Messages

I think ye were lucky not to get McStay. Don't think he is up to intercounty. Did great things with St. Bridgets last year, but I've seen him at under 21 with our own county and he did not have the side line vision. I know that was 10 plus years ago, but you either have these things or you don't. They can't really be learned, it's almost intuition.

His adjustments for Brigids were excellent, be it playing Frankie higher up the field, switching to Cake in goals or emphasising a high press defence to in-game adjustments like seeing things weren't going right in the middle against Ballymun and bringing on Garvan Dolan at half-time, someone who had a huge impact in turning the game in Brigids' favour. Whether it was McStay, McHale or O'Brien the whole unit were as tactically proficient as I've seen a management team be in many years. 'Sideline vision' is the one thing McStay doesn't lack.

I think Kildare will get a good quality manager in Ryan but the more ambitious choice would have been McStay. K-Mac has to chair a strategic committee here in Roscommon and gets to continue his RTE job unimpeded so I'm sure he isn't crying into his glass for things to do.

I'm a brigids club member. Think there are 2/3 more that would come on here for a read once in a while.

Great PHP-We have the multi club rossie/wannabemayoman doing all the sound bites for ye-he needs someone to take the pressure off(off us in fact!).

Have you not recovered from the All-Roscommon Connacht final last year or something, Sans?

It's ok, Ballagh lost yesterday so we'll only have the one entrant this year.

I'm a brigids club member. Think there are 2/3 more that would come on here for a read once in a while.

Brigids member too. Decent win yesterday without Domican, Kilbride, Darren Dolan etc. Frankie took his goal well and nealy scored a spectuclar one, his bro Garvan should have had one near the end. Corofin in Kiltoom would be a nice one for the final, assuming we don't slip up prior to this.

Prenty has decided clubs can't host Connacht finals at home anymore after the Corofin boys had a bout of the ye olde hooliganisms in Kiltoom three years ago. Brigids will have to mms do with the Hyde if they make the Connacht final.

Mitchells seem great odds. Hard to see brigids going again

Home Connacht final beckoning and they played excellently with a raft of injuries yesterday. Corofin or no Corofin, Brigids beat them playing badly three years ago and Corofin aren't the only ones who have 'improved' since then.

Western Gaels 0-06
St. Brigid's 0-07 HT.

Hell of a county final so far, free-flowing and physical and some good quaility refereeing for a change.

Muppet beat me to it on this but all the talk of it being a powergrab is pure nonsense. The senate has next to no power and the power it does have, it doesn't use. A red herring argument.

But it was Gerry's argument, before Pearse won the internal debate:

"That is not real reform; it is power grabbing. It may be a very democratic coup but it is a coup none the less. There is more power for government, less accountability and democracy and fewer checks and balances against political abuse and patronage."

And i'd imagine if the polls had been showing in favour of retention early on, SF's position would have been different on this. It was pure opportunism (just as it was with FF in the opposite position). With the northern element especially, SF's position made absolutely no sense - and they were well out of line with their voters.

Yes, the Seanad has limited power as it stands, but abolishing it would have removed any possibility for there to ever be an effective challenge to the Executive. With the whip system in the Dail, the opposition is totally powerless. I can't see any major shift coming there, regardless of who is in power.

Ah get over yourself. I didn't mention SF in my post. I have already stated that I had reservations about its abolition as it would see less six county representation participation in Dublin.
I only stated my opinion that it is hardly a power grab when the seanad has next to no power anyway, and doesn't use the small bit of power it does have. So if the only motivation was grabbing power, it would be a very bothersome and risky campaign for very minimal reward.

I only mentioned SF as you're officially the Board's biggest Shinner and it's fairly uncommon (unknown?) for you to consider Gerry's words "pure nonsense".

My opinion is that regardless of how toothless the Seanad is now, there's more scope to create challenge in it than in the Dail, and a successful 'yes' vote would have removed any potential for that.

Again, my post never mentioned SF. It had nothing to do with SF. I don't care if Gerry Adams or anybody else says it is a powergrab. It is fanciful to describe it as such.

Go on Nally, you have to have one of those fridge magnets somewhere in the house.

Kerry have a claim to the team of the decade, as they were at the top right through. Tyrone didn't arrive until 2003 and Armagh faded towards the end. Galway are behind all 3 as they were only important for the first two years of the decade.

Jaysis, Armagh were only important for the same number of years as Galway by that logic.

Muppet beat me to it on this but all the talk of it being a powergrab is pure nonsense. The senate has next to no power and the power it does have, it doesn't use. A red herring argument.

Nally, you wouldn't know where to get a Sinn Fein fridge magnet calendar, would you?

Was a bit drunk last week and threw a Shinner mate's treasured calendar behind the kitchen unit. It was a 2011-12 one too so it's a bit of a vintage item.

Aye there should be one down the back of the kitchen unit where you left it, ya fcukin idiot.

I'm just back after trying, I don't fit.

Muppet beat me to it on this but all the talk of it being a powergrab is pure nonsense. The senate has next to no power and the power it does have, it doesn't use. A red herring argument.

Nally, you wouldn't know where to get a Sinn Fein fridge magnet calendar, would you?

Was a bit drunk last week and threw a Shinner mate's treasured calendar behind the kitchen unit. It was a 2011-12 one too so it's a bit of a vintage item.

Cluxton (Dublin)

Walshe (Monaghan)
Wylie (Monaghan)
Higgins (Mayo)

Keegan (Mayo)
O'Sullivan (Dublin)
McCarthy (Dublin)

McAuley (Dublin)
Seamus O'Shea (Mayo)

Flynn (Dublin)
Cooper (Kerry)
Cavanagh (Ulster Rugby)

O'Donoghue (Kerry)
McManus (Monaghan)
Brogan (Dublin)

I'm sure you can fit a few more Monies in there if you take a minute and think about it.

[Even his goals were a case of a teammate doing all the hard work for him to finish to the empty net]

The only memory I have of Colm Mcfadden this year is fumbling every single ball that came near him in the ulster final. 

Also believe O'connor is the most overated player in Ireland. 2 points from play heading into last years all-ireland final even though he plays Full forward. Only 6 points this year. (Even his goals were a case of a teammate doing all the hard work for him to finish to the empty net, plus 2 penaltys)

Yawn.

O'Connor didn't score 2 penalties this year.

"his goals were a case of a teammate doing all the hard work for him to finish to the empty net". This is just pathetic begrudgery.

You're right. 2 points is mighty scoring for a team playing their games against them tiddily-wink western sides.

Is this just a capitulation or is there a coherent point here somewhere?

Steady on my furry fiend, you're taking someone named after an Owen Wilson character seriously.

If you honestly think the Seanad can hold the Dail to account or offers a genuine check-and-balance then you need to spend some time watching the Seanad operate. It's a nursing home for failed politicians/somewhat successful retired businessmen with political connections with a couple good men and women thrown in.

If this was a Bulmers brewery they'd just dump the whole crop and start over rather than trying to salvage the few good apples.

You've missed the whole reform debate completely, then?

Polling generally reflected a win for the Yes campaign in the lead-up to yesterday's vote, indeed the Ipsos MRBI poll from last Monday found a large lead for the Yes side at 62% to 38% when undecided voters were removed.

It's still somewhat up in the air but the result looks like it's going in the opposite direction, and certainly far tighter than polling would have had you believe. That indicates that people willing to vote Yes likely didn't bother to vote as it's quite unlikely they completely reversed their positions in a few days and voted No or that almost all undecided voters actually voted and voted overwhelmingly No.

The No side, were they to lose, could not point to apathy as the reason they lost because the pre-vote polling does not support that opinion.

That's handy. If you won, it was a genuine result; if you lost it wasn't quite valid.

It's plenty handy when the polling supports what you say, yeah.

Making the opposite case (that a No loss meant voter apathy) is untenable because the direction of the debate and polling contradicts that being the majority opinion in the country and so a higher turnout would have been harmful to the No side and helpful to the Yes side. The same metrics apply in many Western countries with regards left and right parties, high turnouts being an indicator of good tidings for the generally younger and more wishy-washy left, lower turnouts helping the older, more-likely-to-vote right.

Go on, someone champion this result as some sort of victory by the electorate against a power grab by the government. People simply didn't give a damn.

Apathy have saved an empty vessel and you certainly won't get the reform you're hoping for. A bad day for Ireland all round.

Victory through apathy is nothing any of the No supporters should be proud of.

So I presume you didn't vote, if your vote was to mean nothing. Because the same logic (if that's what it is) would apply if it had been a victory for the Yes supporters.

Polling generally reflected a win for the Yes campaign in the lead-up to yesterday's vote, indeed the Ipsos MRBI poll from last Monday found a large lead for the Yes side at 62% to 38% when undecided voters were removed.

It's still somewhat up in the air but the result looks like it's going in the opposite direction, and certainly far tighter than polling would have had you believe. That indicates that people willing to vote Yes likely didn't bother to vote as it's quite unlikely they completely reversed their positions in a few days and voted No or that almost all undecided voters actually voted and voted overwhelmingly No.

The No side, were they to lose, could not point to apathy as the reason they lost because the pre-vote polling does not support that opinion.

[There was only one vote that could effect lasting change yesterday but there is such apathy with regard politics that the majority who would be happy to see the end of the Seanad aren't engaged enough to get off their arses and vote. Victory through apathy is nothing any of the No supporters should be proud of.]

The problem with the Seanad is that it has no power and so it is defunct. The only reform to correct that is to bin it or give it more power.

No what party in the next thousand f**king years of Dail Erieann is going to give power to a house it won't have absolute control over.

Exactly. Anyone who thinks the Seanad will ever be so  empowered so it is not simpy a pointless drain on expenses and time is living in the land of candy, sweet things and united Irelands and not reality.

There was only one vote that could effect lasting change yesterday but there is such apathy with regard politics that the majority who would be happy to see the end of the Seanad aren't engaged enough to get off their arses and vote. Victory through apathy is nothing any of the No supporters should be proud of.

A victory for the Gaybos and the FF hardliners of the world seems to be on the cards.

I think you're wrong. It seems you believe we should just facilitate the government consolidating all the power against the people.

That's just f**king stupid

If you honestly think the Seanad can hold the Dail to account or offers a genuine check-and-balance then you need to spend some time watching the Seanad operate. It's a nursing home for failed politicians/somewhat successful retired businessmen with political connections with a couple good men and women thrown in.

If this was a Bulmers brewery they'd just dump the whole crop and start over rather than trying to salvage the few good apples.

The problem with the Seanad is that it has no power and so it is defunct. The only reform to correct that is to bin it or give it more power.

No what party in the next thousand f**king years of Dail Erieann is going to give power to a house it won't have absolute control over.

Exactly. Anyone who thinks the Seanad will ever be so  empowered so it is not simpy a pointless drain on expenses and time is living in the land of candy, sweet things and united Irelands and not reality.

There was only one vote that could effect lasting change yesterday but there is such apathy with regard politics that the majority who would be happy to see the end of the Seanad aren't engaged enough to get off their arses and vote. Victory through apathy is nothing any of the No supporters should be proud of.

A victory for the Gaybos and the FF hardliners of the world seems to be on the cards.