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PAUL O’DONOVAN HAS said he and his brother Gary haven’t been able to let their Olympic medal win sink in as they’ve been so busy since claiming silver in the men’s lightweight double sculls final on Friday.
Speaking on C103’s Cork Today, Paul said: “We haven’t had too much time to think about the achievement really.
“We’ve been hearing a lot of things from home and they’re all after going mad in Skibbereen and all over the country. It is kind of a big thing really.”
He said they have “done a little bit [of celebrating]“, and tried to fit in some sightseeing in Rio de Janeiro too.
Gary is staying on in Brazil for another week, but Paul is leaving to go to the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam.
The brothers have made international headlines thanks to their laid-back approach to interviews and humble attitudes.
Paul said it’s “kind of frightening to think about [the internet reaction]“, adding that Irish race walker Rob Heffernan told them their lives might “never be the same again” due to the media attention.
He expects a homecoming party to take place in Skibbereen in late August or early September.
The brothers also have another event coming up, with Paul noting an open invitation to a Debs was sent to them on Twitter, saying: “We’ll have to decide who’ll go to that.”
Proud parents
On the same show, their mother Trish said:
It seems that the world and their mother are happy for them and delighted for them, and have taken them on board as two ambassadors for the country and rowing … that is fantastic.
She said she is very proud of her sons making history, securing Ireland’s first-ever medal in rowing at the Olympics.
When asked about their personalities, she said: “Ah sure they’re stone mad, they’re wild. They were always as wild as could be [as children] … They’d find fun in everything.”
Their father Teddy, who coached them for years, said:
The day I took them rowing, their lives were never the same again really.
He said his sons truly love the sport and that drive “was always in them”.
Teddy added that he always thought they had a good chance of winning a medal.
“I had made the prediction. When it comes down to an Olympic final you obviously don’t know because it comes down to the finest of margins. But I did, I had them tipped to be challenging for a medal … that was before they went out to the Olympics at all.”
What abut their own website? Can’t see any cookies notification there either…
As far as I can see they only use 2 session cookies both of which are non-intrusive and expire at the end of the session. So they don’t need to display any alert.
Have they cookies?
They do! Every website needs to display this message, weather they have one or more cookies.
No, Jeroen, they don’t. See paragraph 5 of regulation 5 of SI 336 of 2011.
Thejournal.ie is on that list. say it ain’t so guys.
Never fear. The Data Protection Commissioner says: “The 80 websites in question were chosen at random as a representative sample of sites. Receipt of a letter does not indicate that a site has not achieved compliance with the law”.
Phew.
A word document? Really?
Well the Journal wrote an article about the Instagram storm in a teacup and yet has ignored this cookie privacy directive that has been around since mid-year. The article seems to be indicate that non-compliance is a bit of a laugh. The site also uses Google Analytics and there’s no specific reference to this in the Privacy Policy (there’s supposed to be a standard term as part of the agreement to use Google Analytics)
Perhaps the author of this article might like to ask the Journal management for a statement as to why they did not implement the requirements in July. Especially as it was well flagged.
Never got a cookie on Journl.ie
Brian – Just for the sake of clarification, our Cookies Policy (which is linked at the bottom of each page on the desktop and mobile sites) lists the full range of cookies used by the site or its various components.
Google Analytics is at the top of this list. http://www.thejournal.ie/cookies-policy/
Thank you for point ing this out. I was looking at the Privacy Policy. I don’t think I’ve seen a cookie policy as detailed as your own.
So with this level of transparency, why avoid the regulations?
I am assuming the journal will be replying in the affirmative to this letter. Cookies leave a bad taste in my mouth :(
How ironic that all these sites ask us for permission to accept cookies – and then they don’t use said cookies to remember our choice last time around… Oh the ironing
I have been implementing quit a lot of these scripts and the funny thing is that some offer a tickbox so you won’t be bothered again, with the result that….. a cookie is placed on your computer :-)
Yeah, it really shows the grasp some folk have on technology doesn’t it. Such a pointless law….
The Cookie Monster must of been working over time setting these rules,
lol a third of the sites are owned by the state…. Have to laugh at that!
What’s with the chocolate chip cookies in the picture!! Was the reporter on his 10 minute break, or is this story ironical!!
Unfortunately unlike the UK, there hasn’t been much guidance from the Data Protection Commissioner. A search on their website for cookie guidelines brings back nothing of interest
Om nom nom!
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