Assistant to the regional manager. Not really on here much any more, if you're thinking of dropping a DM, send me an email instead ✌️ c.okane
@irishnews
.com
Bo knows turkeys.
Michael knows footballers. He knows coaches.
They, like turkeys, do not like anyone messing with the order of things.
The turkeys will say no to rule changes.
We must not listen to the turkeys.
We must listen to Michael.
Gary Lineker had really gone up in my estimation until this. The way he takes the sweet out, unwrapped, sneaks it in, doesn't ask either of the lads if they want one. So polished, he's clearly done this many times before. Pocket sweet eaters are the worst of people
@GaryLineker
Eldest daughter played her first u5 camogie match last week. Marched straight in to full-forward and took the wee girl from The Loup by the hand. Talked the whole way home about her new friend. Must've got it from
@maireadyo
😆
Just received a lovely call from Ciaran McAleer's father Neil and thought this was worth sharing again. It's Ciaran, who suffers from brittle bone disease, leading out the Tyrone team at Healy Park last year. It's just an outstanding sight to see the joy and pride on his face
The final whistle goes and Mickey Moran shrugs off the congratulations to go straight to Kilmacud manager Robbie Brennan for a hug. But at long last, Mickey Moran has his All-Ireland as a manager.
Unbearably tragic news from Monaghan this morning. From immense pride to unspeakable devastation in a few short hours. I don't think there's a person on the island whose heart won't ache today for Brendan's family, friends, team-mates with county and club. RIP
Bellaghy goalkeeper Peter Stewart kicks a 65th minute winner against Newbridge. On the final whistle seconds later they all sprint to Declan Brown, who buried his father Damian this morning and came on late in the game. The emotional connection of a GAA community is unrivalled
Never broke stride, never thought twice about going on his left, never looked like he was going to miss even with all that was at stake. This is the score I always think of when it comes to Diarmuid Connolly. The Cantona of Gaelic football
Unbelievable that the medic and the referee allowed that to happen. A sport can talk about being serious about concussion but actions speak louder than words
Tomorrow's column. Since Saturday I've spent about 15 hours at football. Watching, playing, reporting. There is so, so, so much good in the GAA, what it does for society. If The Nolan Show contributed one-thousandth of the same, it'd maybe be worth your time
'The appetite for fury is never-ending, and so round and round and round it goes.' - In a no-holds-barred opinion piece, GAA columnist
@CahairOKane1
takes aim at BBC broadcaster Stephen Nolan
#GAA
#Nolan
"The stopwatch has stopped. It’s up to God and the referee now. The referee is Pat Horan. God is God."
Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh was some legend. Was such a thrill to sit beside him in the press box in Celtic Park about 15 years ago and watch how he operated. Very sad news.
Yesterday's man of the match Conleth McGuckian when he was seven years of age, playing against Slaughtneil. Absolutely brilliant photo by
@brianmckenna26
Isn't this deadly. Slaughtneil's Cormac O'Doherty and Glen's Conor Comvery pictured on the left during a Feile game in 2009, and ten years later in a league decider last week. Class work by one of my top 25 favourite relatives
@MKBurke1
😁
#GAA
Understand that Glen have lodged an objection to Croke Park over the result of Sunday's All-Ireland club final after discussions this evening. CCCC expected to meet within 24 hours to decide. A replay the most likely decision, though what Kilmacud now do remains to be seen
#GAA
"Anti-Dublin bias is the biggest load of bollocks. Pure, total and utter dung."
Oisin McConville 😂 have said for a long time he's the best pundit around
So many All-Ireland finals are about systems and tactics and fear of losing. Today was about David Clifford and Shane Walsh, one-on-one with their men, ripping up the hallowed turf. Seventeen points between them. Seven frees, two marks, a 45' and seven from play. An exhibition
I could stream this for free if I was in the Republic but because I'm in the north, I have to pay Sky to watch Dublin-Kerry. It should never have happened and it should be stopped as soon as possible because it's partitionist and goes against what the GAA is supposed to be
Of all the reasons to have wanted Mayo to win an All-Ireland, Lee Keegan was right at the top. But would the medal change much? Men have won All-Irelands that weren't a fraction of the player. Keegan turned up when he was needed. That's a fine legacy
2,540 days. 45 games. Six All-Irelands in a row. Brian Fenton's first ever championship defeat. Highly unlikely we'll ever see a run like it again. Dublin have been unbelievable, but football needed it to end. And nobody deserved to end it more than Mayo. Unreal drama
The moment I referred to at the start of my column this week. Watch Eoin Murchan take off when Dublin turn the ball over. Realises there’s no-one ahead of him in blue, busts a gut to get to full-forward and bring his team up the pitch. Vision, awareness, decision making
#GAA
The Olympics has been deeply frustrating for northern fans of Irish athletes. I wasn't able to see O'Donovan and McCarthy's race. We're at the behest of England's broadcasting whim. It impinges greatly on the right to feel Irish. It's as if we don't exist
Niall Grimley was immense today. Been such a tough time for him. Broke his neck two years ago. Then lost his brother Paddy and sister-in-law Ciera in a road traffic accident in November. Serious resilience and strength of character. Great fella from a lovely family
Hard to believe that Sunday's football final will Darragh Maloney's first live TV commentary of an All-Ireland decider. Their best commentator by an absolute mile, he should have been on every football final of the last decade. Long overdue
#GAA
Of all the bullshit out of Dublin, there's been nothing as insulting as the recent "we're great because our volunteers work bloody hard". What's the rest of the country been doing this 130 years? The impact of money is far past deniability. If it has no effect, hand it back
#GAA
That free given to Stephen O'Brien changed that game. Derry were two up, had just made a huge goalmouth block, coming out with the ball. Softest of frees. Kerry win the next three kickouts and get themselves ahead. Huge decision and a hard one for Derry to stomach
Random idea. Imagine the GAA rotated Croke Park to counties every year to host adult club finals. 1 or 2 counties a year. Snr, int, jnr football, hurling, camogie. How class would that be for clubs that would never get close to playing in it through All-Irelands. Some incentive
By the boot of Jerome Johnston and the hand of Miceal Rooney, they've done it. Kilcoo, tiny Kilcoo, are the biggest club in the country. Kilcoo are All-Ireland champions
Every single county in Ireland, football and hurling, should be encouraging this at half-time in every single game they play. Nothing engages young ones more than the chance to muck about themselves. Does absolutely nobody any harm. Get the pitches filled all summer
Great footage of Cork's goal on a day when we have nothing else. Was told by the GAA to stop taking or sharing such videos after the Ulster final because it was infringing on the broadcasting rights and breaching my accreditation agreement 🫣
Actually tough watching Sambo getting so emotional over this but you can only imagine what that was like. The teachers that did that to weans should have been locked in a cell
It is gonna take a lot to wrestle Footballer of the Year off James McCarthy. Not an ounce of tokenism based on his career, it's about the 2023 he has had. First pick in the transfer market for every single county in Ireland. I think he's Dublin's greatest of the great
Life's there to be lived. It's only football. This group have had a very tough reminder of that the last few weeks. Can't understand why anyone would want to criticise them for enjoying what was a huge day for Gaoth Dobhair, even if they didn't win
Vinny Corey called Conor McManus the greatest clutch player in Monaghan's history. I make it of his 9-240 in championship football, 1-43 (18%) of it has been scored after the 60th minute. Of that, 1-14 has been from play (36%). Put all the league games on top of that. Leadership.
Incredibly sad news that Caolan Finnegan has lost his battle this morning. Was privileged to have spent a day in his company last year. Wore such a gentle smile on his face. Heartbroken for his family, girlfriend Emily, his friends and team-mates
Kilmacud Crokes have 4,800 members - seven adult football teams and five in hurling.
All-Ireland club finalists.
U19&U17 footballers top of Div1. U19 hurlers same.
Modern Ireland demands a GAA transfer system - but one that allows Shane Walsh to go to Kilmacud isn't right
25 of the Monaghan football panel are based in Dublin but not one of them plays for a Dublin club. They all travel home for their club games. Fair play 👏
If the world was just, Caolan Finnegan would have spent the next decade on the pitches of Ireland striving, tormenting, goal-hunting.
And smiling.
He was always smiling.
Piece on Stringer the man and the footballer.
RIP Caolan
@crossrangers
Crazy to think that a tackle scene would be so memorable 18 seasons later. Such a defining sequence for Mickey Harte's Tyrone. Nobody can deny the county's achievements under him, nor that the time is right to go. Like Heffernan and Micko and Gavin, his name will always be spoken
Deep down we all know that when it comes to it, the people of this country retain the inner goodness, generosity, compassion and sense of community we've always prided ourselves on. In the face of unspeakable tragedy, the people of Creeslough and Donegal have come across so well
Siobhan Carr and her tireless staff at The Coffee Pod in
#Creeslough
have been doling out mountains of free food and drinks to emergency workers for over 24 hours now - they’re still going as I write. They also refuse payment from journalists sheepish at the Donegal hospitality
Ryan Wylie’s 2018 championship
M Bradley 0-0 / R O’Neill 0-0
C Corrigan 0-0
J Curry 0-0 (only played 2nd half)
R O’Rourke 0-2 (R Wylie 0-1)
R Munnelly 0-0
N Flynn 0-2
P Geaney 0-0
I Burke 0-1
L Brennan 0-0 / M Bradley 0-0
He should’ve won an Allstar
#GAA
The 1999 Ulster final and the walk up the hill made by Suzanne and Megan Burns. In the pram, one Jarlath Óg Burns, off to see his father lift the Anglo Celt Cup as Armagh captain. The boy in the pram might get his own tomorrow
Four minutes of Donal Og spouting the same stuff. No counter argument presented all summer, just nodding heads. First 11 pages of hurling in Irish Examiner both Sat&Mon. Loads of promotion if you care to look. Sports will always clash. Hard to stomach this stuff. Column tomorrow
The Sheridan, Bateson and Lee trophy placed on the grave of Brian Óg McKeever, the young Steelstown star who passed away 13 years ago tomorrow, aged 17, and after whom the club is named. Beautiful thing to be able to do
#GAA
This was from an U15.5 schools game today. It finished 0-2 to 0-1. Abbey CBS are the team defending, Maghera (scored 6-32 in their two games before today) on the ball. This happened in Tyrone-Monaghan recently too, becoming more regular. The rules simply have to change
#GAA
I'd often be critical of the GAA leadership but they've made a huge contribution for the good of society this week. From pro-actively shutting down all form of gatherings to opening Croke Park for testing. It is the world's greatest community organisation. This is it at its best
Glen, All-Ireland champions! Never seen a celebration quite like it - to a man, they almost all collapsed to the ground. Malachy O'Rourke gets his All-Ireland too. No Derry title until 2021, now All-Ireland champions. Unbelievable achievement.
I don't think there's a worse action on a football field than trying to put your finger into someone's eye. It has crept in the last few years. Anyone caught even near it should be sitting on the line for six months. Had a man try it on me once. As cowardly as it gets
Full of admiration for
@rony_mac
for opening up and telling his story. It's very raw, even harrowing in parts, but to come back and win an Allstar is a remarkable tribute to him. He hopes telling his story might help others through a tough time
#GAA
Ticketmaster should be fined every penny of their profit for this stuff. I really cannot get my head around this kind of thing not being regulated. Same as hotel prices. Has to be legislation brought in. The rich can do whatever they like and the gap keeps on widening
Fair play to the groundsman in Newry sitting on and waiting for me to finish work. Very civil man, nothing a hassle. Late night for a man that I presume has a real job in the morning, unlike me. You do wonder if the next generation will ever provide volunteers like it
Tyrone has 53 clubs. 2018 games development grant was €119,000.
Dublin has 93 clubs. 2018 games development grant was €1.3m.
If any county is surrounded by the economic resources to be self-sufficient, it's Dublin. Yet it's the rest who are asked to be.
Column tomorrow
#GAA
Of all the bullshit out of Dublin, there's been nothing as insulting as the recent "we're great because our volunteers work bloody hard". What's the rest of the country been doing this 130 years? The impact of money is far past deniability. If it has no effect, hand it back
#GAA
@JamieBrysonCPNI
Everyone in the north can throw stones at the past but it doesn't do any good. Be the bigger man. The three major sporting bodies are trying their best, none of them get it all right. Take that look in the mirror and try being a force for inclusion rather than division
Not sure about anyone else but after a full year of patience and understanding and seeing the need for restrictions, the idea of further lockdowns is a bit sickening. If they'd done lockdown properly at the start we wouldn't be a year on and no further forward. People are fed up
Totally meaningless in a way but the GAA just had the Rare Aul Times sung live and the Dublin fans singing along, building their own atmosphere. Doesn't do much for the appearance of neutrality for an All-Ireland final in Croke Park
Four-star accommodation in Europe for this Saturday and Sunday night
Croke Park Hotel, Dublin £788 (€918)
Madrid £231
Berlin £305
Lisbon £318
Brussels £339
Barcelona £340
Amsterdam £351
Edinburgh £379
Rome £392
Munich £459
Paris £522
Absolutely scandalous stuff altogether
I've stayed in the
@crokeparkhotel
many times & I have no complaints about the place at all. But €918 for one person for 2 nights this weekend in a deluxe double room without breakfast for All Ireland Quarter final weekend is absolutely crazy.
#RipOffIreland
#GAA
The GAA has cancelled all fixtures at club level for the foreseeable future. The prospect of an inter-county championship is dwindling by the day. But I'm thankful there was any football this year at all. It's kept a lot of people sane the last few months
An unpaid one or two-year internship of weekend and evening work, yet looking for someone with a degree and a recognised S&C qualification. That's a long time to do a job you're not getting paid for when you've spent thousands to graduate. Unpaid internships should not be legal
Literally anywhere in the entire northern half of Ireland would have done, but they're sending Slaughtneil and Sarsfields to Gorey in Wexford. There's bound to be a ground somewhere handier that could hold it without doing something as mental as this
Sport is cruel and unjust and glorious and heart-stopping. What a finish to an occasion those young lads will never forget. "Remember the day we sold out Nowlan Park on our own?" Not much consolation to Offaly now all the same
There were cameras at Mayo-Armagh, Monaghan-Kerry, Cork-Galway, Clare-Derry, Laois-Antrim, possibly others, and yet there's nowhere to watch the games back in full. You'd swear they were state secrets. And then people complain of lazy analysis when we can't watch the games 🤯
Column: Ticket price rises as people struggle to pay bills. Cashless entry only without the infrastructure to do it properly, leaving older people - a core audience - lost and helpless. A season ticket that offers very little. What is happening here?
#GAA
Full clip of red card incident.
Rory Kavanagh says St Eunan's were told it was for "a strike on the Glenties player on the ground."
Adds: "We try to show [the officials] the video at half-time that shows there is no strike and they don't want to watch it. So, something stinks."
The people that wrote those words and sang and laughed and banged tables aren't human. You couldn't be human if doing something like that would enter your head for even a split second. It is just absolutely depraved, sheer badness. Really, really bad people that deserve no luck
A brilliant Tipperary hurling final today, a great Dublin hurling final last night and the exit of Corofin from the football championship. We were told for years the GAA would have "no presence" if the county season was shortened. Horseshit. Only ever needed to show more of it
We’ll sell the games to the world with Sky, they said. And now people who pay for Sky can’t even watch The Sunday Game in the north 🙈🙈🙈 can’t record it to watch it back, no access to it on the RTÉ player. Woeful
#GAA
This is our first minister. The person who should be setting the example for everyone else to follow. Her example is, no matter what the circumstances, bring Them Uns into it. This place would wreck your head
This is not protest. This is vandalism and attempted murder. These actions do not represent unionism or loyalism. They are an embarrassment to Northern Ireland and only serve to take the focus off the real law breakers in Sinn Fein.
My thoughts are with the bus driver.
Caught up with Dungannon's number one supporter, Pedro Gomes for today's paper. Born in Portugal, moved to Ireland aged four and is GAA mad. This is the video of his celebration at the final whistle, if you hadn't seen it. It is absolutely brilliant 🏐
#GAA
In tomorrow’s Irish News and at …
“My heart was going, I tried to just keep calm to show my mates what was happening. I was in two places at once, showing the penalties and watching as well”:
@DgnClarkeGFC
super-fan Pedro Gomes relives a night of drama
Kilmacud Crokes have played eight championship games in Croke Park in the last three years. No reason why Glen should be asked to go there any more than Kilmacud should be asked to come to Armagh. A provincial venue would add so much to what should be a firecracker
Games won in the Ulster championship in the last decade (2012-now)
Donegal 27
Monaghan 16
Tyrone 12
Cavan 9
Down 7
Armagh 4
Fermanagh 4
Derry 1
Antrim 1
Aidan Forker's speech was, for me, one of the greatest heard in Croker Park. The way his voice broke right at the end, as if he had used up every word in his soul. Magical stuff
📽️
@tjfhughes
Aside from the other allegations, the idea that BBC staff were planted in the audience for Stephen Nolan's TV show and that rows were manufactured is really damning too. Wrote this three years ago about how brutally divisive his TV and radio shows are
Ticket prices for National Leagues increase from €15 last year to €18 in 2023. Revenues from last year's leagues were higher than in 2019. In 2019, leagues brought in €3.5m, cost €1.3m to run. They'll no doubt say costs have gone up. Times are hard enough. No need.
Strange statement from Waterford. If they don't want to play then don't play. But throwing 'Northern Ireland' at it as though it's a foreign country is totally unnecessary. And Portglenone is nowhere near Belfast. They're 45 minutes apart
Not having a back door is shit for Clare and Sligo and everyone else in the middle tier. But remember the reason there is none. Giving clubs a proper window for championships is far more important than 50 back-door games that won't change a thing in terms of who wins it
#GAA
Column: The GAA more than pays its way in society. The narrative that they're standing with a begging bowl for Casement Park is deeply unfair. Since Ireland was partitioned, nationalists have had the raw deal on public funding. £100m? It's barely a start