Messages

[215]

As requested I have returned with some interesting facts and figures.

Population of Dublin: 1,270,603
Population of Fermanagh: 61,805

Clubs in Dublin: 215 (approximately)
Clubs in Fermanagh: 22

As we can see, Dublin have 1.2 million more people than Fermanagh and almost 200 more clubs. In an effort to have a more even playing field, the GAA have pumped loads of money into games development in Fermanagh while giving Dublin very little. Over the past 10 years the average amount given to each yearly has been this:

Fermanagh: 1.5 million
Dublin: 42,500

So Dublin may have a huge advantage when it comes to population and club numbers but Fermanagh have far more finance available to them. I don't see why anyone is predicting a whipping, surely it will be a close game going on the figures? What's that you say? I've made a mistake? What do you mean? Dublin get the 1.5 million yearly while Fermanagh get 42,500. What are you talking about you loony? Surely that can't be right.

So you're telling me that Dublin have 1.2 million more people than Fermanagh, they have almost 200 more clubs yet still get 1.5 million annually while Fermanagh only get 42,500? You're having a laugh, next you'll be telling me that they play every game at home. WHAT??

They also have a multi million euro deal with AIG. Numerous other sponsors, them being: O'Neills, Bavaria, The Gibson Hotel, Toyota, Aer Lingus, Ros Nutrition, Ballygowan, Linwoods, Energise sport and Skins. They've added 2 new sponsors in recent times also. Benetti menswear and Gourmet food parlour. They have top level coaches, nutritionists, physiologists, lifestyle coaches, basketball coaches, a huge backroom team. They get to use the same dressing room for every game and pick which side of the pitch they warm up on. They're able to get their players time off work, they train in the best facilities in Ireland, they're getting a 9 million euro training centre built for them.

Stop, stop, STOP!!!! You are just making all of this up. There's no way this can be true. It's ridiculously crazy, how can this happen? Will somebody tell me there's some mistake here? Somebody? Anybody?

215 clubs? Are you mad??

That figure includes Copper's, Dicey's, Club 92, Tamango's, The Wright Venue and all those horrible places on Leeson Street.

Prediction: Dublin 6-25 Fermanagh 0-5.

So many clueless comments on social media today, giving about the "GAA discriminating against women."

It's very unlike people on social media to be clueless about things.

Fermanagh have apparently offered to decide the game on a coin toss, in solidarity with the Dublin and Clare camogie teams.

Until 1963 shorts in Ireland were only made in white, due to the influence of the Roman Catholic church who saw non-white shorts as inherently sinful, and all counties wore white shorts.

When Down became the first county to wear non-white shorts in the 1963 National League semi-final, it was seen as an act of Satan and condemned in the strongest possible terms by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid, who cast a curse on Down that they would never again win an All-Ireland, and warned of the dire consequences for Ireland of the introduction of black shorts, or shorts of any colour other than white. And it was no coincidence that John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated just six months later. The adoption of coloured shorts by a string of other counties, such as Tyrone, during the 1960s and 1970s was to signal the terminal decline of morals and decency in Irish society.

As an aside, I think this non-traditional traditional all white kit Tyrone have been wearing for the last few years looks terrible.

1st team to qualify for the q/f's after winning all 4 qualifier games too!

Westmeath 2001.

[Yet only 36,000 people turned up.]

The fixing of venues for some championship matches is bizarre.

3,815 attended this evening's Cork v Kildare match. Why Thurles, why vast swathes of empty seats and terracing? There is no reason why this could not have been played at a more suitable venue, such as Nowlan Park, Portlaoise, or hell, even Nenagh or Kilmallock.

Longford played Kildare in Round 3. Longford should have had home advantage, but given that the capacity of Pearse Park was reduced to 8,000, the ground was deemed to be too small and the match was moved to Mullingar, thus depriving Longford of home advantage. 5,914 people turned up, which Pearse Park could easily have handled. Why did Longford not object to that match being moved, given that their already slim chance of victory was clearly lessened by the venue switch?

My favourite decision of this type was in 2002, when Wicklow drew Kerry at home in the qualifiers. Aughrim's 7,000 capacity was deemed to be insufficient for a match that was "bound to attract huge interest", so it was moved to Portlaoise, where it drew circa 1,200 people. What wonderful planning that was.

The public reaction to one of the GAA's occasional sensible venue decisions, to stage last year's Kerry-Mayo replay in Limerick, was also strange. The venue choice was heavily criticised, much of this criticism on the basis that the 45,000 capacity would prove insufficient to satisfy demand from the paying public. Yet only 36,000 people turned up.

I would advise those who dislike feeling lonely to stay away from Croke Park next Saturday. There will be tumbleweed blowing through the place. I hereby set the spread on the attendance at 11,003 and a half persons. 10/11 under, 10/11 over.

Speaking as someone who was at that match, it was sold out, it was a bit chaotic outside before the match it looked like they might have to delay the match because nothing was moving but I think they just stopped scanning peoples tickets. It was all a disaster from start to end.

36k looked an accurate measurement of the attendance to me.

Oh Sidney, you are not back to telling us the best venues for us country folk to have our games in? Oh prey tell us of your mad adventures around the country to watch the Dubs play championship games. Tell us of 1983 again. Go on!

I can tell you of yesterday, mate. Dublin played a senior championship match outside Dublin yesterday.

I still can't believe we found Thurles, to be honest. It was a bit scary going outside the Pale. God knows what would have happened if we'd had to travel to Limerick.

[Yet only 36,000 people turned up.]

The fixing of venues for some championship matches is bizarre.

3,815 attended this evening's Cork v Kildare match. Why Thurles, why vast swathes of empty seats and terracing? There is no reason why this could not have been played at a more suitable venue, such as Nowlan Park, Portlaoise, or hell, even Nenagh or Kilmallock.

Longford played Kildare in Round 3. Longford should have had home advantage, but given that the capacity of Pearse Park was reduced to 8,000, the ground was deemed to be too small and the match was moved to Mullingar, thus depriving Longford of home advantage. 5,914 people turned up, which Pearse Park could easily have handled. Why did Longford not object to that match being moved, given that their already slim chance of victory was clearly lessened by the venue switch?

My favourite decision of this type was in 2002, when Wicklow drew Kerry at home in the qualifiers. Aughrim's 7,000 capacity was deemed to be insufficient for a match that was "bound to attract huge interest", so it was moved to Portlaoise, where it drew circa 1,200 people. What wonderful planning that was.

The public reaction to one of the GAA's occasional sensible venue decisions, to stage last year's Kerry-Mayo replay in Limerick, was also strange. The venue choice was heavily criticised, much of this criticism on the basis that the 45,000 capacity would prove insufficient to satisfy demand from the paying public. Yet only 36,000 people turned up.

I would advise those who dislike feeling lonely to stay away from Croke Park next Saturday. There will be tumbleweed blowing through the place. I hereby set the spread on the attendance at 11,003 and a half persons. 10/11 under, 10/11 over.

Speaking as someone who was at that match, it was sold out, it was a bit chaotic outside before the match it looked like they might have to delay the match because nothing was moving but I think they just stopped scanning peoples tickets. It was all a disaster from start to end.

36k looked an accurate measurement of the attendance to me.

Did any of them get a run?

One lad did with a minute of extra-time left. Made quite an impression too.

Tyrone have over 11,000 people in their management team!

Do they have a feng shui consultant, like Dublin? I bet they don't.

Every cloud has a silver lining.
Clones looking well today.

Ulster final day in Clones should have a preservation order attached to it.

Hurling people talk about Munster hurling final day in Thurles being special. Ulster football final day in Clones is just as special and to do away with it forever in favour of moving to a soulless flat-pack cavern in Belfast would, in my view, be an act of desecration.

Agreed. I have been going to Clones for over 40 years & while it certainly isn't the last word in sophistication, the atmosphere on a big day can't be beaten.

If we move to a soulless all seater modern concrete stadium on the Falls Rd we will lose something that will be very hard to replace.

Is Croke park soulless?  Casement to be built to a mini version of Croke... If its built, I'm sure like most stadiums of a similar style in all the major cities around the world, it will be grand... Given half the chance Clones would change if given free money

If Croke Park doesnt have at least 70,000 people in it, yes, it's generally soulless. In fact, if the crowd is below 40,000, it's one of the most soulless venues I can think of.

I can name about 20 matches I've attended in the last five years at Croke Park which have had atmospheres that make a wet Sunday in Holyhead seem exciting in comparison.

Clones is special. Casement Park will never be.

I'm going to throw it out there, I reckon you've never been to Clones, as you are full of shite

As usual, you'd be wrong. I've been to Clones seven times and to three Ulster finals. It's my favourite venue in Ireland, just ahead of Killarney, and well ahead of Thurles, where I'm off to right now.

Trouble in Donegal camp with one player who can't handle his drink prompting threats of walkouts from other players.

Big challenge for Rory Gallagher.  Personal friendship with the player's family mean that he is not doing what needs to be done.

Sad to see from a Donegal point of view.

You may as well name names 

You don't need to be a brain surgeon to figure it out.

I meant who was involved

The answer stays the same, you don't need to be a brain surgeon to figure it out.

Does the player also have a brother on the team?

Every cloud has a silver lining.
Clones looking well today.

Ulster final day in Clones should have a preservation order attached to it.

Hurling people talk about Munster hurling final day in Thurles being special. Ulster football final day in Clones is just as special and to do away with it forever in favour of moving to a soulless flat-pack cavern in Belfast would, in my view, be an act of desecration.

Agreed. I have been going to Clones for over 40 years & while it certainly isn't the last word in sophistication, the atmosphere on a big day can't be beaten.

If we move to a soulless all seater modern concrete stadium on the Falls Rd we will lose something that will be very hard to replace.

Is Croke park soulless?  Casement to be built to a mini version of Croke... If its built, I'm sure like most stadiums of a similar style in all the major cities around the world, it will be grand... Given half the chance Clones would change if given free money

If Croke Park doesnt have at least 70,000 people in it, yes, it's generally soulless. In fact, if the crowd is below 40,000, it's one of the most soulless venues I can think of.

I can name about 20 matches I've attended in the last five years at Croke Park which have had atmospheres that make a wet Sunday in Holyhead seem exciting in comparison.

Clones is special. Casement Park will never be.

The fixing of venues for some championship matches is bizarre.

3,815 attended this evening's Cork v Kildare match. Why Thurles, why vast swathes of empty seats and terracing? There is no reason why this could not have been played at a more suitable venue, such as Nowlan Park, Portlaoise, or hell, even Nenagh or Kilmallock.

Longford played Kildare in Round 3. Longford should have had home advantage, but given that the capacity of Pearse Park was reduced to 8,000, the ground was deemed to be too small and the match was moved to Mullingar, thus depriving Longford of home advantage. 5,914 people turned up, which Pearse Park could easily have handled. Why did Longford not object to that match being moved, given that their already slim chance of victory was clearly lessened by the venue switch?

My favourite decision of this type was in 2002, when Wicklow drew Kerry at home in the qualifiers. Aughrim's 7,000 capacity was deemed to be insufficient for a match that was "bound to attract huge interest", so it was moved to Portlaoise, where it drew circa 1,200 people. What wonderful planning that was.

The public reaction to one of the GAA's occasional sensible venue decisions, to stage last year's Kerry-Mayo replay in Limerick, was also strange. The venue choice was heavily criticised, much of this criticism on the basis that the 45,000 capacity would prove insufficient to satisfy demand from the paying public. Yet only 36,000 people turned up.

I would advise those who dislike feeling lonely to stay away from Croke Park next Saturday. There will be tumbleweed blowing through the place. I hereby set the spread on the attendance at 11,003 and a half persons. 10/11 under, 10/11 over.

Does anyone from the free state (beside LaoisLad) call it Londonderry?

Londonderek Mooney.