Messages

I would nornally put Quigley down as the worst ref in the county but Hearty was an absolute disgrace on Sunday, it says something when your opponents reckon you were robbed! To add insult to injury he said after the game that he didn't realise it was an important game, we'll probably get hammered for our players crowding him after the game & shouting at him, yet he'll get away with shouting abuse at players, team officials, supporters, etc.

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