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Martin wades into abortion debateAs the Dáil committee hearings continue on the abortion bill, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has waded into the debate saying it is important that Christian believers "be, and seen to be, on the side of life, especially when life is most vulnerable".
Payment cuts see families pay rent shortfallLimits on rent supplement payments set by the Government are forcing thousands of families to make undeclared top-up payments to landlords to secure places to live.
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Anger as North Korea launches another missileNorth Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.
How Star Trek predicted the futureWHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.
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Warnings over future of eurozoneThe eurozone is heading towards a break up unless there are moves towards much closer political and fiscal union, according to chief economist with State Street Global Advisers, Chris Probyn.
Bruton defends corporate tax rateIreland will be able to maintain its current corporation tax code in the face of international pressure to prevent multinational corporations avoid paying their fare share of tax, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said yesterday.
- SPORT
Mayo’s statement of intentGalway 0-11 Mayo 4-16 Five minutes to go in Salthill yesterday and James Horan was still cajoling his men to sew it into Galway.
Wilkinson inspires Toulon to gloryASM Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16 Not for the first time this season, a matchday performance and the result have made a mockery of the statistics.
- LIFESTYLE
What Lenny did nextLENNY Abrahamson has directed three feature films: Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did.
Clothes maketh you madTrying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.
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O’Connor a relieved man
“The interrogation begins!” smiled Jack O’Connor as the press assembled around him in a vacant dressing room.
By John Fogarty
Was he concerned? Very. Until Darran O’Sullivan’s goal changed the energy of the game, nails were being bitten. Proverbially, of course.
“Ten minutes into the second-half, when the breeze wasn’t getting any less and we were struggling,” he replied when asked at what stage he was most worried. “It took the likes of Tomás Ó Sé and Eoin Brosnan driving out of the half-back line because the extra man they had in their backline gave us a bit of bother in the first half. But we pushed up in the second.”
Despite facing the wind and trailing by two at the break, Kerry were still 1/4 to win the game.
Those odds lengthened dramatically when Westmeath stormed ahead via a penalty from David Glennon’s. O’Connor believes they wouldn’t have recovered without O’Sullivan’s goal.
“You wouldn’t give much for our chances 10 minutes into the second half. Facing a strong wind, we’d a mountain to climb.
“I don’t think we’d have got out of there without Darren O’Sullivan’s goal. We’re delighted to get out of here but obviously an awful lot of room to improve on.”
O’Sullivan was taken off 11 minutes after scoring the goal with a tight hamstring and had a ice-pack on it afterwards.
“He was tightening up again and we decided to take him out again in case he did too much damage but he did enough for us when he was on to bring us back into the game, which was great. It’s (injury) not cured 100% but it looked like we were going out of the Championship so we had to throw him in. Thankfully, he did a good job for us while he was in there.”
O’Connor rued a lack of fluidity in the forwards in the first half, pointing to the amount of their attacks that came to nought.
However, he took some comfort from his backs’ display.
“You can’t turn form around overnight but we just hope that this game brings us around. Sometimes form can be just around the corner, I think our backs played well, to be fair. We kicked some good scores in the second half and showed good composure but we needed to stick away a few more scores in the first half because the longer Westmeath stayed in the game, the more belief they got.”
O’Connor dismissed the idea that Kerry found it difficult to motivate themselves for the game.
“No, it was just that we weren’t sticking the ball over the bar. It takes the confidence out of you. In many ways it was a credit to our fellas that they hung in and kept the heads.”