The Finn Harps manager, Ollie Horgan, has hit out at the Football Association of Ireland’s disciplinary procedures.

Horgan says that veteran midfielder Raffaele Cretaro faces a suspension following an erroneous yellow card in last week’s defeat to Derry City.

Cretaro was booked in the first half of the game at The Brandywell, a caution that should have been given to Caolan McAleer.

“Raff Cretaro was booked in the wrong last week,” Horgan said.

“The referee told me in the carpark at The Brandywell and he put it down in his report. We brought it to the attention of the powers that be, but that was still ignored.  He now serves a suspension.

“It’s not the criticism of the officials, but when one makes a mistake and admits it, it should be listened to.

“That yellow card still weighs heavily for me in the way the FAI dealt with it, or didn’t deal with it.”

McAleer was last night sent off as Harps lost 5-3 to Bohemians at Dalymount Park. It was Harps’ fourth sending off in the League and fifth in all competition.

Horgan said: “The first yellow card…He complained that he was fouled. We felt that Paddy Cook should have got the yellow. In this League, you either book from the first minute to the 90th or you don’t book at all.”

The Finn Harps U15s completed their league campaign with an excellent 3-1 away over Longford Town at the City Calling Stadium this afternoon.

Longford Town 1 Finn Harps 3

Josh Maxwell,  Conor Campbell and Oisín McKelvey were the goal scorers for Paul McBride’s side. Goalkeeper Fintan Doherty was Man of the Match.

The Harps U15s can now look forward to the knockout stages of the national competition after finishing top of their section. 

The Finn Harps U13s came away from Longford with a well earned three points after a commanding 3-1 victory over the hosts.

Longford Town 1 Finn Harps 3

A late Shaunie Bradley goal added to two first half goals from Aaron McLaughlin sealed the win for Kevin McHugh’s side.

Harps made a flying start and opened the scoring after only 50 seconds. A break from Tiernan McGinty down the left allowed him space to cross for Aaron McLaughlin who had time inside the box to control and fire low past the Longford goalkeeper.

Longford made their first advance up the pitch ten minutes in when a failed Harps clearance fell to Noah McNulty who curled a shot wide of the Harps goal.

Harps should have doubled their advantage shortly after when Shaun Patton raced on to Conor Kelly’s clever through ball, the forward saw his shot superbly saved by the netminder’s foot.

The rebound fell to McGinty, though Longford recovered to clear his goal-bound shot off the line.

 Alex Sheerin playing up front for Longford spurned two quick opportunities for an equaliser, firstly when given space at the edge of the box he fired straight at keeper Shane Adair while less than a minute later he fired wide after outmuscling the Harps defender when one on one.

The visitors made the hosts pay by doubling their lead thanks to McLaughlin again. A deep cross from Martin Coyle fell into the path of McLaughlin whose first time strike went high into the Longford net.

Conor Kelly could have increased the Harps lead further only for a fantastic save from the Longford goalkeeper.

The hosts pulled a goal back minutes before half time when an out swinging corner wasn’t convincingly dealt with by Harps, Ribeiro Tico Jose took charge powering a strike through bodies into the bottom corner.

The second half was a far more tentative affair as it took to almost midway through the half for either side to have a chance of note.

Harps captain, James McAteer, played a delicate through ball for McLaughlin who raced on though could only shoot into the keeper’s hands.

Moments later McLaughlin was again instrumental, breaking down the left hand side before firing in a low cross which was met by substitute Darragh Coyle whose effort went agonisingly wide of the post.

Harps finally made sure of the victory with two minutes remaining.

Coyle raced through before a fantastic tackle by Ryan Kelly forced the ball away from goal. But, Coyle recovered to win the ball back and delivered a perfect cross to Shaunie Bradley who was unmarked 8 yards out to head past the helpless keeper.

Harps can now focus their attentions on the second North West derby of the season on Tuesday night when they travel to face Derry City.

Stephen McBrearty hit two goals as Cill Chartha booked a place in the semi-finals at the All-Ireland Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta finals.

Cill Chartha 3-11 Cill tSeadhna 1-11

McBrearty’s two and another from Ciaran McGinley helped seal a place in the last four in Kerry.

McBrearty and McGinley netted to power Cill Chartha into a 2-3 to 0-1 lead and the Towney men were 2-7 to 0-4 in front at the half-time whistle.

McBrearty smacked in a penalty and mounted a brief comeback in the second half, but Cill Chartha had the spadework done.

Barry Doherty’s team will face Oileain Arainn or Cill na Martra in tomorrow’s semi-final.

Cill Chartha: Eamonn McGinley; Pauric Carr, Conor McShane, Barry McGinley; Andrew McClean, Michael Hegarty, Brian O’Donnell; Mark McHugh (0-4, 3f, 1 ’45), Ciaran McGinley (1-0); Conor Doherty, Stephen McBrearty (2-0, 1pen), Odhran Doogan McBrearty; Matthew McClean (0-3), Aodhán McGinley (0-2), Mark Sweeney (0-2).  Subs used: Pauric Sweeney, Pauric McShane, Ryan O’Donnell, Dara O’Donnell, Martin Byrne.

Mickey McCann was left to reflect on a tough afternoon as his Donegal lost out by 22 points against Down in the Christy Ring Cup.

Down scored seven goals in Letterkenny to leave with a 7-22 to 2-15 win.

“It was a tough afternoon,” McCann told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub after the game.

“Down are a wee bit slicker than any team in this Division. If you give their forwards space, they’re very clinical. They gave us a lot of bother. Our work rate was down and if you do that against Down you’ll be punished.”

Donegal trailed 4-11 to 1-9 at the break and, although Ciaran Matthewson hit 1-10, Down upped the ante and won with a bit to spare.

McCann said: “Giving away four goals in the first half was poor defending and decision making. We felt we could have fouled and two of the goals came from us getting turned over. Our defence has been a strong point of the last two years, but we had a bad day at the office today.”

Listen to the full interview below …

Na Dúnaibh coasted into the semi-finals of the junior section at the All-Ireland Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta finals in Kerry.

Na Dúnaibh 6-17 An Seanphobal 0-7

Na Dúnaibh – the defending All-Ireland junior champions – had 28 points to spare after a stroll in the park for Kevin Gallagher’s team.

Lorcan Connor was the man of the moment for Na Dúnaibh, scoring 3-7.

Eric Roberts weighed in with 2-4 and Kevin Doherty hit 1-2.

Na Dúnaibh were 3-10 to 0-1 ahead at half-time and well on their way to a win by that stage.

Gary McClafferty, three from Connor and two by Roberts had Na Dúnaibh 0-6 to 0-0 in front after just 10 minutes and they hit three goals in a five-minute spell to take a complete command of the game.

Na Dúnaibh scorers: Lorcan Connor 3-7, Eric Roberts 2-4, Kevin Doherty  1-2, James McBride 0-2, Gary Bán McClafferty, Keelan McGroddy 0-1 each.

Having been in Ballyshannon at the Rory Gallagher Festival this week, Brian Kerr wasn’t too amused by Imagine Dragons’ pre-game showing at the Champions League final.

Former Republic of Ireland manager Kerr spent a couple of days in Ballyshannon at the end of the week.

Tonight, Kerr is one of Virgin Media’s match analysts for the Champions League final between Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.

In the build-up, Imagine Dragons played to the crowd – but Kerr feels the supporters should have been allowed create their own atmosphere.

“The music bit of it, to me…look I was at Rory Gallagher festival the last couple of days and I loved it. If Rory could come back from the dead and play tonight it’d be brilliant,” Kerr said.

“And I’d put him on ahead of yer man, but anyway — other than that, I’d say that this is a waste of time; they should just let the supporters sing on and create that atmosphere.”

Virgin Media’s coverage is fronted by Annagry native Tommy Martin.

''If Rory could back from the dead and play it would be brilliant''

Brian Kerr is not a fan of the music before the Champions League final unless it was Rory Gallagher. #VMSport #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/O7TDL0HITL

— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) June 1, 2019

Muff is calling for a new Mayor, do you think you are up for the job?

Reigning Mayor Niamh McColgan is stepping down and the position is now open for anyone who thinks they can do it.

According to organisers: “Our current mayor cannot take the pressure of the switching on of the Christmas lights anymore. The pushing of the button has finally gotten to her.”

If you are interested in organising events, raising money for charity and having the duties of Mayor then make sure to apply and get in touch to the Muff Festival page.

The link to the page is here:

Odhrán Mac Niallais showed his undoubted quality again orchestrating everything and hitting six points  to deny a brave Bundoran in an enjoyable encounter in Gaelic Park.

Bundoran 3-10 Gaoth Dobhair 2-15

By Noel Carr at Gaelic Park

Both sides were short plenty of regulars but this didn’t take away from the match in any way.

Gaoth Dobhair hit the first score after six minutes from Mac Niallais after a cagey opening. Michael McEniff soon equalised and Daragh Hoey had Bundoran ahead.

Cian Mulligan  effort split the posts to level matters again.

A brilliant solo effort from Oisin Walsh saw him crashing an unstoppable effort past Gavin Sweeney.

Two further points from Shane McGowan and Walsh left five between the sides on 24 minutes.

Gaoth Dobhair  finished the half strongly with points from Ethan Harkin and Niall Friel with a Cian McEniff free in reply.

Bundoran led 1-5 to 0-5 at half-time.

Mervyn O’Donnell’s team talk had the desired effect and within seven minutes of the restart the visitors went from three down to three up with Mulligan and Mac Niallais hitting points and Conor McCafferty finishing a typical Gaoth Dobhair team goal with multiple passes to the Bundoran net.

James Boyle hit a super point from defence and a further Mac Niallais free left five between the sides on 40 minutes.

At this stage one expected the Ulster Champions to coast to victory but a brilliant turnover by Paul Murphy saw him hit an excellent fist pass to Matthew Duffy who blasted past Sweeney to breath new belief into the home side.

Another Hoey point left the bare minimum between the sides.

Kevin Cassidy eventually found his range and Mac Niallais added another to settle the nerves of the men in green.

A Johnny Boyle effort was soon cancelled out by Harkin and Cassidy again to leave four between the teams with eight minutes left on the clock.

Cian McEniff split the posts but once again Mac Niallais replied from a placed ball.

Two further long-range efforts from Michael McEniff left two between the sides.

In a frantic finish both sides found the net. First, Dan McBride finished a trademark move to palm to the net and then almost immediately a foul on Hoey saw Christopher Keaney dispatch the resultant penalty.

As the natives believed that a shock was still on the cards their hopes were soon extinguished as referee Shane Toolan blew the final whistle having played 90 seconds of added on time.

Considering that there was several subs and a stoppage for a head injury to Paul Murphy one could understand the home sides frustration.

Bundoran: Conor Carty; Matthew Duffy (1-0), Diarmuid McCaughey, Adam Gallagher; Oisin Walsh (1-1), Paul Murphy, Johnny Boyle (0-1); Michael McEniff (0-3), Niall Carr; Timmy Goverov, Daragh Hoey (0-2), Shane McGowan (0-1); James Stewart, Cian McEniff (0-2, 1f), Brian McHenry. Subs: Christy Keaney (1-0pen) for Stewart (41), Peter McGonigle for Goverov (56).

Gaoth Dobhair: Gavin Sweeney; James Boyle (0-1), Gary McFadden, Christopher McFadden; Niall Friel (0-1), Dan McBride (1-0), Conor McCafferty (1-0); Ronan Mac Niallais, Michael Carroll; Ethan Harkin (1-3), Odhrán Mac Niallais (0-6, 4f), James Carroll; Cian Mulligan (0-2), Kevin Cassidy (0-2), Conor Boyle. Subs: Naoise Ó Baoill for Carroll (11), Seaghan Ferry for McCafferty (53).

Referee: Shane Toolan (Aodh Ruadh)

Frank McBrearty has claimed that he and his family were ‘attacked in a personal way’ in a statement confirming his resignation form the Fine Gael party.

The Raphoe politician issued a statement through his Facebook page on Saturday night, suggesting that he will be ‘issuing legal proceedings in the coming days’.

The Raphoe man, who joined the Fine Gael ticket in the run up to the local elections, was last weekend re-elected to Donegal County Council after taking 1,208 votes in the Stranorlar/Lifford area.

McBrearty’s acceptance into the party caused strife internally and this week the matter came to a head.

Just three days after the election count, it emerged that McBrearty was on the verge of quitting Fine Gael and he told Donegal Daily that there was a ‘concerted effort to get me out’.

On Saturday morning, McBrearty confirmed that he offered his resignation to the party and it was accepted.

“For the record I have officially resigned from the Fine Gael Party on Thursday. I was approached by Fine Gael to run in the Local Elections,” the statement read.

“My team and I decided to accept on the condition that I would not run for the Dail or the Senate and that they couldn’t gag me.

“I told them I was only interested in representing my communities in east Donegal on Donegal County Council.

“I was not informed by them about the internal turmoil the party was in and if I had knew about it I would not have joined them.”

Fine Gale Councillor Martin Harley topped the poll in the Stranorlar/Lifford area. McBrearty, previously an Independent, had won a second seat under the Fine Gael umbrella and a third FG candidate, Garvan Connolly, narrowly missed out on a seat.

McBrearty said: “Fine Gael brought me in to build the party along with 4 fantastic women candidates and some other new candidates. It is my opinion that due to internal problems in the party it cost them at least 4 seats.

“A fine Gael member has attacked my family and I in a personal way that affected my family and I mentally and we will be issuing legal proceedings in the coming days.

“My family have been severely traumatised by what has been on going for weeks. Let me make this clear that I’m not intimidated by anyone but this has affected me mentally watching my family suffering at the abuse being thrown at me.

“My personal vote elected me and gave me a mandate to represent them. 5 years ago Fine Gael in the Stranorlar MD only had 1800 votes. This time they had 3366 votes and almost got a third candidate elected.

“I have served the people of east Donegal honestly and I dedicated my life to representing the most vulnerable. Due to legal reasons I can’t say much more but watch this space.”

McBrearty closed the statement referencing an old Latin legal maxim ‘Let justice be done though the heavens fall.’

Sean McGoldrick maintained his unbeaten professional record tonight with an impressive win in Cardiff.

McGoldrick, whose father Liam hails from Ballyshannon, defeated Moises Mojica at the Vale Sports Arena.

After six rounds, McGoldrick was declared the 59-55 points winner after a dominant display.

McGoldrick was on top throughout against the brave Mojica, who had little to trouble the Newport man.

The 27-year-old McGoldrick, who has his eyes on some big fights in 2019, moves his record to 9-0, 2KOs, while Mojica drops to 9-7-2, 6KOs.

Garrett Harte, is the founder of Harte Media, specialising in PR and Communications strategy. A native of Raphoe, he is the former Editor in Chief of Newstalk. His band The Lost play at Oakfest in Raphoe this evening. This is his ‘My Donegal.’

Garrett Harte

Where is your favourite place in Donegal and why?

Tough one as there are so many places to choose from!
If I go back to my childhood then I have great memories of spending weekends with my Mum & Dad at the beach in Rathmullan. Diving off the pier with my brother Emmet and eating sand soaked sandwiches washed down with gallons of Football Special!
Going to Rathmullen now still brings back those great times.

Where in Donegal do you call home?

Raphoe, the smallest city in the British Isles!
It was a great town to grow up in. Football, music and devilment!

Who is the one person in Donegal that you look up to and why?

There are two people to be honest. My late father, Paddy, and my mother, Rosaleen. They both dedicated their lives to public service, instilling the importance of social justice, community and fairness. My father was a source of great strength and I miss not being able to call on his advice. My mother is the boss in the house, always with wise words and a positive outlook.

What do you think is Donegal’s best tourist attraction?

Oakfield Park in Raphoe. Gerry & Heather Robinson have created an amazing, public space with beautiful gardens, walks and a steam train. They are always adding new designs and offerings including the Oakfest music festival. It’s a must visit.

Do you prefer Donegal summers or Donegal winters?

I’d say summers but there was nothing like sleighing down Mongorry hill in Raphoe on a frosty winter’s night.

What would you do on your ideal day out in Donegal?

Catch up with a few old school friends in Letterkenny, bit of storytelling and slagging!

What is your favourite Donegal-made product?

Football Special!

Who is Donegal’s greatest ambassador around the world and why?

Shay Given – a gentleman who has never forgotten his roots or his Lifford accent!

Who is Donegal’s most successful businessperson in your opinion?

Sir Gerry Robinson

Who is your favourite Donegal sportsperson of all time?

Jim McGuiness. The masterplan he created to deliver All-Ireland success in 2012 was outstanding. I first met Jim almost 30 years ago when I played in a band called The Lost and we would go on tour to Glenties! The week before the 2012 All Ireland final I sent Jim a text to say if Donegal were to win the All Ireland then The Lost would reform. They did and so did The Lost!!

What is your favourite Donegal restaurant?

Friels of Raphoe. Home from home!

If you could change one thing about Donegal what would it be?

I dream about getting the train to Donegal!

What is your favourite Donegal saying or expression?

“Would you catch yourself on…”

What is the biggest challenge facing the people of Donegal today?

In my business I never talk about challenges, I talk about opportunities. Beyond Brexit I think Donegal has the potential to be a tech hub for the country. Offering better work life balance and cost of living for companies.

What is your favourite Donegal food?

Dulse!

Is there anything that really annoys you about Donegal or its people?

No

Do you have a favourite local band?

Control The Dark & Frankie Dolan

If you had a million euro to improve something in Donegal what would it be?

That train line!

Daniel O’Donnell or Packie Bonner?

Packie Bonner.

Is there anything about Donegal that you are very proud of? 

There are many things. If I was to pick one it would be the people. I think Donegal people have a great outlook on life, passionate about their county and don’t take themselves too seriously!

Would you like to take part in the My Donegal interview series? Just send us an email on info@donegaldaily.com

DOWN MANAGER Ronan Sheehan has backed Donegal to retain their place in the Christy Ring Cup.

Down soared into the semi-finals thanks to a landslide 7-22 to 2-15 win over Donegal at O’Donnell Park this afternoon.

Down, thanks to a hat-trick apiece for the Sands brothers, Daithi and Eoghan, cruised to the semi-finals and a meeting with Roscommon, while Donegal will face London in a relegation play-off next weekend.

“You have to feel a bit for Donegal,” Sheehan told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub.

“They’re a lot better team than what they showed. They were missing hurlers the quality of Lee Henderson and Declan Coulter, Davin Flynn and guys like that, they’re working off a small base.

“Hopefully that won’t put too much of a downer on Donegal. I’d love to see them stay up in the Christy Ring. They’re good enough. As a fellow Ulster county, hopefully that won’t knock them.”

Sheehan is targeting a Croke Park spot for the Mourne County now.

As Wicklow overcame Derry at Owenbeg, Down topped the group on score difference.

Sheehan said: “We’re 70 minutes from Croke Park and we don’t get there too often.

“That’s our total focus. We can’t look any further than Roscommon. It’s a great opportunity for us and this was a real confidence booster for us.

“We knew that this would be difficult but we felt that, if we got on top that we’d need to stay on top. The full-forward line has been excellent for us all year. They were outstanding.

“People need to remember that the average age of that panel is 23. We are very young and they are starting to show great maturity.”

Ollie Horgan has praised the medical staff at Dalymount Park who attended to Finn Harps captain Keith Cowan at the end of Friday’s game with Bohemians.

Cowan had sustained a nasty gash on his head during Monday’s EA Sports Cup game against Derry City.

The Harps defender was bandaged at the Brandywell, but was in from the start on Friday night against Bohs and shipped a heavy knock during the first half in Phibsborough.

Cowan was said to have felt faint at the end of the game, but was able to walk unaided back to the dressing room following treatment.

“To be fair to the Bohs doctor and the ambulance staff, they were excellent,” Horgan said.

“He’s okay. He took a knock on Monday night that needed stitches.

“He re-opened the wound in the first half and, to his credit, he played on. He just felt the pressure of it at the end of the game.

“He needed attention, but he’s alert, he’s good and we need him and everyone else available.”

In this weekend’s gardening column, I discuss the many benefits and the importance gardening has for children.

As the summer looms in to sight many parents are planning an array of activities to keep their children active and to ensure they stay in touch with their friends and classmates.

Gardening in general is a very important life skill and teaches children and adults alike so much.

Unfortunately, I feel that there is a skills and knowledge gap from the older generation on how they worked the land and grew their foods.

I believe that these skills and knowledge need to be re-instilled once again and to ensure they are not entirely lost.

We live in a world where many find it difficult to distinguish the difference between many of our common fruit and vegetables. Is this a problem?

Gardening teaches us to take responsibility from either ensuring a tiny seed germinates and becomes a seedling to ensuring that this tiny seedling becomes an established plant.

The seed won’t germinate overnight and neither will the seedling become an established plant in an instance. This teaches us to be patient. A skill almost lost in today’s society where we tend to expect everything to happen at the click of our fingers.

Learn to accept failure and from failure we learn. Not every single seed you sow will become a seedling and not every seedling will become a plant. As someone once told me, a mistake is a mistake unless you learn from it then it’s a lesson. This very much applies to the gardening world.

We tend to learn so much more from not succeeding and it encourages and teaches us to succeed. I think that’s one of the important lessons that gardening can teach anyone.

If we develop an understanding of how nature and the environment work, we then can have a better understanding to make changes.

If we learn how the cycle of photosynthesis and how trees grow we can then understand how critically important they are to us and our very existence.

We owe our very existence to around 15cm of soil and from this we grow most of the food that feeds the world. If we can appreciate and learn about what makes soils so important then we can go and protect it.

Horticulture can prove to be a very interesting and rewarding career. We need more young people pursuing a career in it too. By getting children to develop an interest and understanding at a young age, at a later stage perhaps they would pursue a career.

As I discussed in a previous gardening column gardening has so many benefits for our mental and physical health. It can also be a brilliant social activity to get together, share some gardening stories and what you’re currently growing.

I will be delivering a two-hour gardening workshop aimed at children between the ages of 9 to 12 years old at The BASE Enterprise Centre in Stranorlar. The workshop will run from 10am-12am and will cover the importance of soil, the superpowers of seeds and children will grow their very own sunflower too.

More information on Facebook page or contact me via email or Whatsapp.

Happy Gardening!

Conor Gallinagh

BAgrSc, Horticulture, Landscape, & Sportsturf Management

MCIHort

Website: conorgallinagh.com

Email: cghorticultureconsultant@gmail.com

Facebook: Conor Gallinagh – Horticulture Consultant

Instagram: @conorgallinagh

Twitter: @ConorGallinagh

Dunfanaghy ABC’s Bernie McDonagh will go for his third Irish title next weekend.

McDonagh was the sole Donegal winner at the semi-finals at the National Boy 4 and Junior 1 & 2 Championships.

McDonagh defeated Michael Lawrence in a Boy 4 52kgs semi-final on Friday evening at the National Stadium.

The Dunfanaghy puncher was declared the winner when the referee abandoned the bout in the second round with McDonagh firmly in command.

McDonagh will now meet Thomas McDonnell of Bay City in the Boy 4 52kgs final on Friday night.

McDonnell took a unanimous decision in his semi-final meeting with Criostoir Browne from Oliver Plunkett BC.

Last year, McDonagh overcame Donnacha Sayers from Cashen Vale in the Boy 3 44.5kgs final having beaten Jake Daly of Castlebar in the 2016 Boy 1 36kgs decider.

Previously, his father, Martin, won an Irish title in the Dunfanaghy ABC colours.

McDonagh’s was the only win for Donegal punchers in Dublin this weekend with another seven boxers from the county losing out in semi-finals.

His Dunfanaghy colleagues Cormac Hall and Odhrán McGinley had no joy with Hall beaten by Martin Collins (Drimnagh) in a Boy 4 39kgs contest and McGinley losing to Luka Gureshidze (Togher) in a Junior 1 66kgs bout.

Illies Golden Gloves trio Cahir Gormley (Junior 1 54kgs), Jesse Callaghan (Junior 2 52kgs) and Jason Lynch (Boy 4 36kgs) lost to Dave O’Neill from Charleville, Jake McMahon of Liberty and Olympic Galway’s Paddy Cleary respectively.

Letterkenny ABC man Harry Good lost out to Martin Mongans from Limerick in his Junior 1 75kgs semi-final while former Irish champion Paddy McShane was beaten by East Down’s Oisin Mulholland at Junior 2 48kgs.

Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, has said that the publication of this week’s Teagasc’s 2018 National Farm Survey shows how government is not prioritizing vulnerable farming sectors.

Deputy McConalogue said 2018 was a very tough year for farmers with the severe drought that visited the country, which had a knock-on effect on massive feed and input costs.

He said “This had a big hit on sectors such as dairy.

“The average farm income declined by over a fifth in 2018 to €23,483. Farm incomes still lag substantially behind the average industrial wage.

“However, the figures once more expose how successive Fine Gael led governments are leaving vulnerable sectors behind. For example, the average income of suckler farmers declined to €8,318 last year – a 22% decrease on 2017.

“Meanwhile, sheep farmers’ average income was under €14,000 – representing a fall of over 20% from 2017.

“The government is very quick to talk up booming export figures and opening new markets. While this is important, the primary producer needs to see a fair share in profitability levels and receive a bigger slice of the profit in the food supply chain.

“The government needs to prioritise greater levels of support for vulnerable sectors, swiftly implement EU legislation on unfair trading practices, ensure a fully funded CAP budget post-2020 and increase income volatility tools to support farmers,” concluded Deputy McConalogue.

Ireland West Airport in Knock has welcomed the first scheduled service from Cologne with Ryanair to the West of Ireland.

Between June and September Ryanair will operate direct flights to and from Cologne every Tuesday and Saturday to Ireland West which is becoming more and more popular with Donegal people.

Cologne is Germany’s fourth largest city and the largest city of the State of North Rhine–Westphalia. Centred on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is regarded as Germany’s capital of carnivals reflecting the lifestyle of its inhabitants, who make Cologne the incredibly energetic spot that it is.

Cologne is ideally located just an hours train journey from Frankfurt and only 90 minutes from Brussels providing easy onwards travel options for visitors.

This new service is a major boost for tourism in the West and North West regions of Ireland as it provides the only direct access to the West Coast from the North Rhine-Westphalia region.

Germany is the third-largest market for tourism to the island of Ireland with a record year forecasted in 2018 of over 650,000 German visitors with 50% of German holidaymakers visiting the West and North West of Ireland during their stay.

On hand to greet arriving passengers were representatives from the Gourmet Greenway Food Trail who provided samples of delicious locally produced cuisines.

The food trail has been devised by the Mulranny Park Hotel, in association with Mayo food producers, to showcase the wonderful artisan food in the vicinities of Mulranny, Newport, Westport and Achill.

Accompanying passengers on the first flight from Cologne were a selection of media representatives from some of Germanys biggest media organisations who will be taking part in a 3 day familiarisation trip around the West and North West of Ireland during their stay.

Speaking at the launch, Joe Gilmore, Managing Director, Ireland West Airport said “We are delighted to welcome the first service from Cologne with Ryanair today. German holidaymakers are Ireland’s most active visitors, exploring our historical sites and engaging in multiple events/activities such as hill walking and hiking while on the island, which ties in perfectly with the airports location as the Western gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.

“We thank Ryanair for their continued support and their vote of confidence in the airport and we hope the service will attract the full support of all in the region as it will require even greater effort on all our behalf’s to ensure the route is a success and is maintained for the longer term and can lead to further expansion into Germany and beyond in the coming years’.

Eimear Ryan, Sales and Marketing Executive, Ryanair, added they pleased to officially launch our new twice weekly service from Ireland West Airport Knock to Cologne.

She said “To celebrate the start of this new route, we are releasing seats on sale from just €19.99 for travel in June and July, which are only available for booking on the Ryanair.com website until midnight Thursday (6 June). Since these amazing low prices will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com now and avoid missing out.”

Welcoming the first German visitors to touch down off the flight today, Michael Ring, Minister for Rural & Community Development said this brings more good news for Irish tourism as we welcome German visitors to the West of Ireland with Ryanair on their first flight from Cologne.

He said “Germany is the third-largest market for tourism to Ireland with over 300,000 Germans visiting the West and North West of the country annually. This new direct service will provide a major tourism boost for the region as it brings visitors to the heart of the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. For regional Ireland, the importance of convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated – they are absolutely critical to achieving growth in inbound tourism for rural Ireland’.

Children and young people across Donegal are being urged to fire up their imaginations and take part in one of the 30 free Cruinniú na nÓg events that will take place around the country on Saturday 15th of June 2019.

The event is now in its second year and celebrates and encourages participation by children and young people in creative activities in their local neighbourhoods and communities.

It is led by the local Creative Donegal Culture and Creativity Team, with huge support from local artists, arts organisations, creative practitioners and community festivals.

With a strong emphasis on participation, activities are specially designed to spark an interest and encourage the inner creative in children to try something new or fulfil a secret ambition!

Highlights of this year’s Cruinniú na nÓg in Donegal include: a Seaweed Safari in Inishowen; a messy play experience for older children in Falcarragh; an immersive Japanese experience in Bundoran Library and; a theatrical performance by Donegal Youth Theatre at Glenveagh National Park

Donegal County Council’s Chief Executive Seamus Neely is delighted to be once again working hand in hand with Creative Ireland and RTÉ to deliver such wonderful creative opportunities for children and young people in Donegal saying, “we believe that by investing in arts, culture, heritage and language we are investing in a healthier, more fulfilled, prosperous and successful county and Cruinniú na nÓg provides us with a great platform from which to extend this to our youngest residents and visitors.”

Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan TD said, “Ireland is the only country in the world to have a dedicated day of free creativity for our children and young people. Although only in its second year, Cruinniú na nÓg has already grown in ambition and scale with almost double the number of free activities taking place across the length and breadth of the country this year.”

She also went on to say that, “Each of the activities and events have been carefully curated by our network of passionate and committed Culture and Creativity teams across the country.”

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy TD added “as a committed supporter of the all-of-Government Creative Ireland Programme, I am very proud of the pivotal role which my Department and the local authorities are taking in supporting the creativity and wellbeing of our youngest citizens. I am particularly pleased that all Cruinniú na nÓg events are locally based and free so that as many children and young people as possible will have the opportunity to participate.”

Dee Forbes, Director-General, RTÉ, says “Creativity and community are at the heart of RTÉ’s new mission statement.  They are also core principles of the Creative Ireland Programme’s Cruinniú na nÓg, which makes this partnership especially important for us. RTÉ supports over 130 arts and cultural events every year so recognizing and enabling artistic endeavour and creativity is something we take very seriously.”

Soaking up the sun and atmosphere at last year’s Cruinniú na nÓg with Inishowen Carnival Group at Glebe Gallery

An opportunistic Paddy Byrne goal helped Naomh Columba to a valuable Division Two win over Termon this afternoon.

Termon 0-11 Naomh Columba 1-11

By Chris McNulty at The Burn Road

Byrne lobbed to the net in the 28th minute for a goal that ultimately decided an eventful day at The Burn Road as Glen took their third win in a row.

Termon mounted a stirring comeback for a time in the second half, but saw Kevin McDaid and Daire McDaid sent off in the closing stages – just when the home side looked like they might complete the turnaround.

Daire McDaid posted seven points in an excellent display for Termon, but he saw red having been fouled by Ryan McNern in added time.

Kevin McDaid had made the long walk six minuets before the end for an apparent trip on Ryan Gillespie.

A majestic 55-metre point by Daire McDaid brought Termon, who looked dead and buried not long beforehand, to within two points. McDaid took on what seemed an outrageous attempt, but his kick sailed between the posts.

Termon had all the momentum at that stage and kicked six of the game’s final seven points, with Caolan McDaid rifling over the top when he was fed by Nathan McElwaine. The Termon substitute might well have rattled the net from that position, but had to settle for a point.

Daire McDaid nailed a 50-metre free and went one better from play spin after. Caolan McDaid was denied an equally impressive point by an upright as Naomh Columba survived.

With Termon down to 13, McNern kicked an insurance point for Glen.

The game’s ending was in marked contrast to its beginning, which was characterised by a series of wides in the opening quarter, when all that troubled the scoreboard was a Byrne ’45.

Daire McDaid was thwarted by a fine stop by Naomh Columba ‘keeper Shane O’Hare, but he hoisted Termon’s first point in the 18th minute.

Glen led 0-3 to 0-2 when Byrne stepped up with one of the plays of the day late in the half. Termon ‘keeper Michael Boyle strayed out towards his ’45 in possession, but disaster struck when a pass inside was cut out.

Byrne took aim and, with Boyle away from his sentry, the shot dropped into the Termon net.

Aaron Doherty, who has recently joined the ranks of the Donegal senior squad, was introduced on 26 minutes and a wonderful score from the youngster had his side 1-6 to 0-3 in front at the changeover.

Doherty sparked new life into the Glen charge and he added two more points in the second half, putting them eight up at a stage when it had the look of a game that was over.

Termon had other ideas, but they were undone by themselves in those frenetic closing moments and it’s five games now without a win for the men in maroon.

Termon: Michael Boyle; Paul McDaid, Kevin McDaid, Caolan Gallagher; Shane Doherty, Nathan McElwaine, Oisin Cassidy; Aiden Sweeney, Declan O’Donnell; Daniel Connaghan, Christy Connaghan, Anthony Grant (0-1); Enda McCormack (0-2), Daire McDaid (0-7, 2f, 1 ’45), Ryan McFadden. Subs: Caolan McDaid (0-1) for Grant (39), Johnny McCafferty for McFadden (48).

Naomh Columba: Shane O’Gara; Martin Cunningham, Philip Doherty, Barry Carr; Pauric Ward (0-1), Kevin McNern, Stephen Jones; Paddy Byrne (1-1, 1 ’45), Fionn Gallagher; Ryan McNern (0-2), Lanty Molloy (0-1), Gavin McGinley; Ronan Gillespie, Ryan Gillespie (0-3, 1f), Kieran McBrearty. Subs: Aaron Doherty (0-3) for Ronan Gillespie (26), Pauric O’Neill for McGinley (50), Ronan Gillespie for McBrearty (black card, 52).

Referee: Liam McConigley (Downings).