Sheffield’s first Gaelic football club launches home-grown youth division
Sheffield’s first Gaelic football team has pledged to develop a youth squad in a bid to “connect more young people with their Irish heritage” and recruit players from outside the Irish diaspora.
Founded in 2017, St. Vincent’s GAA is one of six Gaelic football clubs in Yorkshire. The launch of its youth squad this summer will make it one of just three clubs in the region with a youth division — a move that according to the team will ensure its “sustainability and longevity”.
“Over the past few years it’s become really obvious that without a youth team being set up, clubs just won’t survive modern day GAA in Britain,” club secretary Michael McIvor told Sheffield Wire.
McIvor and club chairperson Niall Murphy started the squad with “just £150 worth of equipment”. The team now has 50 players across its men’s and women’s teams and a home ground on Warminster Road.
The club hopes that the introduction of a youth squad will allow Gaelic football to continue growing among second and third generation players, as well as those who have no ties to Ireland.
“We have players from Canada and South Africa as well as a lot of English players who just wanted to try something different,” said McIvor, who played for the Derry minor team before migrating to England.
The plan comes after York GAA, which was founded shortly before St Vincent’s, folded at the beginning of the last season.
"The same number of boys and girls are not coming over any more," said Gaelic Games Council of Britain Chairperson Sean Hopkins. "There's only a trickle now of what there used to be. For the game to continue it needs to be home-grown."
Committee members of St Vincent’s met with the Gaelic council of Great Britain earlier this month to discuss the plan, which they hope to launch with a six-week training camp in the summer after staff have undergone all the necessary certifications.
Though the club said that the plan “is in its infancy”, 28-year-old teacher and player Sarah Carberry said that targeting primary schools in the area will be key.
“While we’re not going to see any gain on our senior teams now, in nine years time those kids will be playing seniors,” she said. “You’re more likely in primary school to not be in a sport yet — to not be committed already.”
Carberry, who is originally from Tyrone, runs an afterschool Gaelic programme and said the “uptake has been huge”.
St Vincent’s plan has been praised by Yorkshire Ladies Gaelic Football Association chair Kevin Cornelly, who said: “We can’t keep going to the same well.”
“From my own personal point of view the need to keep the culture and heritage going is very important,” he told Sheffield Wire. “It goes back to my mum and dad coming over here. And now I have two granddaughters who I want to be able to do this in 15 or 16 years’ time. It’s about keeping it going.”
Laoise-born LGFA secretary Rosie Phelan, who plays for Newcastle Upon Tyne, emphasised the community benefits of the sport.
“There are girls on our team who have moved in together and found out about job opportunities through each other,” she said. "It's an opportunity for people to connect with their heritage and meet new people."
“I’ve now got a community wherever I go,” echoed Carberry.
Hillsborough Disaster 35th Anniversary: Silence to honour those who died in the crowd crush
To mark the 35th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, mourners in Liverpool and Sheffield laid wreaths and stood in a minute's silence to remember the dead.
Sheffield Wednesday held a memorial service for the 97 people who died in the crowd crush during the Hillsborough Disaster at Hillsborough Stadium.
In Liverpool, Lord Mayor Councillor Mary Rasmussen led a minute of silence at the Exchange Flags near Liverpool's Town Hall.
Liverpool FC players and staff also laid wreaths and left notes.
"Always in our hearts, the 97 will never be forgotten," said one card signed "From Matt, Niamh, and the LFCW team" that was laid alongside the wreaths.
During an FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989, 97 people died in a crowd crush at Hillsborough stadium.
An inquest in 2016 determined that the disaster, which took place during a game between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest, was caused by "gross negligence" from the game's match commander, who should be held "responsible for manslaughter."
University and College Union strike vote at Sheffield Hallam continues
The strike vote will continue until May 22.
Hillsborough Law Now running campaign reaches Sheffield on disaster’s anniversary
On day three of a week-long running campaign, a group of runners have joined the Hillsborough Memorial in Sheffield to mark the disaster's 35th anniversary.
The 227-mile Anfield to Grenfell Run began on 13 April and will finish 20 April. The campaign aims to support victims of the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster and the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire.
The group started at the Hillsborough Memorial located in Anfield Stadium, Liverpool and have since travelled through Manchester and Sheffield, eyeing a finish at Grenfell Tower in London on Saturday.
The Hillsborough Law, which the group calls "an essential piece of legislation aimed at fostering fairness and justice for those affected by tragedies", would force public authorities to share any documents and statistics with the public surrounding official investigations.
The full distance will be undertaken by Michael (Mik) and Claire Parkin, and they will be joined throughout the trip by David Brighton, Manny Ruiz, Nick Wishart, and Dean, who has been part of the campaign for 30 years.
Mr Ruiz lost his niece during the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, and runs in support of her and the other victims.
The runners were cheered on by Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham, Liverpool’s Mayor Steve Rotherham and Ian Byrne MP for West Derby, Liverpool.
Mr Parkin, 52, who works for the British Heart Foundation, has been a Liverpool FC fan since he was 12 and always enjoyed the general comradery of the club. In 2015, after listening to a podcast discussing the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, he decided to get involved in supporting victims and their families.
He said: “Once you sit down and talk to people, families who have been involved you see how appalling the injustice was since day one.
“This is where it goes from something that started with Liverpool, to something that will help everyone in the country. Once you get the truth, you get change.
“Some people see Hillsborough [Law Now] and think it's just about Liverpool – but it's not.”
On day two, Kwasi Frempong, a representative of the Grenfell Foundation, joined the runners. Mr Frempong, 42, lived on Silchester estate opposite Grenfell Tower. He still recalls playing football on Sundays on the green pitches beneath the tower.
Posting on the campaign's Facebook page, Mr Frempong said: “I believe that if you’ve got the time and ability to help people then you should as you never know the impact that giving up your time has on people."
The money made by the fundraiser will be split equally between the Grenfell Foundation, which will donate its shares to a variety of HLN charities, and MIND to support those who need access to mental health services while dealing with trauma.
The group specifically referenced the support of Dan Kay, who was a reporter for the Liverpool Echo, and Chris Lam who was at the Hillsborough disaster.
The campaign has raised £2,640 so far and hopes to reach £3,000 by the end of the week. Donations are accepted through the campaign Facebook page, and its fundraising page.
Special forces and nuclear deterrent spending should be examined by MPs – report
David Hughes, PA Political Editor
Spending on the nuclear deterrent and the UK’s special forces should be scrutinised by a new committee of MPs, ministers have been told.
The Commons’ existing spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said a new panel should be established to scrutinise spending in sensitive areas.
The proposed committee could use private evidence sessions and correspondence to examine how billions of pounds are spent on highly classified projects.
The PAC warned there were “scrutiny gaps” where secret projects were not examined by existing panels of MPs and peers.
PAC chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said: “Parliament must no longer see through a glass darkly on whether value for money is being secured on confidential expenditure.
“There are of course sound reasons why certain areas of spending must be examined in a manner appropriate to their sensitivity.
“Such sensitivity is all the more reason why the processes around its scrutiny should be made robust.
“A new select committee would address the current gaps in how such matters are scrutinised, and the PAC would be pleased to work with the Government to take this proposal forward.”
“I wish I had alternatives”: why young women are shunning hormonal birth control
When Florence Gibbs-Price started taking the contraceptive pill, she didn’t have any concerns, but in the six months that followed, she began to experience “extreme” side effects.
The 23-year-old content creator says: “I was a happy person with no previous mental health problems, but I began experiencing massive depressive episodes and mood swings that weren’t normal for me.”
As soon as she stopped taking the pill, she began to feel much better, and now says: "My emotions and hormones feel more stable."
A Cosmopolitan article reported the death of Fallan Kurek, a 21-year-old teaching assistant who began taking the popular combined contraceptive pill, Rigevidon. She was deemed low risk, and when she began complaining about leg pain, was told by her GP that she was fine. When she started suffering from chest pains, Fallan was told by her local hospital that she was simply having a panic attack and that she would be fine.
Three days later, Fallan collapsed and died. She had a blood clot that had gone undetected.
The article stated: “Written in black and white, on Fallan’s death certificate, is confirmation that her cause of death was the contraceptive pill".
An ongoing post in The Student Room about Rigevidon started in 2015 and was still being added to in 2022. The user who initiated the thread said: “This pill is making me crazy. What I want to know is if anyone else has experienced this same thing on Rigevideon or any other pill?”
If you search ‘birth control’ on TikTok, the majority of videos focus on the negative side effects and weight gain, with posts detailing positive experiences in the minority. They primarily target young women, who are more likely to be drawn in by online content, with advanced algorithms feeding them a stream of content that plays on their vulnerabilities and lack of education on the topic.
Searching ‘birth control’ on X (formerly Twitter) results in yet more negative posts, with one user stating “Birth control really is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. Why have I been suffering endlessly for 7 years just so I can have a regulated period?”
Another user had stronger views, saying: “We need to move away from how normal it is to instantly prescribe birth control as a treatment for menstrual issues.”
An article in the Washington Post found that although doctors say hormonal contraception, including birth-control pills and intrauterine devices (IUDs) are safe and effective, they “worry the profession’s long-standing lack of transparency about some of the serious but rare side effects has left many patients seeking information from unqualified online communities”.
A survey of over 4,000 women in the UK last year by Savanta found that over half said they worried about the impact that hormonal contraception had on their mental and physical health, with three quarters saying they had experienced side effects, including weight gain, headaches, and lowered mood.
For Florence, who was on the pill for just under two years, she doesn’t think other options of contraception are feasible. “Although I’ve only been on the pill, I still wouldn’t advocate for any other forms, as I believe they are more permanent and invasive.”
Gabby Holland, a 22-year-old artist, is still taking the contraceptive pill and has been on the no-prescription pill Hana for four months. She feels she doesn’t have a choice when it comes to taking the pill, saying: “I wish I had alternatives, but women’s healthcare is underfunded and under researched so this is the only option for me. My periods have always been irregular, so I can’t count on my cycle.”
In 2014, the European Medicine Agency reported it would expect between five and 12 people in every 10,000 to suffer from a blood clot in their veins when taking combined hormonal contraceptives for one year.
Sexual healthcare assistant, Mollie Hawkins, believes people are more sceptical of hormonal birth control now. “I witnessed a lot of people who came in for the copper coil because they didn’t want any hormonal contraception anymore but still wanted to be protected. There’s always a lot of news articles about them causing cancer or illnesses and I think it makes people sceptical.”
Helen Burkitt, senior sexual health and contraception nurse, says: “There can be a lot of wrong or false information on social media/the internet around certain contraceptive products that is not coming from reputable sources or people with any contraceptive training.”
The NHS website states taking the pill can slightly increase your risk of getting breast cancer and cervical cancer, “but your risk of breast cancer and cervical cancer goes back to normal 10 years after you stop taking the pill”.
“Natural” alternatives, including the fertility awareness method where sex is timed to menstrual cycles, are frequently advocated by social media influencers.
However, if this method isn’t followed exactly, it is only 76% effective according to the NHS, leading to 24 in 100 women getting pregnant when tracking their fertility for a year.
There has been a radical shift towards anti-birth control sentiment, fuelled by increasingly right-wing viewpoints. Far-right conservatives have argued the broad acceptance of birth control has destroyed traditional gender roles, with commentators taking advantage of women’s fears and using this to spread misinformation online, under the guise of looking out for women.
Brett Cooper, a media commentator for the Daily Wire, said in a viral TikTok video birth control can impact fertility, cause weight gain, and even change who women are attracted to. The clip had over 219,000 likes before it was removed following an inquiry by the Washington Post.
Right-wing political commentator, Candace Owens, said she is a “big advocate of getting women to realise this stuff is not normal”, claiming birth-control pills and IUDs are “unnatural.”
Online magazine, Evie, which produces right-wing content for younger women, has published numerous articles subtly encouraging women to discard hormonal birth control, with titles such as “Why You Should Do A Birth Control Detox”.
It's clear opinions are changing around birth control, especially in younger women, who want more transparency and information about the hormones they are ingesting. As Mollie says: "I’ve sat in with doctors and nurses where they’ve fully explained the side effects to people who’ve naturally had questions, and they’ve had the autonomy to decide by themselves - that’s how it should be."
Sheffield Steelers closer to winning treble after defeating Fife Flyers in playoff quarter-final
The Sheffield Steelers will progress to the semi-finals of the Elite Hockey League after defeating the Fife Flyers in the double-header quarter-final yesterday.
They won yesterday's match with a score of 4-1, with an aggregate score of 13-5. During Friday's quarter-final first leg, they won 9-4.
They are only two matches away from winning the first treble in their history.
On the Steelers’ side, Kevin Tansey, Mikko Juusola, Marco Vallerand and Brett Neumann scored goals, and Mikko Juusola was man of the match.
The Flyers achieved one goal, scored by Colin Shirley.
Speaking after Friday’s match, Tom Coolen, manager of the Flyers, said the Steelers “outskilled” them.
He said: “We didn’t play well enough defensively. We turned the puck over too many times and they swarmed us with their depth.”
The team will face off against the Guildford Flames in the Semi-Finals, which will take place at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on 20 April at 3.00pm.
The Steelers Manager, Aaron Fox, said the team “liked [their] chances” of succeeding in the semi-finals.
He said: “Your aim in this setting is to try to give yourself as good a lead at home as you possibly can. We did a good job of that tonight. We'll watch some tape and hopefully clean up hopefully a couple things defensively and and go up there on Sunday, hopefully to win.
“We don't want to sit back and play a different way than the way we have success, so we'll again try to impose our depth and our pace on that team that plays three lines in 5D the majority of the time. If we can make them work for everything, we can have some success.”
The Steelers already beat the Guildford Flames in the Challenge Cup.
Only three other teams have won a treble before; the Nottingham Panthers, Coventry Blaze and Belfast Giants.
‘Best day of the year’: Sports Park is more competitive than ever as it returns for 2024
With the return of students from the Easter break, Varsity resumes for the biggest event of the season.
Sheffield Hallam and the University of Sheffield are going head to head to claim the title after the University of Sheffield's 9-year winning streak.
The day will include football matches, lacrosse, cricket, rugby union and league.
There will also be performances from both Universities stunt and pom cheerleading teams at half time and this year will mark the first year of an individual cheer showcase despite the teams not competing for any points.
One student at the University of Sheffield, Ellie Pierce, said: "I always look forward to going to sports park; it's literally the best day of the year.
"There’s just so many sports in one day and it gives an idea of who’s likely to win in the long run."
University of Sheffield are currently leading the competition at 8-4 going into their penultimate week.
This is after a loss at Ice Hockey, the opening game of the season, where Hallam took the victory winning 7-6 after an hour of incredible action. Hallam also managed to score some points by winning American football, men's long-distance athletics and squash.
However, Black and Gold remain in the lead after winning male and female rowing, trampolining, female long-distance athletics and all of the different tennis fixtures.
It is still all to play for though with 61 points up for grabs in the final weeks of the competition.
This is the rundown of the day:
| Rugby Union | M2 | 12.00 |
| Football | M3 | 12.00 |
| Football | M4 | 12.00 |
| Football | W3 | 12.00 |
| Lacrosse | M1 | 12.30 |
| Indoor Cricket | M2 | 12.45 |
| Rugby Union | M1 | 14.00 |
| Football | W1 | 14.30 |
| Indoor Cricket | W2 | 14.45 |
| Football | M2 | 15.30 |
| Lacrosse | W1 | 15.30 |
| Indoor Cricket | M1 | 15.45 |
| Rugby Union | W1 | 16.00 |
| Indoor Cricket | W1 | 17.15 |
| Football | W2 | 17.30 |
| Football | M1 | 17.30 |
| Rugby League | M1 | 18.00 |
Sunset Boulevard with Nicole Scherzinger storms Olivier Awards
Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
Sunset Boulevard has earned seven wins at the Olivier Awards last night following a starring turn from Nicole Scherzinger.
The US actress and singer won the best actress in a musical gong at the Royal Albert Hall as the reinterpretation of the 1950 black comedy of the same name also picked up best director and best musical revival.
Tom Francis also won the best actor in a musical gong for his role in the show at the Savoy Theatre.
Referring to her almost tripping before accepting her award on stage at the Royal Albert Hall, Scherzinger said: “Thank God for saving me from that trip right there,” before adding that she was “nothing without him”.
The Pussycat Dolls singer also said that “coming from really humble beginnings I always wanted to be a singer and do musicals”.
She added that she wanted to do “so many roles” and joked that the failing Hollywood star, Norma Desmond, depicted in the original film, was not “one of them”.
An In Memoriam segment paid tribute to Harry Potter film series star Sir Michael Gambon, Drop The Dead Donkey actress Gwynne, Australian comedian Barry Humphries, theatre producer Bill Kenwright, Coronation Street star John Savident and singer Tina Turner.
Hillsborough Disaster 35th Anniversary: Silence in Liverpool to honour the dead
Liverpool City Council has held a minute's silence this afternoon to honour the 97 victims who died in the crowd crush of the Hillsborough disaster this afternoon.
You can watch it here:
Migration Matters Festival: International culture festival returns to Sheffield
A Sheffield festival which brings communities together by celebrating international culture is welcoming its ‘best line up ever’ this year, Holly Phillips reports.
The city’s ninth Migration Matters Festival will take place on 14 June until 22 June at multiple venues across Sheffield.
Director of the festival, Sam Holland said: “This year’s festival will include our best line up yet.
“Whether you want to discover new stories about people of colour throughout history in South Yorkshire, or dance to African drum beats in the city streets, the festival will have something for you.
“We are committed to giving underrepresented communities a voice through our truly eclectic and diverse programme.”
Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary, attracting 13,4000 people last year.
Headliners for the festival taking place from 17 until 23 June include Grammy-nominated husband-and-wife duo, Amadou & Mariam, who performed at Glastonbury last year.
More than 50 individual events will take place over the course of the week, including comedy nights, theatre shows, art exhibitions, dance and drag shows, and Latin American film screenings.
RAF jets moved from Romania to help shore up defence of Israel
David Hughes, PA Political Editor
RAF jets were pulled away from protecting Nato from Vladimir Putin’s Russia to bolster efforts to defend Israel.
The Typhoon aircraft were redeployed from Romania to take part in the operation to defend against Tehran’s drone and missile barrage.
Other Nato allies covered for the RAF in eastern Europe, but the decision has once again put the UK’s defence budget under the spotlight with resources stretched around the world’s hotspots.
Rishi Sunak has committed to increase defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product – a measure of the size of the economy – when conditions allow.
But he is under pressure from the military and senior Tories to go further and faster due to the current level of global insecurity.
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace told the PA news agency: “The absurd line, deployed by both political parties that we shall only invest in defence ‘when economic conditions allow’ have been exposed as a political excuse.
“We need to invest as the threat determines. Without such investment our security will be at risk and our forces will be stretched.”