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I spend a notable portion of my working life online, watching media, following business specific blogs etc. For the last year I've been active on Twitter, again tracking media, political and business figures to stay ahead of work issues. 

For some time the absence of a community of people in those spaces discussing GAA matters has intrigued me.  There is a huge population of interested and very committed people following the games. Are they just not the kind of people that spend time online or is it an age thing or what?

Blog wise there is of course the inimitable http://www.anfearrua.com - "the first and still the best gathering place for GAA content" and there are a few others that I know of such as the http://mayogaablog.com/ and http://blogs.ireland.com/thegaablog/ as well as a few others of a more general nature where the writers have an ongoing interest in gaelic games - http://action81.com/blog/ and http://spailpin.blogspot.com/ . There don't though seem to be that many that are GAA specific

I'm interested to see if there is a community of people that will follow a GAA blog.  With that in mind from the beginning of June last I have set myself the target of running a GAA centric blog. I've called it 'A Tuppence ha'penny worth' - http://gushtystuppencehapenny.wordpress.com.   It is focussed on gaelic football - because I don't know a lot about hurling - and in the last eight weeks, I've managed to keep the content pretty active. That let me say that is THE big challenge - it's all about content.

In terms of the output so far, a lot of it is long winded and 'clunky' - I need to work harder at simplfying the way things are said / written there; I'm not a journalist.  In design terms too, I'm just using an off the shelf  WordPress template - I need to get someone to do a template for me.  However the hard part as mentioned is to create content regularly and I've concentrated all my efforts on doing that.

I've just this weekend lifted the wraps a little bit and taken off the privacy settings.  I have a Twitter a/c connected to the blog - http://twitter.com/paddypastit - and have started to contribute to a few other boards with the Paddypastit handle.

Also if you are aware of others that are active, please post them on here. Also I'd be keen to connect with interested discussion boards and Twitter pages. Now that smartphones are commonplace, instant reactions and comments will be more available and readily accessible to all so I'm interested to see how much can be brought together.

This is part hobby, part social media experiment. Feel free to wade in, pass on, RT or indeed ignore if you please.

D Murphy
K Lacey
M Shiels
T O'Sullivan
T O'Se
G Canty
J Miskella
D Earley
S Scanlon
P Galvin
P O'Neill
P Kelly
S O'Neill
D O'Sullivan
M Murphy

I wouldn't generally be one for starting the RIP threads but I was really saddened to hear last night of the passing of Johnny Stenson.  If ever there was a guy for whom the words character and gentleman fitted, this was the guy.  Played MF on the Sligo team that won Connacht in '75. Not just a great footballer, and he was that, but a great person whose enthusiasm for life and no strings attached love of the game has inspired and encouraged anyone who ever met him. He wouldn't have claimed to be a man of words or plans but by god did he know football. A one off, a legend - I first met him when I was a student on the county minors cadging lifts home at weekends and it was a privilege to say that I knew him. Hope you rest well Stenny

PJ Ryan
Ollie Canning
JJ Delaney
JackieTyrrell
Tommy Walsh
Brick Walsh
Padraic Maher
Michael Rice
Alan McCrabbe
Henry Shefflin
Seamas Callinan
Eddie Brennan
John Mullane
Lar Corbett
Noel McGrath

Hurler of the Year - Tommy Walsh

Kevin Walsh and his team of selectors team were confirmed for 2010 at Co Bd Exec meeting this evening.

No surprise but good for Sligo to have confirmation of the management for next season at this early stage, compared to either of the last two years.

Quick plea please?

Could anyone with IN subscriber access paste up Tom Kelly's piece this morning "Dirty tricks in politics entirely unsurprising"

Thanks

I'm on the Dart this morning, 7.45 or so reading one of the freesheet newspapers previewing the Dublin final and thinking to myself "Jez, hard lines too having to play your biggest club game of the year on a THURSDAY night".  I'm wondering what does a lad do - does he do a normal days work, can he? Could he possibly be on top form if he did?  Then the tarin pulls into a station and on pops this lad that looks familiar... I do a double take and yes he is... Bernard Brogan (playing for his club this evening in the Dublin SFC final)  Now here's a lad that would otherwise be down in Australia playing for Ireland and he's heading to work for 8.00 before playing in the biggest game his club has played in years... and their fans will expect him tyo be one of their matchwinners.  I don't know the lad from Adam but he was chatting away to another lad and seemed ordinary enough in his manner.  No doubt if he does anything tonight he will get abuse across the wall... we should really admire these guys effort alone.

[With the Association still on a lap of honour for Croke Park, Martin Breheny talks to distinguished former president Peter Quinn, who fears there is a lack of vision for the future]

I'm no fan of the conceited Brehony and I've never found it easy to like Peter Quinn but by god is he mostly talking sense in his article in this morning's Irish Independent (copied in below).

The only point on which I think he, as many others do also, is misreading it is this fallacy that "Many people would quit the GAA if it went professional." While I think the 'pay to play' scenario has many dangers for the future of the GAA - which are well and concisely presented by Lone Shark in the 'GAA ALL Ireland vs. GPA All Ireland ' thread http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=2373.0, it will not be because people will suddely refuse to be involved because somebody else is getting paid. Wake up and look around. There are two semiprofessional soccer leagues operating on this island (their viability or attractiveness is irrelavant in the context of this point) and there are junior soccer players and managers being paid all over the country yet there are still thousands of people happily involved in lower grade junior and underage soccer on a volunteer basis. No the dangers from 'Pay for play' are more what has happened in rugby where all of the payments get channelled towards an increasingly discrete group and the rest of the structures get neglected.

His point about Croke Park is well made.  It struck me that half the blow about not opening Croke Park was that the 'mystique' that has been created about this fabulous stadium built by an organisation where none of the real talent gets paid would be blown open.  It's just a sports ground, and already as Quinn points out, looking aged in parts. Those that played there in recent weeks have probably played in half a dozen similar or better equipped (albeit smaller) stadia  in the course of their week to week working lives over the past six months. Indeed I'm sure many of them looked at Croke Park and thought "nice place, pity they didn't finish it"  It's time we got over ourselves. 

Big marker here for the new Director General of the GAA - presume that is being teed up for Duffy?

With the Association still on a lap of honour for Croke Park, Martin Breheny talks to distinguished former president Peter Quinn, who fears there is a lack of vision for the future

THE GAA has become dangerously complacent, is over-staffed, is failing to plan properly for the many challenges it faces and is under serious risk over the next 20 years unless there's a radical change of attitude at all levels.

Furthermore, the organisation is expending too much energy congratulating itself on the redevelopment of Croke Park while not facing up to the massive problem within miles of the stadium, where the GAA has a penetration level of less than three per cent in some large, sprawling Dublin housing estates. That such a withering assessment has come, not from an enemy of the Association, but from Peter Quinn, one of its most distinguished former presidents, will stun the GAA community and, in particular, the policy-makers who have gathered in Kilkenny for this weekend's annual Congress. He will not be attending Congress, which he describes as a "decision-making body for matters that should be dealt with at lower level", but his comments are certain to resonate around Hotel Kilkenny today.

Quinn, who was GAA president from 1991 to 1994 and who played a major role in the planning and supervision of the Croke Park redevelopment, is a highly successful businessman who currently sits on the board of 12 companies, including the massive Quinn Group, owned by his brother Sean. Peter was recently appointed chairman of TG4.

His business acumen makes his comments on what he perceives as the GAA's lack of vision very interesting, especially as he chaired the Strategic Review Committee (SRC) which reported in early 2002.

"That's over five years ago. We should have a new strategy for the next five years by now but where is it? We're sitting looking and admiring what we did in Croke Park, instead of moving onto the next challenges. There are plenty of them too, mainly in the area of competition, but we're not addressing them. If you're in business and you don't address the challenge of your competitors, you don't survive and it will be the same in sport into the future," he contends.

"Nobody believes the GAA won't survive, but I'd never rule it out as a possibility in any organisation. Get it wrong long enough and you're in serious trouble. If we started to get it wrong now, we would be in serious trouble in 20 years. We could have become a miniscule organisation, incapable of making the impact on Irish society we currently do.

"The Roman Empire ruled the developed world for nearly a century and disappeared in about 20 years."

Quinn's warnings will come as a surprise to the Irish sporting landscape as, outwardly at least, the GAA has never looked healthier as it basks in the glory of its headquarters while huge crowds continue to flock to its games.

"I spent a number of years in the late 1970s working with businesses that got into difficulties. In all cases, the problem started when things were going well and success was mismanaged.

"Every organisation is at its most vulnerable when most successful. And history shows that the management that causes the problem is never good enough to get out of it."

He is extremely concerned by what he regards as a civil service mentality within the GAA and claims that while many administrators are doing a good job they are not necessarily doing the right job.

"There's a civil service attitude in Dublin generally which is in common with most capital cities. When that type of ethos seeps into an organisation like the GAA, you get an administrative structure that's not as effective as it should be. Everybody in Croke Park is working hard, but in terms of effectiveness it should be more streamlined. Strategy is more important than day-to-day administration. We have become an administrative rather than a strategic organisation," he remarks.

He is surprised by the increase in the number of staff in Croke Park, pointing out that it was reduced to under 20 in the late 1980s, but has since increased dramatically.

"When we cut it before, things rolled along fine. Nobody died as a result and the Association kept running. We have a hell of a multiple of 20 there now and that worries me. You can run an organisation on a tight administrative structure but ours is not tight," he says.

So who controls staff numbers? "I don't know. I'm not sure I ever knew, but I certainly don't know who controls it now," he states.

Glass ceiling

He is also concerned that there's a glass ceiling effect within the GAA's ranks and believes that all top posts should be on a seven-year contract basis with nobody serving more than two terms.

"Even then, there should be a major review after the first term. Until we get fixed-term contracts for our senior staff, we're not going to deliver the change and innovation needed. I want people to be always challenging those about them. Smash the glass ceiling because it impedes initiative - anything less is not tolerated in business any more.

"The Quinn Group had one chief executive managing two companies in two different sectors which were big enough to be publicly-quoted PLCs. It was a demanding role, but we appointed him because we knew he could do the job. Under the GAA system, a man of that ability would probably end up as assistant ticketing manager."

Quinn believes that competition from all other sports will present a massive threat to the GAA over the next 20 years, so it's vital for the organisation to be ready to take on the challenge which, he suspects, is not the case at present.

"At one level we're better off than we were 20 years ago but at another I don't believe we're as fighting fit. We would come under pressure more easily now," he reflects.

Like the rest of the GAA community, he felt proud when Croke Park opened its doors to rugby and soccer this spring - a decision he felt was inevitable as it would have been a sporting calamity if 'home' fixtures had to be moved to Britain.

"It would be a disaster for the GAA too because we would get all the blame. Opening Croke Park was the right thing to do, but I don't believe we should waste our energy now on taking pride in our achievements.

"We're still on a lap of honour for Croke Park when we should be working on making the future better," he warns.

He is adamant that the monies generated from renting Croke Park should be kept well clear of administrative matters and instead channelled into vital projects such as expanding the GAA's base in Dublin, where in some areas the penetration level is less than three per cent.

"That's a serious indictment of everybody from the clubs, to the Dublin County Board to Leinster Council to Central Council, but it's not too late to address it. Take some of the millions generated by Croke Park, select neglected areas in Dublin and plough resources - well controlled of course - into starting new clubs.

"Stay with them for as long as it takes to get them up and running and then move on to other areas. That's an effective way to spend money."

Quinn believes that it's vital for the GAA that Dublin win an All-Ireland senior football title every five years at least and says the best possible bonus for hurling would be if Dublin landed the Liam McCarthy Cup.

Dublin area

"There's a population of over 1.3 million in the Dublin area. That's a critical mass where it's vital to make an impact. Dublin are doing wonders for the GAA's finances thanks to the crowds they attract, but are doing nothing by comparison in terms of attracting and enthusing playing members in many areas, due largely to the lack of success at senior level," he reasons.

"Look at the impact Ireland's one win and a draw had on cricket. Now compare that with the effect an All-Ireland football title win by Dublin would have on the vast population in the city and county.

"It's crucial that Dublin start winning titles. You would expect that their strike rate would be better but then when you look at the number of country players on senior Dublin club teams, you wonder what it's all about."

Quinn's concern over the state of play in Dublin and his fears that a lack of planning for the future development of the GAA countrywide provides food for thought at a time when many believe the Association is on a record high. He believes that the SRC report of 2002 charted a vision that provoked a defensive reaction from which the GAA has yet to emerge.

"That's dangerous. Our greatest strength is the weakness of our competitors in real terms. But will it always remain so? I believed prior to 2002 that we had spent the previous 10 years building up a huge level of confidence in the GAA through the redevelopment of Croke Park, but when we suggested some changes, we got defensiveness.

"That's not the hallmark of a progressive organisation or one that's full of confidence and that worries me as we look towards the next 20 years in a rapidly changing world, both locally and globally," he concludes.

1 Pay-for-play

"We could never afford a professional game. If there's a war over it, the GAA has no choice but to fight because to accept it would be to end the Association as we know it. It would become a Kerry Packer (cricket) like operation where you had a small number of teams involved.

"Using the current structures, the only counties that in my view could afford a semi-professional games are Tyrone, Armagh, Cavan, Mayo, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Meath and Kildare. Many people would quit the GAA if it went professional. I helped raise around £100,000 for Fermanagh last year but if players were paid, I'd walk away. I'm sure lots of people around the country feel the same."

2 Player welfare
"Opposing pay-for-play shouldn't be mistaken an as anti-player approach. Without the players we have nothing so they should be well looked after at all times. I'd have some concerns about the manner in which players who are out of work through injury are treated. In some cases, at least, they have to wait an awful long time to receive any money."

3 Two Dublin football teams
"This was a one paragraph proposal in the SRC report but it took over the whole agenda. Dublin played it badly. There was never any question of forcing them to have two teams but a few individuals decided to use it for their own advantage.

"It was merely an idea thrown out to gauge reaction. I would not favour two Dublin teams in the senior championship but think it would be a good idea at minor and U21 level. I would also favour two administrative structures for Dublin - the competition would be good for both of them."

4 Croke Park
"It's a cash generator in the short term but there will come a time when we have to start putting money aside to re-build it. A stadium like that takes a hell of a pounding. It's necessary to keep working on it all the time.

"I couldn't believe when we opened the Hogan Stand how old the Cusack Stand looked. We probably skimped on the Cusack side because we thought we were short of money but actually we weren't. We never expected Croke Park to repay the loan to Central Council but it's doing that already."

5 What if Croke Park had not been redeveloped?
"We'd be down to a capacity of around 48,000 now. We went ahead out of frustration when it became clear there wasn't going to be a National Stadium, certainly not in the short term because the other sports weren't prepared to make the same financial commitment as the GAA. Just as well we did because if we waited another five years, we couldn't possibly have afforded the redevelopment."

6 Other GAA ground developments
"We should have one big, well-developed stadium per province. It makes no sense for every county to redevelop stadiums with a capacity that's only required every few years, if at all."

7 The Tallaght Stadium controversy
"I would have thought that in the circumstances where the GAA has made Croke Park available to soccer and rugby that a publicly-funded major development in any area would make provision for Gaelic Games."

8 International Rules
"I don't think it has any future because the ethics of the two organisations are very different. Anyway, now that the Aussies have copied the way we used to play the game, I don't think Ireland would ever win a series again. It has no strategic role to play in the development of the GAA - therefore I don't think we should waste any resources on it."

9 TV coverage
"I don't think pay-per-view is a good idea. Many people don't have Setanta so the exposure for Saturday night League games has been relatively small. Obviously I have a bias now towards TG4 (he's the new chairman) but I think they have done a great job and they will get better if they get the chance.

"I think we negotiated some bad contracts with RTÉ - and I blame myself for doing it too during my term as President - because we went more for money than quality and quantity of coverage. Of course, we shouldn't give it away for nothing but we don't need the money as much now so I'd be pushing RTÉ to provide more GAA coverage in return for a smaller rights free.

"It would have to be of the highest quality, mind you. In general, RTÉ haven't done a bad job but we need them to provide more coverage to counteract the amount of other sports shown on all channels. We could insist on that in return for a lower fee."

10 The Games
"We have one great game and one good game. I never played hurling but nothing can compare with it. Sadly, it's confined to a few counties and there are concerns that it won't change. Still, it remains the jewel in our crown.

"Football is more evenly balanced and but what we need now if for another county to come along, like Armagh and Tyrone did, and win the All-Ireland for the first time. Either that or some county, maybe like Mayo, who haven't won it for a long time."