Croghan's Charles Malone (right) with past international Toastmasters president Ted Corcoran at the Toastmasters District 71 event held in Portlaoise recently. Offaly man completes successful year in Toastmasters roleCharles Malone, from Croghan, has just completed a successful year as a divisional director of the Toastmasters organisation. Toastmasters is a non-profit public speaking group which welcomes people who wish to improve their speaking and leadership skills. Among the distinguished leaders within the Toastmasters community is Charles Malone from Croghan, who is a member of Tullamore Toastmasters. Charles recently completed his tenure as director of Toastmasters' Division F Director, which covers counties including Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Galway, Mayo, Cavan, Monaghan.

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Why the BBC is showing less live coverage of the Paris OlympicsBy Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment ReporterThe Paris Olympics are set to begin on Friday but the BBC will be showing less live coverage than in previous years. BBC iPlayer will also be showing Olympics Extra coverage of events from 8am to 11pm. It came into effect during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, when the BBC received a large number of complaints about the lack of live coverage. Eurosport channels will be showing live coverage from 7am to 10:30pm daily, with seven pop-up channels being created to provide extra coverage. BBC Radio 5 Live will also be providing live coverage, while the BBC Sport website will have clips of the action and interviews.

James Topping’s side scored six tries to beat Japan 40-5 in their second pool game at the Stade de France tonight. This follows their 10-5 opening win over South Africa this afternoon to complete a clean sweep of wins on the opening day. The two wins set Ireland up for a historic place in the quarter-finals tomorrow night. Earlier today, Ireland edged out South Africa 10-5 in a tense opening pool A game. While South Africa scored a late try through their captain Selvyn Davids, Ireland held on for a 10-5 win.

Gerry Buckley, the late Páidí Ó Sé and former Westmeath Examiner sports editor John FitzSimons at a presentation to mark Westmeath's success in 2004. The right man at the right timeCelebrating the 20th anniversary of Westmeath's Leinster successby Gerry BuckleyI will always remember the precise moment in October 2003 when I heard that Páidí Ó Sé was to become the new Westmeath senior football manager. Indeed, another friend will vouch that I had been similarly excited when Jack Charlton unexpectedly got the Irish job in 1986. Two specific memories flash back about the trip which copper-fastened my belief that Páidí was the right man at the right time. A great memory from 2004: Poggy Lynn, S&C coach and Páidí Ó Sé, manager, about to embrace after their victory over Dublin in Croke Park.

Ireland 10 South Africa 5James Topping’s side beat South Africa 10-5 in a nervy opening pool A game at the Stade de France this afternoon. South Africa were reduced to six players for two minutes when Ryan Oosthuizen got a yellow card midway through the second half for a high tackle on Gavin Mullin. Ireland made the most of their player advantage with the irrepressible Terry Kennedy cutting through the South Africa defence to score his first try of these Olympics. While South Africa scored a late try through their captain Selvyn Davids, Ireland held on for a 10-5 win. South Africa: C Grobbelaar, R Oosthuizen, Z Davids, Q Nortje, T Leyds, S Davids, S van Wyk.

Offaly man's aurora borealis photo a competition winnerA photo of the aurora borealis by Offaly man Seanie Morris, from Blueball, has been selected as one of the winners in in the 2024 Reach for the Stars astrophotography competition run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS). Seanie's photo, entitled ‘Sam and Lucy's first BIG aurora’ was the winning entry in the competition's ‘Night Sky in Your Hand’ category. Seanie' winning image captures the aurora borealis at twilight, in a rural area. The competition winners were selected by a judging panel following a meticulous judging process of over 200 entries. I hope that the night sky continues to be a source of inspiration, creativity and wisdom going forward."

Midlands aurora borealis photo among winners of national competitionA photo of the aurora borealis by Offaly man Seanie Morris, from Blueball, has been selected as one of the winners in in the 2024 Reach for the Stars astrophotography competition run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS). Seanie's photo, entitled ‘Sam and Lucy's first BIG aurora’ was the winning entry in the competition's ‘Night Sky in Your Hand’ category. The competition winners were selected by a judging panel following a meticulous judging process of over 200 entries. What is most important is that the images are a window into what is happening in our universe, and they can contribute to our understanding of the night sky. I hope that the night sky continues to be a source of inspiration, creativity and wisdom going forward."

Darragh Kenny of Ireland riding VDL Cartello during the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games held in 2021. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/SportsfileOffaly's Kenny called up to Ireland squad for OlympicsIt's a case of the 'famous five' becoming the 'super six' in terms of Olympians from Offaly, as show jumping ace Darragh Kenny has been drafted into the Ireland squad for Paris. Kenny already has Olympic Games experience, having represented Ireland in Tokyo in 2021. Cian O'Connor, Daniel Coyle and Shane Sweetnam have been selected to compete for Ireland in show jumping at the Paris Olympics, with Kenny now waiting in the wings if required. “Darragh Kenny and VDL Cartello will now come in as our P Alternate combination, and I have the utmost faith in them.

Plans to house up to 500 asylum seekers on the premises have attracted legitimate questions, protests, and in the last week some pure thuggery perpetrated by a small minority. Firstly, the locating of asylum seekers in a community suffering deprivation was regarded as an accommodation issue and little more. Meanwhile, sandwiched between identifying the site and meeting the politicians, the Government indicated a new approach to housing asylum seekers. That day, on a visit to Fermoy, Taoiseach Simon Harris was asked about issues around accommodating asylum seekers. Again, the resultant vacuum opens up huge plains of fertile ground for nefarious actors to spread their messages of hate and intolerance.

Colin Farrell to run marathon to support friend with rare skin conditionBy Cillian Sherlock, PAActor Colin Farrell has paid a moving tribute to a close friend marking her “miracle” 40th birthday – and revealed he will be running a marathon with her. Emma Fogarty is Ireland’s longest-surviving person battling the most severe type of the agonising skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Farrell said: “Emma Fogarty is not only the strongest person I’ve ever met and a true warrior, I’m lucky enough to call her a friend. She’s already won the whole day!”Ms Fogarty’s birthday on June 25th was one she was never expected to reach. Born with no skin on her left foot and right arm, she suffers excruciating blisters on her skin from the slightest touch – the condition is also known as “butterfly skin”.

Google has abandoned a plan to ban cookies, the small bits of code that allow advertisers to follow users around the web. The tech giant had been preparing to replace cookies on its Chrome browser, which is the internet’s most used web browser, with a ‘privacy sandbox’. But concerns from advertisers and some regulators, according to Google, mean that the company will now keep cookies within Chrome and offer users a choice of whether to accept them or not. We are disappointed that Google has changed its plans“From the start of Google’s Sandbox project in 2019, it has been our view that blocking third party cookies would be a positive step for consumers. Many advertisers will breathe a sigh of relief given how much of their business is built in to cookie infrastructure.

‘I am not the minister,’ McDonald says as she defends Sinn Féin migration policyBy Gráinne Ní Aodha, PASinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has defended her party’s new migration policy and said “I’m not the minister” when probed on details of how it would be resourced. In an interview on RTÉ Radio, Ms McDonald refuted the suggestion that her party’s policy document on reforming the international protection system was similar to the government’s approach. She also rejected the suggestion that consultation with communities about planned accommodation for asylum seekers was already taking place. Asked about the cost of their pledge to triple staff numbers at the International Protection Office, from 400 to 1,000, Ms McDonald said the cost was “not enormous”. Asked to name the countries that would be deemed partially safe, Ms McDonald said that it would not be her decision.

Rowing duo’s lightweight class will be discontinued after GamesThey only qualified a month or two in advance. Suddenly, the then 21-year-olds from Cork found themselves on the other side of the world rubbing shoulders with some of the best athletes in the world.

Two athletes, Liam Jegou and Erin Riordan, will represent Ireland and County Clare at the Olympics 2024 in Paris. Follow Independent Clare on FacebookLiam won silver at the World Junior Championships in 2014 and, despite a hip surgery in 2017, won bronze at World U23s in 2019. Liam was 16th at the 2022 European Championships, and 30th and 31st respectively at the last two World Championships. While 24-year-old and Whitegate native Erin Riordan will be part of Ireland’s 400m freestyle relay team along with Victoria Catterson, Grace Davison and Danielle Hill. Erin and the team will be the first women’s relay team to represent Ireland at the Olympics since Munich 1972.