DISGRACE

In the news this week...Cream� elds organisers to spend £500,000 on drainage

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JMU Journalism’s on a mission to help in rehoming dogs

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Homosexuality in the game - why do so few foot-ballers come out?

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Liverpool MP Maria Eagle has de-manded politicians stop dodging the blame after a report stated tax-payers have lost at least £50m as a result of the collapse of the West Coast Main Line running between Liverpool and London.

Garston and Halewood MP Ma-ria Eagle, the shadow transport secretary, said the Prime Minister must take responsibility for this fi asco.

She said: “The Government must accept it was the short-sight-ed decision by ministers to axe external audits of multi-billion pound contracts which ended up with at least £50m of taxpayers’ money going down the drain.

“It is a disgrace that every poli-tician responsible for the bungled franchise deal has either remained in the cabinet or been promoted to it.”

Last October, transport secre-tary Patrick McLoughlin scrapped the bidding process, in which Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains lost out to FirstGroup in the battle for the 13-year West Coast con-tract, and the report, published by the Public Accounts Committee, examined the cancellation of this InterCity West Coast franchise competition.

The Department originally spent £1.9 million on staff costs and ex-ternal advisers to run the franchise competition, while each bidder spent around £10 million each.

The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts blamed the De-partment of Transport’s lack of common sense in the way it ran the West Coast franchise competi-tion for so much money being lost.

She said: “The Department made fundamental errors in cal-culating the level of risk capital it would require bidders to put on the table and it did not demand

appropriate levels of capital from both bidders. The franchising pro-cess was littered with basic errors. The department yet again failed to learn from previous disasters like the Metronet contract.

“It failed to heed advice from its lawyers. It failed to respond to ear-ly warning signs that things were going wrong. The project suffered from a lack of leadership. There was no single person responsible from beginning to end, and, there-fore, no one had to live with the consequences of bad policy deci-sions.”

A spokesperson from the Gov-ernment argued that the independ-ent Laidlaw inquiry, published in November, identifi ed the circum-stances which led to the failures in the West Coast franchising programme and what steps the department should take to prevent this from happening again.

They said: “The department ac-cepted all the recommendations and has taken immediate steps by bringing together all rail activity under a single director general and recruiting a senior director to lead the franchising programme.

Liverpool Life went out on to the streets of Liverpool to fi nd out what the public thought of this loss of money.

Jonathan Miles, 43, Wirral, said: “I’m not happy about it, I have to say. That’s a lot of money and it should have come from some-where other than the taxpayer.”

Atlanta Grieger, 31, Toxteth, said: “I don’t think it’s right con-sidering the state we’re in now, in terms of economics. The gov-ernment should take hold of their infrastructure, and I think the tax-payer should be left out of it.”

Luke Bellis, 26, Ireland, said: “It’s a lot of money. I reckon they could have done something better with that money.”

Virgin Trains will continue to run the service until November 2014, when new bidding starts.

Life www.jmu-journalism.org.uk

Liverpool

26th - February - 2013

FromLIVERPOOL

ToLONDON £50MPrice

The shocking cost of rail fi ascoBy Hayley Minn

Life/News/2

LJMU Soundready to makedebut on webby Josh Parry

Liverpool John Moores is trialling its fi rst ever offi cial radio station.

Launching on Monday the 4th of March at 8am, LJMU Sound will be broadcast live over the internet and will feature a mix of news, music and community radio.

Richard Rudin, Senior Lecturer in Broadcast Journalism and Man-aging Editor of LJMU Sound, is heading the project. “It’s a really exciting project to be involved in. Obviously, as a trial, we’re not 100% sure how it will sound which is part of the fun, and the point of a trial,” he said.

The station will be live from

Monday to Friday, featuring music, newspaper reviews and community news from the uni-versity and around Liverpool.

Presented by Richard Rudin, the station is to be produced by a group of four broadcast specialists who have joined the university staff to start the project. “We are in a global market-place, both as a university and as a city, we reach out to all parts of the world and I hope the radio station will tell the world, as well as potential students and their parents about the wonder-ful work we do here. “It will refl ect the university’s work across all fi ve faculties

to demonstrate how dynamic we are as a university. We have wide ranging interests in business, arts, culture and science, but it isn’t just aimed at students.

“We’ll feature community news to serve the people of Greater Liv-erpool,” he added. Adam Hicks, a former journalism student at LJMU who currently works for Radio Merseyside, has joined LJMU Sound.

“I’m really excited to be part of a project that hasn’t been shaped yet, it is intriguing to wonder what it will turn out like. I’m keen to get started, get things going and see what we can produce. I’m happy to play a part in shaping the radio station,” he said.

The station is welcoming sub-missions for ideas and stories. If you would like to contribute, please e-mail Helena Eaton at Corporate Communications: H.M.Eaton@ljmu.ac.uk.

If you would like to listen, the fi rst show will be live at 8am from the LJMU homepage.

Jail threat after Bulger tweetsby David Williamson

A number of individuals could be facing fi nes or even imprisonment for publishing photographs purporting to be one of James Bulger’s killers online. Attorney General Dominic Grieve is threatening legal action after pictures reported to be Jon Venables, now 30, who was giv-en a new identity following his release from prison, were posted online. Pictures were fi rst posted on 14th February and some remained online on Monday.

Dominic Grieve urged that the images be removed from the

internet as fast as possible. The statement from Grieve’s offi ce on Monday made the case that breaches of the original injunction, by media organisations or individuals were potentially punishable by a fi ne, a prison sentence – or both. The original court order, made by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss of the high court family division,is still active.

This order banned the publication of any information that could lead to the revelation of the new identities given to Venables and Thompson.

James was taken by the two boys from the Strand shopping center, Bootle, in 1993.TRAGIC: James Bulger was killed in 1993

EditorJoe BarnesNews EditorJonathan BridgeNewsMichaela Rout-ledgeKarina GalliPaul CollinsRachael LeitchFeatures editorLucy BainesRevise EditorJosh Parry

Copy TastersJosh NevettRachael LairdFeaturesPhilippa ProbertScott RumseyRory KellyRachael BenthamSport editorScott FitzpatrickSports Lauren MurphyEmma KemmeryPicture editor Adam Davies

LifeLiverpool

Team

HARD AT WORK: LJMU Sound team, with Richard Rudin, seated, in the radio studio

Life/News/3

Merseyrail is voted best

Amazoncould create new jobsBy David Williamson

A large development site in Crox-teth is marked for an Amazon warehouse - but the sale of the land may be in doubt.

The Department for Education (DfE) may be planning to reject Liverpool council’s request to al-low the playing fi elds of the for-mer Croxteth Comprehensive to be sold. However the council has not received offi cial confi rmation of the refusal.

Detailed discussions are still un-derway with the developers about the potential facility which would create over 1,000 jobs in East Liv-erpool.

Liverpool City Mayor, Joe An-derson was approached in mid-2012 by the developer and had identifi ed the council-owned Stonebridge Cross site off the East Lancashire Road in Gilmoss as the preferred location for a major new facility.

Mayor Joe Anderson said: “This is a hugely exciting proposal which has the potential to be a real game changer for this part of the city.

“It will create over a thousand quality jobs on a scale which has not been seen in that area of the city for many decades.

“This is really good news for a part of Liverpool that desperately needs jobs in order to be able to give the local community hopes for the future, and will transform the lives of many people.”

The council approved plans ear-lier this month to re-route a river that runs through the land. By doing this it allows two separate development sites to be joined, which would also improve the ar-ea’s environment.

By Rosie Cameron

Police are investigating whether criminal activity has taken place after Liverpool-born Lord Ren-nard was forced to stand down following allegations of sexual harassment made against him.

Lord Rennard served as the Lib-eral Democrats Chief Executive for six years, before resigning in 2009 claiming ill health.

However, in light of recent de-velopments, it has been reported that Nick Clegg may have pres-sured Lord Rennard to stand down after Lib Dem chief of staff Danny Alexander confronted Rennard over the claims.

Accusations were made to Nick Clegg as far back as 2008, but it wasn’t until Channel Four broad-cast complaints from two women who declared that Lord Rennard had touched them inappropriately that Clegg addressed the circum-stances directly.

The case has become prominent and now several female party workers have come forward with claims, over which the ex Lib Dem Chief Exec “strenuously de-nies”.

A police spokesman said: “The Metropolitan police special in-vestigations command has been approached by offi cials in the Lib-eral Democrat party and is work-ing with them to ascertain whether or not criminal activity has taken place.”

By Scott Fitzpatrick

Merseyrail have been singled out by campaigners who see the com-pany as a positive example of how all railway network should be run.

The Campaign for Better Trans-port highlighted Merseyrail as one of the leading service providers, claiming that more local authori-

ties should be in charge of rail net-works rather than the government.

It used the company as an exam-ple of how local management and accountability can improve ser-vices, including passenger num-bers, reliability and accessibility.

David Print, Head of Strategic Development and Concession Management, said: “It is a tre-

mendous benefi t to our business that we are run locally as we then work closely with the public.

Our NPS scores, the measure of customer satisfaction, has gone up signifi cantly.

We are one of the top three com-panies in terms of customer satis-faction in the industry.

“People write in to give us ideas

on how we can improve the ser-vice.

We are always listening to what people say about improvements to the service.”

A good example of this was their £20million renovations to Central Station coming off the back of customer feedback.

Mr Print said: “We have worked

with Merseytravel and Network Rail to improve the service and over 98 per cent of customers were satisfi ed with the station, which is a 40 per cent increase from last year.

Also 95 percent of our trains ran on time last year and with over 600 trains running each day that is quite remarkable.”

Lib Demsex claimsprobed

Police chief apology for Hillsborough emailBy Emma Callum and Joe Barnes

South Yorkshire’s police commis-sioner has declined to discipline his force’s chief constable after he accused campaigners of lying about the Hillsborough disaster and was strongly criticised by the police watchdog for doing so.

Accusations arose when an internal email, sent by David Crompton to senior staff days be-fore the new report was released in September, came to light.

In his email Mr Crompton said: “One thing is certain - the Hills-borough Campaign for Justice will be doing their version ... in fact

their version of certain events has become ‘the truth’ even though it isn’t!!

“I just have the feeling that the media ‘machine’ favours the fam-ilies and not us, so we need to be a bit more innovative in our re-sponse to have a fi ghting chance otherwise we will just be road-kill.”

The email branded ‘offensive’ and ‘upsetting’ by the Independ-ent Police Complaints Commis-sion (IPCC) surfaced as part of a Freedom of Information request that was issued as part of South Yorkshire Police’s preparation for the release of the Hillsborough In-dependent panel report.

The force came under heavy criticism when the new report that looked into the event that left 96 Liverpool fans dead was released.

In a South Yorkshire Police state-ment they said that Mr Crompton apologises for the email and that the force is fully supportive of any on-going inquiries.

This followed on from Mr Crompton’s apology where he said: ’It was never intended to cause any offence and I apologise if it has done so.

“Nor was it intended to chal-lenge the integrity and views of those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough disaster.”

IPCC Commissioner Nicholas

Long has written to the chief con-stable to express his concerns.

He said: “Families and individ-uals affected by the Hillsborough tragedy, along with the wider pub-lic, will rightly be concerned over the apparent attitude displayed by this communication within the highest ranks of the force which is currently under investigation in re-lation to the actions of its offi cers and staff around the disaster.”

Mr Long continued to say that the email has serious implications for the public’s confi dence but they did not require the IPCC to undertake a formal referral of the matter.

It was Police Commissioner

Shaun Wright’s responsibility to handle the complaint correctly.

Mr Wright said: “I have raised my concerns and disappointment with the chief constable but I have now accepted the apology he has issued and I believe I have taken all appropriate action at this stage to deal with the matter.”

Hillsborough campaigner Mar-garet Aspinall said she would not accept the apology.

“I’m absolutely appalled but it doesn’t surprise me. They’ve al-ways talked about us this way.”

On the same day, a brand new police investigation into the disas-ter was also announced by Home Secretary Theresa May.

Liverpool Lime Street station is known as one of the homes across Liverpool which the Merseyrail trains calls into every few minutes

Life/News/4Locals fi ght for libraries

Creamfi elds’ £500k big spend after last summer’s washoutThe cancellation of Creamfi elds last summer has prompted the music festival to spend £500,000 on site improvements to prevent fl ooding.

The festival, held in Daresbury, was forced to cancel last year’s event due to serious fl ooding that lead to thousands of disappointed dance music lovers.

Liverpool festival-goer, Nathan Willsdon, described his Cream-fi elds experience when he said: “The fi rst night was really good and with such great acts, my mood wasn’t dampened by the wet weather. It was a complete differ-ent story the next day. It was like a swamp and getting around was impossible, as you would just sink in the mud. Some of my friends lost their shoes.”

The £500,000 is to be spent on the improvement of fi eld drainage systems and be an investment into additional track ways and a series of new bridges across fi elds.

It is hoped by organisers that the land will be well equipped to han-dle rainfall during the show, after it suffered from adverse weather conditions on the bank holiday August weekend.

The annual three-day event was due to see sets from Deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Sub Focus among others before the decision was made to cancel.

JMU student Emma Kemmery

from Leeds said: “The weather really put a downer on the whole weekend, the Saturday was amaz-ing, but all the biggest DJs, and the ones we paid money to see were due to do their sets on Sunday, and one by one we found out they were cancelling.

The weather was fi ne, we drank through being wet, but the whole reason for us going was for the music. It was a massive let down.”

Matthew Champion, from West

Kirby said: “We tried not to let the weather and fl ooding affect our time at the festival but it was hard to ignore the camping fi eld slowly turning into a pond. We were dis-appointed when the cancellation was announced, but after a quick trip home we continued out into Liverpool.”

Matt Garratt from Daresbury said: “The fi rst day of Creamfi elds was an overwhelming success. Excited partygoers revelled in

the opportunity to witness their favourite bands and DJs live but little did they know of the carnage that was about to transpire, for on the Saturday night the heavens opened and at least a few centime-tres of rain fell.

“Needless to say, I wasn't par-ticularly bothered by the whole event as I simply walked back to my house down the road, had a shower and got into bed.”

The instalment of 1500m of new

track ways and bridges is hoped to improve access for campers trav-elling between the campsites and the arena sites where it is affected by particularly heavy rainfall.

Creamfi elds have also made the decision to move a number of are-nas that were deemed unfi t for use to higher areas within the current arena site.

The line-up for this year's event will be announced on Wednesday and tickets go on sale on Friday.

by Hannah Ashraf

FLOODING: festival-goers seen covered in mud splashes at last year’s event which was eventually cancelled due to bad weather

People left vulnerable as Wirral centres may be set for closure

Campaigners have made a � nal attempt at saving Se� on libraries from closure.

Libraries in Birkdale, Ainsdale, Churchtown, Crosby, Litherland, Bootle and Aintree are facing the threat of closure following budget cuts.

Labour councillor for Se� on Mick Roche said on Twitter: “Lib-eral Democrats and Tories risk all local services by unfairly depriving only certain councils of funds. In Se� on approximately £100m will be cut per year by 2015.”

Birkdale Library Action Group (BLAG), Friends of Ainsdale Li-brary and Friends of Churchtown Library have made a last-minute appeal to Se� on council.

More than 17,000 people have signed petitions against the clo-sures, which has caused the verdict on the plans to be pushed back a further two weeks from the origi-nal date of February 14th.

A lorry driver from Merseyside has died in an eight vehicle pile up on the Motorway.

Two other drivers have been confi rmed dead, including a man thought to be from the Southport area. Two other drivers have been taken to hospital.

More than 20 emergency service vehicles were sent to the scene on the M6 in Cumbria after the crash at 8.15am.

The collision happened on the northbound carriageway of the M6, between Junction 35 and Junction 36.

Cumbria police confi rmed the vehicles involved were: A ‘SPAR’ rigid heavy goods vehicle which was towing another trailer. This driver died at the scene, a blue fl at lorry driven by a man who died at the scene.

M6 lorry death

A campaign has been set up to pre-vent the closure of several Wirral centres for vulnerable people.

The campaign hopes to reverse Wirral Borough Council’s deci-sion to cut over £100million from centres which support those with learning and physical disabilities.

Three Wirral centres have united and are vigorously opposing the closure of the centres.

Stephen McGreal head cam-paigner of the Northern region said: “The special needs people in three centres are distraught at the prospect of one of the centres, they all think it will be their own, being shut.”

Mr McGreal said: “The depart-ment of adult social services is claiming there is a 33% shortage of users attending the centres but we have proven it’s not true. The attendance at day centres has re-mained static for fi ve years and there is a waiting time to get into day centres. The whole informa-tion given has been distorted”

The centres offer various oppor-tunities for the people who attend such as work placements and vol-untary work. The users of the cen-tres also fundraise for a variety of charities such as children who re-quire expensive operations, cancer research and red nose day. Parents and carers also fundraise a lot to

help the centres run and have re-cently provided internet access, a minibus, fuel costs and many new facilities.

Mr McGreal’s 32-year-old daughter attends one of the centres along with 132 other people and Mr McGreal said: “The council’s statistics say there are only 91, so their own fi gures are wrong. We can prove its wrong and we want an expla-nation and we formally re-quest an expla-nation of how the information was collect-ed. Wrong is a word that keeps coming up here, it’s just so unjust.

“There are special needs people now attending sec-ondary school, now those children when they come out of full time education their parents will be looking for somewhere for them to go, i.e. a placement , if they close them down, they’ll have nowhere to go.

“They’re going to be home with

their elderly parents and they will respond in a bad way, because they’re not getting out. They’re not getting social stimulated.”

The centres offer a vital service and the changes will have a signif-icant detrimental impact upon the people who use these services.

Mr McGreal said: “They have totally glossed over the fact that people are opposed to the closure and the forced reloca-tion.”

Brian Don-aldson, a carers representative, wrote a letter to the coun-cil which said: “This proposal has not met with any support from the people who use the service in fact it has made hundreds of people deeply distressed, ex-

tremely worried and infl icted so much pain on people whose lives are so very fragile anyway.”

The campaigners want to record a music video and song which is under way but under council reg-ulations the students are not al-

lowed to be fi lmed or perform on council property, without formal permission from the publicity of-fi ce.

The campaign to save services is going well and starting to build up momentum and so far the petition has 4,634 signatures, they now have banners, ‘Save our Centre’ t-shirts and a local fi lm company has also offered two hours of free fi lming and rehearsals to aid the campaign.

Despite progress being made, the campaign is fi nding obstacles at almost every corner.

Mr McGreal said: “My wife was down yesterday making a wall with students’ artwork when they were told by council they were not allowed to fi lm in the centre and the staff, who are carers, are for-bidden under an employment law so they cannot be involved in any way with any form of protest.”

Time is ‘precious’ to the cam-paign as on March 5, one repre-sentative has been given fi ve min-utes to represent the case at a local budget meeting.

Mr McGreal went on to say: “This is the students, this is their centre, this is what I pay the rates for. They’re targeting the most vulnerable people in society and its unjust, that’s it.”

Sign petition below to help save centres for vulnerable adults http://chn.ge/X8Fq0i

by Vanessa Gainford

Life/News/5

Toxteth protest at Natwest closureby Alice Kirkland

Protestors outside the Toxteth branch of NatWest

Illuminous have described their Warrington projection as ‘one of our favourites to date.’

by Rosie Cameron

the community further as local shops and businesses would be put into competition with the super-market giant.

A NatWest employee at the Tox-teth branch, who wished not to be named, said he is not worried about his job as they have been told they have been transferred,

but is aware that the skills they have developed to be able to work successfully in the community will be lost.

There is a hope that local com-munity groups will be able to es-tablish and run their own commu-nity bank, but this is all dependent on the support of NatWest.

A local community was out in force on Friday in a drastic attempt to save what has been dubbed as a ‘unique’ bank.

NatWest in Toxteth is set to shut its doors on the 27th March with locals fearing the knock on impact on the community could be disas-trous.

Reverend Robert Gallagher, of St Margaret’s Church, Toxteth, said: “In the 1981 riots the bank was raised to the ground and Nat-West bank came back and said ‘we’re here for the long run’.

“It’s been an integral part of the community. This is a little village centre here; shopping, banking, people meet here, talk here.

“It’s also a community that has lost an awful lot; post offi ce- gone, school- gone, law centre- gone. And now the bank is going.”

Reverend Gallagher also spoke of how morale in the community is down, as many feel the closure of the bank is imminent.

He said: “There’s a lot of an-ger around and a lot frustration. There’s a real sense that nothing is going to be changed now. Even our MP, Louise Ellman, who has been supporting us strongly the entire time is now admitting that the reality is that RBS are going to close the bank.”

The bank was the fi rst in the country to offer a drive-thru cash machine service. Demand was so high last year that a second cash machine was installed outside the

building. But RBS, who own Nat-West, have said the bank will be closing due to a low footfall.

The nearest NatWest bank will now either be on Allerton Road, (which is a bus journey away) Ox-ford Street, (which is being closed down in 2017 and moved to the University of Liverpool campus) or Liverpool One.

Rita Smith, who runs the Peter Kavanagh’s community pub in Toxteth, is outraged at the pro-posed closure. She said: “There are people in the community who are physically or mentally chal-lenged.

“My staff from the pub have helped to build up their confi dence by going to the bank with them. Now they will go to the bank on their own. This is where people feel safe.

“If they have to go into town to bank the process will have to start all over again. It’s tragic, absolute-ly tragic.”

Although there has been specu-lation for some time that the bank was closing, the fi rst time the community were made aware that it was defi nitely going to happen was when a notice went up inside the bank several weeks ago.

It read: “Our decision to close Liverpool Prince’s Road branch permanently from 4.30pm on Wednesday 27th March hasn’t been an easy one.”

NatWest also recently released a statement to Bay TV Liverpool that said: “Customer demand has fallen sharply over the last 12

months. We have advised staff and will be helping our customers to make alternative arrangements. A full branch offering is available at the nearby Liverpool University branch, which is less than a mile away as well as at our two city centre branches.

“We also have a range of other options that our customers can use to access their accounts. These in-clude our NatWest mobile phone applications, online and telephone banking services and the use of any post offi ce to pay bills, with-draw cash and check balances.”

However, Toxteth has one of the lowest rates of internet users in the city, as well as an ageing popula-tion.

Ms Smith said: “The older gen-eration don’t have access to on-line-banking. They don’t know about stuff like that.

“They like to come in, have a talk with somebody, get their pen-nies, and know that there’s some-one they can talk to in the middle of the day when maybe they are on their own.

“We were hoping that through the meetings that we had with NatWest we would be able to put our point over and they’d be sym-pathetic to us but it looks like that hasn’t happened so this is why the protest today has taken place.”

There are rumours that Tesco are in line to make a bid on the icon-ic building, which stands at the crossed road of Upper Parliament Street and Catherine Street.

For many locals, this would hurt

Historic Liverpool projection for Wavertree Residents in South Liverpool are in for a treat next month as illumi-nation artwork specialists Illumi-nos visit the city to project historic scenes of South Liverpool onto houses in Wavertree.

L1578 Life is a community pro-ject which will incorporate stalls, workshops, artwork, and a fi lm projected onto houses in Cants-fi eld and Tunstall Street.

Local residents are being asked to dig out their old photographs and footage of the area to truly and accurately refl ect life across the L15, L7 and L8 postcodes. The project hopes to bring com-munity spirit and nostalgia to the residents, and is being praised by local council members.

Illuminos, the company making the fi lm projection, have recently

visited Warrington with an en-chanting display named “When the wolves were running”, an illu-minated shadow play inspired by John Mansfi eld’s book The Box of Delights. The Bury-based compa-ny run by Matt and Rob Vale, has described the Warrington Town Hall project as “one of our favour-ites to date”.

They also visited Dingle at Christmas with a breathtaking projection onto the iconic Cole-man’s Fireproof Depository build-ing. Another work of art that they created was showcased as part of Treasured, the Titanic commemo-ration at Liverpool Cathedral.

Any residents with photos or video footage should send them to Mat@illuminos.co.uk.

Anyone wanting to run a stall as part of the project should contact Billy Maxwell on 0151 225 8693

Bay TV wins bid for local serviceBay TV Liverpool will now run the city’s hyper local television service.

Ofcom confi rmed that Bay TV won the bid. There were four other bidders for the Liverpool license, Made in Liverpool, Metro8 Liv-erpool, Sean Marley and Phil Redmond’s Our-TV and YourTV Liverpool.

The contracts are awarded for a period of up to 12 years and some stations will be on air before the end of 2013. The service will be broadcast to an audience of around 890,000 viewers.

The news given will be provid-ed in partnership with Johnson’s Mercury Press and Media as well as a team of video journalists and feature staff.

Its schedule suggests it will broadcast more than ten hours of local programming, including two and a half hours of news every day.

It has been confi rmed that Bay TV will employ a total of 19 staff that will cover the Liverpool city region, including Halton, Wigan and parts of Cheshire.

Former Liverpool captain Rob-bie Fowler and radio presenter, Pete Price are signed up as part of the station’s football team, and Liam Fogarty will present a week-ly politics and local issues debate on location around the local area.

by Vanessa Gainford

Rise in dog theft rate

A man has died after a friend tried to rescue him from Queen’s dock in Liverpool.

Emergency services arrived at the city’s waterfront at about 4.30am yesterday to a report that two men were in the water.

A 56-year-old man was taken to hospital in a serious condition by paramedics but despite receiv-ing medical treatment he died last night.

A 28-year-old man was still in hospital in a stable condition.

The death is currently being treated as unexplained, and family

Search formissing motherA major search is under way today for a Burscough mother of three Karen Simpson.

Karen Simpson went missing following a trip to the supermar-ket. She was last seen leaving Tes-co in Burcough, near Ormskirk at around 11am.

She went there to buy nappies for her baby daughter, who was born in November last year.

A Facebook page set up ap-pealing for Karen to come home attracted nearly 2,500 users as hundreds of volunteers rallied to-gether to search footpaths, fi elds and gardens around the area where she was last seen.

They joined around 30 offi cers on the ground, dog units, moun-tain search and rescue teams, un-derwater diving teams and a police helicopter.

Man dies after rescue attempt

Dogs stolen on Merseyside are being sold to people over a black market on the internet said to be worth thousands.

The price for pedigree dogs has risen in the last few years some fetching around £2,500.

Some of the most popular dogs on Merseyside include pugs, French bulldogs, Boston terriers and types of poodles.

Nationally, fi gures show an esti-mated 3,500 dog thefts last year – an increase of around 17% on the previous 12 months.

The biggest rise has been in thefts of cocker spaniels, follow-ing an increase in popularity.

Baby joy for Liverpool model Danielle

members were set to be informed and more details would be re-leased later today.

The area was cordoned off for examination and inquiries are un-derway as the police try to seek out any witnesses to the incident.

Fire services were also called to provide extra support with special-ist rescue vessels.

The coast guard couldn’t be de-ployed because of how far away the incident took from open water.

Anyone who may have wit-nessed the incident or anyone with information is asked to contact po-lice on 101.

Danielle Lloyd and hubby Jamie O’Hara are expecting their third child.

The model and TV presenter, 29, and her footballer husband already have two sons, Archie, two, and 19-month-old Harry, and now Danielle hopes for a girl to add to their brood.

She told Closer magazine: “It’s going to be our last baby, so I’d love a girl I can dress up rather than have to play football with.

Danielle also said her pregnancy came as complete shock and she

and Wolverhampton Wanderers star Jamie, 26, conceived after getting “a bit carried away” on a night out in December celebrating her birthday.

She said: “When I fi rst saw the positive test, I thought to myself, ‘I must be mad,’ but when we had the six-week scan and saw the heartbeat, we were over the moon.”

The mum-of-two took to Twitter to thank her 302,138 followers. She wrote: “Thanks to all my followers for all your kind mes-sages such a happy day can’t stop smiling.”

by Hayley Minn

Danielle and her husband

Life/Focus/6

Katerina Kumuru, student, 20 Amy Hope, student, 20 Martin Isherwood, LIPA, 44 Sandra Hutchinson, manager, 42 Chris Grey, unemployed, 36

“It’s probably ruined its reputation a little. It doesn’t really help with the timing either because the popes just resigned as well.”

“I’ve grown up Catholic so obviously he’s a part of my religion. If he can give up everyone else can. I think I need to understand more about his role. But I think we’ll be fi ne.

“The Catholic Church has been around 2000 years, it’s a rain drop on a wind screen. Of course it will recover, it’s a bit of gossip, and it’s a bit of scandal. People are human, people mess up, even priests.”

“I’m from Northern Ireland, and I’ve seen it over the last 40 years. It’s just cover-ups, eventually it has to be exposed and the victims have to be protected.”

“It must really look inside itself and look at the hypocrisy of the organisation and sort itself out. Their public relations at the moment is disgusting especially as it’s surrounding the resignation of the pope. “

One scandal too many?Catholics in Liverpool have today given their views about the resignation and the accusations surrounding Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

The most senior Roman Catholic cleric in Britain, Cardinal O’Brien is stepping down as leader of the Scottish Catholic Church.

He is currently contesting three accusations about inappropriate behaviour towards other priests dating back to the 1980s.

A former priest claims Cardinal O’Brien made an inappropriate approach to him in 1980, after night prayers.

A second statement from another complainant says he was living in a parish when he was visited by O’Brien, and inappropriate contact took place

between them, and a third complainant alleges dealing with what he describes as unwanted behaviour by the cardinal in the 1980s after some late-night drinking.

Cardinal O’Brien, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, apologised to “all whom I have offended” for “any failures” during his ministry.

He will not take part in electing a new pope, leaving Britain unrepresented.

Liverpool Life asked local Catholics to comment on the cardinal’s resignation and recent events surrounding the Catholic Church and whether the church could recover.

At 8pm this Thursday, Pope Benoit XVI will offi cially leave his position. As from this moment he will be known as ‘emeritus pope’.

© Lawrence OP. Flickr. Cardinal Keith O’Brien

by David Williamson

© MATEUS_27:24&25. Flickr Pope Benoit XVI retires this week

Liverpool

LifeVigil for George on 70th birthday Music

28th February – 3rd MarchThe Capstone Theatre, Liver-pool Hope UniversityJazz is coming to Merseyside as a new International Jazz Festival launches from the 28th February to 3rd March. The Capstone Theatre will welcome the smooth sounds of Roller Trio, Led Bib, Robert Mitchell, Kit Downes Quintet, Denys Baptiste’s Triumvirate and Courtney Pine to name but a few. With some of the programmed events running for free there is bound to be something for everyone, as both national and international musicians get ready to get the crowds swing-ing and jumping. Since opening in 2010 The Capstone Theatre has proved itself to be THE venue for cut-ting edge jazz and world mu-sic in Liverpool. From hard-core saxophone fans to those hearing the trumpet for the fi rst time there will surely be something to satisfy all those who appreciate live music.

TheatreThe Lantern Festival, Blundell Street2nd March 7.30pmTickets £10/£12Get your glad rags on as the op-era is coming to Liverpool for one night only. Relative Pitch Opera is proud to present Hele-na Leonard in The Nightingale of South Bank- the arias of the versatile English Soprano Flor-ence Easton.Helena will be performing many of Florence’s famous arias from operas including Madame But-terfl y, Gianni Schicchi, Aida, Tosca and many more. This one-woman show has al-ready had excellent reviews as Helena takes on the role of a woman famed for her ability to taken an unknown part at very short notice and perform it fl aw-lessly in public the same day.A performance not to be missed by anyone with an interest in the opera.

FamilyThe Suitcase Ensemble is inviting families to attend a range of free creativity work-shops for their bran new ‘Top and Tale’ morning. The workshops will include stories, song, folk tales and a cuppa with events open to all. There will also be an up-date from Hope Street Ltd on the renovation of the former

Everton Library - ‘The Jewel on the Hill’ - and a chance to input into the future plans for the building. Threshold Festival @ Albert Dock, venue to be announced soon!

Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 March 2013, 12pm - 2pmThe Suitcase Ensemble’s unique contemporary blend of music and storytelling to the Albert Docks as part of Liverpool’s biggest and best grass-roots mu-sic festival. Guests are invited to bring along their own stories, songs, instru-ments etc. to join in singarounds and jam sessions. Children under 12 must be ac-companied by a responsible adult. Children aged 13-16 must bring along a signed parental consent form.If you have any questions, or need to let us know about any access requirements, please contact Tessa Buddle: 07916 920415 or tessa@suitcase-en-semble.com

ArtsFACT14th March – 26th MayFreeThe Art of the Pop Video is coming to Liverpool in the fi rst exhibition of its kind in the UK. More than 70 video clips will tell the story of the pop video, showcasing the contribution pop videos has had to modern culture. Artists featured will include Andy Warhol, Pipilotti Rist, Wolfgang Tillmans, Bruce Conner, Carsten Nicolai and Christian Jankowski.Local Liverpool bands and fi lmmakers will also be show-cased at the exhibition, which will be accompanied by a pro-gramme of events and exhi-bitions for music lovers of all ages.

Pop Art: Andy Warhol

By Ian Bolland

Liverpool is to become the centre of the television world as it wel-comes more than 600 executives from TV and digital companies in the nation’s biggest television market. It is hosting the BBC Showcase 2013, a four-day event which sees some of the best programmes that the BBC has to offer, with over 50,000 hours of content available. MasterChef presenters John To-rode and Donald Skehan are ex-pected to attend along with Chris O’Dowd who will be promoting Sky1 comedy Moone Boy which is due to return later this year. The event has previously been held in Brighton, and was fi rst held in 1976 with the fi rst show-case including fondly remembered shows such as Fawlty Towers, The Good Life and the original Doctor Who series. The event has also been held in

Bristol, Jersey and Stratford-up-on-Avon before staying in Bright-on from 1987 onwards before

moving to Liverpool. In the past popular shows such as Yes, Minister was remade in

Ukraine. Allo! Allo! – a comedy set in France during World War II was sold to Germany , The Vicar of Dibley to Kazakhstan, and Spooks sold to Russia de-spite many storyline being written around Russian agents. Sitcom The Offi ce has been a notable success from previous events having had remakes in six countries - with the original being shown in over 170 countries. Shows that are likely to attract attention are Top Gear – which has also had similar success like The Offi ce – along with Doctor Who which celebrates its 50th anniver-sary this year and is likely to be the centre of much attention. In the past many stars of shows have attended such as Sir David Attenborough, Michael Palin, Michael Aspel, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes star Philip Glenis-ter, the writer for Doctor Who Ste-ven Moffat along with the current Doctor himself in Matt Smith.

What’s On...

VIGIL: George Harrison, who died in 2001

Liverpool to host BBC sales expo as British TV goes global

By Hayley Minn

A vigil was held yesterday for what would have been Beatle George Harrison’s 70th birthday. Fans of the iconic guitarist were leaving fl owers on the Beatles statue in Cavern Walks, off Liver-pool’s Matthew Street. The theme of the vigil was “Im-agine”, chosen after the famous John Lennon song of the same name. John James Chambers, founder of the Liverpool Beatles Appreci-ation Society, told the Liverpool Echo: “We want to send the message of love out of from Liverpool to around the world, for peace and understanding. “It is only right that we honour George, his character and his cre-ative genius on what would have been his 70th birthday. Musically he was very special and what the Beatles did will never happen again.” The Liverpool Academy of Art recently honoured Harrison by displaying a series of his work from his formative years right through until his death. The academy also invited fans from around the world to send in birthday cards which they had designed to commemorte the musician. The lead guitarist of The Beat-

les, George was born in 1943 in Wavertree’s Arnold Grove. Often described as the “quiet Beatle”, George became an admirer of Indian mysticism and famously collaborated with sitar player Ravi Shankar. During his travels to India Harrison found faith and decided to convert to the religion of Islam. Asia became a spiritual home for the guitarist and inspired the majority of his solo career. Following the Beatles’ split, he released a succession of solo albums, the most successful being 1970’s triple album All Things Must Pass and 1987’s Cloud Nine. He was married twice, to Patti Boyd from 1966 to 1977 and then Olivia Trinidad Arias, with whom he had a son, Dhani in 1978. Harrison continued to record until he lost his long-running battle with lung cancer in 2001, in honour of his faith Harrison left a note in his will along with more that £100 million stating that he wanted to rest in true peace, his family honoured his wishes and after his cremation in Hollywood his ahese were fl own to India and scattered in the river Ganges. Harrison was appointed an MBE in 1965 along with the rest of the band and won an Academy Award for ‘Let it Be in 1971.

LIVERPOOLLIVE

On The Threshold: Grassroots Festival returns to show talent JMU

REVIEW: SWIM DEEP @ THE KAZIMIER

Life/Music /8

ALT-J - AN AWSOME WAVEAlmost from the day it was nominat-ed for the Mercury prize, Alt-J’s ‘An Awesome Wave’ was the favourite to win but what was a surprise was the extent of public support for a record described as “art rock”. There’s some-thing new at every turn, from the jar-ring a cappella intro to ‘Tessellate’s’ geometrically precise electronica. The record is loaded with catchy chorus-es and jilted rhythms - and although some would say the album shares a certain sound with Wild Beasts’ Smother, this album is truly unique.

HAYLEY MINN

HAIM - FALLING

JOSHUA NEVETT

JAMES BLAKE - RETROGRADEAs a conservationist of the less abra-sive, sterile facets of dubstep, James Blake’s soulful croons exist in a place so desolate and isolated; emotion is an inconceivable notion. JB’s fi rst single from his second album, ‘Overgrown’ is still tinged with the spatial nothing-ness of his 2011 eponymous album, but unearths a newfound purity to un-leash the slick singer-songwriter we all know he’s capable of being. “Ignore everybody else, we’re alone now”, he asserts in his strained falsetto between jeering synths and feathery high-hats.

JOSHUA NEVETT

“� reshold is art to art, art to punter and musician to industry.”“ “ With its jittery guitar riffs and hand-

clapped vigour, ‘Falling’ could be the soundtrack to a coming-of-age mon-tage echoing the fl eeting harmonies of Fleetwood Mac. Breathy vocal hook-line, “never give up” sounds like the provocative mantra of a 90s R&B band while the funky bass-line leaves you hop-scotching in their playground of frivolity. Haim’s catchy refrains and insatiable grooves are becoming ubiq-uitous; the only problem now seems to be the diffi cult task of deciding which of the three sisters I fancy more.

Threshold Festival is set to return to the city for the third year running to give grassroots artists and musicians a platform to display their talent. Threshold is the city’s largest grassroots,

multi-arts, volunteer lead festival with a programme of over 180 artists and perform-ers. The three day event will take place from 8th-10th March and will span across various different venues throughout the city including The Picket, Unit 51 Cafe and Elevator Bar. The main stage and the heart of the festival

is situated at Camp and Furnace, a converted industrial warehouse on the outskirts of Liver-pool’s Baltic Triangle. The line-up is an eclectic mixture of estab-

lished and lesser-known performers and artists. MOBO Award winner Esco Williams headlines the bill along with A Ray of Charles, Coffee & Cakes for Funerals and LA soul acoustic artist JC Villafan.Following the success of Theshold’s inaugu-

ral event at the Contemporary Urban Centre (CUC) in February 2011, the local promoters behind the event decided to expand their vision and make the transition to larger spaces. Since then, the past two years has seen a

growth spurt in the local music and art scene, enabling artists, musicians, performers and promoters to showcase their talent on a bigger scale. Kaya Herstad Carney, Festival Director said

that Threshold Festival is about promoting the community and showcasing the underground scenes that makes the city tick. She said: “Threshold is art to art, art to punter

and musician to industry. It’s not industry to industry or pushing “the next big thing” - not that there is anything against that. It is just not what we aim to do. “We showcase what is already going on in

Liverpool to a wider audience. We are local at our core, and even though half of us are not

from here, we belong here.” Kaya doesn’t believe in competing with other

inner-city festivals, but working together to form strong bonds between like-minded people. She was part of the Liverpool Music Week

team for the fi rst fi ve years, and has offered her support to other arts and music events in the city including the Liverpool Biennial, Liv-erpool Fringe Festival and Above the Beaten Track. Visual arts volunteer and tour guide, Albany

Owens volunteered for the festival because she wanted to get more involved with the music and art scene in Liverpool.

She said: “Threshold seemed like a really friendly, vibrant event and looked like it had a lot to offer. “Threshold stands out because it is a festi-

val that celebrates and focuses on grassroots bands, new and emerging artists and communi-ty projects.” This year’s festival will incorporate three

programming themes: Friday – escapism, Saturday – transformation and Sunday – col-laboration. To complement a weekend packed full of

music and visual arts, the festival also boasts a wide range of industry sessions, art workshops, panel discussions and book readings.

Alien synth karaoke rock band Organ Freeman caused a stir at Threshold Festival in 2012

by Joshua Nevett

“Is this what an American high school should sound like?” asks bemused SWIM DEEP singer Austin Williams through an upheaval of high-pitched jeers and hoots. � is is just the sort of reception that topping just about everyone’s ‘Ones-To-Watch’ list for 2013 a� ords you – and that’s not to mention their status as the toast of Birmingham’s burgeoning ‘B-Town’ band cir-cuit. Such is the excitement on their � rst head-line UK tour in support of their forthcoming debut album, ‘� e Sea’ (out March 4th); even the passive nonchalance of the four Brummie baggies isn’t enough to quell the boisterous cat-

erwauling in the Kazimier tonight. Swim Deep write sun-kissed pop songs that hover close to a pastiche of mid-90s grunge while still managing to convey the image of kickin’ back on Venice Beach with an ounce of high-grade marijuana. “Don’t just dream in your sleep - it’s just easy”, clamours Austin for their second single, ‘Hon-

ey’, underpinning Swim Deep’s escapist man-tra, while sounding deliriously euphoric. “We � nished our album a few days ago, I can’t wait to show you all”, remarks Austin, in a gulp of endearment - and with Charlie Hugnall (2:54, Florence Welch) on knob twiddling duties, we can’t wait to see it either. � e warm, fuzzy har-monies of recent single, ‘� e Sea’ coo gently as if to lull you into a dreamy stupor, but everyone is too woozy with the fumes of summer to be induced. Chiming guitars blaze for their break-through escapade ‘King City’: it’s driving bass-line and melodic in� ections are a nod towards Wavves or Splassh – 80s surf rock revival with a shared adoration for the dynamic rhythmic shi� s of the Pixies. � ese lads aren’t fooling around to lampoon you with surfer-pop gim-mickry: but rest assured they’ll have you frol-icking around in a kaleidoscope of tie-dye and charity shop frocks o� your tits on their sun-drenched apathy.

B-town’s shaggy princes of surf-pop perform at the Kazimier by Joshua Nevett

jukebox

“This is my chance at stardom” - Ali

Life/Music /9

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE - MIRRORSAfter a self-imposed hiatus from the music scene, Justin Timerlake’s recent return with the Jay-Z collaborated ‘Suit & Tie’ was an attempt to resume a period of musical dominance that he held just fi ve years ago. However disappointing that effort was, this one shows the 31-year-old is back at his best. His recent performance of ‘Mir-rors’ at the Brit Awards depicted that he still has the ability to hold a crowd in the palm of his hand, whilst also dis-playing the freshness that earned his hit ‘Cry Me A River’ a Grammy in 2004.

RORY KELLY

THE CORONAS - DREAMING AGAINIndie-rockers The Coronas are one of Ireland’s biggest bands, and having dominated the Irish music scene in recent years, the four-piece have since launched an onslaught on the British scene. This latest helping, remixed by acclaimed LA studio wizard Michael James is part of the band’s ‘Closer To You’ album, and with the balladeer vocals of front-man Danny O’Reilly being complemented by exquisite guitar from Dave McPhillips, this gives off an exuberent festival-theme, which is sure to have you singing along.

RORY KELLY

BASTILLE - POMPEIIAfter recently touring with Two Door Cinema Club, London band Bastille’s latest installment ‘Pompeii’ cements their status as one of Britain’s up and coming bands. Having released two EP’s of popular covers, including one of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Blue Jeans’, the band prove that they are capable with producing their own songs too. The anthematic chanting throughout this track stands out, allowing for lead man Dan Smith’s vocals to shine through in a Chris Martin-esqe fashion.

RORY KELLY

“

by Joel Richards

Legendary artist Neil Young has been announced as the fi rst big-name act for the new Liverpool International Music Festival.Young (pictured above), alongside long-time

collaborators Crazy Horse, will come to the Echo Arena on Sunday August 18 to kick off this year’s event, which has replaced the former Mathew Street Festival.As part of his summer 2013 tour, the Canadian

singer-songwriter is on his way back to the city having previously played the Empire Theatre in 1973 and it will be the fi rst time the 67-year-old has

performed in Britain with Crazy Horse since 2001.The announcement represents a boost for the

festival which was announced last week amidst controversy over the axing of the long-standing Mathew Street Festival, which had previously attracted up to 200,000 visitors to the city during August Bank Holiday weekend.The event, part funded by Arts Council England,

will have two stages at the Pier Head and the Philharmonic Orchestra will play at Sefton Park.Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson commented: “We

are delighted Neil Young and Crazy Horse are going to be part of the fi rst Liverpool International Music Festival. This is a fantastic coup for the festival and

for the City. Neil Young and Crazy Horse are world renowned artists and having them as part of the Liverpool International Music Festival will get the week off to an inspirational start.”Young has been inducted into the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame twice – once as a solo artist and once as a member of another of his bands, Buffalo Springfi eld. The tour will be the fi rst time he has performed in the UK since 2009 when he headlined at Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight Festival and Hard Rock Calling.Last year Young and Crazy Horse released double

album ‘Psychedelic Pill’. They recently toured North America and are set to tour Australia and New

Neil Young to headline inaugural

International Music Festival

by Michaela Shaw

Local underground musician Ali Ingle has been granted a shot at stardom after signing a recording contract with a top music mogul.The 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Liverpool

has had nothing but success in the past year.After nearly a decade of being involved

with music, Alistair was

recognized at the 2012 Liverpool music awards, winning the ‘Best Male Artist’ category.Ali siad: “I feel a duty to represent my city. I want

to make those close to me proud.“Winning the Liverpool Music Award was a

great honor and I feel like I’m starting to earn it. Representing Liverpool means a lot to me, it’s taught me a lot about how to be an artist, and there are some amazing musicians that came from here.”Kundun, the label which has snapped the artist up,

is run by Guy Holmes, an infl uential fi gure in the

music industry.Having previously worked with major labels such

as EMI and Island Records, he has worked with artists such as U2, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, and more recently, Jessie J.“It is a team of awesome people representing me in

promotion and live shows and everything I need to succeed. It is a UK and US based record label.”Stunned by the opportunity, and excited for what

the future holds, Ali described how it feels to achieve what every musician longs for – a recording deal.He said: “I have achieved a huge personal goal. I

have completed a seemingly impossible dream. I will be making a living out of my passion. I have a long way to go but it is a very big step into a journey I intend to see through to the end. I feel like I have a responsibility, every musician dreams of a record deal, and I have this chance, I have to prove I am worthy.“I feel like it’s Christmas!”Refl ecting his personal music style and infl uences,

Ali added: “I would love to work with David Gray, that would be my ultimate writing fantasy. I was going to say Van Morrison … but I’ve heard he’s a bit of a crank!”

CRAZY LIKE A HORSE: Neil Young and Crazy Horse are lined up for the new festival

Simon Carter at House of Fraser £125

Joe Browns £25.95

French Connection £40

ASOS £28

Men - do you dare to fl aunt fl oral?

Costi Taga, 19, Romania:“No I wouldn’t wear a � oral shirt. I like simple clothing.”

Oli Eardley, 19, Liverpool student, from Manchester:“Yes I would wear a � oral shirt, if it was fashionable.”

Ruairi Campbell, 18, Liverpool:“No. I don’t feel the need to try to express myself through what I wear so I wouldn’t wear anything like that.”

Martin Jones, Runcorn:“De� nitely not. I’m too boring for that.”

Chris Askew, 20, Liverpool:“Maybe. It depends where I was going and what it looked like.”

Life/Style/10

Jordan Roberts,18, Wales:“No! Flowers aren’t my thing. Unless I was in Hawaii or somewhere, I would wear a � oral shirt then.”

Adam O’Hare, 22, Ireland:“No way. If I wore one of those shirts my mates would never let me live it down”

Daniel O’Brien, 20, Manchester:“My dad wore a � oral Hawaiian shirt on holiday once and it put me right o� .”

David Edwards, 56, Liverpool:“I would wear those Hawaiian shirts on holidays, but not at home.”

Damien Williams, 50, Kensington:“No I wouldn’t wear that. I’m too old. I used to have a red � oral shirt when I was younger though.”

Richard Eves, 30:“I would wear � orals and paisley, I don’t mind it.”

Samuel Peers, 20, Manchester:“I would wear � oral. Or Paisley. I like that whole psychedelic edge.”

Floral patterns are fab - but are menfolk these days bloomin’ cowards when it

comes to bold fl owery shirts? We took to Liverpool city centre to fi nd out ...

Flower Power

Life/Style/11

Have you ever considered leaving Liverpool behind, and throwing yourself into the unknown? Is there a country you’ve never visited, or experiences you never thought you’d have; just imagine the memories that could last a life time? You can achieve all these things and more if you decide to spend your summer (or even an entire year) travelling to di� erent parts of the world. If you’re a university student, regardless of your year of study, this is the perfect time to travel. Five-month summers and stu-dent loans and bursaries can all contribute towards making your summer dream a reality. Whether it’s the other side of the world, or a place closer to home, travelling or working abroad can give you the experi-ence of a lifetime. In August 2011, I booked a � ight to a place that was 5,300 miles away, the city of dreams, Los Angeles in California.If jetting o� to the other side of

the world isn’t really your thing, you can involve yourself in ad-ventures not so far away. 20-year-old Rachael Gill, from Widnes, went on a summer hol-iday to the party island of Ibiza, and fell in love. She decided to spend the entire summer season working on the resort, and has done so for three years. She said: “� e experiences were amazing. I’m doing my third season this year! I thoroughly en-joyed myself; even going to work was fun! Advice I would give to somebody who wants to do the same thing is make sure you save up a bit of money, and book a one way ticket while you’re young, it’s the best thing you will ever do!” Rachael was even lucky enough to meet her current long-term boyfriend on the Island, a man she wouldn’t have met unless she ventured o� to Ibiza. She added: “I met the love of my life in Ibiza, my boyfriend is from Hastings down south, and he’s moved to be with me up

north. We met the day I started working at a bar and he asked me out for a drink, we’ve been together every day since.” Another fun-loving traveller, Charlotte Douglas, 25, has spent the past several years exploring di� erent areas of the world, as far as Australia and as close to home as France. She said: “Just GO! You don’t need to save that much, just get a job when you’re there. Experience life and when you come home you look at the world in a whole di� erent perspective! If I won the lottery I would send all my friends away to travel, seriously, everybody should do it once in their life.” � e experiences you can encounter during travelling are next to none, you can apply for schemes such as Camp America, or Camp Leaders, as well as BUNAC, who help students obtain working visas. You can also just book your � ight, and go and make your own memories of a lifetime!

If you have itchy feet - just do it!Michaela Shaw talks about gap year experiences and why she thinks it is important for students to travel while they can

Michaela Shaw at the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

HolidayWe pack our suncream but leave our common sense at home, why do we do dangerous things on holiday?

Getting insured abroad:Are youcovered?By Joe Barnes

Travel insurance is probably the last thing you think of before jetting o� on your much needed holiday but make sure it is at the top of your list before leaving! You can o� en pick up cheap travel cover, for as little as £10 a week but make sure you know what you are covered for. � e so called ‘budget’ covers look comprehensive at � rst glance but o� en come with high excesses, anywhere from £200-£400 per claim, the average cost to cover an ear-infection across Europe is £320, so you could end up footing the entire bill without being able to use your cover. � e second most impor-tant thing to consider is what activities you will be covered for whilst some companies may say you are covered for hundreds of activities whilst away, double check what they are! Quad biking, a common occur-rence for young Brits abroad, is not covered under most policies as a standard, so make sure before jumping on a bike ring up your provider to add additional cover to stop ending up with a big bill if you have an accident.

Parascending - looks fun but how safe is it?

Jetskiing is a sport holiday makers can enjoy

In the wake of the hot air balloon disaster that happened in Egypt, resulting in the death of 18 tourists, Liverpool Life has taken a look at people who have been involved in similar incidents, and experienced the horror first hand. The crash has put things into perspective for some tourists who regularly take part in ‘ex-treme tourism’ excursions while on holiday. It’s a normal thing to be enticed by the excitement of cheap thrills in foreign coun-tries, however, it’s important to remember, and perhaps we don’t, the risks that such things may impose. Danielle Vernon, 20, from Warrington was shocked to hear of the Egypt crash, as her very own parents had been on the exact same trip just a week prior. She said: “It’s so scary to think that my mum and dad under a week ago went on a hot air balloon ride in Luxor. I’m lucky my parents came home.” Danielle’s mum, 49-year-old Nadine Vernon, described her experience on the same hot air balloon ride a week prior to the accident. She said: “It was very well organised, all safety checks were adhered too. We had to practice the landing position several

times before taking off. The pilot was extremely knowledgable about all the sights and he was also very entertaining, making jokes during the flight. I was extremely upset this morning to hear about the balloon incident, my heart goes out to the families who have lost their loved ones.” The events that unfolded in Egypt may make tourists look back at decisions they made in the past which may have put

themselves at danger, and it may also encourage people to be more vigilant when it comes to these forms of ‘extreme tourism’ by ensuring they are properly regulated by health and safety, and being ran by professionals. LJMU student Jonathan Bridge recalls his experience while on holiday in Ibiza; a girl sharing the same hotel was involved in a horrific incident while on a boat trip.

He said: “While I was on holiday, we were warned about doing some of these activities by one of the 18-30 reps, because a girl in the same hotel as us had a bad accident, she had been caught in the propellers of a boat.” The victim was a 20 year old British holidaymaker who suf-fered a severely broken leg, but was lucky to be alive following the accident. Jonathan added: “The likes of parasailing and that kind of thing have never appealed to me. If I wouldn’t do that sort of thing here at home, I definitely wouldn’t do it in a foreign coun-try where you’re less confident of safety measures and guide-lines being followed.” However, regular extreme tourist, 20-year-old Charlotte, claims that you cannot live in fear of injuries or accidents while taking part in such activ-ities, and you can’t let it hold you back. She said: “I have been trav-elling in Australia and I have spent the last month doing things such as bungee jumping, sky diving, white water rafting, and canoeing. I had faith in the equipment being used. I have done more extreme things in my 20 years than some people will

do in their whole lives. I say live for today not for tomorrow.” The tourists in Egypt thought they were taking part in a rou-tine excursion to see the sights of Luxor, and unfortunately dis-aster struck and 18 people have lost their lives. This empha-sizes the importance of safety while being involved in such activities, and shows the darker side of tourism which anybody can be unfortunate enough to experience.

Michaela Shaw investigates...

Life/12

Give a dog a home

by Josh ParryOur region has one of the highest numbers of stray pooches in the UK.According to fi gures from the Dogs Trust, the Granada Region had nearly 17,000 stray hounds in 2012. Liverpool Life turns the spotlight on the ‘forgotten dogs of Merseyside’ to help fi nd their forever homes

Freshfi elds Animal Rescue 0151 931 1604kennels@freshfi eldsrescue.org.ukFreshfi elds Animal Rescue, based in Ince Blundell has been carrying out rescue work for the past 30 years and has opera-tions in Liverpool and Wales.As well as dogs, they also re-home cats, ferrets and small mammals.If you would like to give one of these dogs a home, contact Freshfi elds using the above details.

Alfi eAlfi e is a Rottweiller cross Staffordshire Bull Terrier who has been passed through two homes in the space of one month.

He is now being held at Freshfi elds and is looking for a new home.

Staff at the rescue are seeking an active home where he won’t be left alone for more than a few hours a day, as puppies need plenty time spent on training and socialising.

As with all puppies, Alfi e has sharp claws and a bouncy personality which can be overwhelming for young children so please bear this in mind if you would like to offer Alfi e a home.

You can fi nd more information on Alfi e at: http://www.freshfi eldsrescue.org.uk/animals/detail/alfi e8

CindyCindy is a one-year-old English Bull Terrier Cross.

She is full of energy and came to the centre from a stray pound so Dogs Trust have limited history for her. Cindy is completely deaf and as such needs a patient owner who can spend the time to teach her hand signal commands rather than basic word commands. She is currently being taught with a clicker light and is responding really well.

Cindy will make a wonderful dog as she is very friendly but would be best suited to children aged 10 or over as she can be very bouncy. She shouldn’t be left alone for extended periods

You can fi nd more information on Cindy at: http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming

Dogs Trust Merseyside0151 480 0660www.dogstrust.org.ukDogs Trust Merseyside is based in Huyton and is part of the charity’s network of rescue cen-tres. They often have over 100 dogs at any given time and also provide microchipping at a red-cued cost. If you would like to give one of these dogs a home, contact Dogs Trust Merseyside using the above details.

MurphyMurphy is a Lurcher who was dumped at the door of Freshfi elds in a bad condition.

He had a thin coat and a wound on his foot. Now he has been nursed back to health and despite his size- the biggest lurcher the centre has ever seen- he loves trying to fi t on your knee so that he can be made a fuss of.

He is looking for a home where he can be the only pet as, like most lurchers, he isn’t good with small animals. Murphy isn’t good with other dogs but provided he is walked in quiet areas he is fi ne.

His dog walker says “He is a stunning chap, very friendly with people and very affectionate.”

You can fi nd more information on Murphy at: http://www.freshfi eldsrescue.org.uk/animals/detail/murphy1

BeauBeau is a fi ve-year-old Jack Russell Terrier.

He is full of energy and so needs a home who can use his brain often to keep him out of mischief.

He is a really lively dog but has a loving nature and loves to curl up after a long walk. He is OK with other quiet dogs, however he doesn’t like too much attention from other dogs.

Beau would be best suited to being the only dog in the home as he loves getting all the attention.

He is also best suited to an adult only home as he does have some issues that need working with, but full help and support will be given by the centre’s behaviourist.

You can fi nd more information on Beau at: http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming

Liverpool Life rounds

up some of the

hundreds of rescue

centre dogs across

Merseyside looking

for homes

Life/Health/13

Hidden dangers of ‘safe’ cigarettes

As many as one million people in the UK are turning to electronic cigarettes as a way to curb the habit of a lifetime and save hundreds of pounds a year - but experts have branded them as unsafe as tobacco cigarettes. E-cigarettes aren’t regulated and are not available on NHS prescription.

E-cigarettes are known as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). They don’t contain tobacco but instead they comprise a battery, an atomiser and a cartridge containing nicotine which is why some people see them as a healthy option to smoking.

In some brands of e-cigarettes the device lights up when a smoker inhales which resembles the action of smoking a normal cigarette.

When in use, a sensor detects air fl ow and heats the liquid in the cartridge resulting in the nicotine vapour being released into the air when exhaled.

Because there is no tobacco in the products, they don’t contain tar which is the substance that’s potentially harmful to smokers, but whether the products are safe is widely contested.

Currently, e-cigarettes are not regulated under smoke free law in the UK, and users of the product are free to use them in public places such as bars, restaurants and on public transport.

Sarah Carden of Liverpool said that she bought an e-cigarette in the hope to quit smoking, but she now does a combination of both.

“I have had one for a year which was bought for me by my mum who doesn’t agree with smoking. I think they’re good and I do

actually prefer them to smoking, but when the battery runs out I fi nd myself smoking my emergency supply of fags.”

LJMU student, Dave Williamson said: “In theory the electronic cigarette is brilliant, with harmless vapours, no smell and the same hit as nicotine it makes sense to make the jump from tobacco products.”

“I’ve been smoking for the last six or seven years. I smoke around 20 roll-ups a day, but I always have to go outside, whereas with the electronic cigarette I was able to stay inside, I was able to smoke where ever I wanted so I ended up smoking the nicotine equivalent of 30 a day.”

He added: “At the time I was trying to quit, so it ended up being entirely counterproductive. For a healthier nicotine option they’re a great idea, but for quitting they’re no good, Instead of knocking the habit you end up just changing where you get the nicotine from.”

“They are cheaper, they are healthier than their tobacco counterparts, but if you’re looking for a way out they aren’t the way to go.”

According to Action on Smoking and Health’s (ASH) new briefi ng paper on electronic cigarettes, many smokers do utilise the products in an attempt to quit smoking.

Recent fi ndings showed that as many as 60% of smokers have cut down on their cigarette intake, as many as 51% have quit entirely, and 51% were glad to eradicate the smell of stale smoke which lingers on your clothes.

One benefi t that smokers found with the electronic device was that it satisfi ed the hand to mouth

behavioural component which isn’t tackled through alternative nicotine replacement therapies. Many long-term smokers say they feel that it curbs fi dgeting during cravings.

In 2011, Liverpool Primary Care Trust revealed that smoking is the largest cause of premature mortality in the UK and that Liverpool has the highest lung cancer death rate in the country.

Eileen Streets, director of tobacco control at Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “Currently we do not recommend electronic cigarettes to people who want to quit smoking because they have not been licensed by the government as a medicine.

“However, we would support electronic cigarettes if they are properly regulated and evidence is produced which show they are effective in helping people to quit smoking.”

There is currently no concrete evidence to suggest that the devices are completely safe to use. WHO’S Tobacco Regulatory Group have noted that in the absence of thorough clinical evaluation and long term population level surveillance, absolute safety of the products can’t be guaranteed.

The safety concerns relate to the absence of product regulation and inconsistencies in quality control. The products are currently banned in Australia and Canada and can only be purchased over the internet.

The US Food and Drug administration (FDA) has raised safety concerns over the amount of toxins that are released from the vaporisation of nicotine that is

Designed to be the healthier option available to smokers, Sara Ainsworth investigates the real health risks e-cigarettes pose

released. The National Institute for

Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is developing guidance on a harm reduction approach to smoking, they also aim to advise how to reduce death rates and illnesses attributable to smoking, which will include e-cigarettes. Their recommendations will be published in Spring 2013.

Conversely, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently reviewing options to regulate nicotine-containing products which will include e-cigarettes.

The debate is currently on-going, however if the devices are found to be safe and effective they could be available on NHS prescription in the near future.

Electronic cigarettes have been subjected only to minimal scientifi c study - which has not provided enough information to demonstrate whether they are safer than tobacco cigarettes or effective as a smoking cessation product like nicotine gum or patches.

The start-up cost of the two electronic devices is about £75.

“They are cheaper, they are healthier than their tobacco

counterparts - but if you’re looking for a way out, they aren’t

the way to go”

Difference in the number of smokers who currently use e-cigarettes compared with those who have tried them

by Sara Ainsworth

Young sunbed users are now being warned against the effects of using the tanning booths as it will make them twice as likely to use anti-aging products in later life and cause them to age prematurely.

Cancer Research UK has released a campaign that outlines the devastating effects of using sunbeds at a young age.

The R UV UGLY campaign highlights that overexposure to UV lights can alter the skins pigmentation which causes skin to age before its time.

The new results show that 68% of people asked are concerned about the consequences of visiting tanning booths, and 19% of people regularly use anti-ageing products before the age of 25. in the 18-24 age range group.

old. I ended up in A&E and had severe sun stroke. For about two weeks I didn’t leave the house.”

She added: “My skin was peeling and I had 3rd degree burns, but luckily it didn’t leave me scarred, and the doctor said it was more like a chemical peel. I was lucky really, but now I always use lots of sun cream, to avoid my skin ageing. Sunlamps are now illegal, some people used go on them for ages, but I was only on for four minutes because I followed the instructions.

“Even though I wasn’t on for long the pain was enough to put me off sunbeds and sunbathing for life. I was really lucky my skin wasn’t permanently damaged. i think young people look for quick ways of having a tan but I learn the hard way.”

Another serious implication of artifi cial tanning is skin cancer which is caused when UV rays cause mutations to the DNA in skin cells which builds up gradually over time.

The most serious type of cancer malignant melanoma has quadrupled in the UK over the last 30 years and is most prevalent in older people but is the second most common type.

The main reasons that young people use sunbeds are to look more attractive, to get a base tan before going on holiday and to stay tanned during the winter months.

Experts advice to stay away from sunbeds as they can increase your chances of developing cancer by more than 50% whilst adding to wrinkles and pigmentation.

Young sun bed users warned about damaging effects on health

When adding up the total of how much youths spend on sunbeds it is believed that 30% of users spend approximately £20 a month.

Katie Croft told JMU Journalism: “I use the sunbeds about twice a week mainly because I don’t like being pale and feel happier in myself when I have a tan, I’m aware of the effects they can have on skin later in life but I very rarely think about it! I fi nd the sunbeds help to keep my skin moisturised as I suffer from eczema so this is another reason why I use them!”

Kate Cameron told JMU Journal ism: “When I was 19, my mum had a sunlamp that she had had for years and when she went on holiday I got it out to give it a go. All of the protective stuff off the bulbs had worn off because it was

Warning: Sunbed users advised of risks ©RobIgo/Creative Commons/Flickr

Debutants take to the pitch for blind football

Life/Sport/14

Merseyside Blind FC played their fi rst two games of the new year, as they travelled to The Royal College for the Blind in Hereford on Saturday. The team had two debutants in the side – 16 year old Ben Jackson-Spruce and Jordon Ashton. Their fi rst opponent was West Midlands, who they met on their Blind Futsal League debut back in October. West Midlands won the match back in October 4-0, and is currently second in the table, trail-ing Worcester by a point. They were also the strongest team this Saturday, as goals in the 15th and 35th minute gave West Midlands the win. Matt Cliff and Eamon Preston are being praised for their defensive performance. Next up was London and SE Blind Centre of Excellence. A 13th minute strike from Captain Roy Turnham was enough to se-cure Merseyside Blind FC their second ever win. Turnham is the big start, after playing for Great Britain in the Paralympics last year. The Merseysiders now sit fourth in the table. Next month they face tough opposition as they meet league leaders Worcester Blind and third-placed RNC Academy

Bulls on their home ground.

by Arild Skjaeveland

Josh Killner asks why is it STILL not okay to be gay in the game?The chairman of Liverpool John Moores University football team believes there is a long way to go before homosexuality is accepted properly in football, despite never experiencing homophobia in foot-ball. Last week, Robbie Rogers, an American footballer who has played in England at Leeds Unit-ed and internationally for USA, decided to retire from football af-ter revealing his sexuality on his blogging site: http://www.therob-bierogers.com/ Writing on his website, Rogers said: “For the past 25 year I have been afraid, afraid to show whom I really was because of fear. Fear that judgment and rejection would hold me back from my dreams and aspirations. Fear that my loved ones would be farthest from me if they knew my secret. Fear that my secret would get in the way of my dreams. “Secrets can cause so much inter-nal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. “I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my es-cape, my purpose, my identity. Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined… I will always be thankful for my career.” Only two other professional foot-ballers have publicly said they are gay, including England Under-21 international Justin Fashanu who, in 1990, became the fi rst profes-sional footballer in Britain to re-veal he was gay. However, at the age of 37, Fashanu took his own life following allegations of sexual assault. Despite Rogers coming out, as

well as a number of high profi le professionals in other sports, Sam Pullinger, Chairman of LJMU Men’s football, believes there is still a long way to go before ho-mosexuality is properly accepted in the game. Talking to Liverpool Life, he said: “I do not have an issue with the decision made by Robbie Rodgers in coming out gay and would fully support it. However, I think the timing of the decision may not have been the best. He de-cided to come out gay the minute he retired. I personally do not see that as a step in the right direction. “Although he has received full support from ex-players and man-agers he should have done it while still playing. I still think there is a massive issue regarding being

openly gay in football, maybe more so than most other sports.Pullinger believes more people need to follow suit: “I think it is because the acceptance of being gay in football is not a straightfor-ward issue. I think all gay football players would have to come out and reveal themselves as gay to make it less of an issue In relation to university football, Pullinger believes the problems will come from opposing players, rather than teammates: “I do not think there would be any issue re-garding a player’s teammates, but maybe more so the other players from opposing teams or members who are not part of the team. I would not have an issue with any of the LJMU players coming out as gay.”

Coming out of the locker

by Rory O’Reilly

It was a rarity to see Bill Shankly give an in-depth interview. But for the fi rst time in over half a cen-tury we can fi nally get an insight into the mind of one of the game’s greatest managers. In 1969 the iconic Liverpool manager, who won 11 trophies during his time at the club, was ready to speak his mind. The man who is credited with building Liverpool FC had just won the Second Division and with that promoted his side back to the top fl ight for the fi rst time in eight years. Half a century later, the editor of Kop Magazine, Chris McLough-lin, was researching old material on Shankly to mark the 50th anni-versary of Liverpool’s promotion, when he discovered a sporting relic. It became apparent that Shankly had agreed, back in 1962, to write

14 columns for the Football Echo entitled ‘The Hard Road Back,’ and until now a detailed insight into one of the greatest managers in the game has been so far un-heard. What McLoughlin had discov-ered was a look into Shankly’s vision to restore Liverpool to the pinnacle of English football and now after been published by Trin-ity Mirror Sport Media in new book ‘Shankly: The Lost Diary.’ In extracts from the fi rst instal-ment of Shankly’s weekly column, which was published in the Echo on May 12 1962, Shankly explains why he had agreed to put pen to paper. “When I was approached by the Liverpool ECHO to write a series of articles on events at Anfi eld since my arrival here about two-and-a-half years ago, I fi nally de-cided to undertake the commission solely to endeavour to maintain in-terest in football in Liverpool and district during the close season.

“I do not always agree with foot-ball reports in this paper and in the normal course of events, have no way of replying to such articles, but as I am now contributing, I feel very strongly that I must take

this opportunity of emphasising this fact. “It is not that I resent criticism of my team, indeed I am probably its sternest critic, but I feel criticism can sometimes be too strong. “A case in point is the report of the recent match against Everton where the comments make me wonder if the reporter and I were watching the same game. “My idea in this matter is to not only enlighten supporters of Liv-erpool football, but also to help bring those supporters closer to-gether, if that is possible.” Shankly goes on to explain his decision to leave his position at Huddersfi eld FC in order to take the role at Liverpool in 1959. “After my playing days were over, I served my apprenticeship on the managerial side of foot-ball with struggling clubs, but although to call them that may be ungracious, it is a statement of fact and does not detract from my grat-itude to them for the opportunity

to learn the business.” He continued, “Then came the chance to come to Liverpool and this is the problem with which I was confronted. Here was a club which although it had a long spell in Division II, really belonged to the First Division (in my opinion) and it seemed to me that this was my chance of reaching the top and, in doing so, helping to build Liv-erpool once more into one of the leading clubs in the game. “At the same time I realised that although this was a challenge which everything within me urged me to take up, nevertheless it was a gamble as Liverpool supporters would only accept one thing, success.” The discovery of these columns from the depths of the Echo’s ar-chives has the feel that Shankly is addressing you directly. Despite his death over 30 years ago there is a personal and inti-mate touch to his tales, proving that this rare fi nd and a must-read

Lost diary of an iconic manager

A match between Liverpool and Man United’s u-21’s was marred after smoke bombs were set off and the pitch at Langtree Park was invaded by a fan. Bitter rivals Liverpool and Man United have played host to tense and hot-tempered matches at the highest level but this type of con-duct is very rare at reserve level. The smoke bomb was thrown onto the pitch by Man United fans, and one fan confronted Liverpool striker Adam Morgan. Liverpool had occasional fi rst squad members such as Raheem Sterling, Jonjo Shelvey, Andre Wisdom and Suso. However Liv-erpool still came out of the match losing 1-0, following a 94th min-ute winner from United’s Michele Fornasier, no doubt helped by the sending off of Liverpool defender Stephen Sama. United’s offi cials were appalled by the conduct of some of their fans and two fans were seen get-ting spoken to by the police after the match. The last incident of note at this level was two years ago at Anfi eld when United fans were singing songs about the Hillsborough and Heysel disasters. In this inci-dent there were three arrests and six fans were ejected from the ground. Sian Jones was at the match and said: “One went off in the stands and then when that was in full ef-fect they threw one onto the pitch just as it was about to go off.”

Smoke bombs disrupt u21’s matchby Eoghain McKane

The book of Bill Shankly’s lost columns for the Echo

© Twitter/robbierogers

Life/Sport/15

by Ryan McCann

After securing their eighth Brit-ish Championship success ear-lier in the month, JMU Men’s Gaelic football team travelled back to Ireland at the weekend hoping to add an all-Ireland tri-umph to their 2013 trophy haul.

Victory a fortnight ago in Bir-mingham meant that JMU auto-matically entered the Trench Cup at the semi-fi nal stage, while the other Irish-based semi-fi nalists had to qualify from their provincial se-ries throughout the academic year.

JMU were drawn against even-tual Trench Cup winners Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown, who are managed by GAA legend and former Meath player Graham Geraghty. The Blanchardstown panel consists of Westmeath, Dublin, Monaghan and Water-ford U21 stars, who undoubtedly

have bright futures in the game.JMU started the game very

tentatively and, after a blistering start by Blanchardstown, found themselves four points down after just fi ve minutes. A num-ber of JMU players seemed to be showing the kind of nerves you’d expect when playing in an All-Ireland semi-fi nal, and the Liverpool side were dealt a cruel blow when a hopeful Blanchard-stown shot defl ected into the net off JMU full-back Conor O’Neill.

The JMU boys were seven-points down and many spectators feared a thrashing was on the cards before points from Ryan Mallon, James Kelly and Caolan Trainor gave the Merseysiders a fi ghting chance.

Blanchardstown responded with four long-range points from their talisman Robert McCar-thy, and entered the second half with an eight-point advantage.

JMU started the second half in

much more promising fashion and both sides exchanged points for the opening twenty minutes of the second half. Philip Ma-dine, who was beginning to in-fl uence the game from midfi eld, kicked the best of the JMU scores.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, JMU were awarded a penal-ty. Donegal’s Conor Classon, who was named ‘Player of the Tour-nament’ in Birmingham, stepped up, but Dublin’s Mark Ferguson saved his effort emphatically.

Moments later, JMU had a goal disallowed after the referee deemed Classon to have pushed the Blanchardstown goalkeep-er in the six-yard box before punching the ball in the net.

In the end, Blanchardstown ran out eight-point victors, as JMU were left to rue their missed chances in the dying minutes that would have signifi cantly reduced the margin of defeat.

Speaking after the game, JMU manager Eoghan Kerr said: “Well, we knew it would be diffi cult as soon as the draw was made. These Irish universities have access to the best facilities all year round and they have a huge panel of lads to choose from. They are also managed by one of the best GAA players of the last 20 years, so they have quali-ty throughout their whole setup.

“But take nothing away from our boys, they worked tirelessly all year and done themselves proud in the end.

“If we scored that penalty with about 20 minutes to play it could have been a different game, be-cause we defi nitely played the better football in the second half.

“It is a great honour to repre-sent the university on Irish soil and we will use this as a learn-ing curve. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for more from the

boys and we are just delight-ed with how the year has gone.”

IT Blanchardstown manag-er Graham Geraghty, who won numerous All-Ireland med-als during his county career with his native meath, echoed Kerr’s praise for the JMU team.

“The British champions al-ways come over here and give a good account of themselves. Obviously playing in Ireland all year round gives us a distinct advantage, but there are some great players across the water and the football there is only go-ing from strength to strength.”

In the other semi-fi nal, St Pat-rick’s College, Drumcondra easily disposed of Marino In-stitute of Education to set up a mouth-watering tie against fi erce rivals Blanchardstown in the fi -nal. In the end, IT Blanchards-town held on for victory and their fi rst ever Trench Cup crown, .

JMU Gaelic team beaten in cup fi nal

The John Moores Men’s all-Irish Gaelic football team were defeated by Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown in the Trench Cup fi nal this weekend in Ireland

by Ian Bolland

Liverpool St Helens lost their 100% away record and suf-fered a blow in their promo-tion push after a 20-16 de-feat to Vale of Lune in North West One this weekend.

The result means that the Moss Lane side sit second in the table a point behind Sale – who are in the automatic promotion spot – with a game in hand.

Liverpool St Helens had a 9-3 lead going into the break but two tries from the home side proved to be costly.

The visitors hit back late on but it proved to be too little too late as they disappoint-ingly fell to their third defeat of their league campaign.

Liverpool St Helens will return to action at Moss Lane against eighth-placed Leigh on Saturday.

This will be their fi rst home match in nearly two months.

Blow for Saints

by Rory O’Reilly

An ‘All-Star’ team of cricket legends will once again return to Merseyside this summer.

The world renowned Lash-ings XI will play at Formby Cricket Club on June 28. As the self-proclaimed ‘world’s greatest cricket club’ trav-els across the UK playing at a variety of locations to help promote the game of cricket.

The club was founded in 1984 by David Folb and since then the club has attracted a number of famous international cricketers and other celebrities to its ranks.

Their stellar line-up this year consists of the likes of Gordon Greenidge – who starred in the West Indies’ famous 1984 ‘black-wash’ touring side – Courtney Walsh, Colin Croft, Devon Mal-colm, Dominic Cork, Henry Olonga and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Former England Test all-rounder Phil Defreitas is captaining the side for a sec-ond consecutive season. The game will be an over 35s con-test and it will be open to the public and anyone interested in supporting or playing in the Select XI to face the Lash-ings can contact Tom Mills at formbycricketclub @live.co.uk.

Organiser Tom Mills said, “We hosted the Lashings XI for the fi rst time last sum-mer and we’re delighted they have agreed to return.”

Sports stars returnto city

by Lauren Kelly

JMU Ladies Gaelic team have two training sessions left before they make the trip to Hudders-fi eld to compete in the British Championships, where they will play some of the best teams in the country.

Organized by British Universi-ties GAA, the Ladies Gaelic Brit-ish Championships have been run-ning for over 10 years and despite always being one of the strongest teams in the division, JMU have never won the tournament.

Niall Jackman, one of the or-ganizers of the competition said: “JMU are always a strong side and are the favorites from the North West region going into the tour-nament, but there are some very good teams entering this year.”

JMU have won every match they have played this year, except for one draw against University of Liverpool, but later annihilated them in the league fi nal with a fi n-ishing scoreboard 4-10 to 2-6.

However half of the players had been at home on placement for the whole month of January, which meant that attendance was very low at practice.

The effects of players’ absence was evident last weekend after they managed only a one point win over Liverpool Wolfe Tones. .

Whilst JMU will meet reigning champions St. Mary’s University London, on Saturday morning, city rivals Hope University and University of Liverpool will face each other in group 2.

If successful in their fi rst three matches JMU will qualify to the

Semi Finals, where there is a very strong chance that they will meet one of the two Liverpool teams.

JMU achieved victory in De-cember after clenching the North West league title and are hoping to make this year a double winner.

Nathan Deery, manager of JMU Ladies, said: “This is the strong-est team the university has had in years and I think we will go far this weekend”.

Team: Duibhin Murphy, Maire-ad Daly, Una McCullagh, Roi-sin Beggan, Naomi McManus, Aisling McDermott, Lauren Kelly, Clodagh Mullin, Niamh Marley, Aoife Montague, Niamh Cox, Colleen McElherron, Lisa Lennon, Laura Mulholland, Cao-imhe Creggan, Caitriona Kerr, Roisin Heagney, Paula Masterson, Bronagh Doherty

Ladies team head to British championships

© St. Helens RLFC twitter

Boxer’s hopes of big returnby Rory O’Reilly

Heavyweight boxer David Price is hoping to make a return to the ring this summer after losing his unbeaten record in a shock defeat to Tony Thompson on Saturday.

Price, 29, suffered his fi rst defeat of his professional ca-reer, as he fell to 15-1, his bub-ble quickly burst by a single shot from a 41-year-old veteran who was notably out of shape.

Thompson went into today’s fi ght against Price a massive un-derdog, with the fi ght expected by most to be another rollover win for the heavily hyped puncher.

Instead, the vocal fans in at-tendance at Echo Arena were left stunned when Thompson cuffed Price with a counter right hook behind the ear in round two, putting Price on the mat

and unable to get his legs back.The Merseyside fi ghter has

paid tribute to the messag-es of support he has received from his fans in Liverpool.

He now hopes to fi ght out-side his hometown for the fi rst time in two years, as his pro-moter Frank Maloney has been in the early stages of negotiat-ing a fi ght with Dereck Chisora.

Price is set to take time out of the sport before returning to training, and the heavyweight still believes he can become world champion in the future.

A rematch clause was inserted into the contract with Thomp-son and although the 41-year-old two-time world title chal-lenger wants to secure a clash with Tyson Fury fi rst, wants to pursue a second meeting with the US fi ghter in the future.

SATCHELL IS STILL CHAMPby Joel RichardsLiverpool fl yweight Kevin Satch-ell is delighted to have come through what he has described as his ‘toughest fi ght yet’ after defeating Northern-Irishman Luke Wilton to retain his Brit-ish and Commonwealth titles. Having won the Lonsdale belt in his previous bout against Chris Edwards, the 24-year-old from Kirkdale remains unbeaten after ten fi ghts following Saturday’s victory via a unanimous decision. Speaking to JMU Journalism, he said: “The fi ght went well. I stuck to what I was told to do and overall I’m happy with my performance and he was a tough kid to beat.” ‘The Ice Man’ admitted it was ‘amazing’ to retain the titles in front of his home crowd and thanked their support as he battled his way to victory. Despite taking a number of body and head shots, Satchell remained calm and com-posed to outbox Wilton and win the contest 119-112, 199-110, 118-111 on the three judges’ scorecards. Despite the overwhelming vic-tory Satchell said: “It was my toughest performance to date. He (Wilton) was my hardest opponent mentally and he was physically fi t. My face is still a bit bruised up and

I had to get three stitches after the cut above my eye. But the swelling is starting to go down, which is a good sign that I’m getting better.” Satchell is unsure about whom his next opponent will be but admitted he would prefer to win the British title outright via another two suc-cessful defences, and then possible European and World ambitions. He added: “If it was my choice I’d get to defend the British title twice more but my trainers think I’m ready for European level now. It’s a case of getting another fi ght or two under my belt so the options are there at the moment. “There’s also talk of a world ti-tle challenge further down the line and my trainers think it would be possible within 18 months to chal-lenge if everything goes to plan.” Having fought out of the Everton Red Triangle boxing club since the age of 12, Kevin has been brought up under the stewardship of train-ers Paul and Mick Stephenson and has revealed what it takes to get into shape ahead of a fi ght. He explained: “I have ten weeks to lose weight and stay within the limit. It’s a case of getting fi t, working out, a lot of running and sparring and then getting ready for the fi ght.”

Tranmere Rovers will have to continue their promotion charge without the services of target man Mama Sidibe. The infl uential striker is facing two weeks on the side-lines after picking up a hamstring injury in a 5-1 win at Colchester last weekend. Sidibe, who is on Loan from Stoke City, looks set to miss Rover’s League One game against Notts County at Pren-ton Park tonight, as he returns to the Britannia for treatment Irishman Adam McGurk will also miss the game after he suf-fered a punctured lung and has been ruled out for a month. But manager Roonie Moore is hopeful that his team has enough attacking options at their disposal to complete a double over the Mag-pies tonight and end a sequence of three straight League One defeats in front of their own supporters. Assistant manager McMahon has acknowledged that the ac-quisition of Sidibe and the return of Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro fol-lowing a three-match suspension has had a huge impact on the side, who had previously only

scored two goals in four games. McMahon said, “They made a massive difference. Big Mama gave us the presence up front. His work rate, his experience and know-how were valuable. “He went back to Stoke on Sunday and they are looking at the possibility of a two-week layoff. That seems to be the way things are going for us at the moment. We kick on and then there’s the little setback.” McMahon added: “Hopefully Jean-Louis is going to get bet-ter and better as he gets more match fi tness. He was out for a long time with his injury, then came back, got suspended and missed three more games. Despite the number of injuries the side has, the team hopes that the win over Colchester has sent a message out to the rest of the league. With a place in the Cham-pionship at stake this is no time for the side to slow down their momentum. If results go their way tonight Rovers could return to the top of League One tonight after slipping to a season low of sixth over the last few weeks before vic-tory over Colchester on Saturday.

LifeSPORT26 - February - 2013

Liverpool

Everton will look to avoid a cup up-set tonight as they take on Oldham at Goodison, and hope to progress to the quarter fi nals against Wigan. The fourtth round replay sees David Moye’s Everton try-ing to progress past the 4fourth round in the F.A. Cup at the second attempt following a 2-2 draw at Boundary Park. Everton will be without Victor Anichebe who injured himself in the fi rst match against Oldham, they will also be missing stalwart defender Tony Hibbert who is still recovering from a calf injury. Everton will see the replay as a chance to bounce back after a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Nor-wich in the league. Oldham who beat Liverpool in the round pre-viously will go into the match with no pressure, and in good form unbeaten in their last four matches, winning their last three. Matt Smith’s injury time equal-iser gained Oldham a credible draw and now will look to provide the cup with another upset. Old-ham’s caretaker manager Tony Philliskirk will be without James Tarkowski, James Wesolowski and Carl Winchester but former Everton youth player Jose Baxter is expected to make his return to Goodison. Everton have been knocked out of the cup twice in the past fi ve seasons with Old-ham one of those to win in 2008.

Moyes aims to avoid upsetby Eoghain McKane

Kevin Satchell and Luke Wilton weigh-in for match ©PhilKirkbride @philkecho on Twitter

Tranmere plans hit by injuriesby Rory O’Reilly

Suarez sets his season targetLuis Suarez has scored 18 league goals in 27 league games of the season. Only Robin van Persie has scored more this season with his 19 for Manchester United. With 11 games remaining, the Uruguayan has a great chance to become the third player to score more than 20 league goals in a season. After the start of Premier League in 1992/93, only two players have managed to reach 20 league goals for Liverpool FC. Robbie Fowler scored 25 goals in the 1994/95-season, and followed up with 26 league goals the follow-

ing season. In the 2007/08-season, Fernando Torres scored 24 league goals and 33 in all competition. Michael Owen was the clubs top league scorer in seven straight seasons, but never reached 20.Suarez has had a great campaign so far, scoring 25 goals in total. With Liverpool out of all cup com-petitions, he will have to score eight goals in the last 11 league games to reach the same number as Tor-res in his � rst season at An� eld. Liverpool will face Wigan at DW Stadium on Saturday.

© Singapore Sports Flickr © RuaraidhG Flickr

by Arild Skjaeveland

The eagerly-awaited 2013 Jour-nalism World Cup kicks off this Sunday as the fi rst years lock horns with the fi nal year stu-dents in IM Marsh, Aigburth. The fi rst year students will be an unknown quantity as they have never played a competitive game together, while the third year students are still searching for their fi rst win after suffer-ing defeat in the last two years. Kieran Etoria-King, who has been handed the captain’s arm-band for the university newcom-ers, admitted to Liverpool Life that although some of the fi rst years might be feeling the pressure ahead of the weekend’s fi xture, he is hopeful of reaching the fi nal. “I wasn’t aware they had nev-er won a game but that doesn’t mean anything come Sunday.

“The main aim for us fi rst years

is to get to the fi nal and hopeful-ly go on and win it, but we are all just happy to be involved with a team, making friends and getting involved with the university life.” The thought of fi nishing his university career without a Jour-nalism World Cup victory is something that haunts Finn Harps footballer Rory Kelly, who in-herited the captain’s armband from loyal servant Josh Killner. “We expect big performances from our Norwegian duo Arild Skjaeve-land and Eivind Haugstad Kleiven. “I also think Adam Davies

needs to fi nd his scoring boots, because apparently he’s a good goalscorer but he has forgotten to bring them the past two years. “Our midfi eld trio will be cru-

cial with big performances ex-pected from Ryan Mc Cann and Jonny ‘Steel’ Bridge.”

JMU kickoffThe Alumni celebrate their third title © JMU Journalism