ms Al Adheem was

arrested and charged with murder. He told the court that when charged she replied: “Yes, it was my knife. Yes it was my hand. It was not me, it was the power.”

Judge Michael Walsh remanded Ms Al Adheem in custody. An application for legal aid was made by solicitor Richard Young.

A makeshift shrine has been established at the gates to the Riverside apar tments. Balloons, flowers and messages have been attached to railings, and dozens of teddy bears and children’s toys were squeezed in

against a small wall at the entrance.

Some neighbours left records of their own memories of Omar, including one which read: “Dear Omar. Here are your toys back you little divil (sic).

“I’ve spent two years picking them up after you’d thrown them over the balcony down in front of us. All with a smile on my face of course.

“They all mean a lot to me. I always enjoyed hearing you acting the maggot. I’m so sorry this is the last time I’ll ever collect them.”

“I hope you are at peace now my pal,” another wrote.

OLDEST COUNTIES AND TOWNS REVEALED

Killarney has the highest average age of any Irish town.

Mayo, Kerry claim senior title as Fingal stays young Ed Carty

KERRY and Mayo can lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest counties, the census has revealed.

The average age of people in Ireland in April last year was 37.4 years old, up 1.3 years since 2011, with Fingal in north Dublin home to the most young people and an average age of 34.3.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) also reported that Ireland had 456 centenarians on census night, an increase of 17.2 per cent on 2011.

Its report on age profiles found that in the average age in Kerry and Mayo was 40.2. And it was also able to show the oldest and youngest towns in the country. Balbriggan in Co Dublin the most youthful with the average age just 30.8, followed by Maynooth at 31.9, Ashbourne at 32,.2, Navan at 33.1 and Portlaoise at 33.2.

And the most ageing towns were Killarney, where the average age was 40.9, followed by Wexford at 39.4, Malahide 38.6 and Clonmel and Sligo both with an average age of 38.5.

The CSO noted Ireland’s population, like most of western Europe, is ageing, and has been since the 1980s. There are now 637,567 people over 65.

And the repor t said the census showed since 2011 there has been a fall

in the number of children under four and the number of young adults aged 19 to 24.

“This profile report examines the age breakdown of Ireland’s population and the characteristics of different age groups by geographic area, accommodation and household composition,” CSO senior statistician Deirdre Cullen said. “It aims to build on the earlier results on age and sex composition.”

The census found 37 per cent of the population is aged 45 and over, compared with 34.4 per cent in 2011 and 27.6 per cent in 1986.

In rural areas the average age is 2.4 years older than in towns and cities with the CSO noting the influence that third-level colleges have on population due to the influx of 18-22-year-olds in some areas.

The census also found that women are on average 1.3 years older than men. It found that age dependency is rising, with the number of people aged under 14 and over 65 rising compared to those of working age.

The CSO said the number of people aged over 65 increased by 102,174 in the five years to April 2016 - twice the increase in the 15-64 age group.

There were 76,207 children living in apartments and 392,119 children in rental accommodation.

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

ireland PADDY JACKSON AND STUART OLDING TO FACE COURT

Rugby stars on rape charge David Young

TWO Ulster and Ireland rugby stars are to be prosecuted for rape.

Paddy Jackson, 25, and Stuar t Olding, 24, strenuously deny the offence, which was alleged to have happened in Belfast last June.

The Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby said they took the allegations “extremely seriously” and announced both players would be “relieved of their duties and obligations” until the conclusion of the court process. Given the length of time court proceedings take in Northern Ireland, it is likely both players will miss the entirety of the coming season.

The men were ar rested and questioned last summer. They were released pending a report being submitted to prosecutors in Nor thern Ireland. The Public Prosecution Ser vice (PPS) has said four men questioned in relation to the incident are to be prosecuted.

Jackson and Olding are to be prosecuted for rape. Another man is accused of sexual offences while the

other faces counts of withholding information and perverting the course of justice. They will appear in court to face the charges next month.

Fly-half Jackson has been capped for Ireland 25 times while centre Olding has played four times. The two Belfast men are established stars for Ulster Rugby. Lawyers for Jackson and Olding stressed that the men denied the charges.

“We are ver y disappointed at the decision of the PPS to prosecute, given the particular circumstances and facts known in this case,” Jackson’s solicitor Kevin Winters said.

“Our client rejects completely the allegations made against him and we are confident he will be exonerated in due course “Given that the case will be a jury trial it is absolutely critical that nothing is done or said in the media to prejudice due process and to that end we urge restraint on any sensationalist reporting. We will push for as early a hearing as possible as Patrick wants to quickly resume playing his rugby for Ulster and representing his country.”

Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding are due in court next month.

Olding’s solicitor Joe Rice said his client was determined to prove his innocence.

“It is disappointing that over a year since the original allegation was made that the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland has now issued a decision to prosecute,” said Mr Rice.

“He is not subject to any bail conditions and he’s anxious to restore his good name through the court process in Northern Ireland, where the charge

against him will be fully contested.”

The PPS has confirmed that a decision has been taken to prosecute four men for offences relating to an allegation of rape on June 28, 2016 in south Belfast.

A PPS spokesman said following a “careful review of all of the available evidence”, and in accordance with its code for prosecutors, it had been decided there was “sufficient evidence to prosecute four individuals”.

The IRFU and Ulster Rugby said they were aware that the two men had been charged “in relation to serious allegations made against them”.

“The players have co-operated fully and strenuously deny the charges,” the two organisations said in a statement.

“The IRFU and Ulster Rugby take these allegations extremely seriously.

“To allow the players time to address this matter fully, the IRFU and Ulster Rugby have agreed that they will be relieved of their duties and obligations until the conclusion of this process.

“Appropriate support structures will be put in place with them during this time,” they said.

SIMPLE IDEA AND PLENTY OF DRIVE PAYS OFF FOR BELFAST FIRM

Blowout in spending on First Communion NORTHERN Ireland families spent more than £500 on their child’s First Holy Communion this year, a survey has revealed.

Spending on gifts reached a five-year high among a small sample of parents interviewed on behalf of Ulster Bank. The average bill for the day hit £538 this year, an increase of £39 on last year.

Children received an average of £350 in gifts, a five-year high and an increase of 16 per cent on last year, the research shows.

Most of the bill for the day itself was spent on the party, celebrations or food and drink (an average of £245), the highest recorded in recent years. Children’s outfits accounted for 30 per cent of the total amount spent (an average of £161), up 26 per cent since 2013.

Ireland’s new chief justice revealed SUPREME Court judge Frank Clarke is to be Ireland new chief justice.

Current chief justice Susan Denham is retiring after six years as the country’s top judge.

Justice Clarke, 65, was selected at the Government’s last cabinet meeting before the summer recess.

The Dubliner became a Supreme Court judge in 2012.

Born in Walkinstown, Dublin, in 1951, he was educated at Drimnagh Castle CBS and University College Dublin where he was awarded a BA in Mathematics and Economics. He was called to the Bar in 1973.

Posthumous degree for mother-or-two THE first Irish Coast Guard volunteer to die on a search mission has been awarded a posthumous degree.

Caitriona Ros Lucas, 41, a librarian from Co Clare, had been studying for a BSc in information and library studies when she died at sea off the coast of Co Clare last September. The mother of two, who also volunteered with the Search and Rescue Dog Association and was an artist, drowned when the rescue boat she was in with two colleagues capsized in heavy Atlantic swell.

She had been studying by distance learning with Aberystwyth University in Wales since June 2015.

The college held a minute’s silence as it honoured her at a graduation ceremony attended by widower Bernard and the couple’s son Ben.

Rogue salmon turn up in Irish rivers EYES ON THE BALL: (From left) GolfNow vice-president Brian Smith, Invest Northern Ireland chairman Mark Ennis, BRS Golf co-founder Rory Smith and Mike McCarley (front), president, Golf, NBC Sports, at the official opening of GolfNow’s new international offices in Belfast.

Brothers chip in to help golf business tee off globally

David Young AN innovation developed by two Belfast brothers is helping golfers tee off around the world.

Technology experts Brian and Rory Smith reflected on an idea first hatched at a local golf club 14 years ago as they opened new £1.1 million offices in their home city.

Their software enabling golfers to book tee-times online is now being used internationally, particularly in the US and Canada, as a consequence of their acquisition by GolfNow – a company operated by US TV network NBC’s Golf Channel.

GolfNow’s investment has meant

a doubling of the Smith brothers’ workforce in Belfast to 71 employees and has paved the way for the opening of the office space in the City Quays complex.

Brian Smith, who sold his house to finance the business – called BRS Golf – in its early days, said the journey since 2003 had been “incredible”.

“We could not have even dreamt of being at this stage. It’s just unbelievable,” he said.

He first came up with the idea when having a chat with the manager of a local golf club about the effort needed to keep on top of phone calls from members and visitors wishing to secure a slot on the first tee.

“We reckon we were one of the first

in the world to develop an online tee sheet management system that allowed members and visitor to go on and book online,” Brian Smith said.

The GolfNow operation in Belfast now partners with more than 75 per cent of golf courses in Ireland and the UK, and has facilitated the booking of more than 700,000 rounds so far in 2017 and more than 2.1 million rounds in the last three years.

The president of golf at NBC Sports, Mike McCarley, was in Belfast to open the offices.

Noting that golfing great Arnold Palmer helped found the Golf Channel, he speculated the late sporting superstar would have approved of the technology developed in Belfast.

“He would be proud of this and what’s happening,” Mr McCarley said.

“What we had was two brothers from Belfast who believed in a business and believed in a concept.”

Both before and after the acquisition

by GolfNow, the Smith brothers have received financial backing from Stormont business development agency Invest NI. “Since its acquisition of BRS Golf in 2013, GolfNow has experienced unprecedented growth, which is a testament to the drive and focus of the management team, the quality of talent that it has been able to recruit here and to Northern Ireland’s reputation within the global technology sector,” Invest NI chairman Mark Ennis said.

PACIFIC salmon are turning up in Irish rivers, it has been revealed. Some of the country’s most prestigious angling spots have recorded the nonnative pink or humpback species, which originates on the west coasts of the US and Canada and Russian Arctic regions.

The invasive fish have been identified in the Foxford and Coolcronan fisheries on the River Moy in Mayo, in the Galway Fishery on the River Corrib, the River Cong and the Drowes Salmon Fishery on the Donegal-Leitrim border.

Shane Gallagher, manager of the Drowes fishery, said an angler on his river reported catching a pink salmon of about 5lb in weight.

“They are a complete unknown quantity,” he said..

The fish have some distinguishing features including large black oval spots on the tail. They also have between 11 and 19 rays on the anal fin and no dark spots on the gill

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

news RTE ANNOUNCES REVIEW OF ‘ROLE AND GENDER EQUALITY’ OVER PAY DISPARITY CONCERNS

Scrutiny for RTÉ’s gender pay gap R TÉ is to review “role and gender equality” across the organisation following concern over pay disparity.

The move comes after the BBC’s publication of top salaries sparked a row over gender pay inequality.

RTÉ said that details of a review of role and gender equality across the organisation will be announced “soon”.

The organisation added that as “an equal opportunities employer with a close to 50/50 gender split across the organisation, RTÉ takes its obligations very seriously”.

The BBC last week disclosed the salaries of its top presenters. Of the 96 names published only 34 were women.

Since then R TÉ has faced calls to reveal the salaries of all its presenters.

Currently, the broadcaster reveals just its top 10 salaries on a two-year delay. The organisation said it will

bring forward the publication of fees paid to its 10 highest-paid presenters and will release the details soon.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) had called for an external review of employment contracts and practices at the broadcaster.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten has said he wants RTÉ to reveal the salaries of any presenter on €100,000-plus every year.

Mr Naughten wants this system to replace RTÉ’s voluntary publishing of its top 10 salaries every two years.

Following RTÉ’s announcement, the NUJ said the decision to bring forward information about top earners does not address the union’s concerns.

“The union, and our members at RTÉ, are seeking transparency in relation to the process of pay negotiations at RTÉ, including clarification of how and why individuals are of fered preferential status compared to colleagues doing comparative work,” the

LITERATURE

HUGE GAME OF THRONES TAPESTRY GOES ON SHOW AT ULSTER MUSEUM

Deborah McAleese and repoRTÉrs

NUJ added. One of RTÉ’s best-known faces, SixOne news presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin told the Irish Indpendent that she is paid less than her colleague Bryan Dobson, despite a very similar role and almost identical responsibilities.

“I believe that I am well remunerated, but for the record, my pay is still considerably less than that of Bryan’s,” she told the newspaper.

Mr Dobson is among RTÉ’s top 10 earners, with an annual salar y of €195,816 in 2014. He is repoRTÉd to be moving to a role on Mor ning Ireland, RTÉ Radio’s flagship news and current affairs program.

The issue of men earning more than women in broadcasting was brought into sharp focus by revelations of significant pay disparities at the BBC. At least 10 female BBC presenters are now considering legal action if the corporation does not narrow the gender pay gap. The women, household

News anchor Sharon Ní Bheoláin

names from radio and television, were furious to learn that male colleagues who shared their job descriptions are significantly better paid.

One of those whose earnings were revealed was Ulster-based presenter Stephen Nolan.

His lucrative £400,000 to £449,000 salar y makes him one of the best rewarded in the corporation.

He presents seven days a week on Radio 5 Live, Radio Ulster and BBC One Northern Ireland and revealed he had turned down rival offers of more cash for significantly less work.

“I want to work as much as I can,” Nolan said. “I want to be the best I can be and I want to earn as much as I can.”

The list of top BBC earners revealed that Nolan is paid more than a number of well-known broadcasters and presenters, including Radio 4’s Today presenter Nick Robinson (£250,000 to £299,000).

Newsreader and Antiques Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce earns between £350,000 and £399,000, and the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg earns between £200,000 and £249,000.

Nolan was the only Nor ther n Ireland-based BBC broadcaster on the list of those receiving at least £150,000.

He said it was for others to decide on pay but he said it was a pleasure for him to work at the BBC.

Tóibín wins US literary peace prize Dan Sewell

NOVELIST, journalist and essayist Colm Tóibín is this year’s winner of a US lifetime achievement award that celebrates the power of literature to foster peace, social justice and global understanding.

Dayton Literary Peace Prize officials named Tóibín, whose wide range of work has drawn from his native Ireland, his life as a gay man and his travels as an international journalist, for the Richard C Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.

It is named after the late US diplomat who brokered the 1995 Bosnia peace accords reached in Ohio.

Among his novels are The Master, depicting the life of the famed writer Henry James; Brooklyn, a coming-ofage stor y about an Irish immigrant later made into an Oscar-nominated film; and the recent House Of Names, his reimagining of a Greek tragedy.

Dayton Literar y Peace Prize Foundation co-chair Sharon Rab said Tóibín’s writings “remind us of shared humanity and the possibility of reconciliation or simply of understanding ... the first steps to making peace. ” Tóibín, 62, said in a statement in response to winning the award.

“Good sentences offer us a way to imagine life in all its strangeness and ambiguity and possibility, alert us to the power of the imagination to transform and transcend our nature, offer us a blueprint not only for who we are but for who we might be, who we might become,” he said.

Previous winners include Studs Terkel, Taylor Branch, Gloria Steinem and Elie Wiesel. The award carries a US$10,000 cash prize.

Tourism Northern Ireland’s John McGrillen, CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons and CEO of the Ulster Museum Kathryn Thomson, with the tapestry

GOT a great idea? Ulster Museum has it sewn up Deborah McAleese MYTHICAL scenes from the hit fantasy drama Game Of Thrones have been immortalised in a spectacular new 77-metre tapestry.

Snaking along several walls in Belfast’s Ulster Museum, the embroidered Northern Ireland linen depicts key scenes from seasons one to six of one of the most popular TV dramas ever made.

The tapestry was woven and handembroidered from material provided

by Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen in Banbridge, one of the last working mills in Northern Ireland, as part of a new tourism campaign.

As season seven returns to the nation’s screens on Monday, a team of 30 embroiderers are hard at work extending the magnificent creation.

With each passing episode, a new section of the Bayeux-style tapestry will be unveiled, showing key scenes from that week’s show.

The linen, which depicts unforgettable scenes such as the red wedding,

wildfire at King’s Landing and white walkers prowling north of the Wall, is now on display in the Ulster Museum.

An exciting feature of the tapestry, which has so far taken about three months to make, is that it will feature hidden cameo appearances by a number of famous faces who have appeared on the show.

Tourism Ireland said its latest campaign, created in partnership with HBO and supported by Tourism NI, offers fans the chance to relive their favourite scenes from the show all year long.

The tapestry will be shared by Tourism Ireland on social media and fans of the show can download the app to find out more about the scenes.

Game Of Thrones has been filmed in Northern Ireland since 2010. The show’s mythical lands of the Seven Kingdoms are set in real life among Northern Ireland’s dramatic coastlines, historic castles and glens.

The long list of showcased areas includes the Causeway Coast, Cushendun Caves, Murlough Bay, Ballycastle, Castle Ward, the ruined monastery

The popular Game Of Thrones series is shot in Northern Ireland. of Inch Abbey and the surfing beach of Downhill Strand.

Since 2014, Tourism Ireland has been using Game Of Thrones to help promote Northern Ireland to visitors, aiming to capitalise on the show’s huge worldwide appeal.

“TV and film are recognised as strong influencers on travellers everywhere and the stellar popular-

ity of Game Of Thrones is a fantastic opportunity for us to promote Northern Ireland to a huge audience of potential visitors,” said Tourism Ireland CEO, Niall Gibbons.

“Our specially created Game Of Thrones tapestry is another truly innovative way to showcase the destination, creating a lasting legacy and a new visitor attraction to enhance the Game Of Thrones experience here for fans when they visit.”

Tourism NI chief executive John McGrillen said Game Of Thrones had been “transformative for Northern Ireland as a screen tourism destination.

The show has provided an opportunity for the tourism industry to develop new and innovative visitor experiences based on the Game Of Thrones theme,” he said. “This incredible tapestry gives visitors another way to explore the Game Of Thrones story in Northern Ireland, adding to the 25 stunning filming locations and the Journey of Doors passport.”

You can view the tapestry at Ireland.com/tapestry

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

ireland ‘NEW CHAPTER’ FOR FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED STAR PHILIP MULRYNE IN FIRST MASS AS PRIEST

Priesthood path calls for one-time Red Devil Michael McHugh A FORMER Manchester United and Northern Ireland footballer ordained to the priesthood has taken part in his first Mass.

Philip Mulryne, 39, returned to his native Belfast for a special Catholic religious service at St Oliver Plunkett Church. The new priest was joined by friends and well-wishers at the Mass, only a few miles from Windsor Park Stadium where he once donned the green jersey of Northern Ireland 27 times, flanked by white-robed members of his order.

Mulryne, a product of the youth system at Old Trafford, made his debut for the club’s first team in 1997.

His only league appearance for United was on the last day of the 1997–98 season.

He was unable to secure a regular place on legendary manager Alex Ferguson’s side and left Manchester to continue his playing career at clubs including Norwich City, where he played 161 matches, Cardiff City, Leyton Orient and finally King’s Lynn before retiring in 2008.

Tributes to victim of Dublin street attack THE father-of-three killed in a street attack in Swords, Co Dublin last month has been described as “one of the nicest and most genuine people anyone could meet”.

Dermot Byrne, 56, was a well-known pool player. Gardaí are treating his death as murder.

A 29-year-old man was arrested in connection with Mr Byrne’s death.

Shell sells stake in Corrib gas project ROYAL Dutch Shell has agreed a deal worth up to US$1.23billion to sell its stake in an Irish gas project in a move ending its exploration and production in the country.

The oil giant is offloading its 45 per cent stake in the Corrib gas venture to a subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Under the deal, Shell will exit its so-called upstream operations in Ireland, with its Shell Aviation joint venture based at Dublin airport set to be its sole remaining operation in the country.

The Corrib gas field was first discovered off the north west coast of Ireland in 1996, but it was mired in controversy and the first gas was only processed in late 2015, some 19 years later.

American tech firm creates 300 jobs A TECHNOLOGY firm is to create 300 jobs in Dublin.

Zendesk, which specialises in improving customer support, has more than 100,000 clients in 160 countries. The new Dublin base in Charlemont Place will oversee its work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

“I am particularly pleased to see Zendesk create new roles in technical areas, like engineering, infrastructure and mobile development … areas which are driving a global digital revolution,” Tánaiste and Jobs Minister Frances Fitzgerald said.

The clergyman said his vocation was a calling. “This is a new chapter now in my life,” he said.

He undertook the rites associated with Catholicism, assisted by a more senior cleric, involving the blessing of sacraments, according to Catholic doctrine transforming bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.

Mass-goers heard how his vocation as a friar preacher should be to “set hearts on fire” with the love of Jesus.

He was made a member of the Dominican Order at an ordination at St Saviour’s church in north Dublin at the weekend.

At the Mass, Fr John Walsh alluded to the bonfires which are traditionally lit in loyalist areas in Northern Ireland marking Twelfth of July festivities.

“Be an arsonist for Christ, to set the hearts as a friar preacher on fire with the love of Jesus,” he said. “May your years of priesthood be as happy as mine. May your Dominican years be long and fruitful.

“May you never forget the seed that was sown in this place ... [and those] who have come out in huge numbers to support you and your brothers.”

Fr Philip Mulryne at St Oliver Plunkett Church in Belfast and (inset) in his Mancheter United days.

BANK OF AMERICA PICKS DUBLIN FOR EUROPEAN HUB AFTER BREXIT

Brexit bank boost for Dublin Ed Carty

BANK of America has chosen Dublin as the base for its main European legal entities once Brexit kicks in.

The company, which has 700 staff in Ireland and about 6,500 in the UK, said that roles will be moved to other EU destinations.

Chairman and chief executive Brian Moynihan said the Irish capital was a natural choice for the move as the bank already has a fully licensed and operational Irish-domiciled subsidiary there.

“Dublin is the home of more of our employees than any other European city outside of the UK,” he said.

“We will move roles not only to Dublin but to other EU locations, with the focus on how we can best support our clients in these markets.

“While we await fur ther clarity around the Brexit negotiations, we are making all necessary preparations to ser ve our clients, however those

discussions conclude,” Mr Moynihan said. The exact scale and nature of Bank of America operations being switched to Dublin has not been confirmed.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met Mr Moynihan to discuss the plans. The decision was a strong endorsement for Ireland, he said.

“Bank of America has a long-standing commitment to Ireland and I look forward to this relationship growing and deepening in the years ahead,” Mr Varadkar said.

The announcement follows a number of big players in the city revealing post-Brexit plans.

Citigroup has opted for the German financial centre Frankfurt for its broker-dealer entity. Other banks, including Standard Chartered, Japan’s Daiwa and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG)and South Korea’s Woori Bank, have all confirmed plans for subsidiaries in Frankfurt.

Bank Of America will have its European base in Dublin, post Brexit.

Others, including JP Morgan, have indicated plans for a pan-European strategy, with proposals to spread staff acr oss sites including Dublin, Luxembourg and Frankfurt.

IDA Ireland, the country’s agency for attracting foreign investment, said Bank of America’s decision showed the

importance of Ireland as a gateway to the single market.

“This is yet another very important signal to the market that financial ser vices companies can come to Ireland and ser vice their European customers with minimum disruption to their business,” the IDA said.

NUMBER OF MARRIED PEOPLE IN IRELAND INCREASING, FIGURES REVEAL

Irish people increasingly wedded to being married David Young

More irish people are getting married, census figures show.

MARRIAGE rates in Ireland are on the increase, census figures indicate.

The number of mar ried people increased by almost 5 per cent to 1,792,151 between the 2011 and 2016 censuses, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) revealed.

The rate was higher than the overall population increase in Ireland over the same period – 3.8 per cent.

Married people, including those who were remarried, made up 47.7 per cent of the population in 2016.

Women were more likely to be married than single at the age of 33.

For men, it was 35.

While the popularity of marriage was on the up, the number of separated and

divorced people increased at more marked rate, up by almost 9 per cent to 222,073 from April 2011. The peak age for separation and divorce was 53.

The information was contained in the CSO’s ‘Households and Families’ report on the 2016 census.

“This profile report on Households and Families examines the family situations and living arrangements of the population in April 2016,” Senior CSO statistician Deirdre Cullen said.

“It provides a wealth of information and analysis on topics such as marital status, same-sex civil partnerships and the different types and sizes of family composition and households.”

The latest of 11 planned reports also showed almost 460,000 Irish adults live with their parents – an increase of 4.4

per cent. The majority (59 per cent) were men. Fewer than half (215,088) were at work, while 66,516 were unemployed and 152,269 were students.

The repor t showed there were 1,218,370 families in the state on census night 2016, an increase of 3.3 per cent since 2011.

The number of children per family remained unchanged since the 2011 census at 1.38 children.

Last year marked the first time the number of same-sex civil partnerships were recorded. There were 4,226, with 60 per cent being male couples.

There were 196,227 widowed people in 2016 – up by 5,168 over the five year period.

In April 2016, almost 400,000 people indicated that they lived alone.

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

Raising the age bar VISA-BILITY YOUR IMMIGRATION QUESTIONS ANSWERED...

Co Antrim native and registered migration agent John McQuaid provides a uniquely Irish perspective on current visa and migration issues.

Send your immigration questions to John at

visability@irishecho.com.au

This Migration Column is intended to provide general information on migration issues and does not constitute legal or migration advice. While all care is taken, no responsibility is accepted by the Irish Echo or John McQuaid for the accuracy of material in the column.

People seeking advice on migration law should seek advice from a registered migration agent.

Hi John,

DEAR PAUL,

I’m from Ireland and here in Australia on a 12-month holiday visa with my partner who has a 417 working holiday visa.

ON July 1, 2017, the Australian Government changed the law to allow the working holiday visa 417 (WHV) and the 462 work and holiday visa to be granted to people up to the age of 35.

However, the Working Holiday Visa program runs on a reciprocal basis with each individual country.

So each country’s government makes an agreement with Australia to allow it is citizens to access the visa program both ways. For example, Irish people go to Australia; Australians go to Ireland.

For the new age limit law to take effect for Irish passport holders, Australia and Ireland must sign an agreement allowing people up to age 35 to access the program.

Once a new agreement with Ireland is set up, you would be able to apply for a 417 visa.

These agreements can take some time to be drawn up and enacted. It may well not happen within the time frame of your and your partner’s current visa.

One strategy might be for your partner to undertake the three months’ regional specified work to be eligible for a second year 417 visa.

I’m turning 33 in two months and wasn’t able to get a working holiday visa when we applied for my partner’s 417 last year. I’ve heard that the age limit for the working holiday visa is now up to 35?

Is this true? Could I apply for a working holiday visa now and get some work rights?

Thanks for any help, Paul O’Brien

The second visa could then be applied for anytime before your partner reaches the age limit for the visa. By this time the 35-year age limit may be introduced allowing you both to gain a 417 visa at the same time.

“When applying for

your first 417 visas the application must be made outside Australia.

”

When applying for your first 417 visas the application must be made outside Australia.

The second working holiday visa application can be made inside or outside Australia. The second visa application should only be made inside Australia if you want the new visa period to begin on the day the first visa expires, i.e. for a continuous two-year period.

If you wish to travel or return home for a time and use the second year

visa later, it is best to wait and apply outside Australia closer to the time of the planned return date to Australia.

The working holiday visa has work rights allowing a maximum of six months work with any one employer.

It is possible to work for the entire 12 months so long as you change employers.

Recently Immigration changed its policy regarding what it considers ‘one employer’. Under the new policy if an employer has businesses in multiple locations it is possible to work for the employer for six months in one establishment or location and then work for a further period in one of their other establishments / locations.

As an example, where a restaurant owner has three different restaurants, it would be possible to work in one for six months and then start work in one of the other restaurants for a further period and not break the six months work rule.

Where there is any doubt about how this policy is applied, it is best to check with Immigration or consult a migration agent before working beyond six months.

Find a registered migration agent at www.mia.org.au/find-an-agent Immigration: www.border.gov.au

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A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EW S PAPER

ireland PATIENTS WAITING UP TO NINE YEARS FOR HOSPITAL TREATMENT, DOCTORS CLAIM

Waiting lists ‘out of control’ Ed Carty

HOSPITAL waiting lists are out of control, consultants have claimed.

More than 589,000 patients are in queues for some form of treatment in Ireland’s public hospitals, the country’s top doctors have warned, with some people waiting up to nine years to be seen. In a submission to Government before the budget, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), said the number of surgical appointments has dropped by more than 100,000 in four years.

President of the association Dr Tom Ryan claimed that acute hospitals are being privatised by stealth.

“Public hospitals urgently need additional acute beds, intensive care beds, theatre operating time, consultants and other frontline staff,” he said.

“This is essential to reduce the unacceptable waiting lists, the overcrowding of emergency departments and the increasing number of patients being treated on trolleys.

“Currently our healthcare system appears to be more focused on balanc-

ing budgets and rationing care than treating patients.”

The consultants claimed that acute hospitals are attempting to treat patients with equipment that is increasingly obsolete.

“The current levels of funding do not even meet the cost of maintaining and replacing existing equipment never mind providing for much needed additional capacity,” Dr Ryan said.

The IHCA says there will be no money to replace obsolete equipment or develop additional capacity to provide care when funding for the new Children’s Hospital and the relocation of maternity centres is spent.

“Throughout the past decade the State has severely rationed healthcare, and with an increasing number of patients becoming reliant on private hospitals, in ef fect acute hospital ser vices are being privatised by stealth,” Dr Ryan added.

“Notably the private hospitals understand the increase in existing and future demand for health care services and have expanded their bed

‘Largest-ever’ school to be built in Kildare BUILDING work is getting under way on the largest ever state-funded school. About 2,000 pupils will be taught at the new €30million post-primary campus in Maynooth, Co Kildare.

One building replaces the old Maynooth Post Primary School and a second will be home to Maynooth Community College, a multidenominational school established in 2014. Both schools will share a standalone sports hall and the first pupils are due to start in 2019.

Lithuanian men drown off Donegal STRETCHED: Ireland’s hospital sector is struggling to keep up with demand for care, with almost 600,000 people waiting for treatment.

capacity, unlike the public hospitals.”

The consultants claim there were cuts to health budgets of almost €1.9 billion bewtwen 2016 to 2021, compared to 2008, and 15 per cent less wasbeing spent on mental health services than 10 years ago.

They also hit out at the low numbers of senior doctors being recruited and retained in the healthcare system.

“It is unacceptable that over 400 approved hospital consultant posts are either vacant or filled on a temporary/ agency basis,” Dr Ryan said.

The consultants described it as a false economy with medical agency costs topping €115 million a year while 70 non-specialist doctors have been appointed to consultant posts since 2008, they claimed.

LEADERS DISCUSS OPPORTUNITIES ARISING FROM US AND UK PROTECTIONISM

TWO Lithuanian men drowned after a boating accident off the coast of Co Donegal. The men are understood to have departed in a small boat from Teelin.

The bodies were found on the shore at Malinbeg, near Carrick.

A boat was recovered washed up on a rocky stretch of coastline.

They were later named as as 56-year-old Rimantis Barauskas, who lived in Oldcastle, Co Meath and 33-year-old Raimundas Jezdauskas, Ballymahon, Ct Longford.

Cannabis seizure

THIRTY kilos of herbal cannabis has been found in air filters after the cargo was tracked through Dublin Port from Spain.

Revenue Customs officers and the Garda drugs and organised crime squads were involved in intercepting the haul in Co Meath, estimated to be worth about €600,000.

The operation involved authorities tracking the shipment of large cylindrical air filters in what they described as a “controlled delivery”.

A man in his 30s was questioned about the haul.

Mayo syndicate wins $29 million jackpot

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau in Dublin. (Inset) The leaders go for a jog.

Trudeau visit strengthens Canadian-Irish relations Ed Carty CANADA and Ireland should cash in on Brexit and Donald Trump’s US presidency by encouraging people and businesses to relocate, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has said.

During a very successful visit to Ireland where he and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar struck up a warm friendship, Mr Trudeau said migration should be seen as a positive.

“There are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners, in the case of the UK and US, are turning inward – or at least turning in a different direction – to make the pitch that Canada and Ireland are places that are exciting and open to the world in a positive, progressive way,” Mr Trudeau said.

Trade issues were high on the

agenda when Mr Trudeau and Mr Varadkar met at Farmleigh House in Dublin, with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the Europe Union and Canada a key focus.

The deal, which has yet to be ratified by national parliaments, took seven years to negotiate. But it has controversial clauses, including concerns about giving companies the right to sue governments and questions about workers’ rights.

Mr Varadkar said the CETA deal is progressive and not just about big business, citing its focus on environmental protections.

“I understand that there are concerns,” the Taoiseach said.

“People always have concerns about free-trade agreements. But there are many more benefits for our country and our people, our economy than there are

downsides. It’s not just an agreement for big business.

“It’s also an agreement for small business, for workers and has huge potential for Ireland.”

On Brexit, Mr Varadkar said more people will want to come to Ireland as a result of the development.

“What I anticipate, because of our economic recovery, because we are the fastest-growing economy in Europe now for two years in a row, and potentially because of Brexit, more and more people will want to come to Ireland,” he said. “We will actually have more inward migration into Ireland.

“We will be able to import the skills that we need and the knowledge that we need and the new experiences we need through a positive, open, managed migration policy.”

Mr Varadkar said he sought advice from Mr Trudeau on how to encourage

more women into politics. Mr Trudeau has a 50/50 gender balance among his ministers and calls himself a feminist.

Outlining his ambitions for the next election, Mr Varadkar says he wants to get more women to run for parliament and win seats over the next few years.

“Fine Gael already has more female TDs than any other party, at 11,” he said, “but I want it to be much higher.

“I’d like it to be 50/50 but certainly at least 20 after the next general election thus giving me more scope to promote even more women.”

Mr Trudeau and the new Taoiseach appeared to strike up a firm friendship, even taking the opportunity to go for a quick jog together in the Phoenix Park. Both leaders have a penchant for colourful socks and the Taoiseach was accredited wth sock-diplomacy after wearing maple leaf socks for their first meeting.

A €29MILLION EuroMillions jackpot was won by a syndicate from the west of Ireland last month.

Lottery chiefs revealed the group collected their cheque in the offices in Dublin and chose to keep their identities secret.

A spokesman for the group said the life-changing impact of the win is only just sinking in.

“This has come as a huge shock but we are thrilled. This will certainly make life easier for us all and will secure our futures,” one of the winners said.

The winning quick pick ticket was purchased from Umesh Kumar’s Garryduff XL Store on Pound Road in Castlebar Co Mayo.

It is the second EuroMillions jackpot win for Castlebar.

In April 2014, a jackpot prize worth €15million was claimed on a ticket sold in Staunton’s Costcutter Express in Castlebar.

House fire claims two Kildare lives A PENSIONER and a man in his 30s have died in a house fire.

The roof of the semi-detached bungalow in Tully East, Co Kildare fell in after the alarm was raised.

One of the men was named locally as William Vaughan, 76, who was known as Charlie and owned the house, and the other man was John Paul Flood, 33.

Mr Flood, who was from the area but was not related to Mr Vaughan, is understood to have been living in the house.

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

Mal Rogers scans Ireland’s regional media for what’s making news in your county BELFAST

Methodist church to become £2million pub PUB giant JD Wetherspoon has won the go-ahead for its £2m project to transform a former Belfast church into a bar.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the long-awaited decision to redevelop the Methodist Church on University Road has been approved.

The building has suffered substantial water damage and its pews and organ have already been removed.

But it still has original features including wrought ironwork, joinery and stone carvings.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin said: “I’m delighted. It’s a great building and it will make a wonderful pub. It’s a very big investment by us; it’ll cost around £2m just in the development phase.

“We hope it will create around 60 to 70 jobs and become a catalyst for other investment in that area.”

Mr Martin, who was partly brought up in the North as well as New Zealand, previously warned that the condition of the church was deteriorating.

The building joins the chain’s other new Belfast project, the former JJB Sports store on Royal Avenue, in awaiting a drinks’ licence.

“The recently approved application has been in progress since 2014,” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society chief executive, Nikki McVeigh, said.

“Given the time it has taken to obtain permission, with regard to the building’s current state of repair, it is now of urgent importance that restoration proceeds, as soon as possible.”

DOWN

Another truck hits not-so-sweet spot ANOTHER lorry has hit a Northern Ireland bridge, making it the fourth incident at the same spot within the past year, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

It happened as the lorry drove under The Cut in Banbridge, Co Down The road was closed for a short time and no injuries were reported.

Last year two vehicles hit the bridge within the space of a couple of days.

Among them was a prison van that lost its roof as it hit the bridge.

Now graffiti has appeared saying: “The Cut 3, Lorries 0.”

On approach to the bridge there are a number of signs warning motorists about the height of the bridge.

Michael Ferran, who runs Banbridge-based firm Transport Consulting Company and who teaches lorry drivers about safety, told the BBC that if the vehicles make a mistake and approach the bridge, there is little space for them to turn back.

LIMERICK

Missing pair of hikers found after extensive search in mountains A MIDDLE-AGED couple has been found safe and well after going missing while walking on the Ballyhoura Mountains.

The cpair were found after an extensive search operation.

The couple had embarked on a walking expedition of the Co Limerick countryside with another couple.

“There were only four people involved – two went one way and two went another way and they got disorientated and the pairs couldn’t find each other,” explained Jim Flynn, community employment scheme supervisor with Ballyhoura Heritage.

It is understood the couple got lost in the Ballinaboola Woods, about 6km from the village of Ardpatrick.

“They couldn’t find each other after walking for maybe an hour or two.

They had gone in separate directions and then they found that they couldn’t meet up and started getting panicky as it was getting dark,” Mr Flynn added.

“They had mobile phones but they were still not able to locate each other,” Mr Flynn added.

The alarm was raised by one couple and gardaí from Charleville along with the Civil Defence from Mallow, staff from the Outdoor Education Centre in Kilfinane and Coillte staff began the search.

KERRY

Kerry’s lost generation revealed THE huge number of young people who fled Kerry to escape the recession has been laid bare by the census, The Kerryman reports.

Until now it has been difficult to get a grasp on just how many people are part of Kerry’s so-called Lost Generation, but age profile data from the 2016 census provides a shocking insight into how many young men and women abandoned the county.

Between 2006 and 2011– as the recession began – the number of 20- to 30-year-olds in Kerry rose by 1,644.

By contrast, between 2011 and 2016 the number of 20- to 30-yearolds in the county plummeted by a massive 3,507.

During this time Kerry’s population increased by 1.5 per cent but the 20- to 30-year-old population in the county plunged by 16.7 per cent.

While emigration increased between 2008 to 2011 it is probably no coincidence that the surge in 20to 30-year-olds leaving Kerry took place at the height of the unemployment crisis in Kerry, which reached its peak in 2011 and 2012.

Of those 20- to 30-year-olds who left the county in the last six years, the majority (2,877) were between 25 and 30 which suggests many were graduates who left the county for work or better opportunities.

‘The Longest Journey’ at the Festival Gallery, Galway, part of artist Ana Maria Pacheco’s solo exhibition ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ for the Galway International Arts Festival. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

MEATH

Ledwidge ceremony in Belgium MAIREAD McGuinness MEP travelled to the Artillery Wood Cemetery in Belgium for a centennial commemoration of the death of Slane-born poet and soldier, Francis Ledwidge. Sometimes known as the “poet of the blackbirds”, Ledwidge was killed in action at the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I. The Meath Chronicle reports that a strong Irish contingent travelled to this event. As part of the commemoration Ms McGuinness hosted visitors, largely from Counties Meath and Louth, in the European Parliament the next day.

CAVAN

were filmed. A number of scenes were filmed at O’Connor’s bar in the centre of the village. The name of the bar was retained for the programme and will feature on the show when aired in the US later this year.

Starring Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, Sutton Foster and Nico Totorella the show tells the story of a fortysomething woman who poses as a 26-year-old to secure her dream job following the breakdown of her marriage.

It has received rave reviews in the US and has been nominated for several awards.

It is understood the location was selected thanks to a suggestion from Ardmore Studios. It seems that once the programme-makers viewed Tinahely, they were struck by its rural beauty.

LOUTH

Clampdown on Cavan town shoplifters

All roads lead to new ferry service

THE Anglo-Celt newspaper reports that local businesses and gardaí have stepped up their efforts to combat shop thefts in the county.

Photographs of 20 infamous shoplifters were circulated among Chamber of Commerce members at a meeting. The pictures comprised only convicted shoplifters.

Scores of business people crowded into this, the second in a series of meetings on the vexed issue, to express their growing concerns about shoplifting and other criminal activity in the county town.

Gardaí are to attend a follow-up meeting in the coming weeks to offer advise to business owners on how to deal with suspected shoplifters.

The chamber’s president, Eddie Coleman, organised the Business Watch meeting.

The list circulated included men and women, people from Cavan town and elsewhere, some of whom are in custody.

Inspector Micheál O’Donoghue said that everyone on the list had been convicted in court as a shoplifter. He urged shopkeepers to post immediate information on the chamber’s new WhatsApp group about the presence of any shoplifters.

THE scenic Carlingford Ferry is now in service. The long awaited ferry service links Greenore in the Republic with Greencastle in Co Down in the North.

There has been a frenzy of work in recent weeks with the installation of navigational lights to guide the ferry across the Lough as well as new specialist fenders at the slipways in Greenore and Greencastle The 44-vehicle ferry Gabrielle Aisling arrived in Carlingford Lough at the beginning of June, and the four captains and crew have been using the time to prepare for the service going into operation.

The €9.75million privately funded project involved the construction of a 60-metre long reinforced concrete slipway at Greenore, and a 58-metre long reinforced concrete suspended pier, supported by vertical tabular piles in Greencastle.

The construction work, also included berthing and fender piles to facilitate ferry berthing, steel gangway, new hard standings for parking and queuing. Distinctive directional signs for the ferry have also been erected on roads leading to Greenore.

WICKLOW

Lights, camera and action in Tinahely THE usually quiet south Wicklow village of Tinahely was brimming with excitement as an American film crew rolled into town.

The Wicklow People reports that the village, selected as a location for popular US sitcom Younger was surrounded by onlookers as scenes for the programme’s series four finale

KILDARE

Spending a penny is costing thousands KILDARE County Council spent €132,000 on its four public toilets last year but the revenue garnered from people “spending a penny” only amounting to just more than €3,000, the Kildare Nationalist reports.

The council provides four public toilets in the town centres of Kildare, Newbridge, Naas and Athy.

The net of VAT costs for operating

the units was €132,867 in 2015, €132,750 in 2016 and €65,926 up until June of this year. The net revenue generated by the units was €5,274 in 2015 and €3,569 in 2016.

The council say the costs “cover electricity supply to the units, the checking and monitoring of the many safety mechanisms on the units and to check the internal communication and operation systems”.

Other costs are “replenishing the soap, tissue and all other consumables, to check for and remove any graffiti, clean all internal components, this includes polishing mirrors and chrome fittings”.

Independent councillor for the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District Joanne Pender, says while public toilets are a public service and are needed she was concerned about the costs.

“If there’s a public building nearby, it could be opened up. There was another suggestion that maybe local businesses could put a sign up letting the public know they can use the toilets and they would get a grant,” Ms Pender said.

Sinn Féin councillor for the Athy Municipal District, Thomas Redmond, says the public toilets are “badly needed”.

However outsourcing the amenity, as happens at present, may not be the most cost-effective method of handling the ‘convenience’ needs of locals, tourists and visitors.

CORK

Famous baseball game by US sailors recreated in Cork A BASEBALL game that took place in Cork at the end of July recreated a famous one played exactly 100 years ago by the US Navy who had arrived in the region as the vanguard for their country’s entry into the First World War. The Irish Examiner reports that a team of visiting US students attending a summer camp at UCC, along with US ex-pats, took on the Cork Rebel Alliance. They recreated a game played at exactly the same location in 1917 by crews from two US warships.

UCC curator Michael Holland, who organised the event, said some of the proceeds would go to the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind charity.

Mr Holland said it is hoped a plaque will be erected at the cricket grounds to commemorate the centenary of the game.

He said that while US Navy operations took priority, there were other things to be considered, like the morale of the sailors, making friends locally, and promoting the Navy’s contribution to the war effort.

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Wimbledon’s Wicklow heckler a smash hit

Gardaí steal Frenchman’s walking stick YES, sadly that headline is correct.

And not only was the walking stick of considerable importance to its owner, it also happened to be part of the original true cross. As such, it once belonged to St Patrick, it was claimed. If that is true, it was perhaps the most impressive walking aids of all time.

The owner of the staff was Antonin Artaud (above), who visited Ireland exactly 80 years ago in August 1937. He travelled from Cobh to Galway in an effort to return the stick to its rightful home, although he didn’t exactly specify where that was.

The fact that Artaud spoke little English (even less Irish) did little to help his cause. But the experience wasn’t wasted. Artaud was a surrealist – he was founder of the Theatre of Cruelty, a tradition in which artists assault the senses of the audience, and allow them to feel the unexpressed emotions of the subconscious.

On his Irish visit, the Frenchman would probably not have been admitted at Cobh but for the fact that that he’d previously managed to obtain a ‘letter of introduction’ from the gullible Irish Minister Plenipotentiary in Paris at the time, one Art O’Briain.

The minister subsequently regretted his generosity of spirit.

Seán Murphy, Assistant Secretary, Department of External Affairs in Dublin eventually had to send the following letter to the hapless Minister O’Briain: “I am directed by the minister to inform you that

an Order for the deportation from Saorstát Eireann has been made against Antonin Marie Joseph Artaud, a French citizen who landed at Cobh on August 14 last. Artaud is being deported for being a destitute and undesirable alien. Artaud would have been refused permission to land by the Immigration Officer at Cobh were it not for the fact that he produced a letter of introduction signed by yourself.”

The letter continued: “Since his arrival in this country Artaud has failed to pay his hotel bill in Galway and has had to be removed from the grounds of Milltown Park where he had called to interview some members of the Jesuit community.

On being informed that the priests were on retreat he refused to leave the grounds. The Gardaí had to be called and he was confined in Mountjoy awaiting an order for his deportation.”

Artaud was eventually escorted on to a waiting ship in Cobh in a straitjacket, still demanding the return of his walking stick and a stiletto, also confiscated by the guards.

He was later to write: “I am Antonin Artaud, and I say this . . . immediately you will see my present body burst into fragments and remake itself under ten thousand notorious aspects a new body where you will never forget me.”

Somehow you can see how the gardaí way back in 1937 were a little mystified by the Frenchman.

But they shouldn’t have nicked his walking stick. That was just a little too avant gardaí.

Quiz

1. Dingy skipper, six spot burnet, comma, gatekeeper and pearl-bordered fritillary are all included in Ireland’s list of what?

2. What links Leo Varadkar, Ireland; Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland; Elio Di Rupo, Belgium; Ana Brnabic, Serbia?

3. Since the year 2000, which of these countries can claim most golf Major championship wins (in the Open, US Open, US Masters, USPGA): Australia, Ireland or Scotland?

4. Brian Friel, Flann O’Brien, Philomena Begley, Jimmy Kennedy (lyricist of Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Red Sails in the Sunset, South of the Border etc). Which county did they all come from?

5. Which book is set on June 16, 1904?

6. Which Liverpool-born activist, whose statue stands in O’Connell Street in Dublin, founded the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union?

7. In 1956 John Huston directed a film starring Gregory Peck, and shot it in the area round Youghal. The film included a character called Starbuck. What was the film?

8. What are the first three words of the Easter Proclamation read out by Padraig Pearse at the GPO, 1916?

9. Navan man Francis Beaufort invented the Beaufort Scale. He denoted ‘whole gale’ force with number 10 on the scale. What force is number 11?

10. Which plays do the following feature in: (a) Christy Mahon; (b) Lydia Languish; (c) Estragon?

A WIMBLEDON and internet star who squeezed into Kim Clijsters’s skirt after shouting advice from the crowd is to auction it for charity.

Chris Quinn, captain of Greystones Lawn Tennis Club in Wicklow, was pulled from the stands to tackle the former grand slam champion’s serve after heckling players in the ladies’ invitation doubles. But the 46-yearold’s antics became an online sensation when Clijsters spotted that his blue shorts and green T-shirt would breach the strict dress code at the All-England Club and offered him a loan of a skirt.

Quinn is to raffle the former gear for the Gavin Glynn Foundation which helps terminally ill children.

“I have the skirt, or the skort as they call it, and we are going to auction it for charity,” he said. “I wouldn’t normally be the extrovert like this. I’ll roll with it for as long as I can.”

Mr Quinn, on his first visit to the tournament, replaced one of Clijsters’s opponents on court, managed to return a serve but failed to hit the ball when he tried for a second point.

“My first notion when I put my first footsteps on the court was that I was expecting to be mugged by the security. Then I came to realise that I’m on court at Wimbledon; this is pretty cool.

“She [Kim] started to put the skirt on me and I said ‘You’re going to struggle’ and I just said ‘Give them to me’. There’s no point trying to be pretty about it. It’s not often you’d get Kim Clijsters and Conchita Martinez on the floor of the court at Wimbledon in stitches laughing.”

They said it...

“Irish Aid and the Irish NGOs and missionary organisations are already providing highly effective assistance to millions of people across the region. But a response at greater scale is required. We urgently need a renewed global effort to help prevent the deaths of millions of poor and marginalised people.”

President Michael D Higgins calling on the world to act on the famine in East Africa.

“The large number of people affected may shock us, but we must realise that behind these stark numbers are real people: mothers and fathers unable to provide for their hungry children.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, responding to the famine in East Africa.

“It’s essentially the big centre of Irish society. I’ve never put figures on it.

I would include people on the minimum wage. Over 70 per cent of people describe themselves as middle class.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

“The greatest hardship of the recession was the loss of employment for so many of our people — something which I deeply regret: 250,000 of our two million workforce lost jobs, the vast majority in construction and related industries and in retail … We knew that the required action would understandably be more unpopular than almost any policies in recent Irish history and that this threatened the survival of the government and our hopes of election. However, we also knew that to avoid taking the decisions would mean that future recovery could be put off by decades.”

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

“Europe forced certain countries such as Ireland, Spain and Portugal to implement inappropriate decisions such as protecting international bondholders … the property crash in Ireland was in part fuelled by an inappropriate euro currency system.”

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, strongly criticising the EU for its stance towards Ireland during the financial crisis some 10 years ago.

“I strongly refute what Dr Newell said. In Fermanagh, we are involved in outreach work with all sections of society.”

Former Ulster Unionist MP and prominent Fermanagh Orangeman Tom Elliott, answering Rev Ken Newell, who said there was sectarianism in the Orange Order.

“It is wrong and it shouldn’t have happened. In Fermanagh we don’t have any bonfires, it is unfortunate when things like this happen. It is about enjoying ourselves and it’s standing up for our faith and heritage.”

First Minister Arlene Foster commenting on July 12 celebrations which included one incident where a black coffin with the face of the late Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and the slogan ‘F*** the IRA’ was placed on a bonfire.

Crossword Clues across: 1. There’s been a wild one, an Irish one, a car, a dog, a Martian vehicle and a wanderer (5) 3. See in Derry yields US music and digging instrument (6) 9. English railway system hidden by foreigners initially (1,1,1,1) 10. To be mistaken in Derrinstown (3) 11. Irish/British singer who tends towards English traditional dance, it’s said (9) 12. A British astronomer easy to annoy, we hear (4) 13. Music in Kilrooskagh (3) 14. A drink from Aquitaine registered in the dear Magna Carta (8) 15. A bit of a smell in Tullyhumphrys (3) 17. Make sure someone is a complex sectarian (9) 19. Annul a twisted plant (6) 21. Wednesday could be the day for this tree (3) 23 across, 14 down: Deborah’s rear end explored in a poem

by Kavanagh? (5,3) 24. Fuss over a quadruped? (3) 27. Kind of rickety marina in Utah (12) 28. Crime, not particularly dirty, involved Ireland young men (5-10)

Clues down:

1

1 & 16 down: Anything Roman is confused with Irish world boxing champion (5,8) 2. A mere Rev can be a painter (7)

2

8. More bloody, or are really more uncommon here (5) 12. Ah, Mr Hart, fan in all directions to reach Dublin suburb (11) 13. Stone in Scotland could help towards making bakery (6) 14. see 23 across

5

6

9

7

10 11

12

13 14

6. Organ in Carnmoneyeford (3) 7. Mutt with appendage attached suspended (9)

4

8

4. Scottish, Irish man is hidden in dismal as dairy produce (8) 5. Herb, Ian in confusion join Irishsounding Scottish outfit (9)

3

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23 24

25

26

27

16. see 1 down 18. Lough in Swiss capital (4) 20. Heraldic gold and elemental calcium combine to form dangerous killer (6) 22. Enniskillen singer discovered by devilish Ann on tour (6) 23. Country hidden by broken yardstick (5) 25. See poet Ms Dickinson lose self and join Cashel (4) 26. Shivery cold place in Offaly we hear (4)

28

LAST EDITION’S ANSWERS: Clues across: 1. Raphoe. 4. Donegal.

8. Hue. 9. Salsa. 10. Mumbles. 12. Experienced. 14 across, 21 down: New Jersey. 16. Reducing agent. 19. Antrim. 20. Oder. 21. Jeer. 22. Disc.

24. Bailey. 25. Bray. 27. Indians. 29. Teal. 32. Dyes. 33. Riled.

Clues down: 1. Risteard. 2. Polyp. 3. Ova. 4, 15 & 18 down: Democratic Unionist Party. 5. Nomad 6. Gel. 7. Les. 8. Hibernates. 11. Eden. 13. Richard.

17. Dove. 23. Clare. 24. Best. 26. Yips. 28. Den. 30. Eel. 31. Lad.

Answers: 1. Lepidoptera — moths and butterflies; 2. Openly gay prime ministers; 3. Ireland, with 8 wins. Australia have had 4, Scotland, the home of golf, zero; 4. Tyrone; 5. James Joyce’s Ulysses; 6. Jim Larkin; 7. Moby Dick; 8. “Irishmen and Irishwomen.” He went on to say, “In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.” 9. Storm force; 10. (a) The Playboy of the Western World; (b) The Rivals; (c) Waiting For Godot.

August, 2017 I www.irishecho.com.au

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Absolute page-turners THE narrator in Sebastian Barry’s latest book is Tom McNulty who likes to be called Thomasina, because he is not entirely clear about his own gender. Many readers will be familiar with the surname, which he shares with the central characters in three of Barry’s earlier books, The Temporary Gentleman, The Secret Scripture and The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty.

This Tom McNulty left Sligo in Black ’47 at the age of 13 and managed to survive the coffin ships, joining “… people that were so hungry they might eat each other in the holds. The captain hisself he died of fever. When we reached Canada we were a ship without a steward. Into the fever sheds with us and that’s where hundreds died. I’m just writing all this down. The point is, we were nothing.

No one wanted us. Canada was a-feared of us. We were a plague. We were only rats of people.”

Tom teams up with another stray, a lad about his own age named John Cole, and they find that they can survive by hiring themselves as dancing partners for miners. When Cole becomes too tall to pass as a girl, they join the army to fight the Indians. Demobbed and back in civilian life, they return to the stage, before joining the Union army in the civil war.

Much of the book describes actions in the fighting against the tribes that used to have the plains of middle America for themselves before the white man came. Those encounters and massacres are exceeded in cruelty only when the north and the south take at each other a few years later. There is little spared in the telling and the result is

not for folk who are squeamish.

Through it all there is love and loyalty. The love is unusual in stories from this time. Tom and John Cole sleep together, a circumstance that would not have raised comment at a time when beds were scarce and reused. That they were lovers is made clear in one short sentence. Words like gay, queer or homosexual were not in the lexicon of the day and no one comments on their situation. A young Indian girl is captured by the army and taught to read and write.

She becomes friendly with Tom and Cole who, after being demobbed, pass her off as Cole’s daughter; since Tom sometimes dresses in women’s clothing, they seem to be no more than an unusual family.

Tom is the narrator throughout and it is clear that he is speaking long after the events he is describing.

His grammar is sometimes uncertain, but there is little wrong with his recall or his eloquence.

He can describe “mountains with their Jewish caps of snow” or “fences going over a turmoil of hills” or “two privates as dead as poked-out winkles.” You get to love too his elegant turn of phrase, understatement providing more eloquence than a rattle of words.

“If Maryland ain’t a pretty country, God’s a girl.” Or the wife of their commanding officer who is a perfect Boston lady and “ought to have been a preacher had she not been cloven.”

This is writing of the highest quality, the kind that reminds you that there are more grades of prose than there are abilities in your local golf club. And as you saunter out

“This is writing of the

highest quality, the kind that reminds you that there are more grades of prose than there are abilities in your local golf club.

”

BOOKS DAYS WITHOUT END Sebastian Barry faber & faber 259 pp $32.99

CCCCC THE TRESPASSER Tana French Hodder & Stoughton 496 pp $32.99

CCCC Frank O’Shea with your 30-something handicap, you can only stand and admire the players who defy the laws of physics and make the whole thing look easy. Sebastian Barry makes writing look easy.

I COULD probably find a number of things to complain about in this book. It is too long for a start, but then you don’t buy a Tana French book if you are after a short read.

There are too many interviews with suspects or with what are known as KAs, Known Associates, and need I say that those are also long. And there is the annoying habit of information being passed in changes of facial expression imperceptible to everyone except the people involved.

But here is another piece of information about the book: I started it on Tuesday and finished it on Thursday with a funeral-and-

afters taking up most of Wednesday. Granted that this was in January-Melbourne, which is the kind of hyphenated definition you could use to explain the meaning of the word moribund.

So those whinges in the opening paragraph did not stop me from devouring the whole 500 closelytyped pages in little more than two days.

So there you have it, an actual example of “couldn’t put it down”, surely the best endorsement you can give to any book. The story is set in old Dublin; the murder squad is based in Dublin Castle, just off Dame Street; the murder takes place in the evocatively named Stoneybatter and the main suspect has a bookshop in Ranelagh. No need to go to the wilds of Tallaght or Portmarnock or farther afield where culchies live.

Antoinette Conway is the central character, a detective with two problems: gender in an all-male murder squad and skin hue that suggested genetic material from places with much more sun than Dublin. And to top it off, the chip she has on her shoulder is growing by the day and threatening to distance her from her colleagues.

She is a wonderful creation, the

kind that would make a great central character in a television series.

Conway and her partner Moran are asked to investigate the murder of a young woman. It looks routine and there is a convenient and quite plausible suspect, so the fact that the couple examine alternative possibilities puts them at cross purposes in a city with plenty of work for a murder squad, what with Kinahan and The Monk and their pals.

In many stories of this type, one killing will be followed by others, but French will have none of that.

Her strength is the way that the murder squad go about their work, examining every possibility and even creating a few possible scenarios of their own. There is no love interest as such, although quite a bit of stray action by men incapable of keeping it in their trousers.

The story is as much an examination of tensions in the murder squad as of the methods they use and the success they achieve. It is a workplace that might not appeal to the sensitive or the squeamish, but is probably an accurate depiction of how these places work. If you are not afraid of bulk, you will love the book.

THE TOP 10 BOOK CHARTS FROM IRELAND BESTSELLERS 1

The Good Daughter

2

I Found My Tribe

3

The Couple Next Door

4

The Late Show

5

Holding

6

The World’s Worst Children 2

7

The Handmaid’s Tale

8

The Whistler

9

Into the Water

10 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

ORIGINAL FICTION Karin Slaughter

1

The Good Daughter

Ruth Fitzmaurice

2

The Late Show

The Couple Next Door

2

Holding

3

The Handmaid’s Tale

4

The Whistler

5

Secrets of a Happy Marriage

6

My Not So Perfect Life

7

Big Little Lies

8

Kill a Mockingbird for the 21st Century’

9

Truly Madly Guilty

10 The Dry

Karin Slaughter

1

Owning It - Bullsh*t Free Guide to Anxiety

Michael Connelly

2

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Caroline Foran

Elena Favilli/Francesca Cavallo

Shari Lapena

3

Into the Water

Paula Hawkins

3

A Pocket History of Ireland

Michael Connelly

4

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Gail Honeyman

4

Make Your Bed: Small things… Admiral William H. McRaven

Grahan Norton

5

The Woman in the Wood

David Walliams

6

What Happened That Night

Margaret Atwood

7

Camino Island

John Grisham

8

Conversations with Friends

Paula Hawkins

9

The Duchess

Gail Honeyman

10 The Woman at 72 Derry Lane

MASS MARKET FICTION 1

HARDBACK NON-FICTION

Joseph McCullough

Lesly Pearse

5

Cooking for Family and Friends:100 Lean Recipes... Joe Wicks

Sheila O’Flanagan

6

Pocket Irish Poetry

John Grisham

7

The Secret

Rhonda Byrne

Sally Rooney

8

Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Bus

Haemin Sunim

Danielle Steele

9

The Irish Granny’s Pocket Book of Bread and Baking Gill Books

Carmel Harper

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION

Gill & Macmillan

10 The Pocket Irish Pub Cookbook

Gill & Macmillan

CHILDREN’S

Shari Lapena

1

I Found My Tribe

Ruth Fitzmaurice

1

The World’s Worst Children 2

David Walliams

Grahan Norton

2

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and culture... J.D. Vance

2

Thirteen Reasons Why

Margaret Atwood

3

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

3

Wonder

John Grisham

4

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi

4

Resurrection: Skulduggery Pleasant

Cathy Kelly

5

The Cartel

Stephen Breen/Owen Conlon

5

Kid Normal

Sophie Kinsella

6

The Battle

Paul O’Connell

6

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J.K. Rowling

Liane Moriarty

7

Geography:Ten Maps That Tell You Everything... Tim Marshall

7

Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone

J.K. Rowling

Jodi Picoult

8

Behind the Major Motion Picture

Joshua Levine

8

Grandpa’s Great escape

Liane Moriarty

9

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Yuval Noah Harari

9

Asking For It

Jane Harper

10 Milk and Honey

Rupi Kaur

10 Demon Dentist

Jay Asher R. J. Palacio Derek Landy

Greg James and Chris Smith

David Walliams Louise O’Neill David Walliams

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AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

sports FOOTBALL :: CELTIC’S WIN OVER LINFIELD PASSES WITHOUT MAJOR INCIDENT BETWEEN FANS

Tension but little violence as Hoops come to Belfast CELTIC’S victory over Linfield in the Champions League qualifier passed off without any major incident, despite a number of ugly moments during and after the first leg in Belfast.

Projectiles were thrown at Celtic corner takers Leigh Griffiths and Jonny Hayes from a Linfield section of Windsor Park and, at the final whistle, a number of fans of the home team attempted to access the pitch when Griffiths tied a scarf to the goal posts.

One supporter did make it onto the surface but was quickly ejected as police and stewards moved in to contain the situation.

Notwithstanding those incidents, the Glasgow side’s 2-0 win did not witness any serious disorder. While Celtic declined its ticket allocation for the Champions League qualifier, citing security concerns, around 200 Hoops fans secured tickets by other means.

Celtic refused tickets amid fears there would be trouble among the club’s supporters and fans of Linfield, a team with a strong unionist/loyalist support base.

Acknowledging the reality that Celtic fans would obtain tickets regardless of their club’s stance, especially with

so many based in Northern Ireland, hours before kick-off Linfield announced that a section of the ground would be reserved for away supporters.

With Windsor Park just over half full, Linfield were able to allocate a whole stand to the small number of Celtic fans. It meant supporters could enter the ground at opposite ends – a move that minimised opportunities for confrontation.

The fixture was moved from July 11/12 to avoid a clash with Orange Order commemorations at the height of the marching season. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) insisted that Celtic’s decision not to accept the allocation of away tickets was taken “solely by the football club”. However, Celtic officials later said they were surprised by the PSNI’s statement.

Police made one arrest, a 25-yearold man on suspicion of disorderly behaviour, during the operation.

After winning the first leg 2-0, Celtic made light work of Linfield in the return leg, winning 4-0. Celtic were fined €23,000 by Uefa after fans unfurled an “illicit banner” during the return leg.

Fans at Parkhead unfurled a banner featuring a man in paramilitary garb.

A Linfield fan is led away by police after making his way onto the pitch at Windsor Park in Belfast after Celtic’s win in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier.

GAELIC FOOTBALL

Kerry down Galway to claim semi spot KERRY are through to yet another All Ireland Senior Football semi-final after defeating Galway at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Mayo and Roscommon played out a thrilling draw and will have to meet again.

In the other side of the draw, Armagh and Monaghan qualified for the quarter finals following their respective wins over Kildare and Down last weekend.

Ulster champions Tyrone will face neighbours Armagh in a repeat of the 2003 All-Ireland final next weekend, while Leinster and All-Ireland champions Dublin have been paired with Monaghan. Both games will take place at Croke Park on Saturday, August 5 at 4pm and 6pm respectively with the winners facing off in the semi-final.

A textbook Kieran Donaghy (pictured) goal in the 13th minute laid the foundations for what was a comfortable Kerry victory over Galway in a tepid All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Croke Park. Donaghy gave an exhibition of high fielding and was a constant thorn in the side of the Galway defence

Roscommon

2-9

Mayo

1-12

Kerry

1-18

Galway 0-13

in a superb first half per formance before receiving a standing ovation from the Kingdom faithful after his substitution in the 57th minute. Paul Murphy, David Moran and substitute Stephen O’Brien also impressed for a Kerry team that was far from its best, yet still managed 1-18 as they progr essed to another All-Ir eland semi-final.

For Galway, it was a second successive All-Ireland quarter-final loss, but it wasn’t as if they didn’t have their chances against opponents who looked to be there for the taking. The beaten Connacht finalists passed up on at least

three guilt-edged goal-scoring opportunities – misses which proved costly as their 52-year wait for a championship win over Kerry continues.

A pulsating contest in the second All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals between Mayo and Roscommon ended 1-12 to 2-09 at Croke Park. Neither side deserved to lose, but both had chances to win it with Mayo guilty of some clear cut misses in the dying minutes of the game. There was nothing between the teams throughout even though Roscommon made the better start, but Mayo soon got into their stride.

A crowd of 65,746 witnessed the game as pride and bragging rights were at stake amongst these Connacht rivals. The performance of Lee Keegan, who scored 1-3, was a major talking point of the game.

AUSTRALIAN RULES

No Glass ceiling for talented Derryman IT’S turning into a golden season for Irish players in the AFL after Hawthorn’s Conor Glass impressed in his first two games for Hawthorn.

The 22-year-old Derryman clocked up 15 disposals in his first game against Fremantle and then followed up with 12 possessions against the Sydney Swans. He is yet to play in a losing side.

Those 15 disposals compare favourably with Glass’ fellow Irish debutantes throughout AFL history; Jim Stynes had five, Zac Tuohy three, Pearse Hanley 10, Conor McKenna four and

Tadhg Kennelly eight (per World Footy News).

Mark O’Connor (Geelong) also debuted this year while Colin O’Riordan (Sydney Swans), Cian Hanley (Brisbane) and Conor Nash (Hawthorn) are all hopeful of making the senior ranks in 2017.

Zac Tuohy continues his impressive season at Geelong and is ranked 32 for all players in terms of disposals.

Pearce Hanley is showing glimpses of his best for the Gold Coast while Conor McKenna has cemented his spot

in the Essendon Bombers side. Ciaran Byrne and Ciaran Sheehan continue to battle for selection at Carlton.

Meanwhile, emerging Armagh prospect Rian O’Neill has flown ou for a trial with AFL side North Melbourne.

The Crossmaglen for ward has enjoyed a fine underage career with the Orchard county and captained St Colman’s to this year’s MacRory Cup final, where they lost out to St Mary’s, Magherafelt. Tipperar y youngster Jack Kennedy is also currently on trial with North Melbourne.

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023

Match tickets ‘as low as €20’ if Irish bid succeeds Ed Carty

TICKETS for games at the 2023 Rugby World Cup could be as low as €20 if an all-Ireland bid for the tournament is successful, it has been claimed.

With a cross border bid for the tournament on the table, the Republic’s Minister for Transport, Tourism and Spor t Shane Ross also confirmed Ireland’s games will be broadcast for free. Some €200 million of taxpayer funds has been committed to bring stadiums, training centres and other infrastructure up to scratch for the competition.

Mr Ross also revealed that Ireland has been asked by both World Rugby and football governing body UEFA to look at issues around ticket reselling.

The minister said the Government was considering new laws to crack down on touting.

“It’s something we have got to be conscious of,” he said. “It would be reputationally damaging to the state if there was ticket touting on a massive scale.”

Twelve venues have been put on a longlist as part of the Irish Government and Northern Ireland Executive’s bid to host the Rugby World Cup in September-October 2023.

Taking questions at the Oireachtas Transport Committee on the benefits and risks from hosting the tournament, Mr Ross said tickets would be competitively priced.

“Let’s be quite straight about it. It’s meant to make a profit. This is not intended to run at a loss for anybody,” he said. “I’m not going to reveal any detailed figures. But some of the tickets will be as low as €20.”

Among the stadiums identified for games are Derry’s Celtic Park, a surprise inclusion, and Belfast’s Casement Park, which has yet to be built.

Flagship venues in Dublin include Croke Park and r ugby HQ in Lansdowne Road.

Others include Belfast’s Ravenhill, Dublin’s RDS, Kilkenny’s Nowlan Park,

Ireland is one of three candidates to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup alongside France and South Africa.

Cork’s new Pair c Ui Chaoimh, Killar ney’s Fitzgerald Stadium, Limerick’s Thomond Park, Galway’s Pearse Stadium and Castlebar’s McHale Park.

Forty training facilities in rugby and sports clubs around the country will also be upgraded while up-to-speed broadband is an essential.

The winning bid will be announced in November with France and South Africa also in the running.

Mr Ross also said Ireland should consider a bid for the Olympic Games, an idea laughed at in 1992 when then Lord Mayor of Dublin Gay Mitchell had accountants and other experts assess the idea.

“We’re now thinking in these terms and it’s really very, very exciting. Let’s think about the Olympics. Sure,” he told the committee.

Mr Ross also told the committee that hosting the 2023 Rugby World Cup would bring in 450,000 visitors spending about €760m and a financial return to the State of about €138m

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August, 2016 I www.irishecho.com.au

A U S TRA L IA’S IRIS H N EWS PAPER

sports DRAWN NEW ZEALAND SERIES HAS SAVED LIONS, SAYS WILLIE JOHN MCBRIDE

Lions legend wants longer tours to ‘gel squad’ Andy Hampson

Willie John McBride played 17 times for the Lions.

WILLIE John McBride believes the British and Irish Lions may have been saved from extinction by the performance of this year’s side in New Zealand.

The Lions surprised the world champions by recovering from defeat in the first Test to claim a share of the spoils in a drawn three-match series.

The viability of the Lions, a composite side of four nations making a lengthy tour every four years, is often debated because of the position in the world game’s calendar.

But McBride, a star of the last Lions side to win a series in New Zealand in 1971, wants to see the concept preserved and thinks the performance of Warren Gatland’s team has underlined its impor-

tant and unique status. “It’s a tremendous achievement and, quite honestly, I think it has shocked a few people,” McBride told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.

“A lot of people had written them off before they left because they didn’t really have enough time to put the team together. They have done a remarkable job. I think that this has, in many ways, saved the Lions.

“The concept is really unique and has gone now for well over 100 years. It would be dreadful in this professional era if it was ever messed around with.”

McBride believes Lions tours should be even longer.

This summer’s schedule saw the Lions play three Tests and seven other matches over five weeks, a much shortened fix-

ture list than in McBride’s day. In 1971, for example, the Lions played 26 games, including four Tests, and were in New Zealand for three months.

McBride, who played 17 Lions Tests as well as 63 for Ireland, said: “The one thing I feel sorry about is that the tour is actually too short. There are some tremendous players on this tour and they really haven’t had the time to gel together. Rugby is about a team. It’s probably the biggest team game you could possibly play. I think they have done remarkably well to put the team together that they did.”

McBride, however, does not believe the Lions should start playing matches at home, an idea recently revived by Sir Graham Henry, a former Lions and All Blacks coach.

“He must have had the head wobbles because the Lions concept is really about a touring team,” McBride said. “My answer to that is ‘no’. The concept of the Lions was to tour. To play at home would be a nonsense.”

Irish stars Robbie Henshaw, Sean O’Brien, Jared Payne and Jonathan Sexton all sustained injuries on tour.

While the extent of O’Brien’s shoulder injury remain unknown, Henshaw will be sidelined for the start of Leinster’s season and is in danger of missing his Ireland’s November test series after the full extent of his pectoral muscle injury was revealed.

Lions medical chief Dr Eanna Falvey revealed the Henshaw had torn the muscle off the bone and said: “It’s about a 16-week recovery.”

FOOTBALL :: BURNLEY BECOMING THE GO-TO CLUB FOR IRISH PLAYERS

Walters adds to Irish stocks BURNLEY have signed Republic of Ireland striker Jonathan Walters from Stoke.

Walters, 33, has put pen to paper on a two-year deal to end his seven-year spell at Stoke.

His arrival means that five Irish internationals are now among the Clarets ranks.

He joins Jef f Hendrick, Stephen Ward, Robbie Brady and Kevin Long in manager Sean Dyche’s squad.

Former Ipswich for ward Walters progressed through Blackburn’s academy and after moving on to Bolton he had loan spells at Hull, Crewe and Barnsley. He joined Hull permanently in 2004 but he was sold to Wrexham and after a spell at Chester his career took an upward turn with a move to Ipswich in 2007.

Walters scored 30 goals in 136 appearances for Ipswich and in 2010 completed a £3 million move to Premier League side Stoke. During seven years with the Potters, Walters struck 62 goals in 269 appearances. He has won 49 caps for his country and was voted Irish internationls player of the year in 2015.

“The Irish are taking over!” vowed Kevin Long, the longest serving of the crew.

All five started Ireland’s last game against Austria in June, and Long expects to see plenty of Mar tin O’Neill and Roy Keane during a campaign which

kicks off at Chelsea on August 12.

Not for the first time under O’Neill, Brady and Walters combined to snaffle the equaliser which dented Austria’s hopes of catching World Cup Group D co-leaders Ireland.

Brady believes a legion of Irish being at one club can be of benefit to O’Neill’s side on the campaign run-in.

“We were all talking the other day about how good it is for the Irish team having us together at one club,” said the winger. “The more Irish we get in, the handier it is for Ireland because we know how each other play.”

Ensuring he remains in Dyche’s central defence is paramount for Long if he’s also to keep hold of the ber th he manned alongside Shane Duffy against Austria for the doubleheader with Georgia and Serbia next month.

Having started the final three games of the season, he has his eye on filling the void left by Michael Keane’s departure to Everton but aware he’ll have to out-muscle one of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski to be granted a star t against the Premier League champions.

“Michael Keane and Ben had been the central-defensive partnership for the past two seasons, playing almost every single game,” said the former Cork City centre-back.

Son leads tributes to racing icon

Burnley’s Jonathan Walters (left) and Andre Gray (right) of Shamrock Rovers in action during the pre-season friendly match at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.

FOOTBALL :: NORTHERN IRELAND ACHIEVE THEIR HIGHEST EVER FIFA WORLD RANKING

Bragging rights for North as they leapfrog Republic Liam Blackburn

THE latest FIFA World Rankings make positive reading for Northern Ireland, but less so for Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland side.

Michael O’Neill’s men enjoyed wins in a friendly against New Zealand and a World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan to climb six places from 28th to 22nd in the latest world rankings, their highestever placing in the list.

The Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, had decidedly mixed for tunes last month. A 3-1 defeat to Mexico in New Jersey was followed up by a victory of the same scoreline against Uruguay, topped off with a 1-1 draw against Austria

HORSE RACING

in a World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium. They slip from 26th to 29th.

Elsewhere, England remain in 13th but it was a bad month for Wales as they slipped seven places to 20th. Scotland, meanwhile, climb three places to 58th.

At the top end of the rankings, Germany’s Confederations Cup success has helped them leapfrog Brazil and Argentina to the top of the pile. The 2014 World Cup winners had not been at number one for two years before this month. As a result, Brazil and Argentina slip to second and third respectively.

But for Northern Ireland, the rankings confirm Michael O’Neill’s stellar reign as coach. Four years and 11 months ago Michael O’Neill was three

games into his term when the game’s governing body published standings which saw them plummet to a new low of 129th, below Niger, Turkmenistan and New Caledonia. They are 10 spots above the Netherlands.

The victory over Azerbaijan in Baku leaves the Northern Irish with a fourpoint cushion in second spot in their World Cup qualification group ahead of September’s double header with San Marino and the Czech Republic.

Though it is assumed world champions Germany will win the group, the Northern Irish could guarantee second, and a likely play-off spot, with just a draw against the Czechs in Belfast if results in the previous round of fixtures go their

way. And with the eight best secondplaced teams from the nine groups going through to the play-offs, O’Neill’s side would stand an excellent chance of being just a two-legged tie away from reaching their first World Cup finals since 1986.

However, the draw for those play-offs will be seeded based on world rankings at the time, as it was for the 2014 tournament. So although Northern Ireland are currently one of the eight best secondplaced teams, there are four nations still above them in the latest world rankings, meaning they would be unseeded for that play-of f draw. The Republic of Ireland possibly face the same fate, raising the tantalsising/nightmare scenario of an all-Irish play-off.

PAUL Carberry led the tributes to his father Tommy (pictured) after the death of the Irish jump racing great at the age of 75.

The head of one of Ireland’s leading racing dynasties, Carberry achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Grand National both as a rider and a trainer.

He guided L’Escargot to victory over Red Rum in 1975 and saddled Bobbyjo to land the world’s greatest steeplechase in 1999, ridden by his son Paul, who confirmed the news. “He’d been ill for a while and fought it for a long time. He gave me a Grand National winner and has been great for Irish racing. He got the best out of everything he produced,” Paul said.

Born in County Meath, Carberry soon made his mark as a jockey and was a multiple champion National Hunt rider in Ireland in the 1970s. He enjoyed great success on L’Escargot, not only winning the National, but the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1970 and 1971.

Carberry also won the blue riband of jump racing on Ten Up, but was denied a fourth success when Tied Cottage, who was first past the post in 1980 was later disqualified.

He also won the Irish Grand National on Brown Lad in 1975 and 1976.

Meanwhile, Irish riding great and trainer Martin Molony, who was champion jump jockey between 1946 and 1951, has also died at the age of 91. He steered Silver Fame to win the 1951 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

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August, 2017 I www.irishecho.com.au

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