Down GAA presented over 50 Gaeltacht Scholarships.

The Scholarships were given to over 50 members of clubs across the county who will be attending the Gaeltacht this summer.

Down GAA Chairperson Sean Rooney said, "Down GAA is delighted to provide over 50 young members from our clubs with Gaeltacht Scholarships.  We had a lot of interest in the scheme which is designed to help young members of our clubs to travel to the Gaeltacht, to develop their love and understanding of the language”.

The Scholarships were presented by Down GAA Chairperson Sean Rooney, Tricia Ni Chearra from Ulster GAA Council and Paula Magee Down GAA Cultural officer at an event held last night in Newcastle.

Caragh Grant Ballykinlir recieves her Scholarship from Down County Chairman Sean Rooney

Ellen Shields Clonduff recieves her Scholarship from Tricia Ní Chearra Ulster Council, Paula Magee Down County Cultural Officer, Ciara Pickering Down Cultural Committee

Drumgath members recieving their scholarships from Down County Board pictured with Paula Magee Down County Cultural Officer & Tricia  Ni Chearra Cultural & Language Officer Ulster Council

Mayodridge Members recieving their scholarships  from  Down County Board pictured with Tricia Ni Chearra Ulster Council & Paula Magee Down County Cultural Officer

Down defender Darragh O’Hanlon has been dealt another long-term injury set-back after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his knee this week.

Last year saw O’Hanlon requiring surgery to correct a spinal problem and, after a 13-month recovery, he had recently returned to training and was due to play for his native Kilcoo in an All County League clash against Rostrevor this Friday.

O’Hanlon suffered the cruciate damage during a training session last Monday, with his club releasing the below statement yesterday on Facebook to confirm the unfortunate news:

Down's Darragh O'Hanlon.
©INPHO/Oisin Keniry.

Former Armagh captain Ciaran McKeever has been appointed manager of Down senior side Mayobridge.

McKeever has been in charge of the Orchard County’s minor footballers since the end of last year and takes over a Mayobridge outfit which are currently in a rebuilding process.

Ten-time champions of the Down senior football championship, the ‘Bridge will be looking to claim their first Frank O’Hare Cup in 11 years this season.

Armagh's Ciaran McKeever.
©INPHO/Donall Farmer.

Down's Benny Coulter

Former Down star Benny Coulter says “it wouldn't be good for players” if a second tier football championship was brought in.

As side till competing in Division 3 of the National League, Down could be set to compete in the lower tier should proposals for Special Congress in October be passed by delegates.

Coulter, who is currently a selector with the Mourne men under Paddy Tally, is strongly against the idea.

"I wouldn't be happy going into it, definitely not," the Mayobridge man told the Belfast Telegraph.

"I just feel that it wouldn't be good for players. I believe that if players had an opportunity to play in a lower-tier championship, they would say to themselves, 'I will just stick with my club here. What's the point of it?'

"If you are into that sort of system, then club players would look at it and ask themselves, 'What is the point in hanging about?' Instead, they are going to go and give their all for the club.

"And that is no disrespect to anybody within that lower tier. If you want to apply that thinking, why not take the best four teams out and see if they can play in their own tournament and let everyone else play among themselves? I don't think that would go down well."

Former All-Ireland winner receives doctorate for distinction in sport

Queen’s University have honoured GAA legend Sean O’Neill with an Honorary Degree at a graduation ceremony in Belfast today. 

At this morning’s event at the university’s Whitla Hall, the three-time All-Ireland winner was conferred with a Doctorate of the University for distinction in sport.

Sean O’Neill is one of the most celebrated figures in Gaelic Football.  He won three All-Ireland titles, 8 Ulster medals with Down, a record 8 Railway Cups with Ulster and was named on the GAA Team of the Century and Team of the Millennium.  He was Footballer of the Year in 1968 and was also named as the Ulster Footballer of the Millennium in 2000.

He was also honoured on the first two Allstar Football teams in 1971 and 1972.

Sean also won two Sigerson Cup medals with Queen’s in 1958 and 1964.  As a coach/manager, he was in charge of the Down team that won the Ulster and All-Ireland U18 championship in 1977 and was also in charge of the Queen's team that won the Sigerson Cup in 1982.  He graduated from the university with a degree in law.

Sean has given loyal service and support to the Queen’s club for over half a century.  In 2013, he was honoured by Queen's GAA as the inaugural recipient of the Paddy O'Hara Medal of Honour.

He now joins a long and distinguished list of honorary graduates, including former US President Bill Clinton, former Irish Presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, Senator George Mitchell, WB Yeats and Seamus Heaney.  Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte was honoured in 2006.

In the citation delivered at this morning’s ceremony, Queen’s University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor David Jones stated that “Sean has proven over decades to be a man of outstanding talent, integrity and solidity. He stands in our midst as one of the greatest Gaelic footballers in the history of the game – a true legend of Irish sport.”

The Queen’s University GAA Past members’ Union have conveyed their congratulations to Sean, stating that “the award of an honorary doctorate is a particularly important accolade that is bestowed on those who have brought distinction to the fields of politics, public service, academia, sports, the arts and literature.  Sean O’Neill is a very worthy recipient, having excelled on the field and having contributed significantly to Gaelic Football and the GAA at all levels with Queen’s, Newry Mitchels, Down and Ulster.  Just as he has been a very proud Queen’s man, we take great pride in regarding him as one of our own and we are delighted that he is to be honoured in this way.”

Tyrone 2-11

Down 1-12

Leading by 2-6 to 0-2 at half-time, Tyrone had to withstand a second half fightback by Down at Healy Park before securing an Ulster U20FC semi-final date with Cavan.

The Red Hands dominated the first half, yet were relieved to hear the final whistle after Down rallied in the closing stages. Darragh Canavan opened the scoring with a goal after seven minutes before Tiarnan Quinn and Conor Clarke (Down) traded points. Further scores from Quinn and Sean Og McAleer helped the winners to a 1-5 to 0-1 lead before Seamus Loughran registered Down's second point five minutes before the break.

There was no respite for the Mournemen, however, as Mark McKearney raised another green flag to send the hosts into the break with a 10-point buffer.

The visitors were much-improved after the restart and had halved the deficit with points from Conor Clarke, Declan McClements, Seamus Loughran and Liam (two) before Quinn steadied Tyrone with his fifth point.

After points had been exchanged between Tyrone's Canavan and Michael Conroy and Down's Liam Kerr and John McGeough, Conor Clarke netted for the visitors to reduce the deficit to the minimum at the end of normal time. 

But they couldn't regain parity as a late Ruairi Gormley point sealed the win for the Red Hands.

Tyrone - O Grimes; A Clarke, C Quinn, P Mullan; C Grimes, A Fox, C Devlin; R Gormley (0-1), J Oguz; P Og McCartan, D Canavan (1-1), M McKearney (1-0); J Garrity, S Og McAleer (0-1f), T Quinn (0-6, 4f). Subs: L Gray for P Og McCartan, M Conroy (0-1) for S Og McAleer, D McGuigan for C Devlin, O Mallon (0-1) for L Gray, E Jordan for T Quinn, L McBride for A Fox.

Down - J Hazard; P Fegan, R McCrickard, A McAvoy; J McGeough, C Clarke (1-3), S Annett; R Carr, L Middleton; F McIlroy, D McClements (0-2), R McCormack; C McCrickard, L Kerr (0-4, 2f), S Loughran (0-2f). Subs: C O'Rawe for R McCormack, A Devlin for C McCrickard, D Rice for S Annett, R McEvoy (0-1) for S Loughran, B Gallen for C Clarke, R Harrison for L Middleton.

Referee - A Marron.

June Super Draw Prize Winners

1 x £5000
Burren: 19BU359 Damien McConville

5 x £2000
Glenn:19GL167 Donal Barrett
Ballycran:19BC053 Joseph Clint
Burren:18BU351 Orla O’Rourke
Bosco:19BO092 Joe O’Hagan
Mayobridge:19ME322 Dymna Tumilty

10 x £1,000
Burren:15BU458 Seamus Grant
Carryduff:19CF052 Brian Duggan
Clonduff:19CL019 Leo Bloomfield
Tullylish:18 TH235 Kevin Harbinson
Drumaness:17DS031 Paul Carville
Maybridge:19ME178 Kevin McPolin
Rostrevor:19RR113 Tommy Farrell
St Johns: 15SJ093 Mary Boyle
Bryansford:16BD063 Martin Mooney
Bright: 19BT027 CM Precision

Club winners (£200 each)
Ardglass: 18AS008 Geraldine Duffy
Ballymartin: 19BN003 Declan McAlinden
Bredagh: 19BH383 Nola Conway
Saval: 19SA187 Jimmy Dobbin