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Firstly, Ger Connery has been chairman and vice chairman of the East Down Board for last number of years so if you don't know him, you know very little about Down GAA.
Secondly, fair play to the committee appointing the next county manager for not leaking the names in the frame. However, time to make the appointment unless the man really has a focus on other matters.
Thirdly, two disappointing games yesterday but the strongest two teams have emerged for the final.
Ballyholland always play on the edge but yesterday they were well over it- and deserve to be called out for an over-aggressive approach. They play up that persecution complex and it doesn't serve them well- Kilcoo don't need a second invitation for a rumble and both sidelines deserve criticism for crossing the line. Bad role models for the many young supporters at the game.
Was so disappointed that the Yellas didn't make it over the line in the second game. They mightn't get a better chance with the current crop of senior players although their future is bright. The TV coverage and the commentators caught the shoulder-charge on Liam Kerr well; every single Burren man would have done the same and it was within the rules, unlike the John Small effort in the All Ireland semi-final. McCorry was out of order having a go at Sharvin at half-time and as some posters have noted, it does have an impact on referees.While Sharvin got that one right I think he was wrong to disallow the Clonduff goal so McCorry will think his half-time efforts paid off.
The final will be tight and Kerr is a huge loss; with Dabs back, momentum has swung to the Magpies.

Clonduff looked good tonight- but I think CPN have had a poor championship. Mulholland was a fine footballer but is very limited as a manager and not clear what added value Polie is bringing.
The Carrs, McConvilles, Brannigans and O'Hagans are super footballers and when you add in young talent like Brown and Close they are likely to be there or there abouts. Thanks to the excellent coverage from Down GAA TV ( the action replays and post match interviews have really improved things but the streaming from anywhere beyond Newry and Newcastle is problematic) we are all able to get a perspective on the main contenders behind Kilcoo; from what I've seen the order is Burren,Clonduff, Mayobridge, RGU,Carryduff, Ballyholland, Glenn, Castlewellan of the surviving teams.
Let's hope the Down management team pay for their bundles over the next three weekends.

Big day for Clonduff and Dinky McBride today. Clealry all not well in the Kilcoo camp and if the Yellas are going to make a statement, today is the day to do it.
I think CPN may not have it as easy against the Ford as people expect and Bredagh may also be a dark horse against Ballyholland.
RGU are motoring well although Collins will be a massive loss the next day.
Enjoyed the tv coverage of Bridge v Island yesterday- Cory Quinn is some footballer. Loughinisland should stay in the SFC and I think between Rostrevor and saul who go to IFC.
Darragh Cross looking good in the IFC and St Pauls to bounce back against Bright

Mayobridge must be hot favourites to knock Kilcoo off their perch.
In the Irish Life 'Every Step Counts' Walking Challenge their top three performers have done over 1200km between them in 10 days- that's a marathon a day- yet they're not even first team players.
The club has clocked up nearly 20.000 km,, more than twice the team in second place. Some going

While there is no guarantee of success at senior level, there is no doubt that investing in underage can pay dividends.
Look at the championship finals/semi-finals;
St Pauls  Saul and Kilcoo have all gone down that road and reaped the rewards this year- Kilcoo for the last 11 years. Carryduff, CPN and Ballyholland the same.
Burren and Bredagh too. Now people may complain that apart from Kilcoo there are young players moving to these clubs- clearly a well organised underage structure is a magnet but we don't want to see a small number of super clubs- a rising tide should lift all boats.
On a separate note I fear that sport will be shut down in the coming weeks and we may not see a county championship. It only goes to highlight what a great job the CCC did in organising the club championships.

As much as I wanted to Clonduff to win, the decision by the umpire to say that ball was over the line was shocking.
He was a metre behind the line when he called it, and waved the green flag like he was landing an aircraft. It was worse than Micheal Greenan's decision in 1986 against Pat Donnan

There must be a chance the leagues and championship games will not be completed with the latest news on the spread of the virus; in the South they are reducing the number of people able to attend outdoor sporting events to 15.
Credit where credit is due; the county board have a super job with football and hurling in getting the leagues going before the championship in such a narrow window, with a clear plan to get the championships completed asap.
Fair play also for making the arrangements with Pairc TV to stream the three games over the last few days; the coverage was excellent and, along with the TG4 game on Friday night, it was great for people unable to get to the games to see four games live.

The way I see it;

SDLP will run candidates in all constituencies but not put much effort in to the seats currently held by SF, North Belfast, East Belfast or the clear cut DUP seats.
SF will run in all constituencies.
UUP will run in all seats but more effort in where they have a chance- South Antrim and Upper Bann.
DUP will run in all constituencies.
Alliance and the Greens may do some trading to allow Alliance free run in East Belfast - and possibly allow Danny Kinahan and Sylvia Hermon free runs in South Antrim and North Down.

The greatest chance of a change to current position is in;
South Belfast- Claire Hanna is an excellent candidate for SDLP and if SF have any sense they will run a light campaign- the only challenge to this will be O'Muilleor's ego, which is considerable.
North Belfast-John Finucane is also an excellent candidate but won't take his seat so may not attract so much support across the board
Foyle- Colum Eastwood must be in with a chance
East Belfast- Naomi Long is an excellent candidate and has a strong chance
South Antrim- Danny Kinahan has a strong chance
North Down - Sylvia Hermon is an excellent candidate but will be under pressure
South Down- Chris Hazard will be too strong for whoever SDLP put up- pity SF don't take their seats.

In an ideal world-
DUP lose 4 seats cutting their representation to 6
SF retain all seats bar Foyle , pick up N Belfast and take their seats- total of 7 allows them to claim they're the biggest party.
SDLP claim back Foyle and South Belfast - total of 2
UUP claim back South Antrim- 1
Alliance pick up East Belfast- 1
Sylvia holds North Down- 1

Belfast has no unionist MPs
Boris has no majority
Labour do well enough but gets rid of Corbyn and elect a decent leader who understands Ireland- Conor McGinn would be good!
Lib Dems do well
Brexit party disappears
UK parliament votes to have a second referendum which ends up 70% for remain

I can but dream

I think it's time we Gaels stood up and were counted before it's too late.

The recent articles by Fintan O'Toole and yesterday's article by Patrick Murphy in the Irish News have summed it up for me. It's not good enough for Sinn Fein in 2019 to say that they weren't elected to take their seats. As Murphy points out, they were elected to the assembly in 2017 on a load of promises that they haven't delivered so they can break election pledges whenever it suits.

These are unprecedented times so Sinn Fein should take unprecedented measures and not 'sit idly by' when their seven votes could take out the madman in Downing Street.

In fact just two of them taking their seats would be enough to overturn the Tory-DUP alliance.

Conor Murphy and Chris Hazzard are two good GAA men "representing" Newry and Armagh and South Down respectively. I have family in both constituencies and have already seen Gaelic clubs suffer from players moving away to Belfast/Dublin or- worse still- to GB/USA/Australia/Middle East , never to return. These areas are going to be badly hit with a no deal Brexit and more young men and women will be forced to emigrate- leading to more school closures and teams unable to field. Conor and Chris have the power to stop this So- we must speak up and stop this madness.

Are other counties making this move to U13/15/17 ?

I see the Irish News allstars voting starts this week. We should have a few; Cunningham, O'Hagan, McKernan and Harrison must be in with a good shout. O'Hanlon, Mooney and R Johnston should be close. My player of the season for Down would be Conor Maginn but he doesn't always get noticed.
Vote early and often.

Apart from Arthur Mc Conville's goal, Burren really weren't tested tonight. For Clonduff to make any impression , they needed good early ball into Connor O'Hagan and Jason Brown, and that's exactly what they did for their first two points. However, Burren snuffed them out- while Daniel wouldn't win a race against them, his positional sense is second to none.Jason didn't have his shooting boots with him and the yellas needed those frees to keep in touch. Mc Kernan was the class act on show- his two points before half tiime were superb and he was always available as a link-man- he has some engine.Mc Ardle is still raw but gets through a lot of work and took a lot of abuse. I don't know who got MOM- possible Donal O'Hare who is fast and has loads of tricks in addition to his free-taking. However, my MOM was Sean Murdoch- won all the dirty ball,had balls and brains and is the sort of player Clonduff didn't have. People are right about the breedin- this team is fit and hungry and should give Ulster a rattle .

I was interested to see the story about the undercover Metropolitan Police Officer who joined a number of environmental groups ( and also visited Ireland both to see his wife and also to join the Shell to Sea protesters in Mayo) and acted as an agent provocateur. The suggestion is that by joining these groups and directing/encouraging them to agitate against the State he helped to justify the massive expenditure on surveillance for police forces, kept them in jobs and ultimately provide a reason for them to exist. A lot of people wondered why Mark Kennedy was encouraging them to resort to violence when they believed in non-violent action to achieve their aims. Now they see that they were tricked by a man representing a system that resorted to foul deeds to maintain their existence.
And then I thought about 'brains' behind the attack on Peadar Heffron, the GAA man and Gaeilgor who has lost his legs in an explosion. And then I thought about the fact that the UK security services have largely avoided the public sector cuts. And then I thought about the half-wits that supported or carried out this act thinking it would bring forward a United Ireland.

Didn't Gallagher,McGuinness go to the same college played for the same team etc..?

No they didnt. McGuinness went to college as a mature student, Tralee then UUJ. Gallagher never went to college.

Bit of a traveller yourself aren't you ck!? 

Sure am! Born in "The Mana", grew up in Letterkenny and played for the Gaels. Now living in Sligo but not playing, just underage coaching. Unlike Gallagher I didnt ditch my home club at the first opportunity.  He must get bored easily.
Donegal, Fermanagh and Easkey!

I smell a rat here ;
1.Anyone who knows anything about GAA knows that Rory Gallagher not only attended Sligo IT but won TWO Sigerson medals with them.
2.In all my years living with Fermanagh people at college I have never, ever, heard Fermanagh being called 'The Mana'.
3.Tell us more about the career with Letterkenny Gaels ?

jas 376 I know you're a newbie ( or an Old B with a different name) but I can't believe you have never heard of the Dutch Border Patrols or the Down Quality Control System