HURL LOT OF CLARE LOVE IN UGAANDA
Club coaches & players rooting for county in All-ireland final
We’ll watch it in a local bar.. it has GAAGO and it’s fully stocked
JOHN CONROY ON
PLANS FOR THE FINAL
COUNTY Clare hurling fans are gearing up for Sunday’s All-ireland final at their newest club – in East Africa.
A bunch of big-hearted charity volunteers have established Nile Ogs GAA Club in Uganda to teach hurling and Gaelic football to kids.
The group, all GAA enthusiasts from Clare, are volunteering for a hospice in a town called Jinja, an hour-and-a-half from the capital Kampala.
And they say there is huge excitement ahead of the final between Clare and Cork. The volunteers are also teaching deaf children in a local special school how to play Gaelic football.
John Conroy, who helped establish the Nile Ogs club, has lived and worked in Uganda for 19 years.
He told the Irish Mirror: “The kids at the club love the hurling. They’re involved up to the age of 16 or 17.
“We are well set up. On Sunday, the volunteers from Clare will meet up in a local bar. It has GAAGO so we’re going to watch it there.
“It’s fully stocked. We’ll have bottles, draught, Guinness. It’s a restaurant bar so we’ve all we need, hopefully, to celebrate Clare winning the All-ireland.”
A spokeswoman for the volunteers added: “The kids love it. The setting up of the new club is part of the growth of GAA in Uganda in the last year.
“The kids are wishing Clare the best for Sunday.”
The Banner County has not made it through to the final since 2013 when they won, beating Cork in the replay.
Goal hero that day Shane O’donnell, who netted three times in 20 minutes, anticipates another dingdong clash.
The 30-year-old said yesterday: “It’s going to be an extremely difficult battle.” The All-ireland hurling final between Clare and Cork takes place this Sunday, July 21, from 3.30pm.
MARK HOFFMAN AFTER TRUMP SHOOTING BID
and I still don’t like him now he’s been shot. He is a loathsome individual and my opinion has not changed.”
Wisconsin native Pete, who is studying for a PHD in public policy, said most people will have already made up their minds about Trump.
He said: “I don’t think you’ll find a single Democrat or swing voter who suddenly thinks Trump’s a hero because he was shot.
“Plenty of people will do, of
OPINION Red Lion barman Jack Lewis course, but they are Republicans and would have voted for him anyway.”
Milwaukee has been on the edge all week and most locals were not keen to talk politics. “We’re fed up with the whole damn thing,” said one man. Milwaukee’s usually busy downtown area is in lockdown. Many locals have upped sticks for the week, while some businesses have shut up shop rather than cater to Republican delegates.
One remaining open is another British pub, The Red
Lion, which is a stone’s throw from the Fiserv Forum.
Barman Jack Lewis, originally from Coventry, West Mids, said a handful of delegates had been in for a drink.
“They had the Republican lanyards on, they weren’t hiding who they were or anything like that,” he said.
“Most locals are Democrats. You don’t see many Republicans usually.
“It felt quite tense in the build-up. My wife was so worried, she wanted to leave town for the week.
“The shooting didn’t change my view on Trump, and most drinkers in here don’t feel sorry for him. What happened was awful but it wouldn’t make me vote for him. Never.”
But with the RNC bandwagon in town, it wasn’t that difficult to come across Trump supporters.
Mark Hoffman was parked outside
Pourman’s bar in downtown Milwaukee.
His truck has a Trumpbranded “protester plow” and stickers including “This truck is not a gun-free zone (you will be safe here)”.
Mark, from Lesage, West Virginia, said: “I love Trump more than ever. He is even more of a hero now.
“I think it was awesome what he did with the fist salute after being shot. It shows what a legend he is. I believe anyone who was undecided, who wasn’t sure whether to vote for him, will now vote for him.”
As we chatted, a dozen mounted
police officers patrolled opposite the forum.
Locals blamed the convention for the shooting of homeless Sam Sharpe Jr in the deprived King Park area of the city on Tuesday.
Local Victor Evans said: “If it wasn’t for the convention nobody would be down here, no police, and everything would be normal round here.”
The fall-out from Saturday’s assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, in Butler, Pennsylvania, continued yesterday as a probe into the Secret Service was announced.