Old Ireland in Colour writes:

Husband and wife: Máirtín Ó Conaire agus a bhean, Peige (Peige Liam Ni Fhátharta roimh pósadh di), An Bóthar Buí

Carraroe, Co. Galway. Probably 1930-1940. Photographer: Kathleen Price. National Folklore Collection.

Original pic

This afternoon.

Save yourselves, for pity’s sake.

Exchequer returns reveal €6.1bn deficit in May as Covid-19 spending soars (RTÉ)

Rollingnews

From top: Burlington Hotel; Monday’s Irish Daily Star; former Olympic swimming coaches George Gibney (left) and Ger Doyle

This afternoon.

Ger Doyle succeeded the disgraced George Gibney as national swimming coach in 1992. He would remain in that position until 2005.

In July 2012, Doyle was jailed for six-and-a-half years after a conviction on 34 counts of indecent assault against young children.

Unlike Gibney, Doyle served prison time before his ‘sudden death’ over the weekend at 59.

Investigative sports journalist irvin Muchnik , of Concussion Inc,  who has been on the trail of George Gibney for half a decade, writes:

The newspaper stories of Ger Doyle’s death do not run down Doyle’s connections to Gibney and the widespread coach sexual abuse scandals in the Irish swimming program that brought about the dissolution of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association (IASA) in 1998 and its rebranding as Swim Ireland.

Like coaching colleague Derry O’Rourke, Doyle served prison time for molesting youth swimmers.

Another leading coach and IASA official, Frank McCann, was imprisoned for the murder of his wife and their baby daughter, by means of burning down their house — his way to conceal from her knowledge of his rape and impregnation of an underage girl.

In 2016, reviewing all this history in a ruling in my favor in my Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security for material from Gibney’s immigration files, U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer wrote that Gibney was the one who “got away.”

At the final hearing, addressing Gibney’s continued presence in this country despite a failed application for naturalized citizenship in 2010, Breyer said from the bench:

“I have to assume that if somebody has been charged with the types of offenses that Mr. Gibney has been charged with, the United States, absent other circumstances, would not grant a visa. We’re not a refuge for pedophiles.”

In 2017, a woman in Ireland contacted Concussion Inc. with a previously unreported instance of allegations of sex crimes by Gibney: his molestation of her in 1982, at age 11, during a private swimming instruction at the pool of Dublin’s Burlington Hotel.

In the account of the alleged victim, “Julia,” Ger Doyle was working as the “lifeguard” at the pool and looked on.

Anglo-Irish Podcast Series on George Gibney Is Delayed Until August. And Gibney’s Sexual Abuse Accomplice, Ger Doyle, Just Died. (Concussion Inc)

Death of disgraced coach Ger Doyle (Wexford People)

Previously: George Gibney on Broadsheet.

WRONG: surgical mask worn by Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shorthall yesterday

CORRECT: barrier mask worn by Dublin city centre dude last week

This afternoon.

Minister for Health Simon Harris has said there is “room for improvement” around the wearing of face coverings.

He said that there is clear public health advice around the wearing of face coverings and appealed for people to do so.

Last month, the Government advised that face masks or coverings should be worn in situations where social distancing might be difficult.

It also advised that people should not use medical/surgical or PPE masks and that these should be kept for healthcare workers.

It is recommended that the general public wear barrier masks, which may help prevent the spread of viral infection to others.

People getting on public transport or going into supermarkets “should wear” a face covering, he added.

And the very best of luck with all of that.

FIGHT!

People urged to wear face coverings in shops, on public transport (RTÉ)

Rollingnews

Shoot! 1990 World Cup cover with, from left: Scotland’s Mo Johnston, England’s Bryan Robson, and Republic of Ireland’s John Aldridge

Thirty years.

Shoot the bed.

Any excuse.

John Aldridge?

Ryan O’Shaughnessy – Lucky One

Remember being able to freely travel the world?

Eurovision star Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s new video reminds us of the pre-Covid world as he cuts a swathe through South America, having a blast.

Ryan (top) says:

“The song reflects on the importance of acknowledging each experience that life puts in front of you and remembering to be grateful for the good and accepting of the bad.”

Nick says: He’s got the luck.

Ryan O’Shaughnessy

Broadsheet.ie