Nigel Owens

Nigel Owens (born 18 June 1971) is a Welsh international rugby union referee. He is an international and European Rugby Champions Cup referee and was the only Welsh referee at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France and at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. He was referee for the 2015 Rugby World Cup final in England.

Owens was appointed as an international referee in 2005, and that year officiated at his first international between Ireland and Japan in Osaka. Owens made his World Cup debut on 11 September 2007 in the match between Argentina and Georgia in Lyon, France. He is one of only two referees to be appointed to referee two consecutive Heineken Cup finals: Munster v Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium in 2008; and Leicester Tigers v Leinster at Murrayfield in 2009. He has since done a third final Leinster v Ulster at Twickenham 2012, this as well as two European Challenge Cup finals makes a total of five European finals, making him the most capped referee in European competition.

Ireland AM

Ireland AM is an Irish morning television show on TV3. It airs live every weekday morning from 07:00 to 10:00. The program features news, current affairs, weather updates, showbiz, fashion, beauty, food, health, home and garden. Its current presenters are Mark Cagney, Sinead Desmond, Aidan Cooney, Alan Hughes and Ciara Doherty (joined July 2015).

Anna Daly left the show in July 2015 to take up her new role on Saturday AM and Sunday AM which began from August 29, 2015.

The show is currently sponsored by P&G, previously sponsored by Unilever and Kellogs.

History

1999 - 2004

Ireland AM was launched on 20 September 1999 on the 1st anniversary of TV3's launch, the first show of its kind in Ireland. It was originally on air from 7:00am to 9:00am, hosted by Mark Cagney and Amanda Byram. The show went on air almost a year after TV3 launched, and was seen as an attempt by the station to improve ratings. A number of years after the start of the show TV3 executives decided on an extra hour for the show, the show now finishes at 10am.

Nigel

Nigel /ˈnaɪdʒəl/ is an English masculine given name. The name is derived from the Latin Nigellus. This Latin word would seem to derive from the Latin niger, meaning "black"; however this is thought to be an example of an incorrect etymology created by French-speaking clerics, who knew Latin as well, to translate the Norman first name Neel in the Latin written documents. Indeed, the Latin word nigellus gave birth to Old French neel (modern nielle), meaning “niello, black enamel” and it explains the confusion, because the clerics believed it was the same etymology as the first name Neel, spelled the same way.

In fact, the Old Norman first name Neel (modern surname Néel) derives itself from the Norse Njáll. The Norse Njáll, in turn, is derived from the Gaelic Niall. The English Nigel is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages, however it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Sir Walter Scott published The Fortunes of Nigel in 1822, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published Sir Nigel in 1905–06. Nigel was a common name for boys born in England and Wales from the 1950s to the 1970s (see below).