RTE Fair City star Johnny Ward has opened up on how his wife is his rock while he cares for his sick mother.
The actor’s mum Kathy was diagnosed with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as broken heart syndrome, after the death of her husband and Johnny’s father, in 2019.
Kathy has since struggled with her health battle as she later suffered a heart attack and a stroke.
After the now-73-year-old’s stroke, Johnny made the decision to move back into his family home in order to take care of her.
In March 2021 his sister Maureen moved back in with their mum while he was busy working on a project, which is when he met his wife Brenda.
Johnny’s mum was diagnosed with cancer earlier last year and has “been in and out of the hospital” ever since.
And as her condition progresses, Johnny now spends a lot of time caring for his mum.
He told The RTE Guide: “There have been three holidays cancelled since all of this happened, and then you have to work, and it can be very difficult to switch off.
“Even if you do get away to that weekend wedding and someone else, like your neighbour or your auntie, helps out your mum, there’s an emotional attachment and that’s very difficult to get rid of.
“It’s a feeling of guilt, where you’re thinking, ‘God, what if something happens; I shouldn’t be here, I should go home’ and that’s very difficult.”
However, with his wife Brenda by his side and acting like his rock, Johnny finds it easier to manage his inconsistent schedule and caring for his mum.
He continued: “Another high was realising what a beautiful human my wife is.
“She’s the same with her own parents, she prioritises them, and I loved watching the bond between my wife and my mother grow.
“My next door neighbour is like an angel, and I’ve rung her so many times, when I can’t get through to my mother and am fearing the worst.
“She’s in and out all of the time; she has a key to the house and she’s checking on my mum constantly.
“My family from Galway have been up and down and up and down, and they’re always very supportive.”
He previously opened up about his mum’s condition saying: “It’s been very up and down. She went through quite a major surgery called a Whipple surgery.
“It’s pretty much where they take out part of the pancreas, the gallbladder and a large part of her bowel and pretty much stitch it all back together.
“It’s a very serious procedure and recovery is very slow. As of now, she has been transferred over to convalescent care, so that’s one step closer to getting her home from there.”
The Walkinstown native shared how grateful he is to have a good support system that can also help out.
He said: “I’ve found myself extremely lucky, number one because of where I live. Tallaght Hospital is down the road, James’s Hospital is down the road.”
GARY Lineker says the BBC has “lost their way” when it comes to impartiality in his first interview since he left Match Of The Day following an anti-semitism row.
And in a talk at Glastonbury festival, he revealed that the Corporation had announced his exit before even making him aware of their decision.
Lineker was ousted from his position on the football show following criticism when he shared a social media post about Zionism, for which he later apologised.
Gary, 64, said: “The impartiality issue has become a massive problem that I think they’ve probably created themselves by the rules that have been set within the business.
“I understand in your news and current affairs they have to be generally impartial but, I mean, it is hot today right? I think we can all say that we don’t need someone to come in to tell us it’s actually not hot.
“We just need to know the truth.
“I think they’ve lost their way a little bit with that and there’s a degree of impartiality at the very top of the BBC.
“There are thousands of amazing people at the BBC but it’s not reflected at the top.
“They’ve tried themselves up in knots with it.”
Gary had intended to leave the flagship show after this summer’s World Cup but instead hosted his last Match of the Day on June 26.
Admitting his upset at his ill-judged post, which Gary says “gave people ammunition to shoot me,” he added: “I had a little group chat back then, particularly with Ian Wright and Alan Shearer.
“I said, I’ve got a feeling they’re going to take me off air on Saturday and Ian Wright immediately said ‘if they do that I’m going to go’.
“So the next day they announced I wasn’t doing the show.
“They actually announced it without telling me first.
“I just thought what’s the point of having a big platform if you don’t use it to kind of push beliefs that you believe to be right.”
But he later shared: “I love the BBC. I always will and I’m not bitter or twisted about anything that happened.”
He also showed his support for political hip hop trio Kneecap and said at the end of his talk at Glastonbury: “Free Palestine.”
PORTUGUESE giants Porto have made a £20million bid for Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
The move could see the one-cap England defender swap the Championship for the chance to play in the Europa League.
Porto hope relegated Saints will sell their footballing centre-back, who cost £20m from Manchester City a year ago.
THB is on a four-year deal and has not pushed to leave — but Porto is an attractive move.
The classy 23-year-old, who had a loan spell at Anderlecht, is attracting interest around Europe and England, with Burnley also keen to sign him.
However, Porto have put the cash on the table.
West Ham also rate Harwood-Bellis highly but only have a limited budget.
And publicly THB has suggested he is committed to helping Southampton earn an instant return to the Premier League.
Harwood-Bellis, who is engaged to Roy Keane’s daughter Leah, is also determined to reignite his Three Lions career.
He told Sky Sports: “If I want to play for England, we’ve got to get promoted.
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“People around me know that, and I think the fans know that as well.
“We don’t want to be playing in the Championship, we want to be playing in the Premier League. We’ve got a taste of it now.
“We’ve got the bit between our teeth to go and do a better job.
“It couldn’t have gone any worse in the Premier League last time. We’ve got to put that wrong, right.”
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CHARLI XCX has hit back at accusations she mimed during her Other Stage headline slot at Glastonbury last night.
The Brat star, 32, slammed ‘boomer’ attitudes towards her music and use of autotune, which her detractors say diminishes her status as a proper artist.
Taking to X tonight, Charli wrote: “like the idea that singing with deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a ‘real artist’ is like, the most boring take ever. yawn sorry just fell asleep xx.”
She continued: “but to be honest… i enjoy the discourse. imo the best art is divisive and confrontational and often evolves into truly interesting culture rather than being like kind of ok, easily understood and sort of forgettable.”
Charli then linked to a five-star review of her set by the Guardian in which she was dubbed the unofficial headliner of the entire weekend.
The forward-thinking singer followed it by writing: “really enjoying these boomer vibe comments on my glastonbury performance. it’s super fascinating to me.”
Charli pulled in one of the biggest crowds The Other Stage has seen as an alternative to Neil Young on the Pyramid stage.
The The Brit Award winner looked the part for her time in the spotlight, donning a black leather crop top and matching hotpants.
Dripping with attitude, Charli came out with intent, declaring: “Glastonbury, don’t fucking play with me, before launching into 365.
She rattled through 17 tracks before wrapping up shortly before midnight.
The mix of grungey visuals and industrial rave pop didn’t excite everyone.
Some accused her of miming and suggested an excessive use of autotune in tracks like I Might Say Something Stupid.
Watching the set from their sofa, one took to X to write: “Just miming to her own records.”
A second put: “Headline act at #Glastonbury2025 #Glasto is miming. Absolutely terrible.”
A third wrote: “Charli XCX miming her way thru every song at Glastonbury, her mic only used for the odd ‘Come On’ shout. Live should be live.”
Yet others loved the party vibe and commitment to the Brat aesthetic.
One mused: “Loving that Charli xcx and the 1975 have got all middle aged men in tears this weekend, can’t wait for Olivia Rodrigo!!”
Another wrote: “Dude… Charli XCX was f**king class.”
One then put: “How cool is Charli xcx”
Earlier in the day, Britpop icons Pulp, fronted by Jarvis Cocker, had a playful nod to Charli in their secret set billed as “Patchwork”.
A screen behind the band flashed the words: “Are you ready for…. Pulp Summer.”
The message was a direct reference to the ‘Brat Summer’ Charli celebrated last year thanks to her smash-hit album of the same name.
THOUSANDS of people in Norway were mistakenly told they had won life-changing amounts of money in a blunder by the lottery.
Some were even told they had become millionaires and began planning new futures – only to find their true prizes were much smaller.
Norway‘s state-owned gambling operator, Norsk Tipping, said “several thousands countries were notified of incorrectly high prizes” won in the Euro Jackpot.
The agonising mistake prompted the CEO to step down.
It arose from a calculation error when prize amounts, received from Germany in Euros, were converted to the Norwegian Kroner.
The company explained: “It is during this conversion that a manual error has been made in the code that is entered into our game engine.
“The amount has been multiplied by 100, instead of being divided by 100.”
The eye-watering prizes were displayed on the website and mobile app on Friday but later removed.
No incorrect sums were paid out, Norsk Tipping confirmed.
One woman caught up in the farce is in the middle of a renovation project and told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) she was alerted that she had won £87,000 – but instead received only a fraction of that.
Others said they made plans to buy cars and planned holidays – only to have it all snatched away.
Lise Naustdal, who thought she had won £138,000, said: “It was a very fun minute.”
The company was hauled in front of the Ministry of Culture for an emergency meeting on Saturday.
Following the scolding, Tonje Sagstuen, its chief since 2023, stepped down.
She said: “I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us.
“Here, things have failed in several places, this is my responsibility.”
Tonje admitted that “criticism is justified” over the “breach of trust”.
Norway’s Minister of Culture and Equality, Lubna Jaffery, told NRK that “such mistakes should not happen” – especially given Norsk Tipping has the exclusive right to deliver gaming services in the country.
She said: “We expect the board to work actively to improve the control routines.”
Tonje added: “As a manager, it has been my responsibility to handle the mistakes that have occurred.
“Therefore, it is also incredibly sad to leave Norsk Tipping and all the talented people who work in Hamar.
“I will miss everyone I have worked with, but I am confident that all the improvement processes we have initiated are in good hands.”
COLLEGE students are set for a €1,000 blow later this year when college fees return to their original level, Higher Education Minister James Lawless has confirmed.
As part of a cost of living package in last year’s budget, college fees were temporarily cut by €1,000.
While fees vary from college to college, this cut brought fees down from a maximum of €3,000 to €2,000.
However, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confessed this week that there will be no cost of living package in the upcoming budget.
The Government are planning to tighten spending for next year due to concerns that the Irish economy could be hit hard in a potential trade war between the US and EU that was sparked by Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Higher Education Minister James Lawless today confirmed that college fees will revert to €3,000 without a cost of living package in the budget.
However, the Fianna Fail TD claimed he will try to end fees altogether over the next five years – a commitment included in the Programme for Government.
Speaking on RTE, Minister Lawless said: “The previous year was slightly different and the context was different because there was a cost of living package from the central government.
“Things like energy credits were universally applied, welfare benefits had bonuses at Christmas and other times of the year and there was a general cost of living package across many different parts of government.
“The indications are – and we haven’t entered budget discussions in earnest yet as we’re engaged in the national development plan at the moment which obviously will have a significant uplift in education and research as well – but the indications are that there won’t be a cost of living package this year.
“So all of us in any walk of life have to play the hands we’re dealt.
“If I don’t have a cost of living package then I can’t do those type of measures that we’re talking about from last year.”
Asked to clarify, the Minister said: “The once-off supports – and they were phrased very clearly as once-off supports – are not being provided for as it stands because there is no cost of living package being made available.
“That may change coming into the budget. It’s a matter for the Finance Minister more so than myself but that is what’s coming.
Labour’s Further and Higher Education spokesperson Senator Laura Harmon has criticised the plans to reverse the reduction in student fees.
Senator Harmon said any such move would be a major setback for college affordability and a further burden on students and their families.
She said: “This Government is planning to roll back the clock when it comes to making college affordable.
“Reversing the student fee reduction sends a clear signal that access to third-level education is not a priority for this administration.
“At a time when the cost of living remains sky-high and when rents in college areas are completely unaffordable this move would hit families where it hurts. It’s completely out of touch.
“Last week, the Minister for Housing added insult to injury by rowing back on protections for student renters. Now, Minister Lawless wants to add financial pressure on top.
“It’s clear that this Government has no coherent strategy when it comes to supporting students.”
Labour is now calling for the Minister to urgently reconsider this regressive proposal.
Senator Harmon added: “We have to ask – was last year’s modest reduction in fees just a cynical vote-buying exercise ahead of the local and European elections?
“And what of the promises from Simon Harris, who made all the right noises about reducing fees to zero? Where is that ambition now?
“Instead, students are being told to tighten their belts again while this Government boasts about budget surpluses.”
She continued: “We need long-term thinking when it comes to education – not short-term accounting. College should not be a luxury.
“If the Government goes ahead with this hike, it will be a deeply unpopular move from an increasingly unpopular Government.”
USA women’s team earned their 600th international win on Sunday night after another dominant performance against the Republic of Ireland.
The five-time World Cup winners replicated their 4–0 victory over Ireland from Thursday night in Denver.
This milestone only fuels their relentless drive to dismantle every opponent they face.
From the off, the USA were merciless, and Carla Ward’s young Irish squad struggled to find any rhythm under sustained pressure.
The visitors were on the back foot right from the start as Emma Hayes’s team sizzled in the heat with slick one-touch football.
It was 1–0 after 11 minutes as a smooth one‑two move tore through Ireland’s compact defence.
Emma Sears sprinted down the right flank and delivered a perfectly weighted cross to the far post. Lynn Biyendolo met it first time with a composed side‑foot volley that screamed into the top corner.
The scheduled water stoppage at 25 minutes offered Ireland a much -needed breather as they absorbed relentless pressure.
Pinned deep, they managed only sporadic counters – too few to spare their overstretched defence.
Despite the lopsided play, Abbie Larkin chipped in with flashes of quality, and Chloe Mustaki punched above her weight at left-back, defending with grit and tenacity.
But it was all USA on the scoreboard, and they added to that tally just before the break.
Just as Ireland seemed poised to head into the interval trailing by only one, fate struck again.
Emma Sears appeared to double the lead, only for Brosnan to produce a brilliant close-range save.
But the rebound fell kindly for Izzy Rodriguez, who powered it home to double the US lead at half-time – a cruel echo of Wednesday’s Denver fixture.
The second half kicked off at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, with Ireland making three changes.
Lucy Quinn, Hayley Nolan – who last played in the United States in April 2023 – and Megan Connolly all joined the action.
Minutes later, a slick pass by 19-year-old Olivia Moultrie opened up space behind the defence. Izzy Rodriguez sent in a dangerous cross, but a loose volley gave Ireland a reprieve. It was still one-way traffic.
By the 50th minute, Lynn Biyendolo ghosted in behind the defence, nearly catching Brosnan off her line – but the keeper recovered quickly and parried her firm effort to safety.
Minutes later, another probing move saw Hayley Nolan caught out at the back, allowing Tara McKeown to surge into the box.
Her cutback to Croix Bethune was decisively blocked by a scrambling Irish defender.
At 54 minutes, Emma Sears unleashed a dipping strike that flew just over Brosnan’s crossbar – a near miss that briefly rekindled Ireland’s hopes.
A third goal soon followed as Sam Coffey initiated a slick move by threading a ball into the middle for Yazmeen Ryan.
The pass looked overhit, but Emma Sears kept it alive, finding Olivia Moultrie. Moultrie teed up Ryan, who slid home the U.S.’s third goal, putting the result beyond doubt.
A further water break at 70 minutes offered Ireland some respite in the scorching Ohio heat.
But Ireland still couldn’t get hold of the ball, as the US side pinned them in their own half. Alyssa Thompson entered the game at 80 minutes.
Courtney Brosnan made another strong save just moments later, after Emily Sams cracked a close-range shot following Ireland’s failure to deal with a free-kick.
A perfectly weighted lofted pass caught Ireland’s flat defence off guard, and Alyssa Thompson took charge – first with a sharp touch, then rifling a powerful low finish into the net to make it 4–0.
The final minutes fizzled out in the scorching heat of Cincinnati after another gruelling learning curve for Ireland.
Ward’s side now turns their attention toward the Nations League play-off with Belgium this autumn.
Lynn Biyendolo – 11′
Izzy Rodriguez – 42′
Yazmeen Ryan – 66′
Alyssa Thompson – 86′
United States: Claudia Dickey, Naomi Girma (captain), Avery Patterson, Ally Sentnor, Alyssa Thompson, Michelle Cooper, Emily Sonnett, Claire Hutton, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle, Lynn Biyendolo
Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan, Jessie Stapleton, Caitlin Hayes, Chloe Mustaki, Tyler Toland, Anna Patten, Marissa Sheva, Kyra Carusa, Abbie Larkin, Saoirse Noonan, Emily Murphy
