Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
All that can only mean one thing – the official Christmas countdown is underway.
It’s time for shopping lists, catching up with old friends and putting up the decorations.
So today we’re asking, when do you put up your Christmas tree?
Poll Results:
8 December, like every self-respecting Irish person (6788)
Before Christmas Day if I'm lucky (2086)
1 December (1802)
Toy Show night with my Christmas jumper (1513)
None of that indoor tree stuff in my house (594)
Before December, I just can't wait any longer (570)
Advertisement
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Yes,watched it all the way through,really enjoyed this tournament,and some achievement from the young man,never have I seen such a natural darts player as him.
@Deano: only similarity i can think of his mvg at 17 winning the bdo masters. But littler seems even better than that. He’s relentless on the 19s, always a great trait to have also.
@Marcus Maher – Triskellion Films: all that talk about him is fairly poor tbh. He is only 16. Bad form all those that keep harping on about his appearance.
@Setanta O’Toole: It is a bit of craic tbh, and I’m not the 1st person to make this observation, great talent and obvs it’s good for the game but let’s be honest, Darts players ain’t Pro Triathletes are they, pies, booze and fags are the staple and that’s why it’s a good craic.
@Dave Harris: No, i’m saying it’s bad form to slate a young lad constantly over his appearance. Not too controversial a take i think, you look to be more upset over it.
Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
Favourite another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
Report
Jan 3rd 2024, 11:23 AM
@Dave Harris: “your life must be dreadfully upsetting”……Good one Dave. It’s a bit sad that adults are coming on a public forum to make fun of a 16 year old boys appearance. I think that if you feel the need to do this your life must be dreadfully upsetting!….. There have been other more derogatory comments that have been deleted
Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
Favourite another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
Report
Jan 3rd 2024, 1:54 PM
@SFmeansSheetForFree: yeah it is, especially when your missus knocks over…. Wha!…. Think you missed the point. There something sad about adults posting on a public forum insulting the appearance of a 16 year old boy whether he sees it or not. The majority of people appreciate that he looks older than his age but they don’t have the need to post insulting comments about it…… I wonder if the mirror is kind to those posters. We’re all perfect behind our keyboards aren’t we?!?!
Love the old darts, you have to admire what Barry Hearn has done with the darts,taken it from dingy halls with a few hundred people, to major arenas with thousands of fans. Definitely on my list to go to the Ally Pally.
@The Firestarter: to be fair the old bdo championship at lakeside was always a great spectacle. As was the initial pdc tournaments at the circus tavern. Bigger crowds are great but certainly a less knowledgeable crowd than years ago
Darts standard prior to Christmas is usually very poor but it’s exceptional since. Humphries will have too much for Littler but my god, what a future he has, as long as he stays off the kebabs.
@Peter: yes possibly,if humphries plays the way he did last night,but will he play the same,littler I expect will put him under a lot more pressure than Williams did,
@Deano: neither Williams or Cross made it hard work for both Lukes. Potentially the first time Littler will be under pressure is tonight, but Humphries has had some close games already. All depends how Humphries deals with the crowd, no doubt they want to see Littler win.
Littler looks like he is playing in his shed. He’s not letting it all get to him. He looked a wee bit nervous in the first set against Cross last night but he turned it around. He has some future ahead of him!!
'I'll never forgive my country': Women on the trauma of having to travel to UK for terminations
1 hr ago
631
Speeding
Gardaí out monitoring drivers' speed across the country for national Slow Down Day today
1 hr ago
736
4
Wilson's Hospital School
School will ask for Enoch Burke to be jailed if he disrupts State exams or shows up next year
11 hrs ago
45.1k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 164 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 111 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 146 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 116 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 136 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 76 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 84 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 47 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 93 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 100 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 73 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 55 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 91 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
The Daily Poll
have your say