Messages

Anyone knnw where you can get a car radio decoded? Armagh area preferably, don't want to take it to a dearlership & get charged an arm & a leg. It's a siemens vdo cdr500 for an 05 astra.

Granemore beat Tir na nOg 1-10 to 11. Carrickcruppin now promoted to div 1. Ollie Hearty played a blinder for them! The man hasn't a clue, idiot.

FTSE opened down over 10%, going to be a long day.

Anyone know the score in the cruppin v tones match?

Congrats Tyrone, well done & thoroughly deserved.

i'm reliably informed that keady won at a canter

Keady beat Middletown 5-13 to 1-11, a real game of 2 halfs, Keady were extremely lucky to be in contention at half time, Middletown did all the hurling. Keady blew them away in the 2nd half. Portadown beat Craobh Rua in the junior final 1-13 to 1-9, Portadown were up by 11 points at ht and just did enough to hold on against a game Camlough team.

Novo red card!!

2-0 to the Dons

A little result from the U21 Championship to cheer you up pints.

Tír na nÓg 3-7 Cullyhanna 1-7

My correspondent said the ref was a cheating bastard.

To the bastards that robbed our clubhouse may your balls fall off.

For those of you with kids, this should be worth a look on Christmas Eve.

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.htm

[Survey Results]

Thanks for completing this lads, over 50 of you have done so.

I have done a little summary of the main findings, the results are very interesting!

Survey Results

94% of respondents were male and 6% were female.

35% of respondents were aged 25-34 years, 28% were 35-44, 26% were 16-24, 10% were aged 45-54 years and 2% were aged between 55 and 64 years.

Respondents were then asked whether they agreed or disagreed with a number of statements about the GAA.

The GAA plays an important part in promoting Irish identity and culture
94% of respondents agreed (73% strongly) and 6% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.

In a changing world the GAA remains an important part of Ireland's heritage
98% of respondents agreed (69% strongly) and 2% disagreed with the statement.

The GAA has become more dynamic in recent years
92% of respondents agreed (28% strongly) and 8% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.

The GAA has a duty to promote the Irish language
66% of respondents agreed (37% strongly), 20% neither agreed nor disagreed and 14% disagreed (8% strongly) with the statement.

The GAA is an example of an organisation that reflects the Irish People and gives them a sense of identity
88% of respondents agreed (51% strongly), 8% neither agreed nor disagreed and 4% disagreed with the statement.

The GAA is an inclusive organisation that welcomes all members of society
57% of respondents agreed (15% strongly), 23% neither agreed nor disagreed and 20% disagreed (8% strongly) with the statement.

The GAA are old fashioned and not in tune with modern Ireland
63% of respondents disagreed (18% strongly), 22% neither agreed nor disagreed and 10% agreed with the statement. Six percent of respondents said they didn't know.


Respondents were then asked whether or not they would personally welcome more Protestants joining their club. 98% of respondents stated they would welcome more Protestants joining their club and 2% said they would not.

65% of respondents thought that the playing of the National Anthem at games was a barrier to more Protestants/Unionists joining the GAA. Equal proportions of respondents (63% in each case) thought that the Nationalist ethos of the organisation and the flying of the tricolour at games were barriers. 59% thought that the naming of clubs/grounds after Nationalist heroes was a barrier and a small proportion of respondents (12%) thought the playing of games on a Sunday was a barrier.

80% of respondents thought the GAA should make more of an effort to encourage more Protestants/Unionists to join the Association, 12% thought the GAA should not and 8% did not know.

Respondents were then asked what steps they thought the GAA should take to try and encourage more Protestants/Unionists to participate in GAA activities. 98% of respondents said the GAA should send coaches into Protestant (State) schools, 94% thought the GAA should stage 'Have a go' days. 39% stated the GAA should change the Nationalist ethos and focus on being a solely sporting body, 37% of respondents stated the practice of naming clubs and grounds after Nationalist heroes should be stopped. .Smaller numbers of respondents said stop playing the National Anthem before games (18%) and establish Protestant only clubs and leagues (4%).

Respondents were then asked what they thought about the media coverage of the GAA in Northern Ireland. More than two-thirds of respondents (69%) thought the coverage was poor or very poor, 12% thought it was neither good nor poor and 10% said the media coverage was good or very good. 9% of respondents did not know. The vast majority of those who stated the media coverage was poor or very poor cited the apparent lack of coverage afforded to the GAA in comparison to other lesser attended sports as the reason for their answer.

Respondents were then asked if they had any further comments or suggestions. A selection of the responses is shown below:

"Encourage the Cumman Na mBunscoil competition in protestant schools"

"The GAA should be promoting Irish culture, Irish heritage, Irish identity and Irish language, but it should not promote Irish Nationalism or Catholicism. Religion should be irrelevant to the GAA, as should political borders. The GAA should build on the fact that we're all Irish, but acknowledge and respect that some also regard themselves as British"

"Every press release, distribution of material etc should make clear that everyone is welcome, even if they are not currently participating"

I feel that the reason many Protestants/Unionists have little to do with the GAA is more to do with how any interest would be perceived in their community rather than any actual gripe with the GAA"

"Perhaps it's time to revisit the preamble to the GAA Official Guide, specifically to update the content to reflect the modern political reality"

"It would be a good idea if the GAA got cross community funding to commission an academic report on its perception and steps needed to make it appear less sectarian. At the same time, it needs to challenge latent sectarianism against it, particularly its omission form NI state schools. Even integrated schools don't give it the level of attention its popularity deserves"

"I think the protestant community perceived the GAA (in the past) as a gathering of potential IRA activists and yet the truth of the matter is that the majority of genuine GAA people were as anti armed struggle as anyone."

"Free tickets for youngsters into top games in Croke Park, etc."

"Any member who abuses a fellow member for their race or religion should have a 2 to 5 year ban"

"The GAA needs to promote itself as an international sports body and not just an Irish sports body"

I, like most of the people on the board, would love to see more Protestants/Unionists joining the GAA. I know for a fact it would certainly benefit my club.

I'm sure most of these issues have been covered before so bear with me.

I would be grateful if you could answer the questions below as honestly as possible.

1. What do you think of the games of Gaelic football and hurling as sports?

2. In light of the abolishment of rules 21 and 42 would you be more likely to join a GAA club? If not why not, what are the barriers that prevent you from becoming involved?

3. What changes should the GAA make to encourage more Protestants/Unionists to become involved in the GAA?

4. Would you be in favour of sending GAA coaches into Protestant schools to promote their games?

5. What do you think about Nickey Brennan's suggestion that there should be Protestant GAA clubs established?

6. Do you ever envisage yourself joining a GAA club or attending GAA matches?

I've no agenda here, I'm just genuinely interested.

My choices from the list available.

Singles
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Olivers Army - Elvis Costello
Redemption Song - Bob Marley
Teenage Kicks - Undertones
The Hurricane - Bob Dylan


Albums
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
Closing Time - Tom Waits
Inflammable Material - SLF
London Calling - The Clash
Nevermind - Nirvana

I said on the Maze stadium survey thread a while ago that I was on the same course as stadiumsurvey and would be posting a GAA related survey.

I didn't get round to posting the link, I just emailed it around a few club mates.

The survey itself is not very important for the course, it was more about the process of designing and deploying an online survey.

Have a go and let me know what you think. I borrowed one of the questions from the GAA survey that is on the official site, I had something similar but decided to go with their question.

Here is the link:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1xwvzoGEsmm5EgJXET6I7g_3d_3d

An excellent article about Andrew McCann from the Sunday Times. I corrected the names of the Portadown players mentioned by Sticky Murray.


Last Tuesday evening in the Goat Bar and Grill in south Dublin, Enda McNulty and Des Mackin ran into the Mayo footballer Austin O'Malley and the St Vincent's centrefielder Michael O'Shea. All four had played on the Dublin club scene and the talk soon drifted to St Vincent's drawn Leinster quarter-final against Seneschalstown two days earlier. Given their Armagh connections, McNulty and Mackin asked O'Shea about Seneschalstown's Andrew McCann. It was the first O'Shea knew about McCann's Armagh background; he hadn't a clue that he'd even played for the county, never mind that he'd won an All-Ireland in 2002.

O'Shea wasn't being complacent or arrogant because McCann's career had never trapped many rays of sunlight. Even on the day when his profile reached its peak, McCann managed to retain his anonymity in the immediate aftermath. Four minutes before Maurice Fitzgerald rescued Kerry with a 40-metre free to level the drawn 2000 All-Ireland semi-final, McCann was the story of the day. Kerry were three points ahead with time running out when he cleverly weaved his way inside the Kerry, defence and scored the equalising goal.



McCann was living in Dublin at the time and he made his own way home afterwards. The Armagh team bus was stopped in traffic as it waited to take the turn on to Clonliffe Road when a couple of the Armagh players spotted McCann drifting down Jones Road.His hair was still slightly wet and his cheeks were flush from the game but McCann had his gear-bag down by his side as he negotiated his way through the throng. While the Armagh players had their eyes trained on McCann, nobody on the street stopped him because nobody recognised him. Of all the players from Armagh's historic All-Ireland winning team, McCann had the lowest profile.

John Toal could maybe have been bracketed in that category, at the time but he was only in his second season while McCann had already done six years of hard times That Armagh team were the brand leaders of the modern game and were one of the most recognised and well received All-Ireland champions of the past two decades. And yet, McCann managed to operate on such a stage with the stealth and quiet efficiency of an undercover agent. He never sat on the executive of that team but the top table cherished him. "I don't say this lightly, says Paul McGrane, "but Andy McCann was definitely one of the most underrated footballers I ever played with or against. He was a class player for us."

"We used to always smile amongst ourselves about how understated Andy was," says Enda McNulty. "If you asked me to sum up Andy McCann, I'd describe him as the ice-man cometh. He always produced the goods on the, big day but he was a skilful and talented player too." McCann always liked it in the shade. He didn't' do interviews, he didn't bother with endorsements after 2002 and the hype around the whole team never hassled or interested him. He lived in Dublin and Kildare during most of his inter-county career and he travelled to Armagh on his own for training for the guts of a decade. Afterwards, he'd disappear out the door like a puff of smoke. "I probably am a shy type of person' but I'm the kind of person who just goes along and does the thing," says McCann. "I'd like to think that I made a good contribution to the whole Armagh success but I'd like to think that the other boys on the panel recognised my contribution.

That was always more, important to me than any praise or profile I got with being on that Armagh team. His consistency marked him apart of Armagh's 32 championship matches between 1997 and 2003, McCann started 31 and was substituted only three times. Those came in 2002 but McGrane leaps to his defence by recalling that McCann got married early that summer and missed the now famous training camp in La Manga. McGrane and McNulty say that they cannot once remember McCann getting cleaned out. McGrane has known McCann since P7 class in primary school and he says that he's still the same now as he was then; intelligent, witty, a quiet guy who always gets the job done".

Both played on the Armagh minor team that lost the 1992 All-Ireland final in harrowing circumstances. That team was dominated by big names from the footballing academies of St' Patrick's Armagh, Abbey CBS and St Colman's in Newry. McCann never had that grounding because he attended Lismore Comprehensive in Craigavon, where there was absolutely no football. Moreover, he played with Tir na nOg in Portadown, a club without power or prestige in Armagh. Brian Mallon has been part of the Armagh squad now for a number of years but before McCann arrived, nobody from Portadown had ever established a place on, the Armagh team. The Tirna nOg chairman, Liam Murray, has been a member of the club for 35 years and can't recall any other Portadown footballer playing championship before McCann. Bertie Madden and Dr Joe Fearon were on the fringes of the panel in the 1970s but they never played in the championship.

The club stands on the Garvaghy Road and overlooks Drumcree church. Their members always tried to insulate themselves from outside influences. "Portadown is mainly a Protestant town but playing GAA there didn't really impact much on us because the club was in the small Catholic area," says McCann. "The whole politics of the situation never really came into it and you just went to the club and played football like anywhere else. We just kept ourselves to ourselves but the club had great people, who kept it going through all the Troubles. McCann's desire and ambition kept him on the Armagh squad for 10 seasons. A three-month injury layoff before the 2004 championship hampered his involvement that season.

After losing his starting place for the first time before that year's Ulster final against Donegal,; he never got it back. Aaron Kernan established himself at wing-hack in 2005 and McCann's career began winding down. He cane on as a substitute in the 2005 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Tyrone and walked away afterwards without any sounding of trumpets in the background. "Being honest, I wasn't really enjoying the trips to training anymore," he says. "It wasn't so much that I wasn't making the team, it was just that the enjoyment had gone. I know some of the lads really regret not winning that second All-Ireland but, to be honest, I don't really have any regrets. My attitude was that you just put your head down and keep trying until you can't try anymore. Most of the boys on that panel did that and it just didn't happen.

You put your heart and soul into it. but, when it doesn't happen, you move on and do something else." Despite such a settled inter-county career, McCann has had a nomadic existence as a club player. During part of his time spent living in Dublin, he played with Ballyboden-St Enda's. When he got married and moved to Leixlip, he transferred to the club there. Last year, he and, his family bought a house in Slane and his workmate and the Seneschalstown secretary, Ian Maguire asked McCann about joining the club. "People have often said stuff to me but as far as I'm concerned I only ever joined a club that I lived beside, he says. "I'd love to have stayed playing club football with Tir na nOg and won a championship with them. But if you want to have any sort of life outside of football, you can't really do it. I joined those other clubs because I intended on settling in those places and it was a similar reason for joining Seneschalstown.

You just want to fit into the community.Seneschalstown's first county title in 13 seasons was a huge lift to the club and the community for a number of reasons. The Meath school bus crash in 2005 happened on their doorstep and impacted on many local families. The success also provided McCann with a lift. Last summer, he was involved in a car crash and his nine-month-old daughter, Caoimhe, was killed. "We're doing all right, I suppose," he says. "My wife [Emma] and Eoin,{four-year-old son] are just trying to get on with life as best as we can. I don't really like talking about it. I suppose football has helped in that it helps take your mind of things at training for a couple of hours.

But it's something that I'll never get over. It has totally changed my life and my perspective. Football is about enjoying yourself and enjoying your game. That's it." At the start of the season, McCann probably didn't think we could win a county title, but Seneschalstown have kept their heads down and kept battling away. They only stumbled into a county quarter-final and then looked to have blown the title when Navan O'Mahony's scrambled a draw in the county final. The majority of their young team had lost three consecutive county U-21 finals to O'Mahony's but in the replay Seneschalstown blew their opponents out of the water - and with them went any preconceived psychological hang-ups.

McCann wouldn't want to take much credit for their progress this season but he has been a steady hand and presence among a young crop of players. He wouldn't have survived with Armagh for as long as he did or been as successful as he was without that cutting edge and desire. While he would never wish to be defined by the things he has said, he's imparted some of his knowledge and experience, through the medium of his discreet manner. Then he goes on to the field and just does the business.

"I'd like to think that I've had a bit of an input into Seneschalstown's success," says McCann. "I know for a fact that this is the only chance that I'll ever get to win a Leinster championship so I want to make it count. Last week showed we had the desire. It's great to have that winning feeling again but you have,to enjoy your football. We're playing like a team now that is enjoyng our football and having the game in Navan is a big boost. Hopefully we'll push on again; now."

Last Sunday, Paul McGrane and Cathal O'Rourke travelled to Dublin just to see McCann play. He lined out at centre-forward but all the old hallmarks of his game were still evident; hoovering up breaking ball, spraying quality passes and showing leadership in his quiet and understated fashion. Still the guy who just gets the job done. Still the iceman.

The Sunday Times