Duddy headlines “Irish Express” card
March 16 at The Theater in MSG

NEW YORK (March 13, 2006) – The prospect of fighting before a packed house of predominately passionate Irish fans the night before St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t add any pressure according to the “Irish Express” headliner, “Ireland’s” John Duddy (15-0, 13 KOs).

Duddy is a native of Derry, Northern Ireland now living in Queens (NY). The popular undefeated brawler battles veteran “Showtime” Shelby Pudwill (21-2-1, 9 KOs) Thursday night (March 16) for the vacant WBC Continental Americas middleweight championship in the 10-round main event at The Theater in Madison Square Garden.

The “Irish Express,” promoted by Irish Ropes, features a group of Irish boxers, but Duddy clearly is the draw. “Once I’m in the ring it’s the same as any of my fights,” Duddy explained. “After the fight it’ll be a special occasion for me, like it will be for all of the fans during the fight, but I can’t start celebrating until after my job is done. It’s going to be a great fight against Pudwill. I’ll be 110-percent and I’m sure he will be, too.

“Five thousand fans will be celebrating, but that’s one of the reasons I became a professional fighter – to be on top of the card for people to come see. But the only thing that really matters is me getting a victory.”

Pudwill, fighting out of North Dakota, is a former CAM (Canadian, American and Mexican) middleweight champ presently on an eight-fight win streak dating back to 2001.

“I don’t know too much about him,” Duddy noted, “but I’m going to let him worry about me rather than me worry about him. It’s going to be a glorious night.”

Tickets, priced between $400.00 and $50.00, are available by calling TicketMaster (212.307.7171) or at Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant & Bar (212.629.9899). For more information about the “Irish Express” call Irish Ropes at 718.318.5145 or visit its web site at www.irishropes.com.

March 12, 2006, Sligo, Ireland.

Eugene Donnelly, takes the victory @ Rally Ireland 2006

Rally Ireland, Ireland’s bid event for the World Rally Championship, concluded this afternoon in Sligo city with Ireland’s Eugene Donnelly taking first, Eamon Boland taking second, Swedish WRC driver (currently ranked 6th) Daniel Carlsson took third and Australian WRC driver Chris Atkinson (ranked 9th) winner of Group N, finished in fourth place overall.
Commenting on the event, Rally Ireland 2006 winner, Eugene Donnelly said: "It would be a dream come true for someone like me who is a true rallyman at heart to have the WRC come to Ireland. We’ve shown that we can provide great challenging stages and inject new ingredients into WRC that will make it special and unique. And I’m delighted to win Rally Ireland."
Chris Atkinson said: ”These are great challenging stages. I'd love to tackle them in my regular WRC car and hope I get a chance to do just that when Rally Ireland gets into the World Championships.”
Sweden's Daniel Carlsson: "This is my second time in Ireland and the stages and atmosphere are great. It is would be a real challenge for the top WRC drivers. It would be great to see Rally Ireland in the WRC.
Gareth MacHale, disappointed to have crashed out of the Rally in Stage 8, looks forward to the prospect of a WRC event in Ireland: “Per capita we have more WRC cars than any other country and the fan base is amazing; they have a great loyalty to the sport. Our roads are unique, the sort of tarmac roads you don't have anywhere else. If it does get into the WRC, which I hope it will, it will be very challenging for the top international teams and drivers.”
Despite retiring on Day 1, French Champion Nicolas Bernardi was impressed with what he saw: "It is very different tarmac to what I am used to in France. The stages are safe and I think Rally Ireland can fit into the WRC calendar very easily as a tarmac round of the championship. People here are very friendly and crazy about rallying."
The top ten*:
1. Eugene Donnelly (Derry) 2:20:35.12. Eamon Boland (Wexford) +1:57.83. Daniel Carlsson (Sweden) +4:31.64. Chris Atkinson (Australia) +5:30.95. Patrick Elliott (Cavan) +8:00.46. Aaron MacHale (Dublin) +12:02.27. Garry Jennings (Enniskillen) +12:35.88. Shaun Gallagher (Donegal) +14:56.29. Paul Harris (Donegal) +16:08.310. Conor McCloskey (Cavan) +16:26.4