Drogheda United owners to ‘cover shortfall' of European expulsion as co-chairman hits out at Uefa's communication in open letter
Drogheda United co-chairman Ben Boycott has apologised for the club's expulsion from European football and hit out at the way Uefa introduced their multi-club ownership rule changes, in an open letter issued to supporters today.
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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Michael Duffy produces exquisite finish to hand Derry City three points as champions Shelbourne remain off the pace
That's why Tiernan Lynch will take a lot of satisfaction from this win at the home of the champions, a first successful foray to the capital under his watch. Philip O'Doherty, Derry City's chairman and financial backer, spoke earlier this week about how Lynch had been given the biggest budget in the club's history. This important victory brings the Candystripes into the top half of the table, above a Shels side that might just need to spend a few quid when the window reopens if they are to make the most of their European campaign. On the first league Friday of February, the idea that Shels would be 15 points off the pace at this juncture would have been unthinkable for Damien Duff and his staff. They overperformed dramatically to win the title last year, but they are failing to meet expectations this term. Duff will say that the league is the bread and butter, but the Reds investors will know that the best way to salvage their season is to find a way past Linfield in the Champions League qualifiers. A defeat to a team from Derry is a blow. They'll need to be sharper than a Belfast opponent rolls into town on July 9. After an unremarkable first half, this game was decided in a dramatic 54th minute. As Shelbourne digested a near miss, when Sam Todd cleared an Evan Caffrey chip off the line with Brian Maher exposed, the Candystripes responded by going straight up the other end and scoring. Michael Duffy still had plenty to do when he breached a Shels offside trap to collect a pass from Carl Winchester, but Derry's leading local light showed his quality by dribbling infield and keeping Kameron Ledwidge at the right distance before producing a superb left footer into the top corner that gave Conor Kearns zero chance. It was a goal Derry deserved on the overall balance of play to that point. They came with a Shamrock Rovers style box midfield with Winchester and Sadou Diallo in front of the back three and Duffy and Gavin Whyte roaming behind lone striker Liam Boyce. It was Boyce who threatened early, with a speculative attempt from distance that dropped onto the net with Kearns followed by a much better opportunity when a neat passage culminated with the winter arrival from Hearts dinking the ball wide of the post. Duff was animated and frustrated. Yes, there were spells where they seemed happy for the guests to have the ball. In truth, they didn't create a huge amount else prior to the interval. But he was clearly vexed by the lack of tempo in some of Shelbourne's play when they had the ball. ADVERTISEMENT In saying that, they did have the best first half chance with John Martin unable to accurately anticipate a Sean Boyd flick when Brian Maher seemed to be in bother. Martin – who was on a yellow – didn't return for the second half and Kerr McInroy, who replaced Mark Coyle after the skipper was struck down in the warm-up, departed after a quiet contribution. But it was Derry that seized the lead, with Shels back chasing the game on home soil again. Scoring first and holding onto it was the hallmark of their title charge. Too often, it's been a different story. A reaction did follow with Duff going for movement off the bench with Ali Coote and Daniel Kelly tasked with supporting Mipo Odubeko. Coote was busy and the energy levels increased but the end product was poor as Derry trusted their experienced rearguard to see it out. They ran the clock and committed fouls when necessary, all the things you need to do to win ugly. On the sideline, Duff could have no complaints. Shelbourne: Kearns, Bone, Barrett, Ledwidge; Caffrey, Lunney, McInroy (Chapman 45), Norris (Coote 62); Wood (O'Sullivan 77); Boyd (Kelly 62), Martin (Odubeko 45). Derry City: Maher, Boyce, Cann, Connolly, Holt, Todd; Diallo (Benson 62), Winchester (Hoban 89); Whyte (McMullan 62), Duffy; Boyce (Mullen 62).
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Drogheda United end difficult week with narrow victory over Sligo Rovers
The result sees United climb back into second place. Their quest for European qualification via the league route takes on a whole different dimension now in light of their expulsion from the Uefa Conference League this summer. While a good display against Shamrock Rovers on Monday did not deliver a positive result, they displayed a determination and rigour against Sligo that will likely form the backbone of the remainder of their season. Douglas-James Taylor, in what may be one of his last games for the club, scored the winner. His 12-month loan spell expires in 10 days' time and supporters eagerly await news of his future. Kevin Doherty certainly looked in a happier state of mind, smiling and joking pre-match in what was a significant change of mood to four days earlier. That might have had something to do with his team's recent record against the Bit O'Red. Drogheda had won their last three home matches against John Russell's team by an aggregate score of 13-1. James-Taylor's fourth-minute goal added further gloss to that statistic. It owed a lot to Warren Davis winning the ball in midfield. On another evening, this game could have been a high-scoring encounter. Davis, James-Taylor, Andy Quinn and Shane Farrell all went close to extending Drogheda's lead. Sligo, for their part, were wasteful. Misfortune and misfire were their downfall. Jad Hakiki and Cian Kavanagh were the main culprits but Drogs goalkeeper Luke Dennison was a hard man to beat. Drogheda United: Dennison; Cooper, Keeley, Quinn; Cruise (Markey, 46), Heeney, Farrell, Kane; Brennan; James-Taylor, Davis (Oluwa, 79). Sligo Rovers: Sargeant; Reynolds, McElroy (McDonagh, 35), Mahon, Hutchinson; Doyle-Hayes, Mallon (Van Hattum, 69); Elding, Hakiki (Lomboto, 83), Fitzgerald; Waweru (Kavanagh, 69).
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Mick Clifford: The USA is adopting a totalitarian attitude to free speech
Donald Trump's toxic orbit is now reaching directly into Ireland. Most recently, there were two specific areas in which this has come to pass. Last week, it emerged that officials in Coimisiún na Meán, the media regulator, could face potential restrictions on entry to the USA if the American administration deems that they are interfering with 'free speech' by regulating social media. This is an unprecedented move. Ordinarily, such visa restrictions might apply to corrupt officials in a dictatorship or rogue state. Now, in Trump's America, officials in a friendly European country could be banned from entry for simply doing their job. 'Free speech' is a movable feast for Trump and his followers. For instance, soon after assuming office in January, Trump declared that the Gulf of Mexico should heretofore be known as the Gulf of America. The PA news agency refused to do so, referring instead to its long-standing style book that determined it was still the Gulf of Mexico irrespective of what Trump might wish it to be. The king was not pleased. PA reporters were banned from the White House and from accompanying him on Air Force One. There have been similar instances where Trump and the gang he surrounds himself with have had issues with free speech. Elsewhere, Jess Casey reported this week in the Irish Examiner that new US visa screening protocols require international students travelling on a J1 visa to adjust privacy settings on all their social media profiles to public. The US state department announced it would now 'conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants' under the new guidance. This will allow immigration officials to check the social media of students in case there is anything incriminating on their devices. And what could be incriminating in Trump's America? Anything that is deemed to conform to the kind of broad policies that the current authoritarian administration is pursuing. So, if, for instance, a young student has something on their phone that might show support for Palestinians who are being massacred, that can be deemed contrary to US interests, and the student told to turn around and go home. Similarly, entry might be denied if the student is displaying anything that is supportive of the rights of minorities, such as the transgender community. As of now it is unclear if a student has, for instance, a screenshot or meme portraying Donald Trump as a buffoon whether this would be incriminating enough to warrant exclusion. One way or the other, the restrictions suggest that the USA is adopting a totalitarian attitude to any kind of speech that might be contrary to Trump's precious, and sometimes, venal, interests. So much for free speech. As with all totalitarian regimes, there is a different attitude to any kind of free speech that might fit neatly into the category of propaganda. Thus, Trump is a believer in social media companies having a free rein over what appears on their platforms. What could be incriminating in Trump's America? Anything that is deemed to conform to the kind of broad policies that the current authoritarian administration is pursuing. Picture: David Dermer/AP In the first instance, it suits him and his politics. He is an expert manipulator of the medium, where he is free to retail lies, distortions, and abuse at will. His current level of power in the USA implies he will brook no attempts to curtail that ability. So it was that Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook announced soon after Trump's inauguration that it was no longer deploying fact-checking on the site. So social media is destined in the USA to remain a fact-free environment. Beyond that, the 'free speech' that Trump believes in extends to far less protection of minors on social media. This leaves boys and girls exposed to material relating to sex and violence with practically no restrictions. The reasoning behind such a free-for-all is that any restrictions depress traffic on the sites, which in turn hits the profits for the social media companies. And right now, all the owners, the tech bros, are happy to play supplicant to Trump in order to ensure they remain in his favour. Now word is being conveyed across the Atlantic that regulators in Europe, and particularly Ireland where so many of these companies have offices, would be well-minded to follow the lead of the Americans or they will, in terms of visa restrictions, be treated like corrupt officials from a foreign rouge state. You could not make it up. This week, it was also reported that 25% of US companies that had previously supported Dublin Pride have now pulled out. The move is directly due to the hostility Trump has towards anything resembling diversity or inclusion. Whether or not that has anything to do with his own opinion is irrelevant. Politically, he views it as a seam to mine, and that's all that matters to him. So to be seen to be supporting minorities is, in the eyes of Trump and his acolytes, a sign of disloyalty to the king. Dublin Pride, and all the Pride festivities are important annual events. They celebrate the LGBT+ communities but also act as a reminder of how these, and other, minorities were treated at a darker time. Three years ago, however, the Pride festival showed a degree of intolerance that was not in keeping with the sentiment it espouses. Following a series of programmes on RTÉ Radio 1's Lifeline on the subject of gender dysphoria, Pride announced that it was dropping the broadcaster as a media partner. The programmes had been balanced, which required including voices from a small group opposed to the philosophical position adopted by most in the LGBT community towards gender dysphoria. Such diversity of opinion was unacceptable to the organisers of Dublin Pride, so RTÉ was dropped. Today, the level of intolerance increasingly displayed in the USA towards minority communities is of a far greater order, and is being accepted by elements of society out of nothing more than fear of reprisals from Trump and his acolytes. That such an atmosphere is now washing up on these shores through US companies running away in fear from Dublin Pride should be an issue of concern for everybody. We have problems in this country, mainly concerned with inequality, particularly in relation to housing. Those are nothing like the issues that have pertained in the USA for decades, and which led to an atmosphere where an individual like Trump could actually be elected to office, not once, but twice. Vigilance is required to ensure we don't succumb to the toxic waves from Trump's America that can wash up on these shores in various forms. Read More Donald Trump delays US TikTok ban again
