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Ya know the old saying about somebody snatching victory from the jaws of defeat?
I'm afraid in Mayo we tend to do things arseways and yesterday was a perfect example of this. Over the years, aAttempting to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory has been far more likely to happen and it could well have happened in Ennis.
Countless times over the years, Horan's teams have played scintillating football early on and could/should have been out of sight by half time, only to lose the plot in the second half and be left hangin on in the end if they are lucky.
They were lucky yesterday and make no mistake about it. Like against Westmeath, they were 7 to 8 points a better side yesterday and still just about managed to hang on at the end. I can't see Sligo beating us but, from there on, we could be riding our luck.

[Long Centuries of Connacht DNA enables me to recognise bullsh1t when I come across it.]

Doing right The Sinn Fein way?
No houses anywhere hear anyone so private houses can cost a fortune and loads of people can  be put living in hotels so Maryloo can wrinkle up her forehead in outrage and indignation in the Dáil.
Some won't see through it which seems to be the whole point.
By the way unlike yourself I never read a political party handbook in my life and have no intention of doing so.
Long Centuries of Connacht DNA enables me to recognise bullsh1t when I come across it.

G'man Ross, you're suckin' diesel!

I despair for some of you, reading the stuff some of you write. You take yourselves all to seriously where as Brolly doesn't take himself seriously at all. He's genuine in that it's entertainment. Brolly leads a life of listening to and defending in the criminal courts. Can you imagine the people he has met, spent time with and defended. That's his day to day stuff. Things you can't comprehend. Context is everything in life. For Brolly this is escapism. It's entertainment. It's not the real world

But why belittle people

Exactly. A few years ago, Monaghan was in an Ulster final. Best player Tommy Freeman was injured but played with a strap on his right hand. Seems he drove a Hilti nail into his palm. Brolly kept sniggering about this for the whole match. O'Rourke and Luster kept quite but Brolly didn't notice they weren't responding. As puerile a performance as I ever saw from him. 

On this day (June 8th):

1982...Up to 50 British servicemen are killed in an Argentine air attack on two supply ships in the Falklands.
1999: Ex-cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken (UK) is jailed for 18 months after admitting he lied during a libel action.
2002: Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus Williams to win her first French Open tennis title.

This is my final post on this topic. It has gone decidedly off-topic.
The purpose of the thread was fairly uncomplicated; posters were invited to express their personal opinions and there should be no need for anyone to reply with abuse of any sort.
That sort of schoolground behaviour may be okay on topics of a broader nature but I see no need for it here.
To recap one last time; In my (very) personal opinion Arlene Foster suffered at least as much personal tragedy at the hands of the Provos as any nationalist did because of loyalist paramilitaries. IMO again, I think she has every reason to feel bitter. I don't like her politics but I acknowledge that she left her sectarian overcoat behind her on at least  two occasions. That's my personal opinion- more or less and it will remain so.

They really shouldn't have been beat by KK last year either though.

On another note Cody looking very gaunt in his interviews. He was never weighty but looks to have lost a load.

Well, he is over 70 now and he was never one to carry excess weight but, all the same, he has aged a lot lately.

He's 67 in a few weis eks! Still, it's a young mans game. It takes loads of energy and mental resolve. It's also about the Management team you have around you.

I guess I was wrong. I think I am getting senile. He  was 5 years behind me.

They really shouldn't have been beat by KK last year either though.

On another note Cody looking very gaunt in his interviews. He was never weighty but looks to have lost a load.

Well, he is over 70 now and he was never one to carry excess weight but, all the same, he has aged a lot lately.

He's 67 in a few weeks! Still, it's a young mans game. It takes loads of energy and mental resolve. It's also about the Management team you have around you.

He was three years behind me in St
Pats Drumcondra and I am 72.

[My cousin was born in December and managed to play hurling for Dublin due to all three of these - even though he wasn't the tallest either - he had that inner drive to succeed.]

I agree with thewobbler on this one. Natural athleticism and size are important, so too is the 'drive' to want to succeed. My cousin was born in December and managed to play hurling for Dublin due to all three of these - even though he wasn't the tallest either - he had that inner drive to succeed.

Anecdotal evidence I know, but that's what I tell those who have children who are born late in the year.

"It's not the size of the dog in a fight that counts. It's the size of the fight in the dog."

Ah yes, but some dogs have to fight harder than other dogs!

Arra, how can they fight harder if they have don't more fight in them than in the other dog to begin with?
(Or something like that... I think. )

[My cousin was born in December and managed to play hurling for Dublin due to all three of these - even though he wasn't the tallest either - he had that inner drive to succeed.]

I agree with thewobbler on this one. Natural athleticism and size are important, so too is the 'drive' to want to succeed. My cousin was born in December and managed to play hurling for Dublin due to all three of these - even though he wasn't the tallest either - he had that inner drive to succeed.

Anecdotal evidence I know, but that's what I tell those who have children who are born late in the year.

"It's not the size of the dog in a fight that counts. It's the size of the fight in the dog."

They really shouldn't have been beat by KK last year either though.

On another note Cody looking very gaunt in his interviews. He was never weighty but looks to have lost a load.

Well, he is over 70 now and he was never one to carry excess weight but, all the same, he has aged a lot lately.

[More controversial perhaps, I admire Arlene Foster who crossed deep sectarian divides to attend the Harte funeral.]

I have great respect for Mickey Harte because of his dtremendous dignity under pressure as he coped with the death of his daughter. I have reservations about much that Mickey has done but, like Aidan McGinely of recent times., Mickey and his wife were an inspitation to us all.
More controversial perhaps, I admire Arlene Foster who crossed deep sectarian divides to attend the Harte funeral.

I do not understand this in the slightest

What do you not understand? Do you think she should not have attended in order to conform with the usual stereotypes? Her religious beliefs prevented here attending the mass but she turned up for the graveside ceremonies and in doing so she probably upset more of her own supporters than anyone else.
There was nothing to be gained politically by her going there- just a token of respect for the ordeal the Harte and McAravey families were going through.

I think you are mixing up a number of things here. Can you tell me how her religious beliefs prevent her attending the mass? In any event 'in doing so she upset a number of her own supporters' - are you really excusing her bigotry and those of her supporters by admiring her for taking a slight step away from it? Your bar is set incredibly low. And of course there was something to gain politically (not that I'm saying that was necessarily what her attendance was for) - hasn't she fooled people like you into thinking she's a decent sort despite being a hateful bigot (as you state yourself in your response)?

She hasn't fooled me in the slightest. It goes against my nature to admit that I find anything done by the DUP or any of its members to be worthy of praise but to an impartial observer that would make me a bigot also.
I am told that the reason she attended the Harte funeral was because she felt sorry for Mrs harte  and genuinely wanted to show her understanding of a mother's grief. One mother expressing concern for another in her time of deepest grief is a human trait that crosses all sorts of political and cultural divisions.
I'm afraid I don't see how she could have hoped to gain anything politically by doing what she did- contrary to her perceived form. I can't warm to the DUP in any shape or form and the fact that Arlene is not  longer in that party doesn't bother me one way or the other.

One mother showing support for another rises above sectarian battle lines for me.

PS I must really be losing the plot big time!
I recall seeing a (very reasonable) post by imtommygunne and I intended responding to it but when I went to look for it again, I couldn't' find it.
I'm genuinely stuck for time at the moment but I'll resume my search when I get a chance. ( Maybe 'll be locked up first.) Lol

[I really admire the man]

Poots attended a McKenna football match in 2008, becoming the first DUP minister to attend a GAA fixture, long before Arlene Foster did.

Do I win a prize?

I really admire the man

??
But not Arlene Foster? What's the difference between one Unionist bigot or another?
So you'd ban all religion in schools? You'd run into trouble with Poots then since he believes all in says in the Bible.
I never knew he attended any sort of a GAA match.
Well, far play to him for doing so. He can't be, same as Foster, a totally bitter anti-Taig then.

Seems sarcasm is way over your head every bit as much as northern issues. Even Poot's mother wouldn't admire him.

Yeah? If that's your best attempt at sarcasm it's as undercooked as your political maturity.

[I really admire the man]

Poots attended a McKenna football match in 2008, becoming the first DUP minister to attend a GAA fixture, long before Arlene Foster did.

Do I win a prize?

I really admire the man

??
But not Arlene Foster? What's the difference between one Unionist bigot or another?
So you'd ban all religion in schools? You'd run into trouble with Poots then since he believes all in says in the Bible.
I never knew he attended any sort of a GAA match.
Well, far play to him for doing so. He can't be, same as Foster, a totally bitter anti-Taig then.

Poots as minister attended that game. I don't admire him, but he is somewhat willing to do his job.
Foster as First Minister and Fermanagh MLA should have attended on the same basis, perhaps Stalford who attended with her deserves more credit

I don't follow you ...
Do you mean that she wasn't a state minister at the time, so it was no big deal. I never thought of it that way.
In any event, she was taking an infinitely greater political risk by attending the Harte funeral. That was a double whammy, religious  and cultural, for the extremists on her side of the community divide.
Incidentally, the man Itchy admires wouldn't dream of attending a Catholic ceremony of any sort. Creationists regard Catholics as idolators and all pre-doomed to everlasting damnation in the fires of hell   

[I really admire the man]

Poots attended a McKenna football match in 2008, becoming the first DUP minister to attend a GAA fixture, long before Arlene Foster did.

Do I win a prize?

I really admire the man

??
But not Arlene Foster? What's the difference between one Unionist bigot or another?
So you'd ban all religion in schools? You'd run into trouble with Poots then since he believes all in says in the Bible.
I never knew he attended any sort of a GAA match.
Well, far play to him for doing so. He can't be, same as Foster, a totally bitter anti-Taig then.

[More controversial perhaps, I admire Arlene Foster who crossed deep sectarian divides to attend the Harte funeral.]

I have great respect for Mickey Harte because of his dtremendous dignity under pressure as he coped with the death of his daughter. I have reservations about much that Mickey has done but, like Aidan McGinely of recent times., Mickey and his wife were an inspitation to us all.
More controversial perhaps, I admire Arlene Foster who crossed deep sectarian divides to attend the Harte funeral.

Jesus Christ I am only after seeing this beauty. You admire a sectarian bigot for momentarily setting aside her sectarianism to attend the funeral of a catholic girl murdered in a foreign country on her honeymoon. There was no "deep sectarian divide" to cross - what a bizarre thing to say. I think it shows the total lack of understanding you have for matters in the North.

Good man Itchy,  you're in flying form as always!
(And, as usual, you are missing my point.)
That's no surprise as it takes a pretty open-minded, non-judgemental individual; one who doesn't see everything in black or white terms, to understand what I mean.
I know I shouldn't bother my posterior even attempting a reply but maybe there are more tolerant nationalists who will appreciate what I am trying to say.

Not everybody who was traumatised by what they experienced in childhood is a Catholic and the young Arlene Kelly is no exception.  Protestant children know just as little about poolitics or religious discrimination as Catholic kids do.
As an 8 year old, her daddy barely survived an assassination attempt on his life. As she grew older, she found out that the man suspected of the attempt on her father's life is regarded as a hero by a large section of the nationalist community.
As a teenager, the Provos tried to assassinate the driver of the school bus she was on. Her best pal was killed and she was badly injured by the blast. To kill one unsuspecting adult, those who planted the bomb were prepared to put the lives of innocent children at risk.
After all that, how can anyone expect her not to be bitter?
What she did by going to the Harte funeral and also turning up at a Gaelic football game made her few friends on the nationalist side but made her countless enemies on her side of the fence.
I admire her for that and I  don't give two flying fiddlesticks if anybody wants to disagree with me.

Maybe I am missing your point but if you tried making it in a few concise sentences instead of rambling post it might be easier. Can I paraphrase, you admire Arlene as she had a difficult childhood being brought up in the troubles to such an extent she hated catholics and should be admired for setting that aside to attend a funeral of an innocent Catholic lady.

I think that's total bollox, as per the fine post written above.

If I wrote what I have to say on the back of a postage stamp or I filled out 50 ages, you wouldn't see a word of it!
But I am just hoping that there are some broad-minded nationalists who realise that there is an Edwin Poots for every Itchy and there will be no peace on this island until their pernicious influence is somehow curbed.
I disagree with maybe 95%, or even more, of what she says or does but I accept that she is not 100% intolerant or bigoted.
As for future comments from me on this subject, please refer to the last sentence of my last post.