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Now you have me well and truly confused as you have gone to great lengths to emphasise a point I've been attempting to make all along.
I think it's fair to say that I accept that county boundaries are political constructs and have no legal standing in GAA circles.
Without going back to the Composition of Connaught or the Grand Jury and Poor Law Union systems and all that, I think it's fair to say that the redrawing of the Mayo/Roscommon boundary did not alter the status of the Ballagh club in any way.
Ballagh affiliated with the Mayo County Board and the subsequent re-jigging of county boundary lines did not and does not the club's right to continue its association with Mayo.
To date, you appear to be the only Rossie, on this board anyway, who grasps this, even if you don't fully accept that fact.
You seem to favour the setting up of another club in the same parish which would affiliate with Roscommon. Therefore, your motives are political, pure and simple.
Is the GAA above politics or are politics above the GAA?
There are democratic procedures open to you and other Rossies in the parish without having to throw your rattles out of your prams when you don't get your own way.
Why not join the club instead of harping about it?
If it's a case of one member one vote, your "side" should be able to gain control of the club in a remarkably short period of time.
As a matter of interest, are you a registered member of the Ballagh club and if not, why not?
Is it not open to you and all other Rossie supporters in Ballagh to work within the structures of the GAA to seek to bring about change?
Seriously, if I were a GAA man in Roscommon, I'd be too embarrassed to publicise the fact that the members of Ballagh prefer to play their football in another county and this has been the case for the last 118 (or so) years.
Doesn't say much about your bleddy bus and all that goes with it, does it?

The only thing I advocate is for Roscommon people living in Ballaghaderreen to have the right to represent their native county, without having to transfer to another part of Roscommon (as Sean Kilbride had to do). I would not call that politics, I would call that a normal state of affairs for most GAA footballers in the land and I think one could only truly understand that if they lived in a county, their own beloved county, supported that county through thick and thin, only to be told by a callous provincial council that if you live in that part of your county, then you can only represent your neighbor and your most bitterest rival on the GAA field. I would say if most people on this board were given that choice and that choice only, then I'd say their provincial council would have damned them to a life of GAA hell.

I also would not ever wish for the current club to be forced to play in Roscommon and I would want Ballagh people who support Mayo (about 50% of the parish) to forever retain their right to maintain this tradition and represent Mayo (de hoors!). My football days are long over but I did play with the Ballaghaderreen GAA club and have many happy memories, but such were my football skills that neither Mayo nor Roscommon wanted me, although I did if truth be told get invited to a Mayo minor trial but was too busy chasing the girls back in those days. Thankfully I was a feckless youth and therefore my primrose and blue purity was never stained.

That's my final say on the matter. The title of the thread is Connacht and whatever about our disagreements about GAA, there's no finer province in Ireland for beauty, storytelling and the character of the people.

I watched the FG Ard-Fheis...

I nearly choked when he rolled out the 5 point plan again.

Telling the same lies again in the hope that people will vote them back in. Everything in that speech is geared towards re-election of their party. As was pointed out by Rabbitte lies are what you tell at election time. Enda has had plenty of time to remediate a number of the items he now promises to fix.
The 5 point plan being regurgitated is particularly galling considering they did not achieve it.
Are we still talking about broadband??
The era of new taxes and charges are over. That's because apart from Oxygen there is nothing left to tax?

I mean you could pick holes in the speech all you want but the short of it is that they just want to stay on the gravy train. Scaremongering about not voting them back is pretty cheap. It's up to the others to show there is an alternative. To be fair a fukking rotting cabbage would do a better job than the ministers and teeshock.

Look personally I am no fan of the Blueshirts but am left wing in politics with a tenuous grá for a Labour. At the end of the day unemployment has fallen from 15% and will likely be under 10% before their term is up. We have the highest growth in Europe.  Our tourism industry is on fire. New beef markets have been opened in US and China. There's social programs we'd never see under FF: Gay marriage. Enda for all his faults and despite his own conservative Catholicism had stood up to Catholic Church something we've never seen from FF or Sinn Fein. We've seen a lot of new investment in the country. In contrast, in NI where Sinn Fein and DUP rule the roost we see nothing but a civil service society. It's actually a place where water meters are being set in place but won't be used. I mean Lord Jaysus but that takes the biscuit altogether. They fair play to you for watching that shite and providing us with updates.

Are you trying to let on you are educated lar napark or are you enda in disguise?

Yes he is Enda in disguise. Well done. In fact Enda is every single Mayo poster here.

Except for Farr. He is Michael Ring. 

Re the Ballagh situation - If the Rossies don't like it then they should have put Ring on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY
but it's a bit of a joke at this stage

1898 - the Brits are responsible

The Brits had damn all to do with it. Nationalist politician, John Dillon made the decision because of lower water rates. His son James Dillon went on to lead Fine Gael and continued to sign any correspondence as Ballaghaderreen, Co, Mayo. Mayo Blueshirts caused it all. But the Brits did create the county boundaries and as I've said, they gave Galway and Mayo a tremendous advantage over the other three counties, as ye both have more than twice the population of us. At least Galway have made some fist of winning All-Irelands. Mayo on the other hand - even picking from the second largest town in Roscommon and they still can't win shite.

Ah, feck it anyway!
There goes my resolution to accept the inevitable and give up trying to drum anything into anyone in your God-forsaken land. It lasted all of ten minutes btw.
You say the Brits had nothing to do with it, whatever "it" is.
Then you go on to say that "the Brits did create the county boundaries and as I've said, they gave Galway and Mayo a tremendous advantage over the other three counties,..."
Apart from the fact that you said nothing of the sort, how do you reconcile both statements?
Was it Johneen Dillon the b**tard, or was it the Brits who grabbed a large stretch of our county and landed the poor inhabitants in with your shower?
So the implication seems to be that getting rid of Ballagh gives us a tremendous advantage over the other three counties.
You can't be seriously expect the good people there to want to have anything to do with you after that.
I mean ye have had 118 years to try and persuade the people of Ballagh to play ball with you and they are not for turning.
With an attitude like yours, can anyone blame  them?

You are confusing two different points - the creation of the county system, and changes to county boundaries that were made over time. For someone who's had high praise for himself as an educator, you don't seem to understand that Irish county boundaries are arbitrary demarcations on a map. They are replicas of the English county/shire system and so our current county system has its origins in the Normans and the Tudors, with various modifications along the way. My point is that it was a Mayoman and a nationalist Mayoman at that who was primarily responsible for the transfer of Ballaghaderreen to Co. Roscommon. I was of course pointing out that when Norman and British administrators adopted their county system to Ireland, they gave yourselves and Galway the biggest slices of the Connacht pie. Go back in history and Roscommon had a bigger slice. One can stand for example in the lovely village of Cong and have one foot in Galway and one foot in Mayo - it's just a man made division. There's some natural boundaries. The Shannon is one such natural boundary. That said, if you cross the Shannon and go to the Roscommon side of Athlone, you are still not in Roscommon but in Westmeath. Again, that's a man-made decision and a foolish one at that, because even the dogs in the street know when you cross the Shannon you are in a totally different land. At the end of the day, Ballaghaderreen is in Roscommon because such boundaries are man-made and when it was in Mayo it was equally because of a man-made line on a map - and you can be sure that boundary was not created by a Fior-Ghael but some British administrator who couldn't wait to get the fu(k out of Connacht after he set up a few administrative units. Mayo and Roscommon were not created by some absolute God but by invader. But in the event the counties are God's fault, byjaysus didn't he give us poor Rossies an awful shower of neighbours.

Are you trying to let on you are educated lar napark or are you enda in disguise?

Yes he is Enda in disguise. Well done. In fact Enda is every single Mayo poster here.

Except for Farr. He is Michael Ring. 

Re the Ballagh situation - If the Rossies don't like it then they should have put Ring on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY
but it's a bit of a joke at this stage

1898 - the Brits are responsible

The Brits had damn all to do with it. Nationalist politician, John Dillon made the decision because of lower water rates. His son James Dillon went on to lead Fine Gael and continued to sign any correspondence as Ballaghaderreen, Co, Mayo. Mayo Blueshirts caused it all. But the Brits did create the county boundaries and as I've said, they gave Galway and Mayo a tremendous advantage over the other three counties, as ye both have more than twice the population of us. At least Galway have made some fist of winning All-Irelands. Mayo on the other hand - even picking from the second largest town in Roscommon and they still can't win shite.

To be fair to giveballaghback he has a point, about Rossies in Ballaghaderreen who can't play for Ros. I don't know how the issue will be resolved as they COULD play for Ros, but the club would be under the auspices of Mayo at administration level. They would have to forego one or the other if Ballagh and Ros games clashed. Which brings us back to the vote taken at Conn Council level back before my time I do believe...

Now, now Farr, keep the faith and resist the blandishments of the heathens.
Those in Ballaghadereen who wish to transfer the club to Roscommon,  know damn well what has to be done. Let them shut up, join up and see if they can raise a majority.
Can players in Knockmore transfer to Ballina or Crossmolina if they don't like something or other in your club?
It's exactly the same situation here as civil administration units (counties) don't come into it. It just generally works out that way but parish boundaries take precedence over county ones if anomalies exist.
These buckeens who keep blabbering away here just don't get it. The club had democratically decided to remain with Mayo over six generations ago and that's their entitlement as a change of boundary doesn't force them to automatically follow suit. The GAA prides itself on remaining aloof from politics and won't interfere, nor should it.

First of all Roscommon people in Ballaghaderreen do not want to transfer the club to Roscommon. That has never been the issue and is just used like you have done to muddy the waters. Let the club stay in Mayo until the end of time. It's a Mayo club, always was and always will be. What you have posted is utter rubbish. We are Roscommon men and women because we are Ballagh. We should not  have to become Frenchpark men or Castlerea men or Loughglynn men to represent our county, when we already live in Roscommon. There's nothing more insulting than outsiders telling us to transfer to another club in Roscommon, never having to live through that situation themselves. Ballagh is our hometown and it's as a Ballaghman that I support Ros.

Midwest (formerly pirate Radio Midas in Ballyhaunis) was founded by nearly all ROS men like Claffey, Chris Carroll, Gerry Glennon, etc.

[all they have]

Sod them - we have one bell of a bus while all they have is a massive debt on Prentypark .

And 14 years of victory over our noisy neighbours.

Didn't think January was that long ago.

A FBD win in January has even less worth than a summer challenge where everyone comes out of the ground with a different final score. 19 years without a championship win against Mayo in McHale is pitiful. Tony and Eamon Mc led us to victory that day.  That's how long ago that was and I was fortunate to be there to witness. Little did I think 20 years later... Until we right that a few grand profit on a bus is a nonsense fact. Taking auld ones to bingo was it? Don't know what possessed you to resurrect it in the first place. Let's play the ball and not the bus.

You'd be better off playing the fiddle

A classical violinist told me that fiddle is the proper term but violin is used for snobbish reasons. What they are all playing are fiddles. Invest in a good bow too.

People said the same about Luas yet it's clearly better than CIE. Imagine if it was left to CIE to create that system. We've had Irish water publically run and it's a system where half the water is lost to leaks and we live in constant fear of getting a dose of the scutters from drinking a glass.

Big difference being that the luas isn't a natural resource that people use on a daily basis as a necessity - and they were able to start from scratch (and couldn't even get that right to ensure both sides of the luas actually joined at a point)

Well in my county the water has been undrinkable for years. By the way lots of things are necessities including food, clothes, warmth, a roof over my head. We have a fair few in this country that expect the taxpayer to pay for all  their necessities. Maybe time for a referendum for taxpayers to see what they no longer want to fund.

People said the same about Luas yet it's clearly better than CIE. Imagine if it was left to CIE to create that system. We've had Irish water publically run and it's a system where half the water is lost to leaks and we live in constant fear of getting a dose of the scutters from drinking a glass.

It's Ballagh   

Nah. Like we cannot accept some old civil servant from the congested district board redrawing a boundary. We all know the mess the colonials made of drawing borders - and not just in Ireland.
Africa with its straight line borders with no consideration for man or beast. India and Pakistan divided by an engineer in a shed with a map and 1 million killed as they ran a gauntlet across a divide drawn on paper.
What amazes me is that Rossies get annoyed about Ballagh. We re the ones that should be pissed off. A part of the county rejigged for social reasons by people who would regard football as quaint at best, and ye expect that to be reason they should play for Roscommon

Ye should be very grateful to the English when they drew the county boundaries. They gave yereselves and Galway the two biggest picks in Connacht.

It's Ballagh   

Nah. Like we cannot accept some old civil servant from the congested district board redrawing a boundary. We all know the mess the colonials made of drawing borders - and not just in Ireland.
Africa with its straight line borders with no consideration for man or beast. India and Pakistan divided by an engineer in a shed with a map and 1 million killed as they ran a gauntlet across a divide drawn on paper.
What amazes me is that Rossies get annoyed about Ballagh. We re the ones that should be pissed off. A part of the county rejigged for social reasons by people who would regard football as quaint at best, and ye expect that to be reason they should play for Roscommon

The best Ballagh player there has ever been has a father that is such a true Rossie he won't even shout for Mayo when his son plays. Says it all about where even the poor players' hearts are really.

More absolute bullsh*t from you as usual, if Moran was just a true Rossie and wanted to play for them why didn't he do what James Kilcullen did?

Kilcullen's transfer to Sligo was declared legal because his family is from Sligo. As far as I know it is not legal to declare for Roscommon if your family is from Ballaghaderreen even though Ballaghaderreen is in Roscomnon. It's in Mayo for GAA purposes. Sean Kilbride for example could not represent Roscommon until he moved residence from Ballaghaderreen. That said I think Roscommon GAA should test the waters here for players whose allegiance is Roscommon.

Mayo not perturbed about losing a FBD league. It's that a young Roscommon team beat them in the physical stakes. As one commentator on Willie Joe blog (great blog btw) said it was awful to see a Mayo team fu(ked about like that. That's the stuff of Mayo's worst nightmares and brings back to the surface the "laddeens" description that the county board chairman had immortalised a recent Mayo team with after an All-Ireland hammering to Kerry. Horan had done a great job in changing that, making Mayo a physically imposing team which they will continue to be and the real reason Mayo beat Roscommon last year is because they were a better conditioned team and were able to use that physical strength to turn over possession in last ten minutes. The physical domination by the young Rossies stuck in the craw on Sunday and the ref got booed in the end - so who really took the game too serious. We will now have the bizarre situation of a bit of needle should Ros and Mayo meet again in the championship. And the reason for the needle? Oh just some spillover from a meaningless January FBD game.

Interesting that Johnomahonyitis (bigging up London, Ros, Sligo, Nua Eabhrac, Leitrim when facts suggest the contrary) is the prevailing mentality that has come to dominate Mayo and Galway football supporters. He fairly left his mark. Too bad: the calling a spade a spade from James Horan was much more refreshing. Psychobabble never made a football team. Tabhair aire lads. Ye could be in for a rough year.

No coastline = shit county. Sin e.

Give me the shores of Lough Ree or Lough Key or the banks of the dark mutinous Shannon waves than the Mayo coast sponsored by Shell. What's the use of a coastline if ye don't respect it.