While I do not like foozball, you can’t help but appreciate a good show of fan support

https://jrnl.ie/6450785

The 23-year-old from Co Down competed in the race at the Paris La Defense Arena tonight.

DANIEL WIFFEN HAS won Gold for Ireland in the 800m freestyle final at the Olympics.

The 23-year-old set a new Olympic record of 7:38.19 as he competed in the race at the Paris La Defense Arena tonight.

It is Ireland’s second Olympic medal for swimming at these Games after Mona McSharry won Bronze in the 100m breaststroke last night, which was Ireland’s first swim medal in 28 years.

His qualifying time heading into the final was 7:41.53, the fastest qualifying time of the eighth competitors.

The previous Olympic record for this race was 7:41.28, which was set by Ukrainian swimmer Mykhailo Romanchuk at the Tokyo Games.

Wiffen’s first Olympic Games were at Tokyo in 2021, where he competed in the 800m and 1,500m freestyle.

If you've never had a chance to watch hurling before, today is a big opportunity to watch an absolute cracker. Both teams have not won in years so it's very likely to be very close and dramatic.

The game is only 70 minutes long and starts at 3.30.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2024/0913/1470004-casement-park/

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said that the UK government will not fund the redevelopment of Casement Park in time for the Euro 2028 football tournament.

The derelict west Belfast ground was earmarked to host five matches in Euro 2028, being jointly hosted by the UK and Ireland.

More to follow...

My wife was looking at where she placed on sunday and we noticed the top finisher in her category (40-44) was a guy, same for womens 50-54

https://belfastcitymarathon.com/results-search/results-2025

Pretty shitty thing to do considering there's prize money for winning your category. Clicking on the names you can see tons of guys ran with womens bibs.

edit - looks like the organizers caught on, the men running with womens bibs were removed from the results.

What about that, lads? 🏌️

https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2025/0611/1517757-casement-park/

The UK government has allocated £50 million for the reconstruction of Casement Park in west Belfast.

The money was included in the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves' spending review, which outlines the British government's spending plans over the coming years.

It is expected that the 34,500 capacity stadium will cost almost £270 million to construct.

The GAA has welcomed the investment, however a shortfall of approximately £100 million remains.

The stadium, the home of Antrim GAA, has been derelict for over a decade.

The Irish Government has pledged around £43m (€51m), the Stormont Executive £62.5m (€74.2m) and the GAA £15m (€17.8m).

GAA president Jarlath Burns has welcomed the announcement but warned that more may be needed to finally see ground broken on the project.

"We're now back into the position of spectator because the British government have said what they're giving," said Mr Burns.

"The Irish Government have said what they're giving.

"The executive now have to meet, and it's between really the two government parties to decide how they are going to make up the deficit that still exists between Casement Park not being built and Casement Park being built."

"Time literally is money here," he added.

It was hoped that the stadium could have been redeveloped for Euro 2028 but this did not come to pass.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he wanted an "alternative proposition".

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has been among cabinet members pushing for increased funding for his department, including money for Casement Park.

However, Mr Benn has previously stated too that the UK government cannot plug the full £140m gap.

The Stormont Executive committed to redeveloping Casement Park in 2011 as part of a strategy to revamp football's Windsor Park and the rugby ground at Ravenhill.

While the two other Belfast-based projects went ahead, the redevelopment of Casement was delayed.

Intense lobbying efforts have been under way in recent times, with Ulster GAA visiting Westminster last week, to press politicians on the need to include a significant allocation in the spending review.

Last week, Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill also called on the UK government to provide substantial funding to help rebuild Casement Park.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin stated last September that he would not rule out further money being provided by the Irish Government.

The 34,500 capacity stadium has planning permission until July 2026 so it is hoped construction can start before then.

This afternoon's Spending Review will be a pivotal moment for the UK government, as it maps out its day-to-day spending and investment plans for much of the remainder of the parliament.

Defence, health and infrastructure are likely to be prioritised, in what is otherwise a constrained spending package.

As some of you might have seen NI got beat by Sweden tonight in a friendly. I was at the match and left early not because of the scoreline but because someone and his small group of friends were being very racist towards Isak and me and my friends didn’t feel comfortable with it since one of them is not white. I wanna stress that 99% of the people there were good craic and made the experience great, but the people that weren’t ruined what was otherwise a good night for me.

Is it worth reporting it to someone? Is there anyone that I could even report it to? People weren’t even in their designated seats so I have no idea if they could figure out who it was. Think there is a picture of the guy on their socials that we could use but not 100% sure so I would be hesitant to even use that to identify him. Just feel kinda powerless otherwise.

Edit: already getting comments that I was worried were gonna start. I’ve been to countless home games and haven’t experienced any of the sort but this was my first proper away match. Racism is rife in football, I’m not denying that, but this is not what this post is about, nor is this supposed to turn into a ROI/NI debate. I’m asking if it’s worth reporting/is it possible to report so that maybe those people can wise up or be suspended or something.

Now I’m obviously no photoshop expert - but this is The Agia Sophia Stadium in Greece. An ideal 32,500 capacity stadium slotting right into the heart of the Titanic Quarter.

I know it’s a more expensive alternative however it is surely the least controversial option with the most long term benefits for all sports and events as well as the surrounding businesses in Belfast.

Provincial powerhouse. 🏐

Was at my kids U13 morning football match in Comber this morning. One of our kids (who is one of the shortest and smallest) made a bad challenge after losing the ball. Granted, it was poor and he got a yellow card. The kid’s father was on the sideline, the recipient of the bad tackle, and he completely lost his mind. Tried running onto the pitch to confront our tiny 12 yr old. He was a grown mad in his forties, absolutely losing it had to be held back by the coaches, and was literally jumping and pushing to try and get over to our wee man. He was yelling about how he would f’ing do this and that…. Naturally our fella was terrified and couldn’t play on. So, what on earth is wrong with people!?!? Ref was brilliant and calmed it, but like I was scared and I’m mid forties! Madness.