What's Going on in Parnells?

[Syferus]

We've all heard of big clubs getting transfers but what seems to be going on in Parnells is on an entirely new level:

Ciaran mckeever is the latest inter-county footballer to join Dublin senior football side Parnells.

The Armagh captain's transfer was completed on Saturday, with the appeal period for his former club, St Patrick's expiring.

He will now join the litany of county or former county footballers within the Coolock-based club's ranks, including Laois' Colm Begley, Darren Rooney and Michael Tierney, Wexford's Aindreas Doyle and Rory Quinlivan, Conor Mortimer (Mayo) and Johnny Murtagh (Armagh).

Fellow Armagh defender Andy Mallon also joined the club last year.

McKeever's transfer has been confirmed on the GAA's official live transfer list.

The 31-year-old half-back lined out for Armagh in the county's Ulster semi-final draw with Monaghan on Saturday afternoon, where he was integral in earning his team a replay this weekend.

He won an Armagh intermediate championship in 2008 with St Patrick's, Cullyhanna. While last year they reached the senior county final, only to be beaten by near-neighbours Crossmaglen; McKeever played at midfield scoring two points in that game.

It remains unclear whether or not he will take up a coaching role within the Dublin club, as has been the case with similar transfers involving high-profile players and Parnells.

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/armagh-captain-ciaran-mckeever-secures-transfer-dublin-club-135537220.html


Joe wrote an article on the topic last month in Gaelic Life:

AS the Brazilian football team took the field to set the ball rolling on the 2014 World Cup, I thought of Socrates and his 1982 Brazilians. That team did not win the Jules Rimet, but their total commitment to the philosophy of the joga bonito – the beautiful game – immortalised them.

Shortly before he died in 2011, this extraordinary footballer, communitarian and social campaigner – he once took the field for Corinthians carrying a placard reading, "Democracy Now. Winning the championship is a minor detail" – was interviewed by an English journalist about his philosophy on the game. He uttered the immortal words, "Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy."

It is clear that joy is in short supply at Parnell's GAC. Since selling their land for an eye watering €22 million in 2008, the Dublin club has managed to turn gold into dust.

With the money banked, the committee's strategy was to buy their way to success.

The plan was to win a Dublin senior football championship by recruiting the best senior team money could buy. So, in the manner of an American college, they set about wooing high profile players from all over Ireland. The idea was to win big, win quick and become an overnight superpower.

As we have seen with the likes of Man City or Chelsea, this sort of philosophy works OK in professional sport. But when it is applied to the GAA, the result is inevitable: a senior team that is no good and a deeply dysfunctional club.

I am a Trinity man. A year or two after Parnell's had received their windfall, I went down to play in the annual game between the Old Boys and the students. I was surprised to see that the Trinity jerseys bore the Parnell's name.

"What's going on?" I asked in the bar afterwards.

Turns out Parnell's were sponsoring the Trinity team. Over the next few years, a number of talented young county footballers at the university transferred to, you guessed it, Parnell's. The result is that much of their senior football team is now made up of outsiders, who have zero affinity with the area.

Six years into their policy of buying success, the 2014 Parnells' All-Stars played the modestly talented Lucan Sarsfield's in the first round of this year's Dublin senior championship and were beaten 1-7 to 1-5. In a truly dire effort, Parnell's did not register a single score from play.

There is a reason for this. Lads are reared the GAA way. They play with their mates and families in the area they were born. It is an intensely parochial thing and at its heart is our sense of identity. We play together. We socialise together. Our club is the hub of our community. But if this cultural norm is twisted, in the way that Parnells have twisted it, then the team is doomed. Basically, Parnell's seniors are like a gather up that plays in New York for the summer.

It is alien for our players to play in that environment, which is why the Parnell's team does not function. There is no loyalty, no team ethic and crucially, no sense of identity. Many club members are passionately opposed to the outside recruits. Alienated within the club, the outsiders stick together. It is a soul destroying business, both for them and Parnell's.

This stands in stark contrast to the senior hurlers. In the same eight year period they have gone from being a Junior D side, to Senior A championship this year. In contrast with the footballers, they have achieved this the GAA way. They have one inter-county star, Andrew Shore from Wexford, but the rest are almost exclusively locals, who are passionate about their club.

Likewise, their managers and coaches have come from within the ranks. No money has changed hands. The result, a flourishing hurling team and scene that is the pride and joy of club members.

Parnell's Chairman Tony Fitzpatrick says that other Dublin clubs have outside players.

This is true, but there is an enormous difference. When a player does go to Vincent's or Brigid's or Kilmacud, he is going to a club that has a strong sense of identity and self esteem, a club that has the right ethos. Therefore a lad who transfers there is immediately comfortable with the culture.

What many people might not realise is that the GAA owns every club in the country, including Parnell's. Each club has temporary trustees, nothing more.

There is surely an overwhelming case in this instance for the GAA to use its powers to step in and supervise root and branch reform.

There is still time to turn things around. Parnells can go back to being a GAA club and in time become a source of real good in a very deprived community.

But rubbing the members' noses in it by bringing in Ciaran McKeever at a time when there is such discontent in the club, shows that the current committee has lost all moral authority. They do not understand that winning championships is a minor detail.

"Beauty comes first, winning is secondary. What matters is joy."

The Parnell's story is a stark warning of the dangers of putting the principles of commerce above our core ethics. It is one the entire GAA family would do well to heed.

http://gaeliclife.com/2014/06/joe-brolly-joy-in-short-supply-at-parnells/#sthash.s3J2coM1.dpuf

[haze]

We've all heard of big clubs getting transfers but what seems to be going on in Parnells looks to be on an entirely new level:

Ciaran mckeever is the latest inter-county footballer to join Dublin senior football side Parnells.

The Armagh captain's transfer was completed on Saturday, with the appeal period for his former club, St Patrick's expiring.

He will now join the litany of county or former county footballers within the Coolock-based club's ranks, including Laois' Colm Begley, Darren Rooney and Michael Tierney, Wexford's Aindreas Doyle and Rory Quinlivan, Conor Mortimer (Mayo) and Johnny Murtagh (Armagh).

Fellow Armagh defender Andy Mallon also joined the club last year.

McKeever's transfer has been confirmed on the GAA's official live transfer list.

The 31-year-old half-back lined out for Armagh in the county's Ulster semi-final draw with Monaghan on Saturday afternoon, where he was integral in earning his team a replay this weekend.

He won an Armagh intermediate championship in 2008 with St Patrick's, Cullyhanna. While last year they reached the senior county final, only to be beaten by near-neighbours Crossmaglen; McKeever played at midfield scoring two points in that game.

It remains unclear whether or not he will take up a coaching role within the Dublin club, as has been the case with similar transfers involving high-profile players and Parnells.

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/armagh-captain-ciaran-mckeever-secures-transfer-dublin-club-135537220.html


Joe wrote an article on the topic last month in Gaelic Life:

AS the Brazilian football team took the field to set the ball rolling on the 2014 World Cup, I thought of Socrates and his 1982 Brazilians. That team did not win the Jules Rimet, but their total commitment to the philosophy of the joga bonito – the beautiful game – immortalised them.

Shortly before he died in 2011, this extraordinary footballer, communitarian and social campaigner – he once took the field for Corinthians carrying a placard reading, "Democracy Now. Winning the championship is a minor detail" – was interviewed by an English journalist about his philosophy on the game. He uttered the immortal words, "Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy."

It is clear that joy is in short supply at Parnell's GAC. Since selling their land for an eye watering €22 million in 2008, the Dublin club has managed to turn gold into dust.

With the money banked, the committee's strategy was to buy their way to success.

The plan was to win a Dublin senior football championship by recruiting the best senior team money could buy. So, in the manner of an American college, they set about wooing high profile players from all over Ireland. The idea was to win big, win quick and become an overnight superpower.

As we have seen with the likes of Man City or Chelsea, this sort of philosophy works OK in professional sport. But when it is applied to the GAA, the result is inevitable: a senior team that is no good and a deeply dysfunctional club.

I am a Trinity man. A year or two after Parnell's had received their windfall, I went down to play in the annual game between the Old Boys and the students. I was surprised to see that the Trinity jerseys bore the Parnell's name.

"What's going on?" I asked in the bar afterwards.

Turns out Parnell's were sponsoring the Trinity team. Over the next few years, a number of talented young county footballers at the university transferred to, you guessed it, Parnell's. The result is that much of their senior football team is now made up of outsiders, who have zero affinity with the area.

Six years into their policy of buying success, the 2014 Parnells' All-Stars played the modestly talented Lucan Sarsfield's in the first round of this year's Dublin senior championship and were beaten 1-7 to 1-5. In a truly dire effort, Parnell's did not register a single score from play.

There is a reason for this. Lads are reared the GAA way. They play with their mates and families in the area they were born. It is an intensely parochial thing and at its heart is our sense of identity. We play together. We socialise together. Our club is the hub of our community. But if this cultural norm is twisted, in the way that Parnells have twisted it, then the team is doomed. Basically, Parnell's seniors are like a gather up that plays in New York for the summer.

It is alien for our players to play in that environment, which is why the Parnell's team does not function. There is no loyalty, no team ethic and crucially, no sense of identity. Many club members are passionately opposed to the outside recruits. Alienated within the club, the outsiders stick together. It is a soul destroying business, both for them and Parnell's.

This stands in stark contrast to the senior hurlers. In the same eight year period they have gone from being a Junior D side, to Senior A championship this year. In contrast with the footballers, they have achieved this the GAA way. They have one inter-county star, Andrew Shore from Wexford, but the rest are almost exclusively locals, who are passionate about their club.

Likewise, their managers and coaches have come from within the ranks. No money has changed hands. The result, a flourishing hurling team and scene that is the pride and joy of club members.

Parnell's Chairman Tony Fitzpatrick says that other Dublin clubs have outside players.

This is true, but there is an enormous difference. When a player does go to Vincent's or Brigid's or Kilmacud, he is going to a club that has a strong sense of identity and self esteem, a club that has the right ethos. Therefore a lad who transfers there is immediately comfortable with the culture.

What many people might not realise is that the GAA owns every club in the country, including Parnell's. Each club has temporary trustees, nothing more.

There is surely an overwhelming case in this instance for the GAA to use its powers to step in and supervise root and branch reform.

There is still time to turn things around. Parnells can go back to being a GAA club and in time become a source of real good in a very deprived community.

But rubbing the members' noses in it by bringing in Ciaran McKeever at a time when there is such discontent in the club, shows that the current committee has lost all moral authority. They do not understand that winning championships is a minor detail.

"Beauty comes first, winning is secondary. What matters is joy."

The Parnell's story is a stark warning of the dangers of putting the principles of commerce above our core ethics. It is one the entire GAA family would do well to heed.

http://gaeliclife.com/2014/06/joe-brolly-joy-in-short-supply-at-parnells/#sthash.s3J2coM1.dpuf

Don't know about the others but Michael Tierney is back playing at home in Ballyroan since turn of the year

[Hill16 Blues]

Parnells are an absolutely disgrace to themselves and to Dublin GAA. They have won sod all in football since pursuing this policy. In fact they have barely registered a championship win of note despite all their mercenaries and the money spent. They now struggle to field underage teams as kids in the area go to other clubs or don't bother playing gaa at all.

Ultimately you reap what you sow. The committee in Parnells continue to disgrace themselves and have torn the soul out of what could have been a great gaa club within Dublin.

Other Dublin clubs have outsiders playing which is an issue in itself but nobody has ripped the piss out of the rules as Parnells have done. The Dublin county board should have stepped in to stop this carry on a long time ago. The fact that they haven't raises its own questions 

Once the money runs out Parnells risk disappearing altogether. That mightn't be too far off in fact as stories have started to surface re the goings on at the club. If they do disappear nobody in Dublin gaa will shed a tear.

[T Fearon]

I hear the new transfer recruits are only allowed to play 3 consecutive games

[Bingo]

By all accounts Stephen Cluxton doesn't play with the senior team this year.

Two stories to it - he is fed up with the policy the club has taken and wants to play with lads he knows on their intermediate team OR he wants to play outfield, knows he not good to do so at senior level, so he asked to play Intermediate football only as outfield player.

I'm sure some of the Dubs may know more.

[rodney trotter]

Always drafting in the big names and never go anywhere. They were knocked out in the first round of the Dublin Championship this year

[orangeman]

If you've it, flaunt it. Isn't that the saying ?. Their club. Their money. Their call. It doesn't mean we agree with it, support it or condone it.

[johnneycool]

If you're going to run a transfer policy, surely you'd go for decent players, no?

[lynchbhoy]

never liked playing against parnells as they were a dirty shower - don't mind physical stuff, but this was hitting from behind kind of exponents. So not overly sorry at any of their plight to be honest.
parnells recruitment of neighbouring areas a decade ago if I recall correctly, meant the demise and folding of a club called kilmore.
I never heard of them so am only going on what I was told back then.
so it would be somewhat humorous should parnells fold- as I think there are a good few GAA teams/clubs in that area that can take on the kids/adults looking to play. might be better for the local gaa around there!

parnells have not broken any rules though. just going against the ethos.

[dec]

So does McKeever actually live/work in Dublin or will he just be moving because of this transfer?

[LCohen]

So does McKeever actually live/work in Dublin or will he just be moving because of this transfer?

He will be paid to ........................ahem....................coach. And is moving to Dublin for that reason

[PaddyP73]

So does McKeever actually live/work in Dublin or will he just be moving because of this transfer?

I believe McKeever got a job with the Artane boys marching band he will know where to line up at the parade the next day 

Parnells wage bill must be higher than Shamrock Rovers at this stage. Sure there managers lives in Ennis.

[Main Street]

You'd have to say though, despite all the  ineptitude, wastefulness etc,  they sold out just in time.

parnells have not broken any rules though. just going against the ethos.

They got permission from CC to sell the property and not use the funds for new infrastructure?

[J OGorman]

By all accounts Stephen Cluxton doesn't play with the senior team this year.

Two stories to it - he is fed up with the policy the club has taken and wants to play with lads he knows on their intermediate team OR he wants to play outfield, knows he not good to do so at senior level, so he asked to play Intermediate football only as outfield player.

I'm sure some of the Dubs may know more.

Heard from a Dub today that Cluxton is not lining out for the seniors because of the mercenarys being brought in.
If they did win the championship, where is the glory in it?

[BartSimpson]

Heard from a Dub today that Cluxton is not lining out for the seniors because of the mercenarys being brought in.
If they did win the championship, where is the glory in it?

Ive seen them play. Its not going to be an issue, trust me.