News 1

FORMER Ireland and Ulster winger Tommy Bowe has weighed in on Simon Easterby’s future amid links to the Wales job.

The BBC pundit reckons the interim Ireland boss is a strong candidate for the Scotland job after his impressive stint at the helm with Ireland.

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Tommy Bowe reckons Simon Easterby may be on Scotland’s radar[/caption]

Easterby has stepped in for Andy Farrell while he takes a sabbatical to coach the British & Irish Lions on their summer Tour of Australia.

Ireland claimed a third win from as many games yesterday, and the Triple Crown as they saw off Wales in a close affair in Cardiff.

Reports have linked Easterby with the vacant Wales head coach position following Warren Gatland’s recent dismissal.

Matt Sherratt took the role on an interim basis until the end of the Six Nations.

But Bowe believes a move across the Irish Sea is unlikely, even though Easterby resides in Wales.

Speaking on BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly, the Ulster legend reckons the Scotland job could be a better suited role for Easterby.

He said: “I personally can’t see [Easterby going to Wales]… But there is a lot to lose. It would be a real challenge.

“His stock is extremely high right now, but he won’t get the Ireland job because Andy Farrell will return after the Lions tour.

“Where I personally see Simon going, if he moves on from the Irish setup, is to Scotland.”

Former IRFU director of rugby David Nucifora recently took up a role with Scottish Rugby, and with Gregor Townsend’s contract set to expire in 2026.

And Bowe feels Easterby could be earmarked as his successor.

Earlier this week, Easterby insisted that he remains focused on his current role with Ireland.

He said: “There’s been speculation, and that’s exactly what it is—speculation,” he said on Thursday. “I’m not in control of that.

“I love what I do here. I’ve been in this position with the team for a long time, working with incredible people—both management and players. For me, it’s a dream job.

“Speculation is just that. It’s not something I can control.”

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Ye said he's "so proud" of his wife for starring in her first feature film which he produced.

Sofia Carson and Noah Centineo are this year's SAG Awards Ambassadors.

TAKE a look inside this “beautifully presented” home that just hit the Irish market for €250,000.

Number 20 Páirc Na Heornan is a semi-detached three bedroom house ideal for families.

myhome.ie

There’s a bright family room located downstairs[/caption]

myhome.ie

The island is ideal for people who love cooking or need extra space[/caption]

It’s located in a low-density housing development in the village of Ballinagar, Co Offaly.

It features a large front garden with great off street parking as well as a private garden at the back of the property accessed through a gate.

On entering the property, guests are greeted by a bright, inviting entrance hall with access to the stairs and a tiles floor.

From there they can enter the large wooden floored living room and the kitchen.

The living room has a huge front facing window to allow natural light to pour in, and plenty of space for multiple couches.

It also has a statement wall with a built in fireplace to give the room an especially cosy feel.

There are double doors from the living room into the kitchen and dining room.

The space has a tiled floor and a huge window over the sink to allow natural light into the room.

There’s plenty of counter space with cupboards above and below, as well as a fitted oven and washing machine.

And there’s a major bonus for those who enjoy cooking or need extra space – a kitchen island with gorgeous inset tiles completes the area.

ADDED BONUS

There’s also room for a large family dining table and double glass doors out to the back garden.

Also downstairs is a handy guest toilet, located in the hallway and complete with a toilet and sink.

Up the carpeted stairs is a small landing, three bedrooms, and the family bathroom.

The master bedroom has a street facing window and wooden floors, as well as a built in wardrobe and storage.

It has the added bonus of an en suite bathroom, complete with an electric shower.

BRIGHT AND CLEAN SPACE

The second bedroom has a charming slanted roof with a skylight window for added sunlight.

It also has a wooden floor and built in wardrobes and drawers as well as generous floor space.

And the final bedroom also enjoys a slanted roof with a skylight as well as wooden floors and handy built in storage.

The family bathroom features another skylight, making the black and white tiled space feel clean and bright.

It has a huge bath, a sink, and a toilet, and conveniently serves all the upstairs bedrooms.

At the back of the house is a two area garden with a large patio and a grass section.

The patio is ideal for entertaining in summer, while the garden is perfect for planting or putting kid’s games.

And the house is ideally located just minutes’ walk from a primary school, making it ideal for families.

myhome.ie

The master bedroom has major perks[/caption]

myhome.ie

An upstairs family bathroom serves all the family rooms[/caption]

myhome.ie

The house has hit the Irish market for €250K[/caption]

ONCE dubbed a glittering hotspot of the 1970s, Dudley’s decline is seemingly severe.

The West Midlands district was recently ranked the third worst place to live in England, with locals only shocked it didn’t score lower.

SWNS:South West News Service

Roland Leon

John Darby, 83, said Dudley is ‘like downtown Beirut’[/caption]

Alamy

Aerial view of Dudley town centre[/caption]

The stats, put together by The Sunday Times, considered factors like local crime rates, Ofsted school reports, GP waiting times, car parks and community assets.

In total, only Rushmoor in Hampshire and Basildon in Essex scored worse than Dudley – a result which stunned those who live there.

“I thought we’d be first,” said 54-year-old shopkeeper Anna Shahmani, as she scrolled through her CCTV to look at another case of suspected shoplifting.

“I’m surprised there are two worse than this.”

Nearby Lye – a town in Dudley district – was recently dubbed a ghetto where sex is flogged openly from cars and yobs are fined for pooing in the street.

Dudley itself was also last year ranked the unhappiest town in the West Midlands while Stourbridge, seven miles down the road and part of the same Metropolitan Borough, was ranked the happiest.

But, just as everyone moans about the place, anyone over 60 will also tell you what a fantastic town it used to be.

Proud and thriving, the town that gave us Sir Lenny Henry, Sue Lawley and Sam Allardyce, remains the unofficial capital of the Black Country.

And the Black Country’s distinctive flag is flown permanently from its Council House, a grand, neo-Georgian from the 1930s.

Only now, in a visual symbol of decline, the flag is not distinctive at all, appearing more like a rat’s tail floating in the sky.

Robert Bennett, 66, has officially worked on Dudley Marketplace since he was 15 but, he says, it’s actually a lot longer than that.

“Back in the 70s people were fighting to get a pitch on the market,” he said. “It was all hustle and bustle and so vibrant. It has gone downhill.”

Roland Leon

Last August, the council admitted a £37 million funding gap over the next three years[/caption]

You Tube

Reckless BMX riders pull risky stunts outside Merry Hill shopping centre[/caption]

You Tube

Two youths doing a wheelies along The Embankment[/caption]

His stall is the only one open and customers are few and far between, mostly people picking up a few bits.

“Whatever the Council do ends up being wrong,” he added.

“They have big plans but for the last year we have had no bus terminal so everyone is being dropped off further away and the older people don’t want to walk the extra distance carrying shopping.

“At the same time, they put in car parking charges, when that had offered free parking to help get over Covid but now they’ve got no money.”

Last August, the council admitted a £37 million funding gap over the next three years.

But there is precious little sympathy for the local politicians.

One shop owner, who asked not to be named, said they’d recently opened a “fancy bistro” in the Town Hall, only for it to make huge losses.

Last summer, Brooke’s Bar and Bistro closed less than two years after it opened having recorded an annual loss of £200,000.

Locals say the downhill slide has been a steady one with most people pointing to the late 1980s and the development of the Merry Hill (aka Merry Hell) Shopping Centre in nearby Brierley Hill as the start.

“The Dudley of years ago was brilliant,” said retired warehouse worker John Darby, 83. “And then along came Merry Hill and things slowly started falling apart.”

Helped by a local cobbler, he rattles off a list of the big brands who had made Dudley their home – Thornton’s, WHSmith, M&S, H Samuel, to name a few…all went.

“Now what is there to come into Dudley for,” went on John. “It’s like downtown Beirut towards the church, three Turkish barbers, some charity shops and homeless people everywhere.

“The market had one stall on today. Later on it will smell of weed because the kids will be there after school.

“The bus doesn’t drop you off at the right place anymore and on the road, we’ve got more lights than Blackpool only ours don’t twinkle, they just hold up the traffic.

“Our museum and gallery went bankrupt, our football team has no ground, the main post office became a big Balti restaurant, there’s no trade at all and our politicians talk about city status or turning Dudley College into a University.

“They have lost the plot and don’t get me started on the local health service – 47 ambulances waiting the other day.

“If my mother could come back and see Dudley now, she’d weep.”

Roland Leon

The marketplace has ‘gone downhill’ claims Robert Bennett, 66[/caption]

Roland Leon

A battered flag can be spotted on a council house[/caption]

Roland Leon

Residents were unimpressed with the state of the town centre[/caption]

John Massey, 40, a radiographer from the town, said: “As people I’d say we are the best but as for investment and decisions about investment, that’s a different story altogether.

“There is always something happening but very little progress being made.

“As a kid, I could come here and spend the day. You could do your shopping, have something to eat, now you can see it all in 10 to 15 minutes. The town has lost its character.”

Mary Hollyhead, 70, agreed: “It’s not just the town centre, it’s the surgeries.

“If you need to see a doctor, you’d be quicker getting a bus to the surgery than ringing them up.

“You can wait and wait and then all the appointments have gone.”

Despite its current malaise, reminders of its glorious past are everywhere.

There is the now defunct Museum and Art Gallery (1883 to 2016) and the statue on the marketplace honouring local hero Duncan Edwards, the boy wonder who scored 151 times for Manchester United before dying in the Munich air disaster aged just 21.

And then there are the long overdue bits of unfinished business – the Metrolink extension that began in March 2020 and is still unfinished; the Hippodrome building where Laurel and Hardy played to capacity crowds, empty since Gala Bingo left in 2009.

Such things leave the town with a cluttered look and a feeling of decay.

“It is such a shame,” said Jayne, of recently opened Saturday Books  down the retro-looking Fountain Arcade. “We have a lot to offer visitors with a Castle, a popular zoo and the Black Country Museum which gets a lot of tourists from American coming to study their ancestry.

“But I have lived in Dudley all my life and there seem to be more desperate people around these days.

“And it is sad to lose things like the Museum and Art Gallery which went back to the 1800s. Now they want it as a big play centre but you’ll need money to go to a place like that.”

There is nothing much for kids to do around here except hanging around and getting into trouble.

Zarina Aleksandraviciute

Stacey Jones, a mother of two, has recently moved back to Dudley from Dorset.

She said: “I’m not surprised it’s one of the worst. The town centre has nothing, just kids on bikes wearing balaclavas.

“And my experience of the schools is not good. My friend had to pull her son out of school because he has mobility issues and there was no supervision.

“She had to report the school to the Trust just to get an appointment.”

Among Dudley’s 80,000 inhabitants are plenty who have come from elsewhere to make it their home.

Mario, 63, moved from Naples after love blossomed on a holiday romance.

He said: “In the last 10 years all the heart has been ripped out of the place. When the shops go, so does the community spirit.

“There is still community spirit where I live and it’s not a bad place really but the town centre is not good.

“I can’t fault the health service though as I recently had a diagnosis of prostate cancer and they saw me within 12 hours.’

Majid, 70, who came to Dudley 47 years ago, said: “I feel more like a foreigner than ever. It doesn’t feel like a safe place to me.”

Shop worker Zarina Aleksandraviciute, 31, added: “There is nothing much for kids to do around here except hanging around and getting into trouble.

“I hardly ever see the police.” 

Her boss, shopkeeper Anna Shahmani, wonders why they are bothering with the Metrolink as who would want to come to Dudley.

“You aren’t going to come all the way here for chicken and chips or pizza are you,” she said.

“It is bad. The community has broken down because if you don’t physically need to be somewhere, like having your nails done or hair done, you shop online.

“That breaks the community spirit. Now we have homeless people causing a lot of trouble to shopkeepers.

“Dudley people tend to be a bit over friendly if anything but now I don’t see many smiling faces.

“It’s miserable and dreary.”

The Sun has reached out to Dudley Council and West Midlands Police for a comment.

Roland Leon

Locals claim ‘the town centre has nothing’[/caption]

Roland Leon

Saturday Books owner Jayne says the town has lost a lot of amenities[/caption]

Roland Leon

Stacey Jones, 40, said she’s not surprised it’s been ranked one of the worst[/caption]

Roland Leon

The council admitted a £37 million funding gap last August[/caption]

SWNS:South West News Service

Residents of Lye in Dudley district say the town has also been on a slow decline[/caption]

SWNS:South West News Service

SWNS:South West News Service

It’s a sad state of affairs for a once-thriving Black Country town[/caption]

Newsom sent a letter Friday asking for support from lawmakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the House Appropriations Committee chair.

"I believe he was diagnosed in his late 40s. But Irv doesn't go to the doctor so that's why he's so late being diagnosed," the entrepreneur said.

A MUM-to-be has left people with their jaws on the floor after showing off her baby bump.

Lauren, from Wales, took to social media ahead of the birth and lifted her top up to show off her ginormous belly.

laurenmylittleloves / Tiktok

laurenmylittleloves / Tiktok

The woman faced the front of the camera before she turned to the side to show off the baby bump at every angle.

The results of the video left people running to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts.

Many people said her bump was so big that it must have a full-grown man hiding inside or a group of babies waiting to pop out.

But the mum-of-four revealed it was because of another reason entirely.

In her bio on TikTok she wrote: “Yes, I was the mumma with the big tummy from Polyhydramnios.”

The NHS says that Polyhydramnios is when there’s too much amniotic fluid (the fluid that surrounds the baby in the womb) during pregnancy.

Most of the time it is not serious and there’s often no cause and happens to around 1% of pregnancies.

Polyhydramnios usually does not need any treatment. You may have extra check-ups for the rest of your pregnancy and during labour and birth.

Lauren gave birth to her little girl Olyve, who weighed 6lbs despite mum’s big pregnancy bump.

The video quickly went viral on her TikTok account @laurenmylittleloves with over 54 million views and 149k likes.

People took to the comments of her pregnancy bump video in a mixture of hysterics and sheer terror.

One person wrote: “How old is your child?”

Another commented: “You’re pregnant with a whole a**e man. Dude gonna come out with a job and doing taxes.”

“The baby in their 3 bedroom 2 bath house,” penned a third.

Meanwhile a fourth said: “How is this possible?”

“OMG it doesn’t even look real,” claimed a fifth.

Someone else added: “Baby living in a mansion.”

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A FASHION fan has revealed a cosy new find in Dunnes Stores – and it’s perfect for spring and summer.

Fashion lovers are set to overhaul their wardrobes with new styles and clothes as the rain moves away and spring inches in, and this cardigan is the perfect addition for it.

TikTok: @kym_bee

TikTok: @kym_bee

Kym B, who posts under @kym_bee on TikTok, showed off her recent find to her followers.

Starting the video, she said: “Look at this lovely little cardigan that I got from Dunnes.

“Isn’t it absolutely gorgeous?”

She revealed the cosy cream Savida Sadie Tie Front Texture Cardigan, priced at €25.

The beautiful cardigan features front fasteners and a delicate tie.

It is crafted from a textured, soft-to-touch material, offering warmth and texture for chilly spring and summer.

It is perfect for coffee dates, casual occasions and outdoor events.

Kym styled the gorgeous cardigan with a pink top and denim jeans – the perfect outfit for coffee dates with the girls.

She added: “It’s really cute!”

ENDLESS STYLE OPTIONS

Fashion fans have endless options to style the lovely cardigan, making it suitable for casual, formal and summer occasions.

For a casual look, fans can style the cardigan with a lovely white top, denim jeans, runners, a light jacket and a tote bag – the perfect fit for running errands in town.

For a formal look, they can style the cardigan with a white blouse, work pants or skirt, flats or heels, a beige trench coat and a handbag – the perfect outfit to wow your clients.

For the summer season, fashion fans can style the cardigan with a bikini, denim shorts, a sunhat, a pair of sunglasses, sandals or runners and a beach bag – giving the whole fit ‘old money’ vibes.

The cardigan is available in sizes XXS to XXL.

And it can be now purchased online and in stores nationwide.

However, fashion fans are urged to be swift as it is expected to be a huge hit with its shoppers.

‘OBSESSED’

Kym’s fans were left obsessed with her Dunnes Stores cardigan as they rushed to the comments to share their thoughts on it.

One person wrote: “It’s fabulous on you!”

Another person added: “Obsessed with the cardigan!”

The third person said: “Absolutely stunning on you.”

Another person wrote: “Love that outfit on you!”

TikTok: @kym_bee