The Front Pages
The funeral of RTE broadcaster Gerry Ryan runs as the main story on most national newspapers today.
The Irish Examiner goes with a poignant portrayal of yesterday’s funeral service in Clontarf. A collage of pictures including the immediate Ryan family walking behind the hearse is striking. Just a few paragraphs sum up Gerry Ryan, and his funeral service, very well. “There was a small church for a giant personality,†reads the article.
The Irish Independent has more detail on the funeral and concentrates on what was said in the church. Both his eldest daughter Lottie and wife Morah gave emotional tributes to Gerry at St John the Baptist Church.
In another major story, a 19-year-old Irishman, David Curran, was found guilty of murder of two Polish mechanics. The murders took place in 2008 when the Drimnagh youth stabbed the Polish men to death. The Indo says that Mr. Curran is facing a life sentence.
Finally, it was election day in the United Kingdom yesterday and The Irish Times headline “Tories party in hung parliament, say exit polls.†Conservative leader David Cameron is just 19 seats short of a majority and it’s looking like the Labour party’s hope of forming an alliance with Liberal Democrats has crumbled.
Tales from the Tabs
There was queue chaos at polling stations in some UK cities during yesterday’s election according to The Daily Star.
The tabloid carries the story and says that thousands of people were denied their access to vote for various reasons. In Liverpool it is reported that there was a shortage of ballot papers while in Hackey police were called in to remove a group of voters who staged a sit-in at the polling station.
The FIFA World Cup is fast approaching next month and today The Sun details how England international Wayne Rooney will guard his mansion while in South Africa.
Rooney plans to hire the services of a Gurkha , an “ex-soldier – from a long line of Nepalese warriors famed for slaughtering the enemy with their kukri knivesâ€, to protect his pad while overseas.
Rooney’s home is worth £4 ½ million so it probably is a clever move to call in the best house-minders in the business!
The Sports Pages
Harry Redknapp can’t take the smile from his face, as already, the big-name players have started to sound their interest about joining Champions League qualifiers Tottenham.
Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole is odds-on to leave Stamford Bridge this summer and The Sun claims he will make Spurs his primary choice and turn his nose up at Liverpool. Redknapp will have in the region of £40 million to throw about in the transfer market. The Spurs manager may be interested in bringing Cole, a player he nurtured at West Ham as a youth, to bolster his squad at White Hart Lane.
Another major football story in The Daily Star reports that it is “official†that Roberto Mancini will remain as manager of Manchester City next season. The Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said; “I am very happy with him and the owner, Sheikh Man- sour, is delighted with the way he has organised the team. I believe Roberto is going to do a wonderful job for us for many years.â€
