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Apparently Joe had a great piece this week in the Indo. ANyone have it to post?

if the GAA is to mean anything, it has to be true to its ethos,its history and its identity, it simply cannot ignore any of these in the event of a border poll. There is nothing subversive in wanting a United Ireland. It is a noble and decent aspiration and one the GAA is founded upon. If the GAA were to abandon this aspiration in the event of a referendum on Irish unity, it would be a massive betrayal.

Pardon my possible ignorance on this, but is there not a SIgerson-like cynicism beginning to creep into schools football?  A few of the Armagh lads were originally at the Academy, but 'left after GCSE' to go to St. Pat's.  This seems to be a well worn path for good players who suddenly want to pursue a post 16 pathway that only the Armagh school can provide.  ALso - St. Michael's - do they not just Hoover up all the decent players form all the Fermanagh schools around it who don't offer A Level?  Don't think the Newry schools do it, hence their lack of success in recent years.  But I could be wrong. 

If I was advising the SDLP, I would tell them to Green up.  Now that they have embraced FF, they need to accept that the Social Democracy element of their party is gone and they need to be working for and planning towards a United Ireland.  They need to be at one voice with SF on Stormont, Brexit and DUP dysfunction and be very clear that under the current situation, they two could not countenance going back into the Executive. And they certainly need to stop the complete nonsense on abstenstionism. When the election comes, nationalists are then clear that both their parties are at one voice on the national question, therefore it comes down to a vote on who is the better candidate.  The current SDLP approach is just plain ridiculous.  Nobody, including themselves really have a clue what they are about, so it becomes a vague 'Get back into Stormont' rant that makes no acknowledgement at all towards the issues that got us to where we are.  The other thing that keeps them going is that they spend their time 'marking' SF and making counter statements nit picking the SF approach and not offering one pragmatic idea themselves.

Colm Eastwood spoke at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis today and for his greatest ovations when he criticized SF for their abstentionnistes policy and for having the audacity to suggest that a referendum on irish unity should be a consideration after Brexit. Do they really think that this sort of rhetoric is going to drive SF voters in their droves and into the arms of the SDFF 'understanding',  This sort of nonsense drives northern nationalists up the walls.  it is just the very self same thing that will lose them even more voters. Those to parties are connected by only one thing and that is their hatred for Sinn Fein.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47200039

Not good news for the SDLP.  Essentially, the SDL part of the party was sacrificed for Saturday's agreement to enter into an 'understanding' with Fianna Fail.  Now, an majorl part of the P has gone too.

Valentines Day edition tonight. My God. If this is what post Catholic Ireland looks like, bring back Archbishop McQuaid.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/darts/47115773

Gary Anderson out of the Premier League.

I think it's a great show and I do rate Darren and Jacqui very highly as presenters.  It's a complete marathon show, but Jacqui got it wrong yesterday,  In fairness, she did clarify and argued with O'Rourke when he started the 'touchy' stuff about the GAA. 

Generally, the pundits on RTE are OK, but Brolly is now his own tribute band. Best work done about five years ago and all his current stuff is repetition or just dross. 

Meanwhile, on RTE Radio yesterday, that other self tribute band, Colm O'Rourke, was giving it loads about the GAA pricing structure for the League when he actually stated that if a family of five, two adults and three kids were going to a National league match, it would cost them a hundred euro.  This was unchallenged totally by Jacqui Hurley and Dessie Dolan, also in the studio.  It took the GAA to actually call in to the show and state that faftually, thery were wrong and that if they bought their tickets online, that family of five could go for 30 Euro, which works out at 6Euro per person, rather than the 30 he was suggesting. 

When the national broadcaster brings in people so lazy that they couldn't be bothered to even research something as simple, as well known and as talked about as prices to a match, what hope have we. 

He then tried to fob it off by sayin the GAA were getting 'touchy'.  Yeah Colm.  You keep spreading lies and when the GAA tries to put the record straight using fact, just call them 'touchy'.  That's the way to go. 

DOn't think they were. there was a choreography agreed that would see both of these introduced in time through the ending of the petition of concern and the fact that the ILA is a Westminster piece of legislation.

Heard Colm Eastwood on Radio Ulster yesterday morning saying he is ready to go into Stormont and get the institutions up and running again. Interesting perspective there. I wonder which of the important basic, reasonable measures that SF are looking for would the SDLP relinquish for that goal?  Irish Language act? Marriage Equality? SF voters gave the party a very clear message that the policy of appeasing the DUP and giving them their way was not going to be tolerated any more. In fact, in the two elections during which time SF were in power with the DUP, the entire nationalist vote went down because they decided not to vote for either party. Colm Eastwood is totally out of touch if he thinks that the position of northern nationalists has changed one iota from that position. In fact, if anything, the Brexit thing has probably entrenched us even more. The DUP went against the advice of all the other parties in NI, the entire business community and every analysis from normal rational people and voted against the Backstop which would have been a genuine financial dynamo for this unworkable entity of NO, but they turned against it, despite knowing a majority here voted to Remain. None of this is evidence of new, reasonable thinking within that party which would make them amenable to nationalist aspirations if Stormont were to return. In fact, every time you watch their interviews, it just entrenches us even more. Colm Eastwood stating he is prepared to walk into Stormont with them without stating under which conditions, is further evidence of his waffle type answers and why the SDLP is dead in the water.

I really don't want him to resign. He's such comedic value. An enemy within for the DUP that they can do nothing with. It's such a source of entertainment for us all that the son of the total bigot who founded the DUP because the UUP wasn't sectarian enough is now a total embarrassment for the mini bigots that the party spawned.

Problem with a club setting up as a charity is that if you do anything at all that brings in finance, it creates a difficulty.  This includes selling club merchandise, admission fees into matches, having a bar etc. As a result, the club has to set up a trading subsidiary which adds another administrative burden on an already overworked treasurer. ALso, the charity commission can have oversight of everything you do. 

No, but some clubs set up a separate organisation which can attain charitable status and it is this company that applies for grants etc.