DERVLA HIGGINS HAS had a few swerve balls thrown her way in her bid to establish herself as a Galway player and while nothing is certain in an environment that emphasises equality of opportunity regardless of reputation, the Athenry defender is now one of the premier corner-backs in the land and a front runner for an All-Star when the awards are announced next month. So Higgins celebrated her 25th birthday yesterday in a good place. She has identified a pathway for adding to her physiotherapy qualifications, while her club is in the process of creating history to be the first to develop its own camogie facility. She has climbed camogie’s…

Kilkenny celebrate their league success in 2021. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO 1. Kilkenny’s hopes to retain crown Following the conclusion of last year’s Division 1 final, Kilkenny looked set to complete a clean sweep and end the year as All-Ireland champions. As the reigning holders of the O’Duffy Cup, they had just staged an impressive second-half display to defeat Galway and get their 2021 season off to an ideal start. That was the Cats’ second successive victory over the women from the west after narrowly edging out a tense battle in the 2020 All-Ireland final. The win was all the more impressive given how they had absorbed a relentless sequence of…

CLARE HURLER COLM Galvin has announced his retirement from inter-county hurling.  The midfielder, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Wednesday, was part of the side that famously lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2013 and won an All-Star the same year.  Galvin also claimed three U21 All-Ireland and Munster titles with the Banner between 2012-2014. However, the Clonlara clubman has been plagued by injuries — an ongoing groin problem, most recently — and missed the whole 2020 season before returning last year. Advertisement “It’s a scenario that I never thought or hoped would ever happen but unfortunately following a succession of injuries and repeated setbacks, I’ve had to make the…

THE REIGNING ALL-Ireland camogie champions Galway have received a huge boost ahead of the 2022 season as long-serving midfielder Niamh Kilkenny is returning for another year. Kilkenny, who first joined the Galway panel in 2006, enjoyed a stellar campaign for the Tribeswomen last year as they collected their second All-Ireland title in three years. Advertisement The42 understands that she is back in the Galway fold ahead of the National League which gets underway this weekend. Cathal Murray’s charges have been drawn in Group 2 and will host Offaly in their league opener in Gort this Saturday afternoon. Galway reached the Division 1 final last year where they were narrowly defeated by…

CORK BOSSES KIERAN Kingston and Keith Ricken have unveiled their starting sides for tomorrow’s league double-header against Clare in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The hurlers play in their Division 1 Group A opener at 5pm as they set out on a new campaign after last year’s All-Ireland final loss at the hands of Limerick. Nine of the side that started that clash in Croke Park last August are included here. Ciaran Joyce, a star of last year’s U20 winning teams, makes his debut at midfield, while Sean Twomey is another U20 graduate that is selected in attack. Conor Lehane, recently recalled to the setup, will play his first game for Cork…

The league returns this weekend. Source: Inpho 1. Fascinating league awaits The crowds at last weekend’s football league ties showed a massive appetite is there for inter-county games after Covid restrictions were lifted. There are plenty of enticing contests coming up over the next few weeks on the hurling front with the round 2 showdown between Limerick and Galway and the round 4 clash of Waterford v Tipperary among the stand-out ties. And keep an eye out for the form of Dublin, who enjoyed some eye-catching results in the pre-season and could take a leap forward in 2022.  2. Henry Shefflin era begins in Galway  All eyes will be on…

JUST TWO YEARS after suffering relegation from Dublin’s top-tier championship, the St Sylvester’s Ladies team are preparing for an All-Ireland final. St Sylvesters’ captain Danielle Lawless [right] is gearing up for the currentaccount.ie intermediate All-Ireland final against Source: Seb Daly/SPORTSFILE Their new manager Anthony Cooke has been credited with much of their quick recovery, guiding them to an intermediate county final last October where they accounted for Castleknock to become champions. A Leinster title followed in December after overcoming Longford Slashers before defeating Fermanagh champions Kinawley Brian Borus in the All-Ireland semi-final. Their rapid rebirth is now just one win away from reaching the pinnacle of this grade and earning a…

Updated Thu 11:07 PM THE DRAW HAS been finalised for the semi-finals of the Sigerson Cup, which will take place next Thursday 10 February. DCU, the reigning champions, will play UL in one clash with MTU Kerry facing NUI Galway in the other fixture. Both games will be played at neutral venues to be confirmed with the live-streaming details for the games, also yet to be announced. DCU held off Ulster University in their quarter-final yesterday, with David Clifford inspiring UL for their triumph against Queens University. Advertisement Tuesday’s quarter-finals saw NUI Galway defeat Letterkenny IT, while MTU Kerry easily overcame Maynooth University. DCU are the only recent champions involved…

Updated Thu 9:30 PM SATURDAY’S HURLING SCHEDULE will commence for Tommy Guilfoyle in Dr Hyde Park. He’s jumped on board as coach to the Roscommon senior hurlers this year, alongside new manager Francis O’Halloran, a pair of Clare natives trying to spread the hurling gospel. They’re having a puck around at 9am in the Roscommon county ground, to acclimatise themselves to the surroundings before Sunday’s league opener against Tyrone. Guilfoyle, a long-serving stalwart in Clare hurling forward lines, will be on the sideline for that Division 3A fixture but in between he’ll be back home immersed in local hurling matters. The plan is hit the road and by Saturday lunchtime…

Early on in the pandemic, global health experts envisioned a nightmare scenario: Covid-19 vaccines are created, but they go almost exclusively to rich countries that can afford to buy them. People in poorer countries are left to get sick and die. To prevent this, the experts set up an international initiative called Covax, designed to make sure every country in the world gets access to vaccines regardless of its ability to pay. In the fall of 2020, Covax set a clear goal: Buy 2 billion doses and make them available to nations in need before the end of 2021. But we’re now nearly five months into the year, and Covax…