Latest news with #Doyle
Irish Examiner
20 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Department head 'unhappy' about housing charity leaving hotel it bought empty for three years
The head of the Department of Housing has acknowledged he is 'unhappy' with a situation which saw the Peter McVerry Trust purchase a Dublin hotel for €6.2m which has lain vacant for the past three years. Secretary general of the department, Graham Doyle, told the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that the funding for the hotel had been part obtained via his department. He said it is 'working through' the options in terms of actioning the vacant building for social housing. The Georgian building in question, formerly Latchford's Hotel on Dublin's Baggot Street, was first purchased by the charity in 2022 after being placed for sale on the open market. The 20-bedroom hotel has remained vacant ever since in the aftermath of financial governance scandals which have shaken the Trust, one of the country's largest providers of homeless accommodation. Mr Doyle said the hotel had been funded by his department before the difficulties at the housing charity had emerged. He noted that the property had initially been purchased with a view to providing emergency accommodation. 'The understanding was planning was in place (for the hotel). Some planning issues arose in relation to it. I understand that the council and others are now working to look at how that property can be used for social housing at this point in time,' he said. Fianna Fáil's Paul McAuliffe said the vacancy of such a property, given the struggles of the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive to provide accommodation and that the department had funded the purchase, is 'questionable'. In response, Mr Doyle said he is 'unhappy with that'. He said, however, that the various recommendations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General on foot of the scandal – which suggested that oversight of grant funding to housing bodies be strengthened and that approval from the Department of Public Expenditure be obtained in each instance – have now been fully implemented. The Trust had caused opprobrium among the committee members in advance by declining to attend to give evidence. Mr Doyle, while declining to comment on that decision, did say that the 2023 accounts for the charity should have been published by now. The charity had said it may be in a position to give evidence at PAC once that publication has occurred. Read More
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Department finds 'positive indicators' of increasing housing supply, committee to hear
The head of the department of housing says that 'positive indicators' have emerged in terms of increasing housing supply, but that 'major challenges' remain. The department's secretary general Graham Doyle will on Thursday tell the Public Accounts Committee that in 2023 the number of new homes delivered was up 10% on that delivered in 2022, exceeding the Government's overarching Housing For All plan by nearly 13%, with 32,695 properties completed over the 12 months. He will add that 41,224 planning permissions were granted for new homes in 2023. However, he will also acknowledge the ongoing issues with delivering adequate supply for Ireland's population. 'At a broader level we continue to see major challenges around increased demand, increased costs and complex issues around unlocking supply at the pace and scale required. "This will remain an area of acute focus for the Department,' Mr Doyle is expected to say. Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy is expected to tell the committee his agency has established that the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive provided a number of funding advances to the Peter McVerry trust between March and September 2023 without the Government's approval. After it emerged that there were serious issues with the financial fundamentals of the trust in 2023, the Government was forced to bail the charity out to the tune of €15m. Mr McCarthy will also tell the committee that while €2m in normal funding provided to the trust was approved by the department at the same time, €5.3m was provided by the executive with none of the advances approved. The trust will not be present at the hearing, having declined an invitation to attend the PAC for a second time citing the investigations into its finances which are still in train. Read More
The National
2 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Eilidh Doyle on mission to pass baton to next generation
The most decorated Scot in track and field was on the anchor leg for GB and NI that Sunday evening in March and duly guided the women's 4x400m team home to precious silver medals. Six years later and Doyle is still passing the baton, only in a different way. Helping the next generation in athletics was on her mind even before she hung up the spikes, joining the board of Scottish Athletics in September 2018. Her life after competition features in an absorbing new documentary created for the governing body by Urbane Media. 'Eilidh Doyle – Passing the Baton' by Calum McCready features the 38-year-old talking about quitting competition, motherhood to two boys and giving something back to the sport she loves. Keynote speaking engagements with the National Academy, Awards Dinner and Club Conference have shone a light on the hurdler's career change. And she feels passionately that Scotland must draw on the top athletes to help educate and guide those now on the same pathway. 'I was a PE teacher before I was a full-time athlete and, even when I was still competing, I was exploring different avenues to see what was out there,' said Doyle in the film. 'In my career as an athlete, I think I learned a lot and I experienced a lot. And it was trying to work out: 'What did I learn and where would that be useful?' 'I think that's kind of where I'm useful in all my roles, because it's somebody who's been there and done that, who can give an athlete's perspective on it. 'I'm a member of the Board of Scottish Athletics. I also work with various coaches across the country. Read more: 'As an athlete, you're very much in your own bubble. Now that I'm out of that world, it's nice to kind of understand what's going on in the rest of athletics.' Scottishathletics recently posted a short series, 'Learning from our Olympians', with video content from Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan and that chimes with what Doyle wants to see. 'There are lots of us out there, athletes who have been to so many championships and had success or not had success, but equally have really important life skills and lessons and experiences,' she added. 'They can share that with others. We can use our athletes that are coming to retirement or are retired and try to tell their stories and learn about their journeys. I think we have some great people who can pass on what they have experienced and share for the next generation as well.' Further roles give her other opportunities, too. 'I'm also working for Youth Sport Trust, which is a charity. One of the main projects I'm doing is a programme called Set For Success. You work with young people, do various activities with them, do some work with them to sort of draw out those skill sets that they have, that they maybe don't know that they have. 'And then finally, I've just started a new role with Edinburgh University. Part of the university's aims is to set up performance hubs. My role is more as a sort of mentor between the athletes and the performance team. 'So yes, lots of different projects, but really exciting ones and areas I am very passionate about as well.' None of which was on her mind, presumably, as she took a lap of honour at Hampden after Commonwealth Games silver at Glasgow 2014 and then celebrated gold as European champion in the 400m hurdles in Zurich two weeks later. Eilidh Doyle chatter through her career (Image: Bobby Gavin) 'It's a great life, you know, being able to kind of travel around and do what you love, is great,particularly when you're in shape and you're running well,' she said. 'I think the highs just come when you're running really well and you're just full of confidence. 'For me, there was no better feeling than crossing the line knowing I'd just left it out there, like you've nothing left, you've crossed the line and you know it has been a really good performance. Regardless of times or positions. I think just that feeling of crossing the line and having given it everything that was always a real high for me. 'Sometimes you can train really, really, really hard and not get the result that you think you deserve. Everybody trains really hard and everybody wants those results so that can be the hard things. But the highs always did outweigh the lows in my opinion.' McCready joins Doyle at Grangemouth – where the Hampden track was laid after Glasgow 2024. And the memories, and senses, start to stir for the Pitreavie AAC athlete who began her sporting story in athletics and has openly admitted went off the rails while at university in Edinburgh. 'It's really funny like, in no way is it the same or do I feel like that same athlete in 2014 but actually being on this track, it's quite a humid day and there's like a smell that tracks give off,' she said. 'And when I was running round there, I actually had a little smile to myself because I was sensing the smell that took me right back to 2014. For a moment I was back at Hampden and it was nice because it was like, 'Oh, I remember that'. Thinking back gave me butterflies in my tummy.' Glasgow 2014 fell between the Olympics in London and Rio. Competing at a third, in Tokyo, was very much the plan. 'In 2019, I competed in the indoor season, and then I took a year off to have a baby, and I was pregnant with my first son, Campbell, at the time. In 2020, my plan was to come back after having Campbell and compete at the Olympics. If I was being realistic, that was going to be probably my last hurrah. It would have been a third Olympics. And then Covid hit and everybody stopped. 'Nobody really knew what was happening and for me, it felt like I had another chance and more time to get back to full fitness. I was thinking, 'The Olympics have been postponed for a year, I've got a whole year now to get back and be ready'. 'But during that time, and I think probably a lot of people were the same, my motivation was just up and down and up and down.' One day, on that same Grangemouth track, the motivation stayed down. For good. 'Literally it was just one day I was training at Grangemouth and I turned to Brian, who is my husband, but was my coach as well at the time. I said to Brian, 'I think I'm done. I think I've had enough now'. His response was. 'Oh, thank goodness you've got there, thank goodness you've realised'. 'Brian could see my motivation was not quite there. The determination, the drive to train wasn't quite there. But he couldn't tell me to quit; that had to come from me. I probably got there a little bit slower than I might have done. 'I think becoming a mum was an easier way to transition out of the sport. Athletics took up a lot of my life, you know. It was what I did every day. And even when I wasn't at the track, I was constantly thinking about making sure I was doing everything right to be the best athlete. 'Parenthood makes you balance and plan life around somebody else now and not just kind of geared around me and athletics. A couple of years later, we had Lewis, who came along as well. 'I love being a mum. It's hard. I don't know what's harder, training for an Olympics, or being a mum of two boys...' Watch Eilidh Doyle – Passing the Baton via
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Eilidh Doyle on mission to pass baton to next generation
Six years later and Doyle is still passing the baton, only in a different way. Helping the next generation in athletics was on her mind even before she hung up the spikes, joining the board of Scottish Athletics in September 2018. Her life after competition features in an absorbing new documentary created for the governing body by Urbane Media. 'Eilidh Doyle – Passing the Baton' by Calum McCready features the 38-year-old talking about quitting competition, motherhood to two boys and giving something back to the sport she loves. Keynote speaking engagements with the National Academy, Awards Dinner and Club Conference have shone a light on the hurdler's career change. And she feels passionately that Scotland must draw on the top athletes to help educate and guide those now on the same pathway. 'I was a PE teacher before I was a full-time athlete and, even when I was still competing, I was exploring different avenues to see what was out there,' said Doyle in the film. 'In my career as an athlete, I think I learned a lot and I experienced a lot. And it was trying to work out: 'What did I learn and where would that be useful?' 'I think that's kind of where I'm useful in all my roles, because it's somebody who's been there and done that, who can give an athlete's perspective on it. 'I'm a member of the Board of Scottish Athletics. I also work with various coaches across the country. Read more: 'As an athlete, you're very much in your own bubble. Now that I'm out of that world, it's nice to kind of understand what's going on in the rest of athletics.' Scottishathletics recently posted a short series, 'Learning from our Olympians', with video content from Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan and that chimes with what Doyle wants to see. 'There are lots of us out there, athletes who have been to so many championships and had success or not had success, but equally have really important life skills and lessons and experiences,' she added. 'They can share that with others. We can use our athletes that are coming to retirement or are retired and try to tell their stories and learn about their journeys. I think we have some great people who can pass on what they have experienced and share for the next generation as well.' Further roles give her other opportunities, too. 'I'm also working for Youth Sport Trust, which is a charity. One of the main projects I'm doing is a programme called Set For Success. You work with young people, do various activities with them, do some work with them to sort of draw out those skill sets that they have, that they maybe don't know that they have. 'And then finally, I've just started a new role with Edinburgh University. Part of the university's aims is to set up performance hubs. My role is more as a sort of mentor between the athletes and the performance team. 'So yes, lots of different projects, but really exciting ones and areas I am very passionate about as well.' None of which was on her mind, presumably, as she took a lap of honour at Hampden after Commonwealth Games silver at Glasgow 2014 and then celebrated gold as European champion in the 400m hurdles in Zurich two weeks later. Eilidh Doyle chatter through her career (Image: Bobby Gavin) 'It's a great life, you know, being able to kind of travel around and do what you love, is great,particularly when you're in shape and you're running well,' she said. 'I think the highs just come when you're running really well and you're just full of confidence. 'For me, there was no better feeling than crossing the line knowing I'd just left it out there, like you've nothing left, you've crossed the line and you know it has been a really good performance. Regardless of times or positions. I think just that feeling of crossing the line and having given it everything that was always a real high for me. 'Sometimes you can train really, really, really hard and not get the result that you think you deserve. Everybody trains really hard and everybody wants those results so that can be the hard things. But the highs always did outweigh the lows in my opinion.' McCready joins Doyle at Grangemouth – where the Hampden track was laid after Glasgow 2024. And the memories, and senses, start to stir for the Pitreavie AAC athlete who began her sporting story in athletics and has openly admitted went off the rails while at university in Edinburgh. 'It's really funny like, in no way is it the same or do I feel like that same athlete in 2014 but actually being on this track, it's quite a humid day and there's like a smell that tracks give off,' she said. 'And when I was running round there, I actually had a little smile to myself because I was sensing the smell that took me right back to 2014. For a moment I was back at Hampden and it was nice because it was like, 'Oh, I remember that'. Thinking back gave me butterflies in my tummy.' Glasgow 2014 fell between the Olympics in London and Rio. Competing at a third, in Tokyo, was very much the plan. 'In 2019, I competed in the indoor season, and then I took a year off to have a baby, and I was pregnant with my first son, Campbell, at the time. In 2020, my plan was to come back after having Campbell and compete at the Olympics. If I was being realistic, that was going to be probably my last hurrah. It would have been a third Olympics. And then Covid hit and everybody stopped. 'Nobody really knew what was happening and for me, it felt like I had another chance and more time to get back to full fitness. I was thinking, 'The Olympics have been postponed for a year, I've got a whole year now to get back and be ready'. 'But during that time, and I think probably a lot of people were the same, my motivation was just up and down and up and down.' One day, on that same Grangemouth track, the motivation stayed down. For good. 'Literally it was just one day I was training at Grangemouth and I turned to Brian, who is my husband, but was my coach as well at the time. I said to Brian, 'I think I'm done. I think I've had enough now'. His response was. 'Oh, thank goodness you've got there, thank goodness you've realised'. 'Brian could see my motivation was not quite there. The determination, the drive to train wasn't quite there. But he couldn't tell me to quit; that had to come from me. I probably got there a little bit slower than I might have done. 'I think becoming a mum was an easier way to transition out of the sport. Athletics took up a lot of my life, you know. It was what I did every day. And even when I wasn't at the track, I was constantly thinking about making sure I was doing everything right to be the best athlete. 'Parenthood makes you balance and plan life around somebody else now and not just kind of geared around me and athletics. A couple of years later, we had Lewis, who came along as well. 'I love being a mum. It's hard. I don't know what's harder, training for an Olympics, or being a mum of two boys...' Watch Eilidh Doyle – Passing the Baton via
Daily Record
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Former Aberdeen defender joins Cumbernauld Colts as boss thrilled with quality additions on and off the park
The Lowland League outfit have strengthened across various area in the past week John Doyle is thrilled with the quality of his recent signings at Cumbernauld Colts after bringing back to former players and landing ex-Aberdeen defender Zander Diamond in a coaching role. The Lowland League outfit, who were involved in a relegation scrap last season, snapped up Billy Mortimer and Callum Home from Albion Rovers, with the duo having only left Colts last season for Coatbridge. In the backroom team, Diamond has taken up a role after relegated Lowland League side Broomhill folded earlier this month. And boss Doyle said: 'We are delighted to get somebody of Zander's experience. With the level he has played at, there's no doubt he will bring a lot to the backline. 'I have known Zander for a while and we did parts of our B-licence together so it's great to have him here. He really feels he can bring something to the club and he will be a great addition for us. 'We obviously know Billy and we've done well to get him because there were a few clubs sniffing about him and making him good offers. 'He left previously as our top scorer and Callum left as our player of the year so it is great to get two good players back to the club. 'There might be another player from Albion Rovers on the way as well, but we've yet to get that over the line.' Meanwhile, Colts have announced a number of players who have re-signed for next season, whilst unveiling some new arrivals in the past week. Captain Cammy Dickson, Pat Moy, Cole McIntyre, Aidan Malcolm, Toby Ferrie, Danny Hatfield, Stephen Kearney and Ashton Pellow have all returned. Fresh faces include goalkeeper Scott Cowie and midfielder Scott Walker. Doyle added: 'We hope these will stand us in good stead and we are looking forward to the season because we feel we have done well in terms of recruitment. 'I'm delighted to get Cole McIntyre in again. Last season, he maybe didn't produce the levels we know he is capable of after an injury, so it is about getting his confidence levels up. 'His injury took a lot out of him mentally, but he had a good, strong end to last season so hopefully he will kick on. I'm really happy with the squad we have managed to assemble so far.'
