Messages

   https://www.ft.com/content/f656aac7-4cb6-4401-99e6-8bd4b5c7df64

   The EU has struck a deal with Israel for a "substantial increase" in aid deliveries to Gaza, Brussels said on Thursday, following weeks of diplomatic pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu's government to unblock shipments to the enclave.

Brussels has demanded Israel end what it has described as "abhorrent" attacks on civilians in Gaza and ease restrictions on aid flows that EU officials have said could breach international law.

The EU also recently warned it could suspend its trade agreement with Israel over potential breaches of its human rights obligations enshrined in the pact.

It's an urban myth 

Surely if it has anything to do with Tyrone it must be a rural myth.

Some info from last year's financial accounts regarding Croke Park.

Contribution from our match day activities was disappointing. Total contribution at €1.69m in 2024 was down €140K on 2023 at €1.83m. We hosted 31 match days in 2024, compared to 36 in 2023, with match day attendances falling from 948,000 in 2023 to 865,000 in 2024

So basically Croke Park made a profit of €1.69m in terms of its core business of hosting GAA games in 2024 off the back of 31 match days with a total attendance at those matches of 865,000.

When you compare the attendances of those games at Croke Park versus the absolute best case scenario for annual match attendances at Casement [The attendances for the whole of the Ulster Championship has been around the 100k for a good few years] the capacity for the core operations to turn a profit look severly challenging.

As referenced at the outset, our non-core activities, generated a contribution of €8.3m in 2024. In comparison we had no non-core events in 2023. In May we hosted the legendary Bruce Springsteen and in August, Coldplay delivered one of the great series of evenings held in the stadium, a concert sequence, that put us in the Top 10 worldwide stadium venues in 2024, as listed by Polestar. Not to disappoint, Leinster brought a full house to the stadium for their Champions Cup semi-final

The difference between the two years is obviously stark - 2024 was probably cost to a perfect year for non-core activites compared to 2023 which was a complete zero - the issue is that none of these activites are in any way reliable. I'm convinced that Casement would be a lot closer to Pairc Ui Chaoimh compared to Croke Park in terms of attracting events.

I only took a fairly quick look at the accounts and I definitely don't feel like I have a full handle on the exact nature of the business of Croke Park. Frankly this would take more time that I'm willing to spend looking at previous years' financial reports and looking at the various subsidary companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies.

These are all the companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies

- Páirc an Chrócaigh CTR. The principal stadium trading company. PCT posted an operating surplus before interest,
distributions, and exceptional items, at €15.1m for the period 2024 an increase of €3.3m on 2023 at €11.8m, a
27.9% improvement.
- Brindare Ltd. This company is responsible for income and expenditure associated with our meeting and events
business. The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.
- Gambetto / Mercury Investments/ Croke Park Motors – are vehicles we use to hold our property assets. As
expected, rental income for the 12-month period 2024 is largely unchanged on prior year.
- Lauris Ltd. This entity accounts for our pitch farm which is located in North County Dublin.
- Clonliffe Property Investments – this company holds our new hotel which is currently under construction.
- National Handball and Croke Park Community Centre CLG – we hold a 50% interest in this JV in respect of the
handball centre to the East of the stadium. During the period, PCT's share of the of the joint venture, NHCPCC,
losses for the year were €124K.
- For completeness two other companies Le Cheile Promotions Ltd and Musaem CLG CTR, are related by common
directors but do not form part of the consolidated figures.

I'm not really sure how that Brindare in particular fits into things.

Also I'm a bit suspicious when I see something like

The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.

when there's no actual Euro amount provided.

There could be some intra-group transfers and stuff like that going on - this was very much a quick and dirty look to see what sort of basic info I could find out about how Croke Park is doing.

What I couldn't figure out is how these core and non-core activites ended up contributing to a situation where the Group of Companies had a profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 of €21.3m and contributed a dividend of €16m to CLG (the overall main GAA financial company) especially when the profit increased so much compared to 2023 but the dividend only increased by €1million compared to 2023.

The directors of the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies are pleased to report a strong set of results for 2024. PCT Consolidated Group turnover, for 2024, at €59.7m represents an increase of €17.7m, or 42% on 2023 at €42m. A significant contribution to the results was from non-core activities, emphasising the importance, in particular, of concerts to the overall stadium performance.

PCT Consolidated Group profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 was €21.3m, an increase of 85% on 2023 at €11.5m. The strong performance facilitated a dividend payment of €16m to CLG, marginally up on 2023 at €15m and underlines the importance of the stadium  in the furtherance of CLG ambitions.

My overall thoughts looking at this limited information is that spending £270 million plus on Casement is just an absolutely terrible idea, bordering on criminal neglience.

Some info from last year's financial accounts regarding Croke Park.

Contribution from our match day activities was disappointing. Total contribution at €1.69m in 2024 was down €140K on 2023 at €1.83m. We hosted 31 match days in 2024, compared to 36 in 2023, with match day attendances falling from 948,000 in 2023 to 865,000 in 2024

So basically Croke Park made a profit of €1.69m in terms of its core business of hosting GAA games in 2024 off the back of 31 match days with a total attendance at those matches of 865,000.

When you compare the attendances of those games at Croke Park versus the absolute best case scenario for annual match attendances at Casement [The attendances for the whole of the Ulster Championship has been around the 100k for a good few years] the capacity for the core operations to turn a profit look severly challenging.

As referenced at the outset, our non-core activities, generated a contribution of €8.3m in 2024. In comparison we had no non-core events in 2023. In May we hosted the legendary Bruce Springsteen and in August, Coldplay delivered one of the great series of evenings held in the stadium, a concert sequence, that put us in the Top 10 worldwide stadium venues in 2024, as listed by Polestar. Not to disappoint, Leinster brought a full house to the stadium for their Champions Cup semi-final

The difference between the two years is obviously stark - 2024 was probably cost to a perfect year for non-core activites compared to 2023 which was a complete zero - the issue is that none of these activites are in any way reliable. I'm convinced that Casement would be a lot closer to Pairc Ui Chaoimh compared to Croke Park in terms of attracting events.

I only took a fairly quick look at the accounts and I definitely don't feel like I have a full handle on the exact nature of the business of Croke Park. Frankly this would take more time that I'm willing to spend looking at previous years' financial reports and looking at the various subsidary companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies.

These are all the companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies

- Páirc an Chrócaigh CTR. The principal stadium trading company. PCT posted an operating surplus before interest,
distributions, and exceptional items, at €15.1m for the period 2024 an increase of €3.3m on 2023 at €11.8m, a
27.9% improvement.
- Brindare Ltd. This company is responsible for income and expenditure associated with our meeting and events
business. The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.
- Gambetto / Mercury Investments/ Croke Park Motors – are vehicles we use to hold our property assets. As
expected, rental income for the 12-month period 2024 is largely unchanged on prior year.
- Lauris Ltd. This entity accounts for our pitch farm which is located in North County Dublin.
- Clonliffe Property Investments – this company holds our new hotel which is currently under construction.
- National Handball and Croke Park Community Centre CLG – we hold a 50% interest in this JV in respect of the
handball centre to the East of the stadium. During the period, PCT's share of the of the joint venture, NHCPCC,
losses for the year were €124K.
- For completeness two other companies Le Cheile Promotions Ltd and Musaem CLG CTR, are related by common
directors but do not form part of the consolidated figures.

I'm not really sure how that Brindare in particular fits into things.

Also I'm a bit suspicious when I see something like

The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.

when there's no actual Euro amount provided.

There could be some intra-group transfers and stuff like that going on - this was very much a quick and dirty look to see what sort of basic info I could find out about how Croke Park is doing.

What I couldn't figure out is how these core and non-core activites ended up contributing to a situation where the Group of Companies had a profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 of €21.3m and contributed a dividend of €16m to CLG (the overall main GAA financial company) especially when the profit increased so much compared to 2023 but the dividend only increased by €1million compared to 2023.

The directors of the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies are pleased to report a strong set of results for 2024. PCT Consolidated Group turnover, for 2024, at €59.7m represents an increase of €17.7m, or 42% on 2023 at €42m. A significant contribution to the results was from non-core activities, emphasising the importance, in particular, of concerts to the overall stadium performance.

PCT Consolidated Group profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 was €21.3m, an increase of 85% on 2023 at €11.5m. The strong performance facilitated a dividend payment of €16m to CLG, marginally up on 2023 at €15m and underlines the importance of the stadium  in the furtherance of CLG ambitions.

My overall thoughts looking at this limited information is that spending £270 million plus on Casement is just an absolutely terrible idea, bordering on criminal neglience.

Some info from last year's financial accounts regarding Croke Park.

Contribution from our match day activities was disappointing. Total contribution at €1.69m in 2024 was down €140K on 2023 at €1.83m. We hosted 31 match days in 2024, compared to 36 in 2023, with match day attendances falling from 948,000 in 2023 to 865,000 in 2024

So basically Croke Park made a profit of €1.69m in terms of its core business of hosting GAA games in 2024 off the back of 31 match days with a total attendance at those matches of 865,000.

When you compare the attendances of those games at Croke Park versus the absolute best case scenario for annual match attendances at Casement [The attendances for the whole of the Ulster Championship has been around the 100k for a good few years] the capacity for the core operations to turn a profit look severly challenging.

As referenced at the outset, our non-core activities, generated a contribution of €8.3m in 2024. In comparison we had no non-core events in 2023. In May we hosted the legendary Bruce Springsteen and in August, Coldplay delivered one of the great series of evenings held in the stadium, a concert sequence, that put us in the Top 10 worldwide stadium venues in 2024, as listed by Polestar. Not to disappoint, Leinster brought a full house to the stadium for their Champions Cup semi-final

The difference between the two years is obviously stark - 2024 was probably cost to a perfect year for non-core activites compared to 2023 which was a complete zero - the issue is that none of these activites are in any way reliable. I'm convinced that Casement would be a lot closer to Pairc Ui Chaoimh compared to Croke Park in terms of attracting events.

I only took a fairly quick look at the accounts and I definitely don't feel like I have a full handle on the exact nature of the business of Croke Park. Frankly this would take more time that I'm willing to spend looking at previous years' financial reports and looking at the various subsidary companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies.

These are all the companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies

- Páirc an Chrócaigh CTR. The principal stadium trading company. PCT posted an operating surplus before interest,
distributions, and exceptional items, at €15.1m for the period 2024 an increase of €3.3m on 2023 at €11.8m, a
27.9% improvement.
- Brindare Ltd. This company is responsible for income and expenditure associated with our meeting and events
business. The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.
- Gambetto / Mercury Investments/ Croke Park Motors – are vehicles we use to hold our property assets. As
expected, rental income for the 12-month period 2024 is largely unchanged on prior year.
- Lauris Ltd. This entity accounts for our pitch farm which is located in North County Dublin.
- Clonliffe Property Investments – this company holds our new hotel which is currently under construction.
- National Handball and Croke Park Community Centre CLG – we hold a 50% interest in this JV in respect of the
handball centre to the East of the stadium. During the period, PCT's share of the of the joint venture, NHCPCC,
losses for the year were €124K.
- For completeness two other companies Le Cheile Promotions Ltd and Musaem CLG CTR, are related by common
directors but do not form part of the consolidated figures.

I'm not really sure how that Brindare in particular fits into things.

Also I'm a bit suspicious when I see something like

The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.

when there's no actual Euro amount provided.

There could be some intra-group transfers and stuff like that going on - this was very much a quick and dirty look to see what sort of basic info I could find out about how Croke Park is doing.

What I couldn't figure out is how these core and non-core activites ended up contributing to a situation where the Group of Companies had a profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 of €21.3m and contributed a dividend of €16m to CLG (the overall main GAA financial company) especially when the profit increased so much compared to 2023 but the dividend only increased by €1million compared to 2023.

The directors of the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies are pleased to report a strong set of results for 2024. PCT Consolidated Group turnover, for 2024, at €59.7m represents an increase of €17.7m, or 42% on 2023 at €42m. A significant contribution to the results was from non-core activities, emphasising the importance, in particular, of concerts to the overall stadium performance.

PCT Consolidated Group profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 was €21.3m, an increase of 85% on 2023 at €11.5m. The strong performance facilitated a dividend payment of €16m to CLG, marginally up on 2023 at €15m and underlines the importance of the stadium  in the furtherance of CLG ambitions.

My overall thoughts looking at this limited information is that spending £270 million plus on Casement is just an absolutely terrible idea, bordering on criminal neglience.

Some info from last year's financial accounts regarding Croke Park.

Contribution from our match day activities was disappointing. Total contribution at €1.69m in 2024 was down €140K on 2023 at €1.83m. We hosted 31 match days in 2024, compared to 36 in 2023, with match day attendances falling from 948,000 in 2023 to 865,000 in 2024

So basically Croke Park made a profit of €1.69m in terms of its core business of hosting GAA games in 2024 off the back of 31 match days with a total attendance at those matches of 865,000.

When you compare the attendances of those games at Croke Park versus the absolute best case scenario for annual match attendances at Casement [The attendances for the whole of the Ulster Championship has been around the 100k for a good few years] the capacity for the core operations to turn a profit look severly challenging.

As referenced at the outset, our non-core activities, generated a contribution of €8.3m in 2024. In comparison we had no non-core events in 2023. In May we hosted the legendary Bruce Springsteen and in August, Coldplay delivered one of the great series of evenings held in the stadium, a concert sequence, that put us in the Top 10 worldwide stadium venues in 2024, as listed by Polestar. Not to disappoint, Leinster brought a full house to the stadium for their Champions Cup semi-final

The difference between the two years is obviously stark - 2024 was probably cost to a perfect year for non-core activites compared to 2023 which was a complete zero - the issue is that none of these activites are in any way reliable. I'm convinced that Casement would be a lot closer to Pairc Ui Chaoimh compared to Croke Park in terms of attracting events.

I only took a fairly quick look at the accounts and I definitely don't feel like I have a full handle on the exact nature of the business of Croke Park. Frankly this would take more time that I'm willing to spend looking at previous years' financial reports and looking at the various subsidary companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies.

These are all the companies that make up the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies

- Páirc an Chrócaigh CTR. The principal stadium trading company. PCT posted an operating surplus before interest,
distributions, and exceptional items, at €15.1m for the period 2024 an increase of €3.3m on 2023 at €11.8m, a
27.9% improvement.
- Brindare Ltd. This company is responsible for income and expenditure associated with our meeting and events
business. The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.
- Gambetto / Mercury Investments/ Croke Park Motors – are vehicles we use to hold our property assets. As
expected, rental income for the 12-month period 2024 is largely unchanged on prior year.
- Lauris Ltd. This entity accounts for our pitch farm which is located in North County Dublin.
- Clonliffe Property Investments – this company holds our new hotel which is currently under construction.
- National Handball and Croke Park Community Centre CLG – we hold a 50% interest in this JV in respect of the
handball centre to the East of the stadium. During the period, PCT's share of the of the joint venture, NHCPCC,
losses for the year were €124K.
- For completeness two other companies Le Cheile Promotions Ltd and Musaem CLG CTR, are related by common
directors but do not form part of the consolidated figures.

I'm not really sure how that Brindare in particular fits into things.

Also I'm a bit suspicious when I see something like

The business recorded a 77.8% improvement in room hire and food and beverage revenues.

when there's no actual Euro amount provided.

There could be some intra-group transfers and stuff like that going on - this was very much a quick and dirty look to see what sort of basic info I could find out about how Croke Park is doing.

What I couldn't figure out is how these core and non-core activites ended up contributing to a situation where the Group of Companies had a profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 of €21.3m and contributed a dividend of €16m to CLG (the overall main GAA financial company) especially when the profit increased so much compared to 2023 but the dividend only increased by €1million compared to 2023.

The directors of the Páirc an Chrócaigh Group of Companies are pleased to report a strong set of results for 2024. PCT Consolidated Group turnover, for 2024, at €59.7m represents an increase of €17.7m, or 42% on 2023 at €42m. A significant contribution to the results was from non-core activities, emphasising the importance, in particular, of concerts to the overall stadium performance.

PCT Consolidated Group profit, before interest, tax, CLG distribution and exceptional items, for 2024 was €21.3m, an increase of 85% on 2023 at €11.5m. The strong performance facilitated a dividend payment of €16m to CLG, marginally up on 2023 at €15m and underlines the importance of the stadium  in the furtherance of CLG ambitions.

My overall thoughts looking at this limited information is that spending £270 million plus on Casement is just an absolutely terrible idea, bordering on criminal neglience.

Thanks  for a very interesting post.

Israelis have long laid plans waiting for right excuse to allow them to justify what they are doing and what they are going to do.

October 7th was that excuse.

Oct 7 was but bombing Iran achieved nothing. Even in Gaza Israel has no plan for the day after. Bombing the shit out of a place is easy
 Managing people afterwards is the hard bit.

Tony Blair's Institute and Boston Consulting worked together on postwar plans for Gaza. One key aspect was removing 500 thousand of the locals by offering them $9000 to leave. This is peanuts.  Nobody will leave.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/08/diogo-jota-speeding-car-crash-liverpool-fc/
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil of Zamora said that tests being carried out by its traffic division showed Jota was driving the car at the time.

They added that the car was thought to be travelling above the speed limit on the road, which local media reported was 120kmph (74mph).
The Liverpool squad joined thousands who turned out in Jota's hometown of Gondomar to pay their respects.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson led mourners with two touching red wreaths in the shape of football shirts, emblazoned with Jota's No 20 and his brother's No 30

Where do Kilkenny go from here? They can't seem to go past the semifinal stage for Leinster winners. They haven't won an all Ireland since 2015.

Cork will go for goals. It could be a massacre.

This thread has slowed down since Armagh exited the championship.

It's hard to make the change from elite county player to real life. Carey is an extreme example but there are plenty of gambling addicts, drug addicts and alcoholic.

https://x.com/NewstalkFM/status/1940715707194655013
Alan Dershowitz putting the boot into Ireland.

Dershowitz is a raving Zionist. Norman Finkelstein plays with him and he hates it. Dershowitz's generation is dying. Joan Rivers has gone before him. He deserves a space in a home for the bewildered

Kerry pressed well but like anything, there's an element of luck involved too. Even the shot Armagh had in that run of 14 points against them that took a deflection which wrong footed the keeper but just trickled wide.
Ultimately, I don't think Armagh are finished and I don't think Kerry are invincible either. Kerry put pressure on Armagh, got some luck with breaking ball and to their absolute credit, they took full advantage of the situation.

Kerry were beaten by Armagh last year. It's swings and roundabouts.  Armagh will be back again.Maybe for the third Sam. Unless Fermanagh get in the way.

It's too early to talk about All-Stars. Winners and runners up usually get 11. Louth will get one. That leaves 3. 3 from Armagh Monaghan or Galway is deluded

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/could-u-s-strikes-on-irans-fordow-facility-kill-its-nuclear-program/00000197-8926-d6c0-a1b7-e9374fd60000

Defense Minister Israel Katz held a situation assessment on Tuesday with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. It's undeniable that the war must end with a negotiated agreement. The suffering on Israel's home front is both clear and severe: the closure of Israeli airspace, the shutdown of oil refineries, damage to a major hospital and the Weizmann Institute and shelling targeting the Kirya military compound in Tel Aviv. These recent attacks resulted in 21 Israelis killed, hundreds wounded, thousands displaced and numerous homes destroyed.

And worse, thousands of Israeli's fleeing and going back "home" to the US and Europe...

Trump is in the pocket of Netenyahu, the power of the Epstein blackmail program will take a generation to flush out of US politics if at all as they're now accustomed to the payments from AIPAC as well.

The US tax payer will be taken for yet another ride.

It looks as though the Iranians got all ofvthe centrifuges out of harm's way before the bombing. Israel exposed a huge spying machine at the start ofvthe year. They can't rebuild that again. Israel and the US lost

You're being very disrespectful and hurtful to the men and women who flew the B2 bombers for 36 hours straight by saying such things.

I'll do a decade of the rosary for them and light 14 candles for them,  to match the number of bunker buster bombs they bombed on empty nuclear facilities. They should have checked  before bombing. They should have gone to radio rentals.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/could-u-s-strikes-on-irans-fordow-facility-kill-its-nuclear-program/00000197-8926-d6c0-a1b7-e9374fd60000

Defense Minister Israel Katz held a situation assessment on Tuesday with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. It's undeniable that the war must end with a negotiated agreement. The suffering on Israel's home front is both clear and severe: the closure of Israeli airspace, the shutdown of oil refineries, damage to a major hospital and the Weizmann Institute and shelling targeting the Kirya military compound in Tel Aviv. These recent attacks resulted in 21 Israelis killed, hundreds wounded, thousands displaced and numerous homes destroyed.

And worse, thousands of Israeli's fleeing and going back "home" to the US and Europe...

Trump is in the pocket of Netenyahu, the power of the Epstein blackmail program will take a generation to flush out of US politics if at all as they're now accustomed to the payments from AIPAC as well.

The US tax payer will be taken for yet another ride.

It looks as though the Iranians got all ofvthe centrifuges out of harm's way before the bombing. Israel exposed a huge spying machine at the start ofvthe year. They can't rebuild that again. Israel and the US lost