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OKAY, OKAY. LISTEN. Time to come clean.
For the past week, Ladyball has been the word on everyone’s lips. A “softer, smaller and pink ball for ladies’ GAA…” Well, it’s safe to say reaction was mixed, as the Ladyball prompted anger, bafflement and just sheer disbelief.
Disbelief was the right option, because the Ladyball doesn’t exist.
It was all about putting the spotlight on women in sport in Ireland and raising awareness of the difficulties female sportspeople have in getting the same recognition as their male counterparts.
But doesn’t it just tell you something – that the only time we ever hear about Irish women in sport is in relation to Twitter outrage over a fake product? Where is that passion and support for female sportspeople the rest of the year? Why aren’t more people talking about Irish women in sport?
Many of Ireland’s finest sportspeople and athletes are women. Let’s move the focus from Ladyball onto their achievements – and keep it there long-term.
Cork’s Briege Corkery and Rena Buckley have more senior All-Ireland titles than any other Irish athlete – each have 16 (ten in ladies’ football, six in camogie).
A sailor, Murphy was the first woman to win the Irish National Championships in her category in 2010. She competed and came fourth in the 2012 Summer Olympics in Women’s Laser Radial class, after four days of coming in first and had the whole country holding their breath during the race. She also won gold at the 2013 European Championships in Dublin.
From Cavan, Maguire is the world’s number one women’s amateur golfer, and was also named Irish Golf Writers’ Women’s Amateur of the Year for 2015. And the best part? She’s only 21 years old. FORE!
Ever heard anyone say “Ireland has never beaten New Zealand in rugby”? Feel free to set them straight: our women’s rugby team have.
At the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, Chloe Magee became the first ever Irish woman to win a badminton match at the Olympics. She is currently ranked 44th in the world and in contention to represent us again this summer.
And finally, here’s a list of all of the female participants in the forthcoming 2016 Olympic Games. You may not know their names now, but you’ll be shouting them come August. (NB – this is just a list of those who have qualified so far – more could still fit the requirements come the start of the tournaments. Let us know in the comments if we’ve missed anyone.)
National favourite (and hero) Katie Taylor is also expected to be there, but has to get through the Women’s World Championships in boxing next month first.
Lidl and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) will next week announce details of a partnership which will see the brand become the Official Retail Partner to the LGFA and the title sponsors of the Lidl Ladies National Football League. We’re going to do our best to support Irish women playing camogie and football in any way we can – and make sure everyone else does too.
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If what they UK is planning to do is legal as they claim then surely they should not fear anyone taking a case against it?
Of course we all suspect that its not legally sound.
@Larry O Reilly: Yes, send all those Ukrainians home!
@Kevin Farrell: no one mentioned Ukrainian only you difference in people fleeing a war or economical refugee looking for a free ride
@Larry O Reilly: Exactly – no one mentioned Ukrainians. I guess the difference is they have white skin, whereas the other people fleeing war and persecution have brown or black skin.
The Raj is still alive in Britain.
How bloody dare do those lawyers check if it’s legal! Outrageous!
Typical Johnson nothing but a bully
The Raj is still alive in Britain.
The Raj is still alive in Britain.
@Don Hogan: heard u first time
@Don Hogan: It’s naff all to do with “the Raj”. Britain has had enough of these illegal migrants. The French appear to encourage their passage across the water. None of them can possibly be genuine refugees, otherwise they would have stayed in the first safe country to the one they have fled from.
There are about 67 million people living on mainland Britain. There is barely 6 million here.
Where is the UK supposed to house all these people? The UK has a housing crisis as does this country. Imagine thousands of migrants landing on the shores of Ireland, week in week out!
@Ally Collyer: So basically you want Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy to be a buffer between the Middle East/Africa and Britain? You do realise that puts a tremendous strain on said Med nations to have to manage all refugees fleeing whatever disaster/persecution in their home countries. Why shouldn’t the Brits have to do their part, just because of geography? They took more than their fair share from most of the world’s nations when they had an empire, and left them in worse shape because of it.
@Ally Collyer: That’s a terrible way to treat Ukrainian’s fleeing the war. And just because they didn’t stay in the first safe country the arrived in after leaving Ukraine!
@Ally Collyer: For arguments sake, let’s consider them as economic migrants, not refugees. Migrants have a net economic benefit for industrialised economies by boosting the working age population and pay more in taxes than they recieve in benefits (OECD). Housing crises are caused by not building enough housing. I suspect the main reason they don’t want them is that they’re foreign, which I understand, as none of us like change.
@Kevin Farrell: ah, no one took you bait, nobody talking about Ukrainians with the exception of you,shows your leave of intelligence
@Larry O Reilly: Ah yes, exactly, nobody talking about Ukrainians. Because they have white skin. @Ally Collyer stated:
“None of them can possibly be genuine refugees, otherwise they would have stayed in the first safe country to the one they have fled from.”
Well, Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country didn’t stay in the “first safe country to the one they have fled from” did they? So, by @Ally Collyer definition they can’t be genuine refugees… or does that only apply to people with brown or black skin?
have your say