ILLIES GOLDEN Gloves boxer Carleigh Irvine won an Irish Junior Cadet title this afternoon.

Irvine defeated Glin’s Angelina Duffy to collect the 46kgs crown.

Irvine took a 4-1 split decision after a dominant display at the National Stadium.

Duffy had beaten Abby Gibbons from Cherry Orchard in her semi-final, but Irvine proved too slick.

Her victory – the 42nd Irish title won by an Illies Golden Gloves boxer – is expected to see her selected for next month’s European Championships in Georgia. 

A total of 41 new Irish champions were crowned today, while a minute’s silence was held in memory of Limerick heavyweight Kevin Sheehy, who was murdered last Monday and buried in his native city earlier today.

Details have been announced for Donegal’s first Super 8s match on Sunday (July 14) at MacCumhaill Park. 

The GAA announced that the game will be general admission with no reserved seating.

The decision was announced by the GAA on Saturday meaning the same ticket will let patrons into either the stand or terrace.

Declan Bonner’s side will face either Meath or Clare in Ballybofey at 2pm on July 14 before taking on Kerry at Croke Park a week later.

In a statement on Saturday, the GAA said: “Croke Park has decided the game in MacCumhaill Park on Sunday 14th will be general admission with no reserved seating, ie the same ticket will let patrons into either the stand or terrace.

“It will be first come, first served for stand tickets and when it is full patrons must go to the terrace.”

Two late goals saw Finn Harps U15s lose to St Patrick’s Athletic at the Curragh in Killygordon this afternoon. 

Finn Harps U15s 2-4 St Patrick’s Athletic

Paul McBride’s boys had led 2-1 at half-time thanks to goals from Conor Campbell on nine minutes and Luke McGlynn just before the half-hour mark.

Campbell and McGlynn have both represented the Republic of Ireland at underage level. Despite the defeat manager McBride was happy with the performance of his team.

Two Finn Harps underage teams were in Dublin today with the U19s winning 4-1 against Shelbourne at the AUL Complex thanks to goals from Darragh Ellison, Gabby Aduaka, Niall McGinley and Ronan Gallagher.

However, it was a 4-1 defeat for the Harps U17s who took the lead courtesy of a cracking Conor Black free-kick. But, a Sean Cumiskey hat-trick and one from Adam Naughton saw the hosts secure the three points.

THERE WERE gold medals for Sommer Lecky and James Kelly at the Irish Life & Health U20 and U23 Championships in Tullamore this afternoon.

The Finn Valley duo led the way on a good day at the office for Donegal athletes. 

Lecky, the 2018 World Under-20 silver medalist, led the way in the junior high jump with Kelly acing the junior shot put.

Lecky and Kelly are now expected to be named in the Irish squad for the European U20 Athletics Championships in Boras, Finland.

Lecky soared over at 1.80 metres to take high jump gold by a comfortable margin.

Kelly had little trouble in the shot, the St Johnston man reaching out to 16.72m and only denied a whopping 18.01m effort by the narrowest of infringements. 

There was also an impressive display by Finn Valley’s Oisin Gallen, with the US-based scholarship student claiming bronze in the U23 1500m. Gallen cruised into the medal positions in 3:51.94 and was pipped to bronze by Swinford’s Shane Bracken.

Youghal’s Fearghal Custin took the gold in 3:49.54.

Finn Valley’s Shane Irwin, who was recently selected as part of the Irish squad for the European U23 Championships in Sweden, took bronze in the U23 400m. Irwin finished in 48.19 seconds.

Tir Chonaill AC’s Caolan O’Callaghan was the silver medallist in the U23 triple jump. O’Callaghan leapt to 13.77 metres with City of Lisburn’s Mark Burton taking gold with a 14.23m attempt.

Bridget McDyer of Finn Valley won silver in the U23 weight for distance event. McDyer threw out to 5.32m, beaten only by Michaela Walsh from Swinford’s 6.40m.

Letterkenny AC’s Niamh Kelly left with bronze from the U23 3000m race. Kelly finished in a time of 10:05.77 and was just behind Castlecomer’s Lauren Dermody and Aisling Kelly of St John’s.

Lifford-Strabane AC’s Darryl Crawford was fourth in the U23 weight for distance and fifth in the javelin, Finn Valley’s Janine Boyle was fifth in the U23 100m final, while Alan McGinley of Lifford-Strabane qualified for the U23 1500m final.

Donegal will finish off their Super 8’s with an away fixture against Mayo after James Horan’s side sealed their progress this evening.

Mayo were 2-13 to 1-13 winners over Galway in Round 4 of the qualifiers at the LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Two goals in the first eight minutes from James Carr of Mayo laid the foundation and although Galway got back to within three points twice in the second half, David Clarke in the Mayo goal also saved a Liam Silke penalty.

Shane Walsh blasted home a Galway goal from a free deep into injury time. It means that former Mayo manager Stephen Rochford, who joined Donegal’s backroom team last year,  will be taking on his native county.

Donegal will open their series with a match in Ballybofey tomorrow week, Sunday July 14 at 2pm, against the winner of Meath or Clare – those two sides meet tomorrow at Portlaoise in the last of the Round 4 qualifiers.

Declan Bonner’s team will face Kerry  in Group 1 at Croke Park on Sunday, July 21 at 4pm before making the trip to Mayo at MacHale Park in Castlebar on the weekend of August 3/4.

In Group 2, Dublin and Roscommon were today joined by Tyrone and Carr, who enjoyed comfortable wins over Cavan and Laois respectively.

THE NAOMH CONAILL GAA club made a donation in memory of the late Manus Kelly on a highly-emotional evening in Glenswilly.

The gesture was made before Glenswilly’s first All-County League Division One game since the tragic death of the popular father-of-five, who lost his life while competing in the 2019 Donegal International Rally.

Naomh Conaill players funded a donation of €250, which will go towards Donegal Down Syndrome – a charity that was close to Manus’s heart.

Naomh Conaill Chairman David Kelch presented a cheque to Manus’s parents, Donal and Jacqueline at Pairc Naomh Columba.

Glenswilly’s team included Leon and Caolan Kelly, while members of the Kelly family were among the large attendance at a game won by Naomh Conaill 3-19 to 0-13.

Water Safety Ireland has released figures showing that seven people drowned in Donegal last year.

The Safety group released the figures showing that 103 people drowned across the country in 2018.

The figure is less than 2017, when 109 people drowned.

The majority of drownings occurred in Leinster (43).

Spokesperson Roger Sweeney said the figure is the lowest it has been in 80 years.

“But we still average five drownings every fortnight which makes drowning a significant public health issue. When we look at the causes behind the figures, we see some steps that people can take to minimise risk to themselves and family.”

Water Safety Ireland advised of ways to help protect yourself when in the water:

Letterkenny Gaels took a huge step towards their promotion hopes when they overcame Moville in the Jimmy McGlynn Catering Division 4 top of the table clash in sunny Pairc na nGael on Saturday evening past.

Letterkenny Gaels 2-16 Bun an Phobail 0-12

The Glebe men were quick out of the blocks and raced into a five point lead by the 20 minute mark.

A point each from Brendan O’Brien and Ronan Frain and five scores from the accurate boot of full forward Conor McBrearty.

The Moville scores come from a Malachy McDermott free and midfielder Padraig Skelly. The visitors did have an opportunity to narrow the margin but Michael Barr blazed a penalty wide on the twentieth minute.

At this stage Gaels were dominating the midfield area with some excellent marks from Paddy Doherty and Conor Browne.

The visitors then introduced Ciaran Diver who made an immediate impact with two points and a Danny Murphy point but Gaels added thee more scores from McBrearty to bring his first half tally to eight points

Half Time Gaels 0-10 Bun an Phobail 0-5.

Diver added two early scores in the second half but Gaels responded with Subs Mark Hunter(2) John Doran and another McBrearty free.

Seamus Hegarty reduced the deficit to six points by the 45th minute but two minutes later a surging run from McBrearty ended in the lively Ciaran Kilfeather finishing to the net.

O’Brien added another point in the 48th minute but the Moville men fought back with three more Diver scores and a point from Malachy McDermott to bring it back to six.

However the home side finished strongly with another point from the lightning Kilfeather and a goal from the experienced Hunter at the death.

Lettekenny Gaels: S Graham, S McDonagh, C Lynch, K Kilkenny, B Diver D Hunter, C Browne, L Doherty, P Doherty, A Diver, S Doherty, R Frain(0-1), B O’Brien(0-2), C McBrearty(0-9), C Kilfeather(1-1). Subs, J Doran(0-1) for K Kilkenny, M Hunter(1-2) for L Doherty( Black Card) N McGarrigle for C Lynch.

Bun an Phobail: C McLaughlin, E Gillen, E Faulkner, J Henry, D Diver, E Hegarty, J McBride, P Skelly(0-1), T McClenaghan D Murphy(0-1), M McDermott(0-2), P Faulkner, S Hegarty(0-1), R McDermott, M Barr, Subs E O Doherty, C Diver(0-7)

Referee: Pat Walsh Bundoran

Donegal school children took part in a nationwide programme this week at the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland’s event, CRAFTed. 

CRAFTed is a nationwide, primary level programme, which supports the delivery of the visual arts curriculum.

The programme works with teachers, craftspeople and students.

The event aims to provide all those engaged with it with skills for life through positive, collaborative engagement.

Clive Wasson some of the event around Donegal this week and captured some of the best moments.

See below…

BONAGEE UNITED held a very successful summer camp at Dry Arch Park last week.

Around 75 children took part in the enjoyable five-day coaching camp led by the former Finn Harps player Eloka Asokhu.

Coaches Natalie McFadden, Paul Clarke and Kellyann Buchanan aided in the coaching of the children, whose week came to an end on Friday.

Newly-appointed Bonagee United Chairman Niall Callaghan was in attendance to present the children with medals and certificates on Friday afternoon. 

THE SUPER 8 picture is now clear and Donegal will open their quarter-final group phase against Meath next Sunday in Ballybofey.

Declan Bonner’s men will face the Royals, who edged Clare 2-16 to 1-18 in a titanic tussle at Portlaoise this afternoon.

Donegal are grouped with Meath, Kerry and Mayo in the Super 8s.

Next Sunday’s game at Sean MacCumhaill Park will be the third meeting of Donegal and Meath this year.

In Ballybofey in Division 2, a Caolan McGonagle goal fired Donegal to a 1-13 to 0-14 win.

They also met in the Division 2 final, when an inspired Michael Murphy performance and a Jamie Brennan goal gave Donegal a 1-17 to 1-15 triumph after they fell eight points behind.

This afternoon, Meath edged out Clare in a round 4 qualifier.

The sides were level 1-9 to 0-12 at half-time with midfielder Bryan Menton riffling in a goal for Meath late in the first half.

Three minutes into the second half, Gavin Cooney hit the net for Clare, but Meath responded instantly as Mickey Newman – who ended with 1-6 – netted.

Clare stayed right on the trail, but Meath were able to, just, stave them off.

Donegal will face Kerry at Croke Park Sunday, July 21, in their second Super 8 fixture.

The group phase comes to a close when Declan Bonner’s men head for a potentially-decisive joust with Mayo in Castlebar on the August Bank Holiday weekend.   

Details for that fixture – which brings Donegal coach Stephen Rochford head-to-head with his native county, whom he led to successive All-Ireland final appearances – have yet to be confirmed.  

SUPER 8 FIXTURES

Group 1

Sunday July 14

Donegal v Meath, MacCumhaill Park, 2pm

Kerry v Mayo, Fitzgerald Stadium, 4pm

 

Sunday July 21

Mayo v Meath, Croke Park, 2pm

Kerry v Donegal, Croke Park, 4pm

 

August 3/4

Meath v Kerry, Navan

Mayo v Donegal, MacHale Park

 

Group 2 

Saturday July 13

Roscommon v Tyrone, Dr Hyde Park, 5pm

Dublin v Cork, Croke Park, 7pm

 

Saturday July 20

Cork v Tyrone, Croke Park, 5pm

Dublin v Roscommon, Croke Park, 7pm

 

August 3/4

Cork v Roscommon, Cork

Tyrone v Dublin, Healy Park

 

JODIE MCFADDEN’S first-half hat-trick powered excellent Illistrin into the Ulster Under-16 Cup final.

Bonagee United 0 Illistrin 6

McFadden’s treble and goals by Erika Gallagher, Meabh Devenney and Ciara Doherty fired Illistrin beyond a gallant Bonagee at Dry Arch Park.

It was an even game until Illistrin broke the deadlock with two goals in an 80-second spell after the 16th minute.

McFadden slammed past Emma Doherty, the Bonagee goalkeeper, after racing through.

It was 2-0 almost instantly as McFadden got free again and made no mistake with a tidy finish.

Doherty was unfortunate to be beaten a third time, again by the deadly McFadden, as Illistrin moved three-nil up by the break.

Doherty kept the score down with several fine saves, while Heather McLaughlin warmed the palms of Orla Corry, the Illistrin number one. 

Amy Callaghan and Ella Black kept the fight going for battling Bonagee.

Illistrin added their fourth when Ciara Doherty beat the offside trap and found the bottom corner.

It was soon 5-0 as Devenney latched onto Aislinn Coll’s pass to finish while Gallagher surged forward to get a sixth for the clinical Illistrin side. 

Bonagee United: Emma Doherty, Eva Harvey, Ella Black, Caitlin Hume, Ava Doherty, Amy Callaghan, Sienna Doherty, Aleysia Alcorn, Levia Quicoli, Maria Rodriguez, Cliodhna Patton. Sub: Heather McLaughlin.

Illistrin: Orla Corry, Emily Irwin, Megan McDaid, Erika Gallagher, Darcey Kelly, Jade Stewart, Aislinn Coll, Maria Kealy, Jodie McFadden, Nicole McDaid, Ciara Doherty. Subs: Sophie Curran, Meabh Deveney, Aoibhin Randles.

Referee: Con McLaughlin.

A magnificent four bedroom (2 en-suite) home with an overall c.3000 sq ft including the attached garage is on the market for €525,000. 

Built-in 2001, this opulent home is finished to high standard and quality throughout.

It boasts beautiful panoramic views from it’s with the captivating 1.5-acre site and is only a short two-minute drive from the village of Ramelton.

Viewing is highly recommended and strictly by appointment only.

You can view the full listing, including more photographs of the property, by Brendan McGlynn Associates here.

OISIN MERRITT and the Republic of Ireland Cerebral Palsy team open their 2019 IFCPF World Cup campaign in Seville tomorrow.

Ballybofey United man Merritt has been selected as part of the 14-man Irish squad by manager Paul Breen.

The team will be looking to build on last year’s success when they collected a bronze medal at the European Championships by beating host nation, The Netherlands, in a third-place play off.

“We have prepared well for the World Cup and are going to Seville confident and excited by the challenge ahead of us,” Breen said ahead of the opening game on Monday evening against Finland.

“We were training once a month and this included a camp at Johnstown where we faced The Netherlands in two friendlies and on both occasions we won.

“As we got closer to the World Cup we’ve trained once-a-week at Abbotstown and that has prepared us well for what is a tough group. Finland will present a challenge, Iran are considered one of the strongest in the World Cup as are the USA but we have no reason to fear any team.”

Merritt was part of the Irish CP squad that won bronze last August and scored twice in a 5-1 group stage win over Germany.

Merritt had to have part of his skull replaced after a fall from a balcony in Spain in June, 2014, but in April 2017 he was given the go-ahead to return to competitive sport.

Merritt was dubbed ‘The Miracle Man’ by doctors at Son Espases Hospital in Palma after a fall that saw him suffer a broken skull, a broken bone at the top of his neck, five breaks in his jaw, a broken cheekbone, a ruptured spleen and permanent deafness in his left ear.

Fixtures:

08/07/2019: Ireland v Finland ( 6pm Irish time), Seville

10/07/2019: Iran v Ireland (10am Irish time), Seville

12/07/2019: Ireland v USA (6.10pm Irish time), Seville

13 – 14/07/2019: Quarter Final, Seville

16/07/2019: Semi Final, Seville

18/07/2019: 16th – 10thplace play-offs, Seville

19/07/2019: Final/3rd to 8thplace play off, Seville

 

KILCAR MADE light work of Sean MacCumhaills this afternoon in Ballybofey for their latest Division One victory.

Sean MacCumhaills 1-9 Kilcar 2-14

Second-half goals by Pauric McShane and Ciaran McGinley helped Barry Doherty’s team to an eight-point away win.

McShane fired to the net in the opening minute of the second half after Kilcar had led by six, 0-9 to 0-3, at half-time.

Nathan Gavigan’s goal had MacCumhaills within six at one stage in the second half but, with ten minutes to go, midfielder Ciaran McGinley hammered in a second Kilcar goal.

McGinley’s goal put the visitors ten points ahead.

MacCumhaills did close with points by Darren O’Leary and Gavin Gallagher, but it was a comfortable win for the Towney men.

Scorers – Sean MacCumhaills: Darren O’Leary 0-6, (5f), Nathan Gavigan 1-0, Gavin Gallagher, Ryan Finn, Jamie Keegan 0-1 each

Kilcar: Ciaran McGinley 1-1, Mark McHugh 0-4 (3f), Pauric McShane 1-0, Odhrán Doogan, Matthew McClean, Andrew McClean 0-2 each, Brian O’Donnell, Conor Doherty, Barry Shovlin 0-1 each

Finn Harps recorded their second win in as many games in the U13 National League Phase 2 beating a good Athlone Town side away at Lissywoolen.

Athlone 1-5 Finn Harps

A brace from captain Shaun Patton, along with strikes from Adam McDaid, Deizel Long and Tiernan McGinty sealed a comprehensive victory for Kevin McHugh’s side.

The Harps U13s can now look forward with some confidence to next Friday night’s Northwest derby against Sligo Rovers at Finn Park (kick-off 7.30).

Harps started fast and opened the scoring in the first minute when Patton burst into the box before cutting the ball back across to McDaid whose first-time strike flashed high into the net out of the reach of the Athlone keeper.

In the early stages, the visitors controlled possession for large spells and worried the Athlone keeper on a few occasions, most notably Ciaran O’Kane’s speculative effort from 30 yards that went narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

Harps thought they had doubled their lead midway during the half when Aaron McLaughlin was played through by Conor Kelly, but the keeper parried the initial effort. McLaughlin recovered to square to McGinty whose shot was then stopped by the keeper. However, Patton forced the rebound in only to see the goal ruled out for offside.

Only moments later a wayward Athlone kick-out from was met by the head of McLaughlin whose header found Patton. This time there no flag and the forward finished with precision past the oncoming keeper to make it 2-0.

Harps extended their lead further just before half-time when Martin Coyle’s corner was flicked on at the near post by McGinty eventually falling to Deizel Long who controlled the ball before firing home from close range.

Harps began the second half like they finished the first and grabbed their fourth goal almost immediately when good work from McGinty released Patton, one on one with the keeper and just like the first he calmly finished past the keeper.

Athlone were unfortunate not to pull a goal back within a minute when a shot ricocheted off the post and back into Killian Hagan’s hands.

The game was starting to become more open as the hosts went in search of a goal though they were again foiled by the post, while Harps went on the counter-attack and Shaunie Bradley found the foot of the post, denying him from getting on the scoresheet. McGinty finally found the net for himself after assisting two earlier goals. A ball down the line from Darragh Coyle picked out McGinty and the midfielder held off a challenge before rifling a powerful shot in from all of 25 yards.

Athlone got a consolation goal with 20 minutes remaining when they converted a penalty.  The win sends Harps to the summit of the group and the focus now turns to ‪Friday night when McHugh’s boys get the opportunity to play at Finn Park against northwest rivals Sligo Rovers (kick-off 7.30).

The government has been urged to immediately request a full impact assessment of the Mercosur deal on the beef sector, in all Brexit scenarios.

Charlie McConalogue issued the appeal on Sunday, insisting the current government were doing a disservice to beef farmers across the country by failing to act in their best interest.

“In 2016, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre produced a damming report on the “Cumulative economic impact of future trade agreements on EU agriculture,” the Donegal TD said.

“It reported that additional imports dominated by Mercosur countries from a trade deal would cost the EU beef sector €5bn annually, with prices collapsing by up to 16%.

“The Irish Government failed to put up any fight with like-minded countries in the run-up to Autumn 2017 and acquiesced to the EU’s initial beef offer of 70,000 tonnes to the Mercosur bloc,” he added.

“They also showed no urgency in building a coalition against the increased offer of 99,000 tonnes.

“I find it baffling that the Government have failed to request any new impact assessment since 2016. In the intervening three years, the situation facing beef farmers has gone from bad to worse. They have been failed badly by Government.

“Ireland exports around 90% of our beef into the EU marketplace, with half our total exports to the UK every year. Currently, the EU beef market is 102% self-sufficient. If the UK leaves the EU, this increases to 116% with excess produce saturating the European market.

“This is why we need a new cumulative impact assessment. It’s vital to get a proper and updated assessment as to how the Mercosur beef deal would impact the EU market and depress prices further than originally calculated in 2016.

“Despite the Fine Gael internal battles, which are an affront to the beef farmers who are on their knees, Minister Creed must immediately request a new assessment from his party colleague Commissioner Hogan,” concluded Deputy McConologue.

Gaoth Dobhair charged to victory over St. Michael’s in Division One of the All-County League on Sunday after trailing by three points at the break. 

Gaoth Dobhair 0-20 St Michael’s 1-16

St. Michael’s, were in many ways the architects of their own downfall, as they threw away a sizeable lead against the Ulster champions after the interval.

Colm McFadden gave St Michael’s, who led for most of the tie, the lead after a well-placed goal after 27 minutes, giving Gaoth Dobhair some food for thought.

However, Mervyn O’Donnell side, seemingly unfazed, used all their experience to claw themselves back in front to take the victory and keep in touch with the leading pack in Division One.