{"id":101931,"date":"2024-07-25T16:10:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T16:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/25\/ministers-attend-cricket-test-but-bat-away-casement-questions\/"},"modified":"2024-07-25T16:10:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T16:10:19","slug":"ministers-attend-cricket-test-but-bat-away-casement-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/25\/ministers-attend-cricket-test-but-bat-away-casement-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministers attend cricket test but bat away Casement questions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ministers<\/div>


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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The first and deputy first minister said Belfast hosting a cricket test match was a historic moment<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

‘I’m going to take that ball and I’m going to hit it’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Asked about the chances of Euro 2028 matches being held in Belfast, the DUP\u2019s Ms Little-Pengelly said the issue \u201cwill have to work itself through\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cToday is a very positive day, our first ever test match here in Northern Ireland. I think it\u2019s important for us to ensure that there\u2019s positivity around all of that excellence in our sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was put to Ms Little-Pengelly that she had not given a direct answer and had, in cricketing parlance, tried to knock the question for six.<\/p>\n

With a smile, she replied: \u201cThese processes are working themselves through \u2013 we heard that yesterday in the House of Commons<\/a> \u2013 so I\u2019m going to take that ball and I\u2019m going to hit it\u2026 because of course that\u2019s outside of my control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have of course been pushing the Treasury for additional money for public services. We know that\u2019s the challenge that we face.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"PAPA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And there were more politicians there – Alliance MLA Kate Nicholl was also at the cricket test match<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

‘Sport is the big unifier in our society’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Asked the same question about the chances of the Euros being held in Belfast, Ms O\u2019Neill said: \u201cI think it\u2019s a huge opportunity not to be missed. I want to see that delivered here for the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to getting some confirmation from this new Labour government in terms of next steps and what they intend to put on the table in terms of a financial contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first and deputy first minister both said the hosting of a cricket test match in Belfast was an historic moment for the city.<\/p>\n

Ms O\u2019Neill said: \u201cSport is the big unifier in our society across all sports and codes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The late Martin McGuinness of Sinn F\u00e9in was a cricket fan, as was the late John Hume, the former SDLP leader, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998.<\/p>\n

Ms O\u2019Neill said \u201cMartin was an avid supporter. People have all sorts of different interests in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Martin, cricket was one of those things alongside Gaelic football and hurling and everything else that he followed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ireland have never won a test match on home soil<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Ireland first played cricket in 1855 in Dublin but, until now, had never played a test match in Belfast.<\/p>\n

Test cricket is the gold standard of the sport, taking place over five days, and is only played by 12 countries.<\/p>\n

Ireland began playing test matches in 2018 but have never won on home soil.<\/p>\n

Ireland are ranked 11th in the world test rankings, with Zimbabwe one place ahead.<\/p>\n

The two sides have never met previously in a test match.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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BBC The first and deputy first minister said Belfast hosting a cricket test match was a historic moment ‘I’m going to take that ball and I’m going to hit it’ Asked about the chances of Euro 2028 matches being held in Belfast, the DUP\u2019s Ms Little-Pengelly said the issue \u201cwill have to work itself through\u201d. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[603],"tags":[25566,11839,77310,270,1397,5896,848],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101931"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101933,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101931\/revisions\/101933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}