The Front Pages
The main headlines from some of today’s national broadsheets:
“Airline grounds Rhys Meyers over drunken racist rant†– The Irish Examiner.
“Archbishop backs off on ‘strong forces’ claim†– The Irish Independent.
“IRFU calls on Ryan to reverse plan for free-to-air coverage†– The Irish Times.
Cork-born actor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, has made a show of himself yet again. This time the Tudors actor has gone on the lash at 7am in JFK airport, and was then refused a seat on a United Airlines flight for racially insulting an official.
The 32-year-old has been involved in a series of drink-related incidents. The incident began when a bartender at the cafe area refused to serve Meyers booze because he seemed too drunk. The Irish Examiner has the full lowdown on his ‘n’ word insult and subsequent banning from the airline.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has lifted the lid a little more on the powers within the church which kept paedophile sex scandals secret for many years.
The Irish Independent runs the main story which is seen as a “climbdown†from Archbishop Martin in his address to the Knights of St Columbanus. Dr Martin had come under heavy pressure to clarify his stance on the revelation that 200 new cases of sex allegations were made against the Catholic Church last year.
The Irish Rugby Football Union chief Philip Browne will ask Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan to reverse his decision to allow Ireland international rugby matches for free-to-air TV.
The Irish Times reports that Mr Browne feels Irish rugby is losing €10-12 million on the loss of a rights buyer. The IRFU chief will call on Mr Ryan to change his mind at a press conference in Dublin today. Mr Ryan, however, feels that Irish people are entitled to view the top matches regardless of their income or financial situation.
Tales from the Tabs
Jonathan Ross has never been shy of the public eye and he has opted for the ultimate end to his BBC career in July, detailed in The Sun.
‘Wossy’ has booked Russell Brand as one of his final guests for a Friday Night With show to talk about the infamous Sachsgate affair.
Ross was suspended by the BBC for three months in 2008 for leaving an offensive message on Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs’ voicemail while on Brand’s BBC 2 radio show.
Inside The Daily Star you will find a story of utter awe.
An eight-year-old girl has astonished doctors by growing two new kidneys after her original ones failed.
Angel Burton is lucky to be in the 1% bracket of people in the world who has an extra “duplex†kidney. Doctors were shocked when they proceeded to operate in order to alleviate Angel’s constant pain and found that new kidneys had grown on top of the damaged organs.
The Sports Pages
The Sun claims that Chelsea and Barcelona are to go head-to-head in the transfer market in a race to sign Liverpool’s Fernando Torres. A “£50 million†bid is anticipated from the Blues for the striker but the Spanish giants believe that their offer may tempt Torres.
Barca are closing in on a deal to bring Torres’ international strike partner, David Villa, to the Nou Camp and that may swing a decision from the Reds hitman. If the La Liga champions can offload Zlatan Ibrahimovich it will then pave the way for a huge bid for Torres.
Last night, Chelsea and Germany international midfielder Michael Ballack blasted Kevin-Prince Boateng for his tackle in the FA Cup final which has ended his plans for the World Cup.
Ballack will be sidelined for eight weeks with an ankle injury.
“I am angry, clearly. It’s a huge disappointment. It hurts to get a diagnosis like that just before the World Cup,†he told The Daily Star.
The Chelsea midfield maestro said that Boateng – who will probably face Germany in South Africa with Ghana – has not apologised yet for the incident.
