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JP McManus makes it a Christmas to remember for GAA clubs, but not everyone is happy

Why fees for Ireland’s most prestigious private schools are on the rise; 30 ways to improve Dublin; and the 2023 Food Oscars

JP McManus this week announced he would be donating a total of €32 million to the GAA. Photograph: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images

Sun Dec 17 2023 - 08:28

Welcome to this week’s IT Sunday, a selection of the best Irish Times journalism for our subscribers.

As we get closer to Christmas you may well have bought some form of raffle ticket from a local GAA club, often out of pity as much as anything for the volunteer going around the pub on a cold December evening with their book of tickets while everyone else enjoys themselves. These festive times mark an important part of the year for club fundraising across all sports but no one in the GAA could have foreseen the early Christmas present they would receive this week when JP McManus announced that he was giving €1m each to all 32 county boards, to be distributed equally among the GAA, LGFA and Camogie organisations.

The equal distribution means, for example, Sligo clubs will each receive the most money – some over €30,000 – because the county has the fewest clubs. Co Cork has the most so each will receive some €2,660. For more on exactly what clubs will receive, Dominic Coyle looked at the breakdown and the tax implications.

Meanwhile, Gordon Manning wrote about what the windfall will mean at the grassroots level: “A club in west Galway might finally be able to push ahead with a new juvenile pitch, a camogie outfit in the Glens of Antrim can now build proper changing facilities or a club in the midlands can kit out their teams with new jerseys for the first time in years.”

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McManus has been a significant figure in both GAA and golf for many years but few know much about one of Ireland’s richest men and he rarely speaks. In this profile piece, Arthur Beesley writes about the criticism McManus has received for being a tax resident in Switzerland and recalls a word of advice he gave to champion jockey AP McCoy some years ago when speaking about his reluctance to court any media attention: “Imagine all the fish who’d still be alive if they’d learned to keep their mouth shut.”

Elsewhere, this week, The Irish Times’ Feeder Schools supplement was released, tracking the proportion of students in individual schools who progressed to third-level colleges. Fee-charging schools continue to send the highest proportions of school-leavers to third level (99 per cent), followed by Irish-medium schools or gaelcholáistí (96 per cent), non-Deis schools (82 per cent) and Deis schools (63 per cent).

You can check out this article for more on how your school performed. Meanwhile, Carl O’Brien wrote about why fees for Ireland’s most prestigious private schools are on the rise. “An analysis of day pupil charges for the sector shows fees for St Columba’s College in Dublin 16, which is the most expensive overall for day pupils, have broken through the €10,000 barrier for the first time (€10,258, up 6.5 per cent on last year),” he writes.

Earlier this week it emerged that Dublin City Council is re-evaluating plans to pedestrianise parts of the city centre because of the recent riots. The council is to examine whether some traffic, possibly taxis, will be allowed into pedestrian and cycle zones at night, in areas such as the planned College Green plaza to maintain “passive surveillance” and guard against leaving large empty spaces in the centre of the city in the evening, reports Olivia Kelly.

On a similar subject, Una Mullally wrote this week about 30 ways to improve Dublin – from banning casinos on O’Connell Street to outdoor wintertime dining. Meanwhile, Cliff Taylor writes that we were promised 15 minute cities, but instead we got 90-minute commutes.

Speaking of dining, this week saw Corinna Hardgrave reveal her Food Oscars for 2023, including naming her best restaurant of the year.

As he prepares to leave the US and return to a new role in Ireland, Irish Times Washington Correspondent Martin Wall reflects on his time and where the country is at as Donald Trump ramps up his bid to get back into the White House next year.

“As I leave Washington, it seems the US is approaching a turning point. Over the next 12 months it may become clearer what this will mean for the country and the rest of the world,” he writes.

In our advice columns this week, Trish Murphy responded to a reader who wrote ‘my wife is a fantastic woman, my soulmate and an incredible mother, but our marriage is sexless’, while Roe McDermott responds to a reader who says their partner is willing to fight for them after they had an affair, but they don’t know whether to stay or go.

In this week’s On the Money newsletter, Conor Pope writes that Irish savers may miss out on up to €3.5bn due to low interest rates. Sign up here to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox every Friday.

As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest in sport. There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.

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