Carney

The other memory Carney hopes proves ineradicable is the powerful feeling that accompanied carrying Sam onto Achill Island alongside team-mates Donnacha McHugh and Diarmuid O’Connor.

Carney has deep family roots on the island. His father and grandfather hail from there and both were present as Carney, McHugh and O’Connor – soundtracked by more than 100 bagpipers, including his father – carried the famous trophy across the Michael Davitt Bridge and onto the island.

Given his connection to Achill, the power and significance of the moment was not lost on Carney.

“According to my father and grandfather, that’s never happened before [bringing Sam Maguire on to the island], so I recognised the cultural importance of it – and you could feel it,” says Carney.

“That originally wasn’t on the calendar as a club until further down the line. The island empties when summer is over. People return to where they’re from originally, Dublin or Galway or wherever, and I really wanted to get the trophy down there while the island was vibrant and alive.

“My grandfather was the sergeant on Achill Island. My father grew up in the barracks and the GAA pitch was the back garden. They kind of claim me as half one of their own.”

Carney, whose two-point score launched Mayo’s All-Ireland final comeback against Kerry, added: “With no Achill player on the team, it was really important that both myself and Donnacha – both our fathers are from there – to get down there and show our appreciation for what they’ve done for us and our families.

“And Diarmuid O’Connor just has a sense of knowing when something will be good and when to be there.

“He came down with us and I’m delighted he was there because someone who didn’t really understand the weight of it all – when we were crossing the bridge, he could say he could just feel it, he said, ‘this is something different here’.”

On trade, investment and innovation, leaders will work toward conclusion of a Canada-Turkiye Free Trade Agreement.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have announced the launch of a Canada-Turkiye Strategic Partnership, backed by a three-year action plan.

“In an increasingly complex global security environment, rising geopolitical uncertainties, and evolving humanitarian challenges, a strong and resilient Canada-Turkiye partnership is essential, providing a foundation to mitigate shared threats and capitalise on new opportunities,” said a statement by the two leaders on Thursday.

This comes as Carney is on a two-day visit to Turkiye, seeking to forge a new partnership as Canada looks to reduce its dependence on the United States.

The partnership’s three-year action plan rests on four pillars: trade and investment; defence and security; energy; and ties between people, the statement said.

On trade, investment and innovation, the two leaders agreed to “work toward successful conclusion of a Canada-Turkiye Free Trade Agreement”, it said. They will also expand bilateral trade and investments in priority sectors including energy supply, defence production, aerospace, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

On defence and security, the leaders “underlined their intent to deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation”. They also agreed to “strengthen cooperation in support of peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic region and beyond including Ukraine, South Caucasus, and the Middle East, in particular Gaza”.

Meanwhile, energy ministers from both countries will work on areas such as LNG, nuclear energy and critical minerals.

‘Launching a new era’

Speaking to reporters in Ankara alongside Carney on Thursday, Erdogan said the two countries “hope to increase our trade volume, which currently stands at around $3 billion, to $5 billion initially and then to $10 billion through the steps we will take”.

He said the two sides had agreed to begin free trade agreement negotiations before the end of the year to boost trade and investment, adding that elevating Turkiye-Canada relations to the level of a strategic partnership would not be merely a symbolic step on paper.

“We have today overcome the disconnect that had persisted between Turkiye and Canada for many years. Now we are launching a new era between Turkiye and Canada,” he said.

Canadian and Turkish leaders will convene next month in Ankara for the first round of trade talks, the joint statement said.

Carney is on the first bilateral visit by a Canadian prime minister to Turkiye, although he travelled to Ankara in July to attend the NATO summit.

He was scheduled to meet with Erdogan and other officials before travelling to Istanbul for talks with Turkish business groups as the two countries seek to deepen trade ties.

The Canadian prime minister has sought to diversify partnerships and reduce reliance on the US amid an escalating trade war with President Donald Trump, marked by US tariffs on Canadian goods, retaliatory measures by Canada and statements questioning Canadian sovereignty.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Thanksgiving message comes a week ahead of Alberta’s vote on a separatism referendum.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has used his Thanksgiving message to Canadians to call for national unity, a week before the oil-rich province of Alberta is set to vote on a proposal to secede from Canada.

“We can’t build big things on fault lines,” Carney said in his video message on Monday, warning that Canada faces threats to its economy, security and way of life.

“We have to be strong, and we are stronger together.”

His comments come as Albertans head to the polls on October 19 to decide whether to begin the process of seeking independence. The initial referendum is non-binding, but it proposes to hold a binding vote in the future to decide whether Alberta should secede.

The question facing voters is: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

The vote follows a growing push by a vocal group of separatists, fuelled by longstanding grievances over federal energy and environmental policies.

The secessionist movement has accused the Canadian government of unfairly targeting Alberta’s oil and gas industry, the cornerstone of the province’s economy.

The movement is also being watched south of the border, as Canada’s relationship with the United States under President Donald Trump has become strained.

An investigation by The Globe and Mail earlier this month revealed that US Republican operatives met with secession organisers in Alberta to talk about campaign strategies. Separatist leaders had reportedly offered access to the province’s water and oil royalties in exchange for US support for independence. Separatist leaders have disputed those claims.

Carney’s comments also come after another secessionist movement, the Parti Quebecois, won the most seats in a provincial election in Quebec last week, allowing it to return to power after more than a decade.

The Parti Quebecois, however, only won 59 seats out of a total of 129 in Quebec’s National Assembly, leaving it short of a majority government.

Still, following that victory, US tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, considered the richest man on the planet, applauded the results. He has been known to use his wealth and influence to support political causes, particularly on the far right.

“Good. Quebec should separate,” Musk wrote on social media. “They would be better off. Alberta and Saskatchewan should separate too.”

Carney, who grew up in Alberta, said he was filming the message from a classroom at his former school, St Francis Xavier High School in Edmonton.

“I’m back home a lot these days because we are building big things again in Alberta: thousands of new homes, high-speed rail, a new pipeline to the West Coast that will create lasting opportunity and prosperity for hundreds of thousands of people in this province and across the country,” he said.

Despite the secessionist movement’s growing visibility, polls suggest most Albertans oppose independence.