Messages

Going to Madrid in a couple of weeks for the weekend. Have got tickets for Real Madrid v Alaves for the Sunday night.
Any recommendations of things to do? Will have my Dad with me who is in his 70s so nothing that wild.
We'll be there early Saturday morning and not leaving until Monday evening so plenty of time to do stuff other than watch football!!

The Escorial might be 1 option. You can also get handily to places like Toledo or Segovia on a day trip by train.

Beside Plaza Major is a covered relaxed food market, the name of which escapes me despite its fame. Could get a beer/coffee there and chill.

Mercado San Miguel - highly recommended.

Been to Stockholm & really enjoyed it. Only thing was it was the end of June & i felt like Al Pacino in Insomnia (virtually no night time at all). Ended up on a daytrip to Norrkopping for no other reason  than i had seen their team playing Crusaders in the Cup Winners Cup at the Oval in 1968. Also spent a few days in Copenhagen on another trip & you can then get the train across the bridge to Sweden & i ended up in Malmo & took Mrs to Ystad as well, as she's a Wallander fan. Remember going to Lund for a day trip & meeting somebody from Armagh working in a bar! Scandinavia is bit off normal list of people's places to visit, it is bit expensive, but worth visiting. I took SAS flights out of Dublin each time.

I was in Copehnagen in early Dec. Tivoli Gardens was something else. Went over the Bridge to Malmo too..?.check out the bridfe!

Copenhagen was beautiful ...couldnt recommend it enough. Expensive though!

Thinking Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest for a week all in this June. Been to Vienna for a weekend before but she hasnt. Anyone any opinions good or bad on Bratislava and Budapest?

Budapest is incredible. Very western looking city despite being in the heart of eastern Europe. Make sure you go over the bridge to the Buda part and go up to the presidential palace overlooking the Danube.

Bratislava is "ok". Alot more of a hangover from Soviet occupation. Cheap as chips for food and drink though,  but with alot less to see and do than Budapest. People wouldnt be the friendliest either.

Bratislava is nice but the city centre is small and you could walk around it in a couple of hours. They build a motorway right through the old town and the castle.

Budapest is a great city with lots to see and do.

Istanbul is a great city to visit with all the main sights within walking distance of the centre.

Why is the O'Byrne Cup final in a home venue for Dublin?

Its always a coin toss for one of finalists home venues

Great to see a Dublin ref got the Kildare Football championship final

Billy O'Connell a very good ref, living in Kildare a good while now also.

Three years.

Great to see a Dublin ref got the Kildare Football championship final

Sean Cox's family said on the Late Late show that Sean was signed up to do Dublin this year. Sure enough I checked the programme given out at the expo today and his name is on it.
Just goes to show you how lucky we are to be even lining up at the start line to run it.
Enjoy it tomorrow who ever is doing it. It's a great Marathon with a wonderful atmosphere.

Enjoy everyone doing it, very jealous now

Anyone been to Frankfurt? Worth it for a 3 day city break?

Absolutely not, I wouldn't recommend it for a three hour break.

Listened to the Ger Gilroy/Cora Staunton interview from a couple of weeks ago - disgraceful stuff from Gilroy

I'm not sure whether it was reported or raised at the time. I remember Alan Milton going on a few different media shows but can't say whether he mentioned it or not - maybe they felt mentioning it was a low blow or were better off concentrating on the benefits of the Sky deal

Why did Parkinson fall out with OTB, I saw him tweeting that they didn't credit him for his interview with the ladies Mayo manager, a bit narcissistic I thought.

He reckons a couple of the more high-profile people involved with OTB are spoofers (Joe Molloy isn't one of them).
I recall he was sticking the knife into them around the time they lost the radio rights to cover games.
Basically said they were only interested in GAA coverage when it suited them.

Did he think they should have got into a bidding war with RTE, the GAA made their choice and no surprise it was RTE, they control the narrative a lot better with RTE.

Also Newstalk weren't paying their bills to the GAA and had a significant debt built up

Really?
That's interesting.

Yes indeedy. Offered airtime in lieu of payment to clear up the balance - airtime doesn't build clubhouses in Offaly though.

Why did Parkinson fall out with OTB, I saw him tweeting that they didn't credit him for his interview with the ladies Mayo manager, a bit narcissistic I thought.

He reckons a couple of the more high-profile people involved with OTB are spoofers (Joe Molloy isn't one of them).
I recall he was sticking the knife into them around the time they lost the radio rights to cover games.
Basically said they were only interested in GAA coverage when it suited them.

Did he think they should have got into a bidding war with RTE, the GAA made their choice and no surprise it was RTE, they control the narrative a lot better with RTE.

Also Newstalk weren't paying their bills to the GAA and had a significant debt built up

Is Serena Williams managing the PR for the 12.

but the problem is, the likes of OTB (who I have now lost total respect for) will no more do proper research into this than jimmy sloyan does into his theories
The soundbites will win and matterafuck about doing some research.

Stopped listening to OTB when they  started having a bookie from boylesports do segements. Get up the yard.

Leon from Blanch?

still waiting for Parkinson podcast where he doesn't mention the he was a county player and won a minor title.
apart from that his most annoying habit is say 'What I cant understand is'

"I mean like, I've dropped off panels before..."

Yes Colm we know, you mention it twice per week

The politics of Mayo football make me sick to my teeth.

If it's not the Breaffy mafia picking the team it's the PRO

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/centre-cannot-hold-as-mayo-football-beset-by-turbulent-times-1.3629763


"As a small example, Rochford occasionally found himself having to justify not just the size of the playing group but sometimes even the presence or absence of certain named players.
"Some of the county board members would have liked to think they had an influence over who was on the panel and not on the panel, even though it wasn't their place to do so," says one member of the set-up. "Stephen had to deal with all that and other things like it. That's noise and you have enough to be dealing with as a county manager without adding noise."

If that's true it's just incredible

Whats incredible

That panel size and governance aside, any member of the county board trying to exert an influence over who is and isn't on the panel is absolutely crazy.

A couple of years ago the previous management claimed the some high profile players from a particular club were trying to influence team/panel selection

If either is true it's madness.

Re fundraising, the Dublin panel and management have spent every winter fundraising from winning the AI until the team holiday but can we confine that to the Dublin threads?