We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
LAST UPDATE | 26 Jul 2024
TEAM IRELAND’S ATHLETES have sailed down the River Seine in Paris for this evening’s opening ceremony at the Olympics.
Hurdler Sarah Lavin and golfer Shane Lowry took their roles as Ireland’s Olympic flag-bearers.
They fronted the Irish representation as competitors paraded not through a stadium, but down the Seine in boats.
All Irish athletes have their county crests embroidered into their Olympic uniforms.
President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to the Irish athletes in a statement, saying that “everyone in the country will be firmly behind each and every one of our athletes” as they aim to perform.
“As President of Ireland, may I extend my very best wishes to all those Olympians who will represent our country with such distinction over the course of the XXXIII Olympiad now underway in Paris,” Higgins said.
“Competing at the Olympic Games is the pinnacle of a sporting career and represents four years of dedicated work and preparation by our athletes.
This year’s Olympics has a special significance for Ireland, as it marks the centenary of our first appearance at the Olympics as an independent nation in the same city. That was at the 1924 Paris Olympics.”
He added: “This will hopefully add to the 11 Gold Medals, 10 Silver Medals and 14 Bronze Medals which athletes representing Ireland have won since 1924.
“May I wish each of them, their coaches, support team and all of their families and friends the very best of luck over what promises to be a very exciting two weeks for Irish sport.”
Among the 10,500 strong athletes hailing from from 184 countries was Siobhán Haughey, a flag bearer for Hong Kong.
Siobhán is also the grand niece of the former Taoiseach Charles Haughey – her role in tonight’s parade was noted by relations in Dublin including TD Seán Haughey below.
Siobhán Haughey - flag bearer for Hong Kong @Olympics @RTEsport pic.twitter.com/ks2UyKT9LX
— Seán Haughey (@sean_haughey) July 26, 2024
The celebrations were met with heavy rain with performers, including pianist Alexandre Kantorow, braving heavy showers during their performances.
A total of 85 boats carried the team delegations on a four-mile journey through the centre of Paris, with more than 300,000 spectators lining the banks of the river.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Keir Starmer says Joe Biden is so delighted he is the new Prime Minister, not only did he phone up to congratulate him on Friday, he did it three times on Saturday and five times on Sunday.
@Stephen Gaffney: the Democrats and the democrat biased media have lied for the last 4 years about Joe’s cognitive decline. It finally got to the point where it was absolutely undeniable during the debate and now they are scrambling to have him removed. Less than a month ago The Journal put out an article about “Cheap Fakes” trying to make out it was a Republican conspiracy to make Biden look bad. Do they not realise we can see through their biased opinions and have lost faith in their reporting!
@John K: White House also put out a statement saying he doesn’t have Parkinson’s. He is not taking medication for Parkinson’s. And he’s not receiving any treatment for Parkinson’s.
Not one mention of that severe onset of dementia.
@Stephen Gaffney: judge Martin Nolan at it again in the above article he is some work
@Bernard Connolly: What kind of world does he live in?
@John K: The Journal has almost become predictable at this stage
@Stephen Gaffney: The comment of the week goes to your Mr Gaffney :-)
@Terry Molloy: you(typo)
@Stephen Gaffney: American voters will have a cruel choice between a barely functional Biden and a diabolically felonious Trump …
Whichever of these 2 chaps they choose, the future looks bleak for the next 4 years …
Unless one or both of them drop out and the voters can choose more suitable, younger candidates for the POTUS & VP
@Bernard Connolly: Appalling sentencing as per usual. He needs to be removed and investigated himself as it’s always the same. These vile creatures must jump for joy when they get him judging their cases. Should be automatic minimum sentencing for these types of crimes. A suspended sentence is just shocking.
@John K: and everything that comes out of the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange thing is lies and projection
@Jose mourinho: If Trump wins the war in Ukraine will be over. Simple as that. Don’t care what people think of him or what he did / didn’t do.
Also, I know you got sacked from Roma but getting on the journal comments is a bit mental.
Donald Trump is brilliant. Everyone knows he’s brilliant. No one can deny it.
@Pól Pot: Not ashamed to use this nickname? You probably have no clue what it means.
@Alex: If you knew anything about geography, you’d understand that Trump is the only hope for a free and brave global economy.
@Pól Pot: I seem to remember his trade war with China didn’t go well..or his promise to make Mexico pay for.border wall and take back car manufacturing jobs from there too.
@Sean: If you knew anything about ornithology, you’d understand that the bald eagle is infact a sea eagle (Haliaeetus species) that commonly occurs inland along rivers and large lakes.
@Pól Pot: I thought that you’d be more interested in the northern lapwing (vanellus vanellus) since it is our national bird.
Want to try sport or history next?
@Sean: Neither. I’m simply happy that Donald has descended to the Mount of Olives as a prelude to His earthly reign.
@Pól Pot: the only olives trump knows about is in the oil he uses in his tan and hair colour
@Sean: Billions and billions of blue blistering barnacles! Blasphemy! Apostate! Pestilential pachyderm!
@Sean: He didn’t even know where Mexico was, when asked to point it out on a map.
Biden has already made his decision. He has said that he does not intend dropping out. Somebody should inform Pelosi of his decision.
@Nodon: big big mistake. If he won’t go, he should be pushed.
@Nodon: Someone should inform Joe he’s Trump’s best asset in the election campaign.
See Nolan is at it again. Another suspended sentence.
@Gary Mullen: i just read that report, how on earth is nolan allowed to continue wit with these suspend sentences.
@Gary Mullen: idiot….hasn’t a f*&&^%clue
Four More Wars!
Smashing through his campaign like a freight train, just like they knocked Bernie Sanders out with Hillary….. and look how well that worked out. I love watching the car crash politics of an American election year. Need more popcorn n beer
With Nato announcing that they are sending fighter jets to Ukraine expect emergency wartime conditions to be announced by the end of the year in the West, especially with the launch of Central bank currencies at the end of the year, which will facilitate the inevitable rationing quite easily, which will then be held onto after the emergency ends to limit every citizens carbon footprint….like clockwork…..so don’t expect there to be another one of those swell presidential elections this year.
@Dere: You forgot to mention the Illuminati, or is it 5G or vaccinies, I can’t keep up!
@Papa Smut: nah, just the military industrial complex and its partner in crime the financial industry, ya know the one President Eisenhower so fervently warmed the Anerican public about in his farewell presidential speech as the greatest threat to America…..but yeah, it’s just a conspiracy tinfoil hat thing.
Since he has been in power, he has work very hard to earn billions selling ammunitions and arms, as they were humiliated in Afghanistan and lost billions of weapons and vehicles. He has worked very hard not to help for peace but to create more conflicts. He is living in a cold war time and everyone not like him is a communist.
Trump has for him that he never went to war.
Good auld Martin.
My god are we and the world in for a horrendous time if its trump. My god sure the Democrats have someone they can put foreward to at least make a fight of it. Trump did and will destroy America and the world. Oh my god. Such an evil holligan.
@John Flanagan: I think people forget just how incompetent Trump is. Admittedly with the almost daily stream of d-e-b-a-s-e-d stream of consciousness he issues, it’s hard to remember everything grossly deficient about him.
@John Flanagan: Little over dramatic? Now I’m not his biggest fan but when “did” trump destroy the world?.
@John John: Trump recently had a meeting with oil executives in which he proposed to them favourable economic policy in return for campaign funding. Trump is in thrall to the corporations too.
He has made his decision but has forgotten what it was.
Biden paved the way for Trump. What a legacy.
@087 bed: Comment straight from Orwell Road standard narrative. Why would we get to vote on this?
Maybe you should concentrate on your own fascist president who for some reason has no opposition. I wonder why
@Fr. Fintan Stack: So anyone talking sense or fact is Russian, Good grief you are slow.
If your lucky enough to have a grand parent and if people and organisations consistently abused them , I know what I would do , I would turn the narrative back on the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange thing, and the epistine files
@Robert Halvey: The Epistinians shall be freed back unto their rightful lands.
@Robert Halvey: what the actual F are you talking about?
@Ger Whelan: all iam saying lad is Biden old and has slowed done a bit . But you and yours ignore the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange things old aswell
@087 bed: Ukraine cannot join NATO while it’s still at war with Russia. NATO allowing Ukraine to join while it’s at war is NATO declaring war on Russia which won’t happen. So you can stop crying.
The headline is 5 words too long
Stick to acting George!
Clooney up to his neck in it. Oddball.
Take the fifth Joe.
Biden has got to be the greatest president of all time!!!!!
@Peter Brown:… Lol
Who said to Putin – Wait till after the election. I will have more flexibility?
I appreciate the ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou’ reference in the Clooney sub-headline.
Donald will betray everyone. He has nothing left to lose. He’s all in. I do believe him when he said he would be dictator for a day, it’s all it would take to subdue the USA with the military on his side.
Come to Jesus, Joe!
I just read the headline and I knew it Nolan
I would vote for a dead joe before I would use my spit to save the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange thing from dehydration
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say