
Tributes to ‘beautiful girl’ among four killed in crash on way to exams celebration
Tributes have been paid to four young people killed in a crash in Ireland while on the way to exam results celebrations on Friday. Luke McSweeney, 24, his sister Grace McSweeney, 18, Zoey Coffey, 18, and Nicole Murphy, 18, died at the scene in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, after the car they were travelling in struck a wall. They had been on their way to celebrate after the three teenagers received their Leaving Certificate exam results earlier that day. The mother of Grace McSweeney’s boyfriend wrote on Facebook: “Thank you for making my son happy and I’ll do my best to mind him for you.” “You were so good, always trying to help me around the house and you knew how to keep Aaron on his toes,” she added. In the post she congratulated Grace on passing her Leaving Certificate, adding that she knew how much it meant to her. Superintendent Kieran Ruane, of Clonmel Garda Station, extended his sympathies to their families, who he said had appealed for privacy. The scene at Hillview remains closed on Saturday to carry out a forensic examination and Mr Ruane said that heavy downpours would be among the factors that Garda investigators would consider. Local schools in the town opened on Saturday to support students as the community comes to terms with the tragedy. Ireland’s premier Leo Varadkar said the nation is mourning their deaths as the minister for education Norma Foley pledged support for students and staff. Members of the community and local politicians expressed their shock at the tragedy, with local TD Mattie McGrath saying that “a time of celebration has turned to a time of devastation”. He said Clonmel had been “left numbed” by the loss and that it would “take some time to recover”, but that the community would rally around those grieving the losses. Local sporting events and the Clonmel Pride parade, as well as other activities in the area, have been cancelled in the wake of the fatal crash. A parish priest has asked the community to look after one another in the days ahead and the minister of education has pledged support for school staff and students affected. Mr Varadkar has said: “We must come together in times such as this” and that the Leaving Cert results night “should mark the beginning of a world of opportunities for young people”. “It’s a milestone on the road from childhood to adulthood,” Mr Varadkar he added. “For young lives, so full of possibility, to be cut short in this way is truly devastating and heartbreaking,” he continued. “The whole nation mourns them. My sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who have died and the wider community in Clonmel and Tipperary. The thoughts of the whole country are with them, their school and their community.” Education minister Ms Foley said her department will provide support to students and staff in the period ahead. “This is heartbreaking news on what should have been a day of enormous celebration and joy for the class of 2023,” she said. “School communities in Ireland are akin to tight-knit families and I know this morning that staff, students, parents and guardians will be united in their grief and utter devastation at this tragic and sudden loss of life. “The Department of Education, through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), will provide essential supports to staff and students over the coming period. “The grief felt by those affected by the loss of four young lives is acute and we will do all that we can to support them at this sad and difficult time.” Read More Police offer £50,000 reward to find missing mother feared murdered in ‘targeted attack’ Nation mourning after four young people killed in Co Tipperary crash – Varadkar Body found in search for missing 54-year-old woman in Kent
2023-08-26 23:05

Everton pay price for missed chances as Fulham snatch win at Goodison Park
Everton paid the price for a string of missed chances as their goalscoring issues were exploited by Fulham in a 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park. A new season brought new hope for recent relegation strugglers Everton but for all the improvements Sean Dyche has made over the summer, it appears he he has not yet solved their problems in front of goal. Substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid struck the only goal of the game to get Marco Silva’s side off to a winning start. Everton, the Premier League’s lowest scorers last season, were again without striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Despite generating twice as many shots as the visitors, Dyche’s side were undone by one square pass across their six-yard area when Andreas Pereira beat Nathan Patterson to an Aleksandar Mitrovic’s through-ball for a 73rd-minute tap-in by Decordova-Reid. It burst the bubble of optimism which had been generated by an energetic and relatively creative opening 73 minutes of the season and will have infuriated Dyche as much as it delighted former Toffees boss Silva. Michael Keane’s first-half goal was disallowed as the centre-back turned the ball into an empty net and celebrated almost apologetically before referee Stuart Atwell, having initially not blown, ruled there had been an infringement in the collision between goalkeeper Bernd Leno and James Tarkowski. Both teams started without their recognised first-choice strikers: Calvert-Lewin was omitted due to his lack of minutes in pre-season while Mitrovic was left on the bench after ongoing interest from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal. But it was the home team who suffered the most as they generated 19 shots to their opponents’ nine from just 41 per cent possession but failed to capitalise with Calvert-Lewin’s deputy Neal Maupay most culpable. The £15million signing from Brighton last summer has a return of one goal in his 29 previous appearances but the reason for that conversion rate was evident after just 32 seconds when he clipped a shot wide of the far post with only goalkeeper Leno to beat after being put through by James Garner’s cushioned header. It did not get any better for the Frenchman, whose heavy touch from Abdoulaye Doucoure’s square pass denied him another shooting opportunity before Leno blocked his close-range scuff from a Doucoure knockdown and then he fired straight at the German when played in by Amadou Onana. Doucoure, playing just behind the striker, was not without fault either as he should have scored inside five minutes when clean through but shot straight at the goalkeeper when he could also have squared to Maupay. Everton were fortunate the visitors were even more toothless in attack themselves, although Willian, 35, gave 21-year-old right-back Nathan Patterson, who made just 21 appearances in a debut season affected by injury, an uncomfortable 45 minutes before he was replaced by De Cordova-Reid at half-time. But Willian was also lucky to escape with a booking for an over the top challenge on Garner. By contrast, on the other side of the defence Ashley Young, Everton’s second-oldest debutant at the age of 38 years and 34 days, was coping easily with Harry Wilson – 12 years his junior. The 57th-minute of introduction of Mitrovic and Pereira, seconds after debutant Raul Jimenez had struck the post with his last touch before being replaced, threatened a new element of danger for Everton. However, it was the hosts who should have scored when Leno parried Alex Iwobi’s shot to Patterson who lashed his shot against the crossbar. Loan signing Arnaut Danjuma assumed the central striking role from Maupay but, before he had even touched the ball, De Cordova-Reid had scored the goal which secured Fulham’s third successive win at Goodison Park. The return of Calvert-Lewin and a debut for new signing Youssef Chermiti, the £15million Sporting Lisbon striker watching from the directors’ box, cannot come soon enough. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra hit debut goals as Brighton stroll past Luton Rangers get up and running in Premiership with convincing win over Livingston Tom Brady watches on as Birmingham beat Leeds with last-gasp penalty
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Linda Yaccarino: How Elon Musk may have hired his biggest critic to head Twitter
Twitter is getting a new boss after current CEO Elon Musk announced on Friday that he has found a replacement: advertising executive Linda Yaccarino. The tech billionaire named the new chief executive less than a month after she interviewed him on a panel, titled “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships”, hosted by her current employer NBCUniversal. The event gave an insight into how she views both the tech billionaire and her vision for the future of Twitter, revealing some significant concerns she had about his takeover of the company. When discussing his tenure so far as the head of Twitter, Mr Musk said it had been “entertaining”, adding “train wrecks arguably are entertaining.” Ms Yaccarino responded: “Train wrecks happen sometimes if you’re dedicated [but] you’ve got to be dedicated to fixing them.” After noting that he had gone from a “consumer of a product you loved, to now the owner”, she added: “It might be a ‘be careful what you ask for’ type of thing.” She also said she did not always like his tweets and suggested Mr Musk should be “held to a different or higher standard” as both the most-followed account on Twitter and its owner. “A lot of people think you might be too provocative,” she said, adding that he should give up his late-night tweeting. “Will you commit to being a little more specific and not tweet after 3am?” she asked. “People in this room would like to see that. It would make them feel more confident.” Twitter is seen by Mr Musk as an accelerant to his goal of creating an “everything app”, which he has called X. This will allow users to conduct business on the platform, which will be a big draw for advertisers who can target customers with direct in-app purchases. It is a vision that Ms Yaccarino appeared to favour in her meeting with Mr Musk. In one of her relatively rare tweets, she also recently expressed another shared goal for how “Twitter 2.0” will look: the return of the short-form video-sharing feature Periscope. She also encouraged Mr Musk to reinstate Twitter’s Influence Council of marketers and advertising executives that allowed industry figures to give direct feedback on how they wanted the platform to look. She told Mr Musk: “The people in this room are your accelerated path to profitability. But there’s a decent bit of sceptics in the room... There’s people who cannot separate the man, his opinions, and the microphone that he now owns.” Ms Yaccarino will now potentially take charge of that microphone, offering a way for advertisers who left the platform to credibly distance themselves from the controversial billionaire. The Independent has contacted NBCUniversal for comment, and Twitter responded with its customary poop emoji. Read More Twitter backlash after Elon Musk gives blue tick to users without consent Elon Musk announces Linda Yaccarino as new CEO of Twitter Elon Musk says he has hired new CEO of Twitter Elon Musk warns people not to trust Twitter’s new feature
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