Topics

So into the 1/4ers are:

Cork
Kildare
Limerick
Tyrone/Roscommon

Dublin
Kerry
Mayo
Donegal

Is there any restriction on who can play who?


If I could pick the match ups I'd love to see:

Tyrone Vs Kerry
Limerick Vs Mayo
Cork Vs Donegal
Kildare Vs Dublin

Or

Roscommon Vs Dublin
Limerick Vs Mayo
Cork Vs Kerry
Kildare Vs Donegal

I'd rather talk about this game.


Whens throw in and can ya pay in at the gate?

Where's a good pub ta drink in beforehand? Whats the parking like?

Here we go.

Wasn't satisfied with the last beating we gave them. 2001 still not wholly avenged.

Surely 4 qualifier wins = 1 All Ireland Loss, so a few more hidings to be handed out.

Well its in the diary now.

With injuries to Kildare and all sorts going on in the Meath camp it's hard to put a picture on how this will turn out.

[German insurer Munich Re held orgy for salesmen]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13454160

German insurer Munich Re held orgy for salesmen

One of the biggest insurance companies in the world held a party for salesmen where they were rewarded with the services of prostitutes.

Munich Re is the world's biggest re-insurer - in other words, the company acts as an insurance company for other insurance companies.

One of its divisions, Ergo, told the BBC that the party had taken place to reward salesmen in 2007.

A spokesman said the people who organised it had since left.

The gathering was held at a thermal baths in the Hungarian capital Budapest as a reward to particularly successful salesmen.

'Whatever they liked'
There were about 100 guests and 20 prostitutes were hired.

A German business newspaper said the prostitutes had worn colour-coded arm-bands designating their availability, and the women had their arms stamped after each service rendered.

According to Handelsblatt, quoting an unnamed participant, guests were able to take the women to four-poster beds at the spa "and do whatever they liked".

"After each such encounter the women were stamped on the lower arm in order to keep track of how often each woman was frequented," the paper quoted the man as saying.

"The women wore red and yellow wrist bands. One lot were hostesses, the others would fulfil your every wish.

"There were also women with white wrist bands. They were reserved for board members and the very best sales reps."

A spokesman for Ergo told the BBC that the party had happened, but said it was not the usual way of rewarding their employees.

........any suggestions? I don't drink tae.

Take the floor, Hardy.   

Well I went ahead and started this one.

We haven't met Wicklow since 1991 if my memory serves me right. Took 2 games to see them off and they should have had it the first time. After the spending spree that was the Meath-Dublin 4 in a row, me Dad hadn't the money to bring us to Croker so we listened to it on the radio while footing turf out near Ballinabracky.

So it would be nice if we could have a clash with the Garden but if its the Lillies again so be it. We owe them hoors a beating more than ever now.

Please choose to ignore the terms in the Multi-cultural title that you don't like.



Myself and herself are currently living in England but we're thinking of moving back over the water. One of the requirements for work is that we live within an hours drive of either of the Belfast Airports. With that in mind could anyone recommend some nice towns or villages to live.

We were recently visiting South Down around the Mournes/Carlingford but sadly that seems too far away. Would also want to avoid living right in the middle of a town, hoping to get a wee bit of land too.

Now I know the prospect of getting good Meath stock into your counties (not looking at anyone of ye in particular.............Tyrone) will excite ye all but please keep the flattery to a minimum.


Thanks.

Meath manager Seamus McEnaney expects to be able to call on a host of players, including injured duo Kevin and Graham Reilly, for next week's Allianz National League trip to Derry.

With just two points from their five games to date, Meath face an uphill struggle to avoid relegation to Division 3 in McEnaney's first term in charge.

But the Royals' survival bid will be boosted by the return to action of several key players, including full back and International Rules regular Kevin Reilly and the county's Young Player of the Year, forward Graham Reilly.

In addition, the Bray brothers Stephen and David are close to a return to action after a honeymoon and injury respectively, while Peadar Byrne is available again after suspension.

While former All Star Stephen may need some time to build up his fitness levels, the other four are expected to be in contention to feature against Derry at Celtic Park on Sunday week (3 April).

McEnaney said, "We'd be hopeful both Reillys will be able to play a part and Stephen Bray is also home next week. The likes of those will certainly help what we started on Sunday."

All good news to start of with.

["extreme Super-Moon"]

"Don't go 'round tonight".... cos its happening tomorrow.

The moon is expected to be at its closest to the earth in the last 20 years tomorrow.

Those who rarely look upwards will probably not notice anything particularly different about the night sky. But regular star-gazers will see that the Earth's ghostly neighbour appears slightly larger and brighter than it usually does.

That is because the moon is going to be closer to Earth tomorrow night than at any other time during the past 18 years. The more excitable of astrologers describe such an event as a "Super-Moon" and, because the moon is at the fullest part of its cycle, tomorrow's phenomenon has even been upgraded to an "extreme Super-Moon".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110312/sc_space/nasascientistexplainssciencebehindsupermoonphenomenon

Lets hope we get our season back on track with a badly needed win at home.

Sadly Graham and Kevin Reilly are out for the rest of the league, so are we back to Moyles at full back or has Banty unearthed someone else for the role?

[Meath:]

Same again for Meath for this game.

Meath:

B Murphy;

G O'Brien, K Reilly, C King;
S Kenny, B Meade, C McGuinness;

M Ward, C Gillespie;

S McAnarney, B Farrell, G Reilly;
D Morgan, J Sheridan, S O'Rourke.

Antrim:

S O'Neill;

A Healy, A McClean, K O'Boyle;
T Scullion, J Crozier, T O'Neill;

K McGourty, S Burke;

A Gallagher, K Brady, D O'Neill;
P Cunningham, K Niblock, B Herron.

Our backs are still fairly loose, Sligo could have had 3 goals on us the last day. Cunningham might make hay with his jigging and dancing freekicks  considering the amount of fouling we've been doing.


P.S. Antrim have to be favourites at home. 

Well Sligo got a draw last time out against Donegal while Meath couldn't keep up with Laois and lost by 3 points.

Sligo are definitely on an upward curve these last few years under Kevin Walsh. Meath are looking much the same as last year despite the arrival of Séamus McEneaney.

The last time these teams met if I'm not mistaken was 2004. Sean Bolyan was still in charge for Meath and there were a number of fresh faces on display including Joe Sheridan, Brian Farrell. Old faces that have since moved off the stage included Trevor Giles, Evan Kelly, Darren Fay. The team also included Niall Kelly who despite heroics for Eamon Barry's Dunshaughlin never featured much in the Royal County jersey. However I can't tell you who wont that encounter. could any one shed some light on that?


As for who will win this one, as stated after the Laois game the backs remain a problem, midfield is still up for grabs for Gillespie, Ward and Meade. Also the forwards need to start working with each other. Joe, Brian and Graham are dangerous on their own but they never seem to connect with each other. Cian Ward nor Shane O'Rourke have grasped the free takers role yet as they both have disappointing returns on their efforts in the last 2 games.

Hot Press has learned of the death of Gary Moore. The legendary Belfast-born guitarist died in his sleep last night, while on holiday in Spain.

One of the greatest players of his generation, Gary Moore began his professional career in his teens. He was still only sixteen years of age when he moved from Belfast to Dublin in 1969, to join Skid Row – originally a four-piece that featured Brush Shiels on bass, Nollaig Bridgeman on drums and Philip Lynott as lead vocalist, as well as Gary on lead guitar.

Soon afterwards, Philip Lynott was sidelined, with Brush and Gary sharing vocals, turning Skid Row into a power-trio of the kind that was in vogue at the time, following on the success of Rory Gallagher's Taste and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Skid Row were signed to CBS Records and released two albums, Skid in 1970 and 34 Hours in 1971.

Adept at blues, hard rock and jazz, Moore was also a superb, lyrical, melodic guitar player and featured on a number of other Irish albums in cameo roles, including records by Dr.Strangely Strange among others. He was drafted into Thin Lizzy by Philip Lynott to replace the departing Eric Bell, before the formation of the definitive 4-piece Lizzy line-up, with Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson on twin lead guitars. However, on the Nightlife album (1974), he played the extraordinary solo on 'Still In Love With You', which became one of Thin Lizzy's most enduring tracks and a perennial live favourite. Gary returned to the Lizzy line-up briefly again, when Brian Robertson was ruled out of a US tour in 1977. Moore also featured on the Lizzy album Black Rose, released in 1979.

"He was a genius player," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. "Even as a teenager, he had something special about him and throughout his career he worked really hard at improving his technique. His contribution to the Irish rock canon was immense, both in his own solo work, his days with Skid Row, the great records he recorded with Philip Lynott and with Thin Lizzy and in various other cameos. My heart goes out to all of his close friends and family. It is a huge loss."

While his relationship with Lizzy lead singer and songwriter Philip Lynott was hugely competitive, and there were often disagreements between them, they remained musical cohorts, and joined forces for the hit single 'Parisienne Walkways' (1979) on which Philip sang and the later single, 'Out In The Fields' (1985), which reached No.5 in the UK charts.

While he featured along the way as part of Jon Hiseman in Colosseum II, for most of his career Gary Moore led his own band, shifting between hard rock, metal, jazz-influenced fusion music and the blues. The first Gary Moore Band LP, Grinding Stone, was released in 1973. In recent years he had returned to his roots, first with the release of Still Got The Blues in 1991 and later with Back To The Blues, in 2001. In all, he released 20 studio albums, as well as six live collections, including the Live At Montreaux DVD.

May he rest in peace

shocking news, one of the best.

An Sciath O'Byrne leath-iomaitheoirí le chéile arís. Bhí cúpla mhalartuithe théitear i rith na chluiche ach bhuaigh na Mí sa deireadh. D'fhéadfadh Laoise bhraitheann unlucky nach bhfuil bua na ráithe deiridh Laighean anuraidh ach ar earráid Goalkeeping.

Na Mí tá a lán oibre le déanamh agus Banty riachtanais a fháil ar an aghaidh a thosú ag imirt le chéile seachas daoine aonair má tá siad ag dul a dhéanamh i rith na bliana seo tromchúiseach. Riachtanais sé freisin ar an gcosaint a dhéanamh níos doichte lár na páirce agus ag fáil níos fearr.

[Irish abortion ban 'violated woman's rights']

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11342247

Irish abortion ban 'violated woman's rights'

The women complained they had been humiliated by Irish restrictions on abortion


The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Irish abortion laws violated the rights of one of three women who sought terminations in Britain.

The woman, who was in remission for a rare form of cancer, feared it might return as a result of her pregnancy.

While abortion in the Republic is technically allowed if a woman's life is at risk, the court said that was not made possible for the woman involved.

But it ruled two other women in the case had not had their rights breached.

Thursday's ruling could require a change to Irish law.

Respect for private life

The first two women in the case were a single mother who had other children in care and a woman who was concerned about the danger of an ectopic pregnancy.

All three women said they had suffered medical complications on returning to the Irish Republic and said they believed they had not been entitled to an abortion under Irish law.

They all complained that Irish restrictions on abortion had stigmatised and humiliated them, risking damage to their health.

However the third woman had argued that even though she believed her pregnancy had put her life at risk, there was no law or procedure for her to have her right to an abortion established.

The court said that the government in Dublin had breached the third woman's right to respect for her private life by its "failure to implement the existing constitutional right to a lawful abortion in Ireland".

It ruled that "neither the medical consultation nor litigation options, relied on by the Irish government, constituted effective and accessible procedures which allowed the third applicant to establish her right to a lawful abortion in Ireland".

It would seem I'm starting to enter the twilight of my playing career and much sooner and more sudden than I thought. I'm only 28 but this club season was a hell of a lot tougher going on me than the last. I used to be a reliable half-back and could keep up with even the younger lads as well being able to burst a bigger lad if need be without coming of the worst too often to make it a bad idea.

However now the knees are starting to stiffen and the nimbleness of foot seems to be absent. Every morning after a game it's like fire has been lit in my legs and when going from lying/sitting to standing my joints are starting to sound like a bowl of rice crispies. What's also started to happen is they have begun to move me around the field after too many skinning sessions from flightier opponents.

I accepted that it was going to happen soon enough but not at the spritely age of 28 and not so suddenly. To those of you who have been through this what's the best thing to do to prolong the playing career, start asking for a spot in the forwards? I'd probably need to put on a belly before they do that. They've put me in midfield for my height so I don't have to do as much running but even that is taking its toll.


But there's still plenty of football in me, I'm not ready for the glue factory just yet.

[The Proposal]

On a different site I put together what I suppose in business terms might be called a 'visionary' proposal to create financial security for Meath GAA for the long term future. I wrote the article with the purpose of funding the redevelopment of Pairc Tailteann along with the other day to day operations that are provided by GAA county boards. With the funding monster rearing its Banty shaped head recently I thought I would put this forward once again to see if this is a real possibility.



The Proposal
I took precedence from small projects I worked on in England for 15,000 to 20,000 capacity all seater stadiums. In developing these stadiums they have also built on site associated retail units which are owned and rented by the clubs. I don't know for a start if there is anything in the GAA rule book that is against  county boards entering into such a market and start developing non-sporting property.

In Navan looking at the parcel of land available and its location in the centre of town it has great potential. Applying a bit of fantasy into it, there is also potential to place a new train station in the town next to the stadium. This would have huge benefit to the viability of such a project but it would of course have to be funded by other parties.



In regards the recession and economics
This as stated at the start is merely a vision, something possibly to set up as a long term goal and is unlikely to happen within the next 10 years if it at all. It would take a large initial investment and fund raising and now is not the time for that. In regards what market could be targeted for the associated units, since Navan shopping centre is likely to be too strong a competitor for retail and it would also be a shame if a new development were to harm other local businesses, perhaps leisure or as a business park.



On morality and the GAA principles
At the moment Croke park seems to be the engine room for generating cash which then gets handed out to county boards. On the side they have fund raisers, lotto's, raffles, sponsorship, your membership clubs and  white collar boxing. Considering the financial relationships that the GAA has made over the last few year would such development be  echoing the message that's been coming from headquarters.

However this will see the GAA straying outside its own realm and into something that many will feel and I am in both camps here, where making money will become take the greater focus of the organization. Removing the need for fund raising might remove the glue that keeps GAA communities together. Perhaps the dependency on each other is what makes things tic after all.



Benefits?
The  whole point of doing this I feel is that this will give counties a bit of financial independence from Croke park, and won't need to be going to Dublin with the begging bowl in hand. It will it pay for facilities like the stadium and youth training, mercenary county managers, player welfare, club facilities, . If the finances  aren't so good in Croke park for whatever reason the county board will still be in stable financial position as it gets its money from other sectors.

On the other hand the possibility for corruption, huge debt and mismanagement is very real. As we have seen over the last few years we are far from immune to this kind of thing. It would be necessary for a separate entity to run these non-sporting operations on behalf of the county board while without making it unprofitable.



Care to comment?

Didn't get to see the game yesterday but was hoping it would be up on iplayer to watch afterwards. I remember it was on it for Kerry Vs Tyrone in 2008, but this years game hasn't been added yet.

What's the story will it be added at some stage??

Was really looking forward to watching it last night when I got home from a long day at work only to find it wasn't there,