New world Order

[Zapatista]

Between the Hurling and football the entire Sounth coast and Kilkenny in the South Mids are represented in the Semis and Final with the exception of Tyrone on their own. Is this the new order of our games? Is the sunny south the new power house of Irish sport? Is the North, East and West finished?

[Denn Forever]

Hurling will always be strong in those areas.  In football, those teams down south have adapted the Northern football.  Our time will come again!  Give it ten years and a new world order will come out.

[Lar Naparka]

Between the Hurling and football the entire Sounth coast and Kilkenny in the South Mids are represented in the Semis and Final with the exception of Tyrone on their own. Is this the new order of our games? Is the sunny south the new power house of Irish sport? Is the North, East and West finished?

Hurling is different to football because you can expect the same 10 counties to contest All Irelands year after year. Some do this more than others but, apart from Antrim in '89, you won't see outsiders breaking up the cosy little cartel.
In football the situation is different; Kerry are top dogs at the moment but I know Ulster teams will come again.
Why am I sure about this?
Because Joe Brolly said so!
Joe penned an article in the Irish News back in 2005.
I think it was the News but I'm not sure about this; anyway, it was a Belfast daily that he writes (wrote?) for.
The message was along the lines of, "Read this and weep," for teams outside of Norn Iron.
Tyrone, sez Joe, were the real deal and were as close to perfection as one could possibly ask for. They had the players and the resources to rule the roost for the foreseeable future. The only side likely to pee on their parade was going to be Armagh. He thought Derry might emerge somewhere along the line as serious contenders but the rest of Ireland could only sit back and admire!
Joe put it all down to the Good Friday Agreement!
He said oodles of cash from the Executive was being pumped into developing leisure activities right across Northern Ireland and that the Tyrone county board was making good use of the goodies. They had a fantastic under age structure in the county and the youngsters wanted nothing when it came to coaching or cash. Tyrone would have an endless supply of good young lads coming through for all time.
Armagh was only slightly behind Tyrone in this regard and he thought Derry would make up some ground too.
Maybe no one in Kerry read Joe's article!
Okay, Brolly may have picked up wrong vibes from his crystal ball but he could be right about the under age set up of the northern sides. If the half of what he had to say about this is true, Tyrone and Armagh are due to come again.
BTW: Was he telling the truth about the development grants?