Crews from across the region came to the rescue of three cows in the days after Christmas.
Emergency services in Northern Ireland were called to an unsavoury festive rescue after Christmas as three cows fell into a stinking slurry pit on a farm.
A range of specialist crews from across Northern Ireland attended the incident at a farm outside Dromore, in County Tyrone, on December 28 before sharing pictures from the incident on New Year’s Eve.
A spokeswoman for Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said: “Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used rescue lines to pull the animals free from the slurry pit.
“Gas monitors were used throughout the incident to continually monitor gas levels from the slurry.”
Aside from concerns around keeping down the Christmas dinner, rescuers also needed to consider the more serious risks from working amid toxic gasses from the slurry, hazards associated with “large animals in distress”, dangers of contamination or infection and other problems in the “dirty and hazardous conditions”.
Despite the operation taking several hours, NIFRS reported no injuries to staff and three cows were successfully pulled from the mess.
“Well done to all our crews involved,” the service said in a Facebook post describing the incident.
In a show of good humour, they added hashtags including #WorkingOffTheXmasDinner, #UpToOurNecksInIt and #NotJustFires.
One concerned Facebook user wrote: “Oh my word!! They’re lucky all survived!
“Slurry tanks are my worst fear when on the farms!!”
ATL,ANTA (AP) — Chris Beard has shifted his culinary focus from salads to hot dogs.
The Mississippi coach had recently commented on the abundance and quality of the food served during the NCAA Tournament, saying it reminded him of the salad bars at Brazilian steakhouses.
Speaking Thursday on the eve of the Rebels making only their second appearance in the Sweet 16, Beard was asked about the salad at his latest team meal. But he quickly pivoted to the franks served at a famous Atlanta fast-food joint, the Varsity, which has been around since 1928.
“I think the Varsity hot dog is arguably the best, in my opinion,” said Beard, who grew up in suburban Marietta. “It's Coney Island, it’s the Varsity, and then it’s the old baseball game hot dog. Different than football, different than basketball, different than a concert.”
Beard was just getting warmed up.
“If you go to a baseball game at any level, high school, summer ball, all the way to the major leagues, if the hot dog is served in tin foil, that’s the key,” he said. “Not a big fan of the hot dog where they pull it with the tongues right off the deal, drop it in water. That’s not my deal. If I’m at a baseball game and I see that there’s tin foil involved in a hot dog, that’s where we roll.”
Quite a review, but let's get back to the salad.
Beard, whose team meets Michigan State on Friday night in the South Region semifinals, noted that the Rebels held a team dinner at Morton's, a high-end steakhouse in downtown Atlanta.
“Morton’s had the Caesar salad,” the coach said, “but the food was so amazing after the salad, that myself included, not a lot of us went with the salad. They got the shrimp cocktails on the table and the crab cake -- I guess you call them balls — with a little stick in it.
"It’s hard to get fired up about the salad knowing what’s coming down the line.”
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Mississippi head coach Chris Beard looks out on the court during practice before the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
