A youthful Waterford’s slender win against a near-full-strength Galway in sun-drenched Walsh Park on Sunday showed that the balance of power is slowly but surely shifting to the county’s new generation. With Shane Walsh leading the line with a new lease of life, Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh immense at No6 (and I‘ve a bet or...
Author: Jamie OKeeffe
Fairway to heaven
Fairway to heaven
A priest close to the great greenkeeper in the sky is Fr Johnny Condon, who celebrated the SEVENTH hole-in-one of his career in the Chernobyl Classic at Carrick-on-Suir Golf Club last Friday. On the downhill Par 3 2nd hole, the well-known Waterford-born cleric, who plays off 13, recorded the ace with a 4-iron from...
Faugh an Bheallach!
Faugh an Bheallach!
Old traditions die hard, they say. Well, road bowls (or bouls as they’re commonly pronounced in these parts) have been played in the east Waterford village of Fenor since the 1950s, and possibly before, with the inimitable Jimmy ‘Skinner’ Flynn and Gerry Cremin the two men who’ve done most to keep the game alive,...
Horse sense
Horse sense
Saturday’s Grand National was not a good day for the Sport of Kings. Whatever the Ginger McCain connections, the facts are that two horses were killed on the course at Aintree before Ballabriggs made it home first alive and barely kicking. The unusual heat and brutal pace, coupled with obstacles that are still too...
Rory’s crash course
Rory’s crash course
It’s fair to say that this column hasn’t been Rory McIlroy’s staunchest supporter since his emergence as golf’s next great white hope after landing the leading amateur prize in the 2007 British Open – finding it hard to warm to his anointed Sullivan Upper School status. A few months after claiming the silver medal...
Bring on the Bands: O Emperor
Bring on the Bands: O Emperor
Bursting onto the Irish music scene with a remarkably acclaimed fan base, this week we give you, yes you’ve guessed it, it the amazing O Emperor. Formed almost a decade ago the band members have jumped from local Waterford gigs to now playing greatly established venues such as The Academy in Dublin and the Set...
Language barrier
Language barrier
Wayne Rooney has been spitting out the f-word with abandon for years. He’s not the only one, of course, but how many times has he been seen mouthing expletives at a referee or an assistant and not a dickey bird. On Sky’s ‘Sunday Supplement’ red-top journalist Shaun Custis proposed that Rooney be made put a million...
Up Waterford, Down Dungarvan?
Up Waterford, Down Dungarvan?
Initially thinking it was an April Fool, I was alerted to a recent polemic from ‘Phoenix’ in the Waterford News & Star which saw him all a flutter over countless perceived injustices perpetrated against the city, and then take a few swipes this way. Presumably referring to this column’s suggestion a couple of...
Work starts on old foundry site
Work starts on old foundry site
Phase one of a project which will transform the old Waterford Stanley site on the south bank of the Suir has just commenced. A “delighted” William Bolster, Managing Director of the Tramore-based Bolster Group, confirmed they’ve started work at Bilberry to demolish all derelict buildings. Last September An Bord...
Oil prices fuel Belview growth
Oil prices fuel Belview growth
Waterford, South Kilkenny and the wider South East region could be in line for a major boost as soaring oil prices make the port in Belview an attractive berth for container and cruise traffic. Significant investment in the Port of Waterford and the proximity of the location to Europe, coupled with major...
Hardy boyos
Hardy boyos
I heard plenty about Andy Fleming growing up. Mick Hayes was a family friend and farmed a few fields across from us in Butlerstown. So stories about his colleagues on the Waterford team that won the 1948 All-Ireland often came up in conversation while bringing in bales and having the tae afterwards. In The...
House for white elephants
House for white elephants
Telecommunications tycoon, media magnate and Moriarty Tribunal arch-critic, Denis O’Brien has his finger in more pies than Mr Kipling’s tasters. The billionaire businessman appears into his sport, and is shelling out half of whatever it costs to keep Trap in the style to which he’s become accustomed. Michael Lowry is...