Press Clippings

Rew

Not sure if its been posted already but if any one missed it you can watch it here:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0520/primetime_av.html?2376839,null,230

(you will need to install Real Player, its free)

Rovi

rrpc wrote: »

Rew wrote: »

Not sure if its been posted already but if any one missed it you can watch it here:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0520/primetime_av.html?2376839,null,230

(you will need to install Real Player, its free)

I already did

You can actually use Media Player as well, no need to stick more sh1te on your PC.

'Tis on YouTube too-
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=J6xWZaX_x5M

Sparks

The story surfaced again today, albiet in a far less sensational form, in the Sunday Business Post:

Dramatic rise in handgun ownership
01 June 2008 By John Burke
Almost 1,600 handguns are held by licensed private gun owners, just three years after firearms lobby groups successfully challenged the state’s refusal to issue pistol permits.

Figures obtained from the gardai show that there are 1,596 handguns licensed in the Republic. Details were not available on the calibre or barrel length of the handguns, or what proportion are specifically designed for target shooting or other use.

The total number of licensed guns in the state is more than 218,670. More than 167,000 of those are shotguns - of which over 29,000 are licensed to an owner of another shotgun. There are also more than 49,500 rifles licensed in the state.

The number of handguns being licensed may rise further, following a recent High Court judgment. The National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC) said the judgment given by Ms Justice Maureen Harding Clarke last month ‘‘settles once and for all’’ issues around handgun licensing.

Under the 1925 Firearms Act, a Garda superintendent must ‘‘satisfy himself that the applicant may be permitted to possess, use and carry the firearm without posing a danger to public safety or the peace’’.

The NARGC successfully argued that some Garda superintendents had interpreted this ‘‘for the purposes of resisting a firearms licence application, as meaning that the superintendent is entitled to take into account the calibre, style or type of firearm which is being sought, as in some way forming part of his reasoning concerning public safety and the peace’’.

The NARGC has helped people in 70 judicial review cases against the non-issue of firearms licences since 2002, and has won all of the cases which have been completed to date.

BryanL

Sparks's letter was published in todays Examiner and a seperate article on rising gun crime in Ireland made no link to legally held gun and was a fairly balanced piece.
although the claim there could be over 150,000 illegaly held guns in the country is shocking


Rising gun crime here to stay, finds study

By Paul O’Brien, Political Correspondent
IRELAND’S rising gun crime problem is here to stay despite Garda efforts to combat it, an expert study has indicated.


Ireland features as a case study in the most recent Small Arms Survey, an annual report which examines global gun ownership and associated issues.

The 2007 survey, conducted by researchers at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, was published in the latter half of last year, but not widely reported at the time.



It points out that, previously, Irish problems with small arms were “associated exclusively” with terrorism in the north. That changed with the advent of the peace process, while gun crime rose in the Republic at the same time. “Instead of Northern Ireland, now it is the Republic of Ireland that is feeling the effects of criminal gun violence,” it states.

There are about 231,000 legally held firearms licensed in the state, according to the latest figures published by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern in the Dáil last week.

But the Garda Síochána’s most serious concern is not “traditional gun ownership, but an invasion of handguns and automatics smuggled in from Europe”, the survey points out.

Illegally held, unlicensed firearms are estimated to number at least 150,000, and this figure “could be considerably higher”, the survey says. Of greatest concern are the weapons in the hands of criminal gangs, many of which are semi-automatic pistols and submachine guns. “They have fuelled unprecedented, murderous rivalries among drug gangs,” the survey states.

Citing work from other researchers, it adds: “Small arms proliferation appears to be an unexpected consequence of integration into a border-free Europe, leaving national leaders and law enforcement officials struggling to cope.”

The survey acknowledges the three-fold response of the authorities here: the crackdown on smuggling; the 2006 amnesty for illegal firearms and an increase in the number of gardaí. But it concludes on a pessimistic note, stating: “These steps will help Ireland deal with rising gun crime, but they have been tried elsewhere and found wanting.

“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Ireland is becoming more like the rest of the world in terms of firearm-related problems.”

Click here for irishexaminer.com stories before this date

Sparks

Yup, on the Examiner website:

Firearms report was fair and balanced

AS the reporter who compiled RTÉ's Prime Time report on May 20 on a recent High Court case concerning the firearms legislation in Ireland, I would like to respond to Mark Dennehy’s letter (June 2), which criticised it.


The report examined the recent High Court judgment of Ms Justice Maureen Harding Clarke, which found a garda superintendent had erred when he refused an experienced hunter a licence for a .308 calibre rifle, on the grounds of public safety.

The judge said the superintendent had focused on the size and type of firearm instead of the character of the applicant.




The report looked at the implications of that judgment both for the gun fraternity and for garda superintendents, who are the licensing authorities.

It also examined the growth in licensed firearms in Ireland and the increasing sophistication and power of the guns being used by hunters and marksmen.

In his letter, Mr Dennehy asked where was the interview with the gardaí, the shooting community and the Firearms Consultative Panel.

At present, 40 cases are still before the courts.

The cases were taken by the gun lobby to challenge decisions by garda superintendents to refuse gun licences on the grounds of public safety.

The gardaí declined our invitation to be interviewed because the cases are ongoing.

In relation to the shooting community and the Firearms Consultative Panel, Mr Dennehy may not be aware that Des Crofton, the director of the National Association of Regional Game Councils, sat on the consultative panel and is also an active member of the shooting community, as is Joe Melia, who also represented Ireland in international competitions. Both of these prominent members of the shooting community featured in the report.

Paul Maguire
Reporter
Prime Time
RTÉ Television
Donnybrook
Dublin 4

rrpc

A bit of positive coverage in todays Irish Times folks:

Home on the firing range


Guns are usually associated with criminality or insurgence in Ireland, but they're also used for sport by thousands of shooters. What's the attraction? Former Army officer Tom Clonan puts the Midlands Shooting Range to the test

SPORTS SHOOTING is described by enthusiasts as the Cinderella of Irish sport - under-funded and under-appreciated. But their determination to overcome these problems showed in the standard and professionalism of marksmanship at the Midlands Shooting Range, near Tullamore, Co Offaly this week.

As a retired Army officer - and qualified weapons instructor - when I visited the range, billed "the shooting heart of Ireland", alongside scenic bogland, I was struck by the high standard of this civilian range.

Constructed to the highest of international standards - in many respects exceeding the safety standards of international military ranges - the Midlands range caters for short-range precision-pistol shooting and long-range F-class rifle and target rifle sharp-shooting.

Large, reinforced earthen berms act as back-stops or butts behind the various targets to ensure that stray bullets do not exit the range area. The grass firing points are immaculately maintained and command excellent views over small targets with classic concentric rings and bull's eyes, which are arranged in neat rows at intervals of 50 metres out to 1,000 metres. At the furthest distances, accuracy is only possible with the aid of the telescopic sights mounted on the F-class 7mm rifles.

Throughout my Army service, I always had a preference for firing automatic pistols - a choice more informed by a childhood of watching US cop shows rather than any military rationale. After some familiarisation and training at the range, I was allowed to fire a classic Les Baer .45 semi-automatic precision pistol at a range of 15 metres. With some of Ireland's leading sharpshooters as curious onlookers, I was nervous, to say the least. However, my military training began to kick in automatically - concentrating on stance, breathing, grip, heartbeat and trigger pressure.

At first attempt, I managed to place at least three rounds on to the bull's eye. I was tempted to congratulate myself until I was informed that Irish amateur competitors regularly hit the bull's eye 100 per cent of the time at ranges out to 50 metres - at which distance, the target resembles a match head. Despite this high standard, Irish sports shooting gets very little attention.

SHOOTING AS A sport in Ireland has a long and colourful history stretching back to the mid-19th century. The oldest written records of shooting competitions in Ireland relate to 1841, almost a decade before the English, Welsh and Scottish formed their national rifle associations. In the world of sports shooting, the Irish, along with the Germans, have traditionally been regarded as natural crack-shots.

By the end of the 19th century, shooting had become a popular sport in Ireland, particularly among the landed gentry and Anglo-Irish ascendancy and shooting ranges were established throughout Ireland. Such was the popularity of the sport that in 1907, The Irish Times and New York Times devoted pages of coverage to Ireland's victory in the international Home Countries shooting competition held in Britain. Ireland's claim to fame was to have beaten England on their home turf. On return to Ireland, the Home Countries trophy was carried in procession through the streets of Dublin to a civic reception.

That's just an extract. Go out and buy the paper to get the rest.

It's the least we can do for such positive coverage.

Sparks

Okay, not as widespread as the Times, but still. The Bray People covered ECSC's team that went to the Phoenix match in Bisley:

Wicklow sharp-shooters help Ireland win silver
Thursday June 12 2008

A number of keen Wicklow shooters triumphed recently as part of the Irish team which took silver in the Phoenix International shooting competition in Bisley, England.The team celebrated reaching its highest level ever in the Under Lever Gallery rifle section and were only narrowly beaten by the host team.

A number of keen Wicklow shooters triumphed recently as part of the Irish team which took silver in the Phoenix International shooting competition in Bisley, England.

The team celebrated reaching its highest level ever in the Under Lever Gallery rifle section and were only narrowly beaten by the host team.

The squad of eight shooters has a strong Wicklow representation with Mike Doherty and Declan Byrne from Arklow and Roy Mitchell from Ashford.

Doherty also took the overall second place in the Speed Steels', Silver standard in Silhouette', Bronze standard in 1500 Gallery Rifle', Timed and Precision' and Multi Target' while Byrne also picked up a Bronze Standard for Silhouette' and Timed and Precision'.

The duo have been performing very well lately and most recently were placed highly at a contest in Germany as part of the Irish team.

Each team member shoots regularly as part of the East Coast Sport Shooting Club which was established in 2005 to give local sport and target shooting enthusiasts an opportunity to train and enhance their skills in a safe and secure environment.

While still a very small club, it has a Garda Authorised range with members enjoying great success at local, national and international level.

bigred

Mod edit of thread title given what turned up in the thread - bigred's original title was "NARGC PRO on Radio 1 this morning" -Sparks

Oh sweet Jesus. It was awful. "Weapons...ah...em....all firearms are very dangerous.....eh....people have a right to own a firearm...". I propose Sparks as the new PRO (seriously).I mean, it's not often the shooting community get a chance to appear on the national broadcaster and he should have capitalised on the 3min slot he had and sell the perfect safety record of shooters in this country and reassure Joe Public that they've nothing to worry about. I would have thought he'd be better prepared. It's not like we didn't know what sort of questions were going to get asked.

Sparks

And this isn't over yet. In today's papers...

From the Irish Times:

Minister to tighten law on registered handguns
MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern is to clamp down on legally-held handguns after a High Court judge criticised the soaring number of registered weapons.

Proposals will be brought before the Cabinet in the autumn on tightening gun laws which were denounced as piecemeal last week by Mr Justice Peter Charleton.

Mr Ahern, speaking yesterday outside the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council of Ministers meeting in Cannes, France, said he had ordered an intensive review on how to change the laws governing gun ownership.

Mr Ahern, who spoke to Attorney General Paul Gallagher and Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy about new legislation, said he was grateful to the judge for highlighting the trend.

The Department of Justice said there were about 1,700 legally-held handguns in the Republic.

Mr Justice Charleton hit out at the level of registered handguns in Ireland as he blocked an attempt by a shooting enthusiast to overturn a Garda decision to refuse him a firearms certificate for a Glock 22 handgun.

From the Irish Independent:

New law promised to tighten controls on guns
By Tom Brady
Tuesday July 08 2008
Tom Brady Security Editor

The Government is to bring in tighter controls on the availability of legally held handguns in the wake of criticism from a judge about the existing legislation.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern decided yesterday to draft proposals to change the law after talks with Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and Attorney General Paul Gallagher.

The three men discussed the move in Cannes, where Mr Ahern is attending a meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers on immigration laws.

The minister said he had been concerned at the increasing number of handguns being licensed, following a series of court decisions favourable to shooting enthusiasts.

High Court judge Peter Charleton revealed last week that 1,600 pistol licences had been granted last year. He said the increasing number of weapons licensed for personal use was "exactly the opposite" to what was happening in Britain where handguns had been banned.

Mr Justice Charleton said reasonable people were entitled to feel alarmed about the large increase here, and he felt there was a pressing need for drawing together the multiple "piecemeal" rules on the control of firearms here into a clear law.

He pointed out that the rules were currently spread over five firearms acts and the 2006 Criminal Justice Act, and said codification of the firearms control laws was almost as pressing as the need for a clarification of the laws on sexual violence.

From the Offaly Express:

Vow to clamp down on legal firearms

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has vowed to clamp down on legally-held handguns after a High Court judge criticised the soaring number of registered weapons.
Proposals will be brought before the Cabinet in the autumn on tightening up existing gun laws which were denounced as piecemeal last week by Mr Justice Peter Charleton.

Mr Ahern, who spoke with the Attorney General Paul Gallagher and the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy about new legislation, said he was grateful to the judge for highlighting the trend. "While I am aware that the vast majority of persons with licensed firearms pursue their interests legitimately, public safety has to be the paramount consideration and I will take whatever action is necessary to ensure that that is put beyond doubt in our laws," he said.

Sparks

Podcast of this morning now up here.

Sparks

From the Irish Times today, emphasis is mine:

AG to unveil reports on law reform

CAROL COULTER

ATTORNEY General Paul Gallagher will launch two Law Reform Commission (LRC) documents this evening aimed at making the law more accessible.

The first is the LRC report on statute law restatement. This process involves integrating amendments into the original Acts, so that the most up-to-date version of the law can be read in a single document. This has the potential to save huge amounts of time as, at the moment, especially with much-amended Acts, lawyers have to trawl through several different documents to find out what the law actually states.

In July last year the LRC published its consultation paper on the subject, following responsibility for restatement being transferred to it from the Office of the Attorney General.

This was followed by a consultation process and the receipt of submissions.

The report being published today contains legislation to be included in the commission's first Programme of Restatement, covering law for restatement in 2008/2009.

This programme will cover the Freedom of Information Act 2007, which has close to 100 amendments; the Data Protection Acts, which have over 70; the Prevention of Corruption Acts; and the Criminal Procedure Act 1967.

Areas of legislation with multiple Acts to be covered include ethics in public office legislation; firearms legislation; statute of limitations legislation (which is made up of 13 Acts); employment leave legislation; proceeds of crime legislation and equality legislation.

Updates of four existing restatements, carried out already by the Office of the Attorney General, will also be included.

The LRC will also launch a consultation paper on a legislation directory this evening. This is a publicly available database of all primary legislation and some secondary legislation, which will document modifications made to primary legislation by later legislation. The current database is at www.irishstatutebook.ie.

Responsibility for this has also been transferred from the Office of the Attorney General to the LRC, and the consultation paper considers how the directory can best serve its user base.

Proposals for its improvement include more timely updates, the inclusion of comprehensive commencement information for Acts, and the association of secondary legislation with their parent Acts.

© 2008 The Irish Times

The idea of a restatement is not that the law will be changed in any way, but that someone will start with the Firearms Act 1925 and then apply each and every amendment from statute, eu directive, SI, whatever and produce one single document at the end of it, which will then legally supercede all the stuff that came before; so instead of the Firearms Act 1925, as amended, you get the Firearms Act, 2009. Which is a hell of a lot easier to read for a start. It should also highlight problems with the legislation which are caused by that amendment process, such as conflicting definitions that aren't noticed until you actually apply all the amendments in one place, and that sort of thing.
We have two unofficial ones already which myself and RRPC put together, but this would be an actual, citable-in-court, legal document.

More details later tonight hopefully...

(oh, and the bit at the very end about commencement information is critical as well because right now, any restatement has to look at what legislation was commenced, not just what legislation was passed by the Dail; and it turns out that that's done via SIs 90% of the time and there's no single place where SIs are published. Iris Oifigial often carries notices of SIs being signed, but not always the content. You wind up chasing after departments looking for the relevant SI a lot of the time. So this is a good thing).

Sparks

Some probably remember that last time round, Matt Emmons competed with a rifle that wasn't his own because someone took a screwdriver to the chamber of his anschutz a few weeks before the games. It seems that that kind of disgraceful and shameful conduct hasn't gone away. From the Telegraph:

Beijing Olympics: Cheating accusation from Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra
The Beijing Olympics has been hit by a fresh 'cheating' row after India's gold-medal winning shooter said that his gunsight had been tampered with before the final round of his event.
By Peter Foster in Beijing
Last Updated: 11:18AM BST 14 Aug 2008


Abhinav Bindra of India during his medal winning performance in the Men's 10m Air Rifle shooting Photo: AFP / GETTY

Abhinav Bindra, who became the first Indian to win an individual Olympic Gold earlier this week, said he had discovered the alteration as he practiced before the final of the 10m Air Rifle event which he went on to win.

Competitors are given three minutes of 'sighter' shots to zero in their sights before the competition officially begins and it was at this point that Bindhra, 25, discovered that someone had moved his rear sight.

Dr Amit Bhattacharjee, Abhinav's personal mental trainer said: "When Abhinav fired the first shot in the sighting time (practice time), it hit the target between the fourth and fifth rings.

"It is unthinkable of any shooter competing at this level to score 4.5 points. But he remained calm and corrected the angle (of his sight) and the end result is in front of you."

The Indian team authorities said that no official complaint had been made about the incident, since it is acknowledged to be the responsibility of the shooter to take proper care of his rifle.

Baljit Singh Sethi, India's deputy Chef-the-Mission who is also the secretary general of the National Rifle Association of India, said.

"Actually, you cannot blame anyone for it's your duty to take care of your gun. He was the only Indian to qualify, so there were shooters only from other countries in that room."

Bindra has recalled going to the toilet at the same time his German coach Gabriela Buehlmann went out for a cigarette, leaving the gun unattended. It was at this moment that the Indians suspect the rifle was tampered with.

The allegations of cheating come a day after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was forced to answer allegations in the US media that three of China's gold-medal winning gymnastics team were underage.

According to Olympic regulations gymnasts must turn 16 by the end of an Olympic year, but several reports in the Chinese media appeared to refer three of the Chinese gymnasts as 13 and 14 as recently as a year ago.

Doubts have been cast over the ages of He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Yang Yilin who look considerably younger than their counterparts. Age is considered an advantage in gymnastics because younger girls are more flexible than older ones.

The victorious gymnasts who beat the USA to win team gold, were subjected to hostile questioning at their victory press conference, with journalists demanding to know if those under suspicion could 'remember their 15th birthdays'.

The IOC said that passports and other documentation provided by the Chinese authorities during the registration process 'proved' the athletes were old enough to compete, but suspicions continue to linger.

rrpc

First time I've heard of this happening in shooting:

BEIJING (AP) A North Korean shooter was stripped of his two medals and expelled from the Beijing Olympics along with a Vietnamese gymnast Friday after failing doping tests.

They are the second and third athletes caught doping in Beijing, where the IOC is conducting a record 4,500 drug tests.

The International Olympic Committee said shooter KIM Jong Su tested positive for propanolol after winning the silver medal in the 50-meter pistol and bronze in the 10-meter air pistol.

Propanolol is a banned betablocker, which can be used to prevent trembling in events such as shooting and archery. The bronze medal in the 10-meter event now goes to American shooter Jason Turner. In the 50-meter event, China's TAN Zongliang moves up to the silver and Russia's Vladimir Isakov is upgraded to the bronze.

IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist said he considered Kim guilty of "a deliberate intake" of a banned substance because of propanolol's specific benefit for shooters. Kim could face a ban of up to two years from the international shooting federation.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said both athletes were kicked out of the games and had their accreditations revoked. Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno was kicked out of the games Monday after testing positive for EPO in a pre-competition check.

Good for Jason Turner and Vladimir Isakov. Just a pity that they didn't get the medal ceremony. Jason Turner had a shoot off in the Air Pistol for 4th place (sometimes referred to as the 'potato medal'). I'll bet he's glad now that he took it seriously!

And I'll bet Oleg Omelchuk is sorry he didn't! He also had a shoot off with Isakov and Isakov had a 9.1, Omelchuk had a 6.5!

Oops

fat-tony

Was just about to post that info on the failed dope test!

See Irish Times website : http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/other/2008/0815/1218747962974.html

Sparks

Meanwhile, away from the actual sport end, the postmortem and recriminations have started :rolleyes:

From the Herald:

Why Ireland doesn't win at Olympics
FIGHTING CHANCE: With €30m of funding, our athletes should be bringing home Olympic medals
By Eoghan COrry
Friday August 15 2008

Michael Phelps is going to win as many gold medals in a few days as Ireland has in its entire sporting history.

With that sobering thought we should stop celebrating the progress of every boxer through every preliminary bout of the Olympics as if it was a triumph.

When our losers return from Beijing it is likely that yet another committee will be put in place to prevent more embarrassment for Irish sport.

The recommendations will be the same as the previous committee following the disaster of Athens (one gold medal, which was returned unused) and Sydney (one silver medal).

Funding

Money used to be the primary gripe for our athletes. About €30m of funding was spent on elite athletes during this Olympic cycle.

At a going rate of somewhere between the bargain basement rate of €2.82m per medal enjoyed by Canada or the €3.07m for Australia in the last Olympic cycle, or the €6m per medal spent by Britain, we should be bringing home between five and 10 medals.

But the system we have put in place seems more capable of gobbling up funds than delivering the success that this country might expect.

Like the health service, the more money we spend, the more pointless the exercise seems. Expensive sports like sailing seem to be capable of saddling the whole elite spending project with big bills and a maximum return of what looks like eighth place.

Even our boxers looked incapable of delivering anything until three months ago, and arrived in Beijing with lowly world rankings. Most of them left it very late before qualifying for the games at all.

Our only top-three ranked sports personality, Jessica Kurten, didn't go to the Olympics. Just two of our Beijing team travelled with a top 10 world ranking. Derek Burnett was expected to finish in the top six and finished sixth last. Eileen O'Keeffe, if not injured, would have been delighted with a top 10 place.

Instead of a serious podium prospect for our €30m we are grasping at straws, hoping someone like Eoin Rheinisch or Ken Egan would snatch a medal out of turn from their mid-teens world ranking.

Money doesn't automatically translate in to Olympic medals but it sure helps. You can chart spending on the medals table. Cutbacks in sports spending have sent some of the champions of 20 years ago tumbling in the medals table.

Bounty

Because of our small population we are paying a high Olympic bounty, €7.80 per head of population compared with €1.17 in Canada and €2.54 in Britain but considerably less than the €9.42 per head they spend in Australia.

But it shows; seven days into the games Australia is in sixth place on the medals table, indicating just how irrelevant population is. India, whose population increases by the population of Australia each year, has just won its first-ever gold medal.

Finland and Norway, our nearest equivalent in geographical, economic and population terms, have two medals each and can reasonably expect two more.

Britain is claiming, mainly in their own media, that their programme is delivering good results and indeed they are loitering around the medals table in 10th place. After the disaster of 1996, when they finished behind Ireland for the only time in Olympic history, the British won 28 medals and spent €151m on their athletes for Sydney.

Their Public Accounts Committee moaned in 2006 that "10 sports... won no medals, despite receiving nearly £14m in total," in the tones of a disappointed fund manager. Their spending is to increase in the run up to 2012.

What to do? Other nations can turn to commercial interests to become involved in Olympic preparation projects. That is not an option for us. We have to look to niche sports, which have little commercial appeal, for our potential medals.

Most of the commercial money in Irish sport (as well as a lot of state funding) goes into racing, soccer, rugby, GAA and golf. They are the sports receiving TV coverage and the guys in the corporate marketing departments demand TV coverage.

Trap shooting or even slalom canoeing is never going to be prime time viewing. Knitting has a better chance of making the TV schedules than dressage.

While it is realistic that Eoin Rheinisch can train abroad on slalom courses, the jump up from the courses we have in Ireland to international level will prove a formidable barrier for any young canoeists inspired by his performance last week.

Like the stock market, nobody wants a slow-growth portfolio to deliver an Olympic medal in 12 years time, just a quick return.

From the Indo:

Time to raise bar in pursuit of medals
Sunday August 17 2008

Measured against our low expectations of medals, the first full week of the Olympics should probably be declared a qualified success for the Irish Olympic team.

There have been national records and personal best performances in the pool, Ken Egan, Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes carry the flag in boxing, Eoin Rheinisch (right) battled his way through to the final of Kayak K1 Slalom, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal to a Togan who has visited his country once, Rob Heffernan came eighth in the 20km walk and Roisin McGettigan eased through to today's final of the 3,000m steeplechase.

It may not be the stuff of dreams, but set against Ireland's performance at the Olympics since 1960 (an average of one medal per games, and that average is somewhat boosted by Michelle Smith's extraordinary performances in Atlanta), this is relative success, Irish style.

It is also what we have been conditioned to expect. A disappointing and acrimonious Sydney was followed by yet more disappointment at Athens where not a single Irish athlete managed to record a personal best.

The message to Irish sports fans and athletes from the Sports Council, the post-Olympic review groups who always wonder why we didn't achieve more and from almost anyone with a well-paid job in sports administration is clear: forget about medals, rejoice in participation. It may be deemed a realistic approach, but it sets the bar too low.

When pressed, they will talk about the 'numbers game' -- Ireland's population is claimed to be too small to produce consistently high-achieving athletes -- and about money, yet there has been no shortage of funds. The evidence shows, however, that a large population is no guarantor of sporting prowess and a relatively small population is no inhibitor.

The Australians are renowned for punching about their population weight on the medals table and the Chinese are showing what happens if you throw vast amounts of money at a large population, but countries with populations not dramatically dissimilar to Ireland (Denmark, New Zealand, Finland) deliver better performances than we manage.

Just as importantly, countries with relatively small populations and far less money than ours deliver better performances. Even at the half-way stage, the disparities are startling: Georgia (population 5.5m: 3 medals so far, 2 gold), Azerbaijan (pop. 8m; 4 medals, one gold), Slovakia ( pop. 5.4m; 4 medals, 3 gold), Cuba (pop. 11.3m; 8 medals, 1 gold), Belarus (pop. 9.6m; 4 medals, 0 gold).

Quibble if you must about the sports in which they win those medals -- judo and Greco-Roman wrestling figure prominently, as does shooting -- but the point is that with limited resources many other countries manage to deliver Olympic champions.

We, in truth, have given up on that. If a boxer manages to win gold for the first time since 1992, put it down to an individual performance of excellence, not the result of 16 years of careful planning.

The bar could, and should, be set much higher. Great Britain, too, had an awful Sydney but it has subsequently transformed its Olympic preparations. Money was better targeted, elite athletes were chosen with care and outstanding coaches were recruited. The results, particularly in swimming, rowing and cycling, are exceptional, and will improve further for the 2012 London Games.

Ireland does not lack the money -- we have spent hundreds of millions of Euro over the past dozen years on sport -- but we still lack the facilities and the focus to deliver champions.

Sporting politics have played a dispiriting (though diminishing) role in holding us back, but the key problem is desire. If we want to win against the best, then we must set our sights higher, and we must focus more ruthlessly on those athletes, and sports, where that success can be achieved.

The goal is not just Olympic gold, but the creation of sporting icons who can inspire Irish children to run, paddle, jump, ride and box, coaxing them off their ever larger backsides and away from the sedentary pursuits of eating, binge drinking and playing video games.

But whenever we despair too much about our medal prospects, it is worth stopping an Indian in the street and commiserating.

Despite a population of one billion (of whom half are under 25), a booming economy and a fanatical sporting culture, India is an Olympic black hole. Last week Abhinav Bindra won his country's first ever individual gold medal.

There is no lack of sporting talent -- India's cricketers are among the best in the world -- just a lack of focus and a sporting administration that Indian writers say is riddled with corruption.

It proves, though, that the numbers game is a sham. The right attitude, a good talent identification programme, well-directed money, well-targeted athletes and a belief in excellence matter far, far more than the size of your population or your wallet.

Sparks

More knocking of the olympic athletes - and this time from the GAA (via their "media partner"). :mad:
http://www.europeanirish.com/news_details.php?news_id=707

2008-08-18
Some Irish Olympic Perfrormances were quite dismal - Why?
Written by Siasy

If you are not going to perform at the Olympics, then when are you hoping to perform?

This is a question I'd like to put to some Irish athletes and competitors who performed well below and outside their best at these Olympic Games.

Some complain about being too tired - some had the wrong strategy, some just had an off-day.

Doesn't it sound too familiar from the Irish camp?

Would Kilkenny play in an All-Ireland Hurling Quarter Final or Semi-Final and say - we were tired, or had an off day?

Training is meant to peak your performances at games of this level.

But in sports - shooting, rowing, eventing, badminton, athletics - 3000m Steeple chase, 400m hurdles, 100m hurdles, 400m sprint,
the athletes compete against other competitiors who they know they can beat, and have defeated already this year, but the irish are not peaking at these games.

Why is that?
Hearing from Scott Evans that he knows he should have won that first round match, from Michaelle Carey, that her legs were just tired and that she just did not perform on the day, from Burnett in the trap shooting that he has defeated all of the finalists recently, but he failed to qualify, to watch Gillick, Derval O'Rourke, Eileen O'Keeffe, the 2 rowing teams - all performing well below their best - the Irish equestrian eventing team - 8th place before their best event Show-jumping, after show-jumping still in 8th place - out of 11 teams, delighted at being in the top 21.
irish 470 class sailing team, winning 2 of 10 races, but coming 2nd last of 26 boats in other of those 10 races...
It just makes you wonder, what is it about the lack of belief in the psyche of the Irish competitors, that fail to make the grade, when it really matters?

Is reaching the Olympic Games enough and the dream reached for most Irish Athletes. Can Irish people expect no more than that?

Is it another Saipan, where reaching the Finals is enough? And then, sure we're irish we can show the world how to party - but not how to win!

We do fortunately have some exceptions,
Irish boxers, Paul Hession, Irish Swimmers Bree and Noche (Irish records), and Irish canoeist Eoin Rheinisch, and Denis Lynch with Lantinus still in contention in Show-jumping.

Sparks

The Times is a little more balanced....

Athletes take rap for now but real solutions are long-term
Ian O'Riordan on why failing to properly prepare, in terms of facilities, is only preparing for failure

WHEN AN athlete steps on to the track at the Olympics it's not simply show time. It's something they've worked towards for years; it's life-defining as, with the whole world watching, their Neil Armstrong moment arrives. Yesterday, David Gillick didn't even step out of the spaceship.

One small step back for Gillick.

One giant leap backward for Irish athletics.

That's the danger of coming to the Olympics with any sort of expectations. If you fail to reach them, and those around you have failed as well, you better be ready to take the rap.

"This is the Olympics," said Gillick. "Every race is tough, but I had aspirations of making the final, and now, my Olympics are over. That's another four years. But I'm not going to make excuses. That's not me. I'm shell-shocked. Gutted. I'll hold my hands up and say I ran crap. And I'm out."

So who is to blame? Should he have been sent up there in the first place? Was he properly prepared? What is Athletics Ireland playing at? Who really cares, because he's going to take the rap anyway, and has at least four years to realise that.

When things go wrong at the Olympics, there is nowhere to hide. You can't blame your team-mates and the manager won't get the sack. You can say you felt tired or your knee hurt and that will sound like an excuse. You can hold your hands up and say you ran crap.

Or else you could have stayed at home, and joined the chorus of disapproval watching the Olympics through their TV guide. There are multiple facets to Olympic participation, but the one that matters is on the small screen.

So all our athletes are crap. We deserve better than this. This is taxpayers' money. We want to see finalists or personal bests and maybe even some medals.

And of course we do. There comes a time when an athlete's failure deserves some hard questioning, and Gillick's failure was certainly one of those times.

Is he training hard enough? Has he bulked up too much? Has he fallen into the comfort zone? Has he got too high an opinion of himself? Gillick didn't even step out of the spaceship yesterday and that demands some answers.

It doesn't matter that he's won two European Indoor titles for Ireland. That he left his family and friends to base himself at Loughborough University in England, because the facilities and coaching simply aren't available in Ireland. That he's put four years work into getting it right at the Olympics, only to see it go inexplicably wrong.

That demands some answers.

And what about Derval O'Rourke? She was miles off her personal best - which is actually a bit of a cheap argument, because less than 10 per cent of athletes run personal bests at the Olympics. The bottom line is she looked a shadow of the athlete that won World Indoor gold and European outdoor silver, and that demands some answers.

And where have all our distance runners gone? Róisín McGettigan made the final of the steeplechase and bombed. Why aren't more athletes coming through the US scholarship system anymore, like Delany, Murphy, Coghlan, Treacy, O'Sullivan, O'Mara, Sonia, etc?

We've pretty much agreed by now that Alistair Cragg is a loser, but then he's not really one of ours anyway, and Pauline Curley was practically an embarrassment in the women's marathon - even if she epitomised the last remnants of the Olympic spirit.

Who wants to see a 39-year-old amateur finishing the marathon when we have Michael Phelps chasing eight gold medals in the Water Cube, all carefully orchestrated for NBC and their 2,000 broadcasters in Beijing (only one of whom, by the way, is staying on for the Paralympics)?

But that's drifting off the point. There are real and difficult questions facing Irish athletics and it can't go on like this. Like where is the proper indoor track Ireland has been crying out for since around 1980? Where are the proper coaches - the hard, demanding coaches - like every serious athletics nation has? What is the point of giving athletes any more grant money when they're clearly wasting every penny of it?

Radical change will require some radical action, and there are several model examples. Britain have spread their investment far and wide and are cleaning up in the cycling velodrome and down in Qingdao. Sweden don't fund their athletes but built 23 indoor training tracks and have one of the best teams in Beijing.

They are the long-term solutions. We can blame the athletes for now, or else we should have kept most of them at home to begin with, because as things stand, that's the only alternative.

© 2008 The Irish Times

rrpc

Well the GAA do swallow up something:

From the Irish Independent


Friday December 21 2007


GAELIC players look set to get their government grants quicker than they expected in a big pre-Christmas boost but several other Irish sporting bodies are muttering 'bah humbug' after discovering their grant aid in 2008 is being frozen.

With the Beijing Games just eight months away, many sports expected their government funding next year to be improved, as is the norm in an Olympic year.

But despite an extra allocation of €3.3m to the Irish Sports Council (ISC) in the recent Budget, none of it is going to fund Irish international sport and it has been set aside for the new GAA players grant scheme.
Ireland's traditionally successful Olympic sports like athletics, rowing, boxing and cycling have been forewarned that their 2007 'high performance' budgets will not be improved in the 2008 allocations.
The Sports Council says this is because of the economic climate and a slow-down in public funding.

But there is serious disquiet among other sports that they are not getting their usual increase in an Olympic year while, at the same time, €3.5m has been found to placate the GAA and players.

Athletics Ireland's Olympic team manager Patsy McGonagle said: "My understanding is that athletics will only get the same as last year -- maybe marginally less -- because the grants to GAA players will come out of the same 'high performance' pool. "We are not the only ones going to be affected," he added. "The whole international dimension is going to be affected by the grants to GAA players."

Neither the GAA or GPA expected their new grant scheme to be up and running until the 2009 Championship but it emerged yesterday that the Sports Council hope to have it up and running for the coming Championship.

The Indo must have forgotten that they wrote that

Sparks

Covered in the Irish Times today:

Shooters from around the world gunning it out for glory in Esker

CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING: AS THE 2008 Beijing Olympics wind down, another only slightly less hotly anticipated international sports event is getting under way on the banks of the river Shannon.

The eighth bi-annual World DTL Clay Pigeon Shooting Championships opened under ominous skies at Esker Shooting Ground on the Galway-Offaly border yesterday.

The event, which is being held in Ireland for the first time, has attracted almost 700 entrants from 13 countries. A total prize fund of at least €22,600 is up for grabs, with €5,000 going to the overall winner, to be decided on Saturday.

Countries represented include Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Despite its low profile, DTL (or Down The Line) is a very competitive discipline within clay pigeon shooting. Irish team member Jim Doherty from Donegal estimates that he drove 3,800 miles around Ireland in qualifiers alone.

He was full of praise for the facilities at Esker, saying they are as good as he has seen in Europe.

His friend Henderson Hume of Northern Ireland, a world champion in 2004, agreed.

Four years ago, Hume won the overall title in England, by scoring 300 on three successive days. (This involved hitting every target with his first shot, equivalent to a snooker player achieving a 147 break in every frame.)

Asked how they hoped to fare today, neither was too forthcoming. The standard here is so high, Doherty explained, that even a score as high as 295 would probably put one out of contention. Hume agreed. Total concentration is required over the three-hour shoot, he said.

The slightest distraction costs targets. As he spoke, two young members of the French ladies team turned heads as they sauntered by in chic white tracksuits.

The Irish Army have lent the organisers 10 tents for the duration of the championships.

It is here that many competitors huddled to avoid the early rain. Body warmers, baseball caps and ear muffs were the order of the day.

Double-barrelled shotguns, broken and unloaded in accordance with the law, were slung over most shoulders.

In one of the tents, breakfast rolls and curry chips were being served up.

Tracey Barton (18) from Canberra is one of the youngest members of the Australian team. From a family of champions in the sport, she has been shooting competitively for six years. But while she's enjoying her visit to Ireland, she's not so taken with the weather.

Her team-mate Lars Vager even speculated that the conditions - wind, rain and ever-changing light - might be an advantage to the host nation.

Irish team members, though, rejected that assertion, good naturedly wondering if mind games might not be at work. All participants compete in the same conditions, they said. Luckily, by mid-afternoon, the weather was considerably brighter.

About 2,000 spectators are expected over the next two days and facilities at Esker have been expanded to accommodate the influx, with a €1 million extension by local architect Donal Burke officially opened this week.

The number of firing shelters has been increased from six to 16.

It is hoped the expanded range will serve as a satellite centre for the shooting competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games.

© 2008 The Irish Times

Sparks

Anyone else reading this feel their hearts sink at the "lets target funding" comments? Especially given that we already have targeted funding at those sports that got to the Games and even there, it's not being made available to where it's needed?

From RTE:

Cullen calls for focus
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen says Ireland should target certain sports with a view to winning medals at the London Olympics in 2012.

Speaking on RTÉ News at One, Minister Cullen said he has arranged to meet Sebastian Coe to discuss what role Ireland can play in London's hosting of the events.

He said he had learned from the methodology of other medal-winning countries and so was going to meet with all of the individual sporting bodies and the Irish Sports Council to come up with a strategy for the London Olympics.

The Minister said Ireland's overall performance at the Beijing Olympic Games was good - but events, facilities and the preparation of athletes need to be looked at.

Mr Cullen also said he would 'fight tooth and nail' to keep equestrian events in the Olympics because of the significance of the equine industry to this country.

He said he was extremely disappointed to hear that Denis Lynch had been disqualified and stated that some of the commentary and some of the reporting in Ireland had been 'over the top'.

The Minister stressed his belief that Ireland had the capacity to win medals in a number of events.

He also praised the Irish boxers, saying they led the way in lifting the country's spirits and praised 'outstanding' Kenny Egan saying he had been one of the classiest boxers at the event.

Due to the fact that he arrived back in Ireland on Saturday, Mr Cullen was not present in Beijing for any of the Irish boxers' semi-finals or for Kenneth Egan's final yesterday.

He said he decided to travel to Hong Kong to support Denis Lynch in the equestrian final, but shortly after his arrival, he discovered that Denis Lynch had been disqualified.

A typhoon then struck Hong Kong and it had not been physically possible to return to Beijing in time for the boxing bouts.

He said he was disappointed that he was not there, but he had been at nearly every other fight.

Overall the Minister said it had been a good Olympics, with one of the best Irish performances in quite a long time, with Ireland finishing 62nd on the medals table out of 204 countries.

Sparks

I wasn't a great fan of Myers before now, I pretty much had him pegged as being paid to be unpopular for the Times and then the Indo, but this bit takes the cake:

To put our own effort into context, we were not far behind Finland, which came in at 44, and for which athletics is the prime national sport. However, if you want to drink deep of the cup of national humiliation, look at the events in which Finland won medals. It got a bronze in the men's javelin, which is a real Olympian event. But its three other medals were in the lightweight women's sculls, the men's 10 metre air-rifle, and the women's trap -- none of which I knew were events at the Olympics until preparing for this column.

Look, I don't know what a lightweight women's scull competition is. I don't know whether the women are lightweight, or the scull is. I don't know how many women are in a scull, or how far they race, or whether women's sculls are coxless. Try saying that aloud in mixed company.

And there was the bronze medal in the ten-metre air rifle. Yes, bronze in the ten-metre air rifle. Look, this is something one could barely admit to one's priest. Certainly, one could not look a stranger straight in the eye and declare, "I am an Olympian air rifle bronze-medallist, 10 metres". It would be far easier to admit to having itching haemorrhoids.

Of even greater interest was the event in which Finland got its single gold: the Women's Trap. I didn't even know trapping women was an Olympic event. This, surely, should have been live on our screens every night. It clearly is something that Finland is rather good at, but, equally clearly, it is not a proper Olympian sport -- unlike the sport in which we got our three medals -- boxing.

Traumadoc

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1107/1225925540132.html

Musashi

He's been on the local radio today as well!
I'll try to find an archive of the show.

Figures show big inconsistencies in handgun licensing

CONOR LALLY and HARRY McGEE

MAJOR inconsistencies around the granting of handgun licences across the State have emerged in new figures obtained from the Department of Justice by Fine Gael TD John Deasy.

Some Garda districts have granted no licences for handguns while others in more sparsely populated areas have been much more liberal, issuing between 50 and 100 licences per year.

The data also indicates that the number of handgun licences issued by the Garda is expected to exceed 2,000 for the first time next year.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has responded to the figures by saying that a review of firearms legislation that is being carried out by his officials is almost complete.

Mr Deasy pointed out that in Wexford 108 licences were issued last year. However, in the same period, no licences or very few licences were issued at stations in some of the most populated parts of the country.

"These trends indicate that there are massive inconsistencies as regards licensing and handing out these guns to members of the public.

"Some [Garda districts] seem to be very liberal when it comes to licensing, whereas other districts are very tight."

The inconsistencies proved current firearms legislation was ambiguous and that new, clearer laws were urgently needed.

Mr Deasy was also concerned at the number of handguns now in circulation at a time when gun crime and the murder rate was climbing.

"We shouldn't be liberalising procedures around gun licences when the murder rate is climbing. That just doesn't add up. I lived in the United States and know the damage they have caused there," he said.

The figures were issued to Mr Deasy in response to a series of written Dáil questions he tabled in July.

The data reveals the number of handgun licences issued was 323 in the 12 months ended July 31st, 2005. That increased steadily over the next two years before reaching 1,863 in the 12-month period to July 31st 2008.

The number of handgun licences granted has increased exponentially since 2004 when the High Court overturned a 30-year-old "temporary custody order" banning the licences.

The total number of firearms licences issued, for all gun types, reached 233,934 in the 12-month period to July 31st last. This figure has grown steadily from 215,856 in 2004.

In July, Justice Peter Charleton said that there was "a pressing need" for drawing together into a clear law the multiple "piecemeal" rules on the control of handguns here.

He said reasonable people were "entitled to feel alarmed" about a large increase in the number of pistols licensed for private use in Ireland in recent years.

He described as "undesirable" the "piecemeal spreading" of the statutory rules for the control of firearms over multiple pieces of legislation - five firearms Acts and the 2006 Criminal Justice Act.

Codification of these laws on control of firearms was almost as pressing a need as codification of the laws in the area of sexual violence, he stressed.

Mr Justice Charleton made his comments during a High Court hearing in which a man was challenging the Garda's refusal to grant him a gun licence.

At the time, the Minister said that he would bring legislative proposals to Cabinet in the autumn.

To date, this has not happened.

© 2008 The Irish Times

dresden8

Fine Gael are at it again.

Question about trial by jury in connection with the latest murder in Limerick.

First comment by Olivia Mitchell directly connects licensed handgun holders with drug dealers and hit-men in Limerick.

I really, really want an alternative to FF but when FG start coming out with this sort of cr@p what really is left?

They had a chance to go for Garda underfunding, whole urban areas being written off to the scumbags etc. etc. etc., but who do they go for? Us.

FG never saw an open goal that they didn't miss.

At this stage the only people I can vote for are the shinners and the crazy religious people, and I hate them.


http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1110/qanda_av.html?2447309,null,230

Very start of program.

G17

http://www.wexfordpeople.ie/news/over-100-handgun-licences-issued-in-wexford-district-1535782.html

Sparks

From the Irish Times letters page:

Gun licences and crime rates
Madam, - On a recent RTÉ news report, Garda Commissioner Murphy said some gardaí were issuing firearms certificates for legally held handguns while others were attempting to remove similar firearms from criminals.

The direct juxtaposition of firearms legally held by citizens (all of whom have been thoroughly vetted by local Garda superintendents), with criminals' illegal firearms shows an abysmal quality of thought by our most senior Garda, particularly when the definitive evidence shows no connection between these entirely separate groups.

As a holder of firearms certificates for over 30 years, I strongly resent the connection suggested by the Garda Commissioner. - Yours, etc,

Madam, - John Deasy TD is concerned that many people hold licensed firearms and - coincidently - criminals use firearms. He needs to be more imaginative in his crime control efforts.

There have been thousands of crimes in the State where cars and motorbikes have been used as "getaway" vehicles. Privately owned vehicles should be banned, removing this easy option for criminals. More worrying, anyone, even a man, can buy a pair of ladies' tights over the counter for use as a stocking mask, with no background check or investigation as to their need for such an item. There must be millions of unregistered tights in circulation.

This is clearly worrying and perhaps an area Mr Deasy could investigate. - Yours, etc,

Traumadoc

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=nav-qqqid=37599-qqqx=1.asp

"just 11 handguns " no breakdown of types - airpistols .22, 9mm or the evil glocks

José Alaninho

Small article in this weeks Clare Champion. Increase in handgun licenses granted in Clare: 13 in Ennis, 5 in Ennistymon, I think 12 in Kilrush / Kilkee (didn't get a good read). Most of the piece taken up with local garda rep explaining how difficult it is to obtain a handgun, and the safety precautions taken with applicants. Not a bad report IMO.

packas

All,

See attached. Some positive points in them

Sparks

Congratulations everyone, we're now officially organised :rolleyes:
Form the Irish Examiner:

TDs receive ‘hate emails’ after gun debate

By Shaun Connolly, Political Correspondent
HARDCORE gun enthusiasts have subjected TDs demanding tighter firearms controls to a campaign of abuse, it emerged last night.


Fine Gael TDs John Deasy and Olivia Mitchell are among deputies receiving “hate emails”.

The emails came after they spoke out in favour of a clampdown on handgun licensing.

Mr Deasy described the emails as “downright nasty” and believes the campaign against TDs is a coordinated one.


Fine Gael frontbench spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell received abusive correspondence after appearing on RTÉ’s Questions and Answers, on which she expressed concern about the availability of the weapons.

Mr Deasy has been a leading campaigner for tighter gun control and is alarmed that the number of legally held handguns has increased six-fold since 2004, which he blames on a series of legal rulings which have loosened restrictions on the firearms.

With 1,850 licensed handguns in Ireland, Mr Deasy says his concern has seen him targeted by gun extremists.

“As a TD, you are used to fairly harsh language but this was different. I’d characterise the emails as abusive, extremely disingenuous and very personal. The handgun lobby is trying to make out that I am trying to restrict firearms generally. I’m not. This is about handguns only.

“As far as the handgun lobby is concerned, if they think that myself and some of my colleagues are going to be quietened by nasty emails, they are making a big mistake. I believe that while we are intent on keeping our police force unarmed, we shouldn’t be arming the public with handguns.

“There should be a total ban on these weapons with strict exceptions agreed upon by the gardaí.

“I don’t think these emails are representative of the target shooting club membership around the country. At least, I hope they aren’t,” he said.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last week new guidelines were needed on the issuing of handgun licenses.

“On one hand, we have to license Glock pistols, while on the other hand we are seizing Glock pistols from criminals who are going around the country utilising those things for killing individuals,” said the commissioner.