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[A world-class review of Kildare's county ground]

A world-class review of Kildare's county ground

We have spoken before about the issue of Kildare's home ground in Newbridge, St Conleth's Park. The lack of facilities there have forced Kildare onto the road all summer and while it is so far, so good enough is enough for Leinster Leader writer Tommy Callaghan. He devoted a few paragraphs to the state of St Conleth's, and they make for great reading.

"The dressing rooms are about as big enough for a couple of five-a-side teams; the referee's area is overcrowded once the linesmen join the match official and as for the press box, Jesus, don't get me started ...

"For a county that boasts one of the biggest followings in the country it is nothing short of disgraceful that we cannot hold a home game that is likely to attract anything close to 8,000...

"St Conleth's Park remains, in this writer's view, an absolute ideal location in the centre of town if it can get not just a makeover but a complete and utter revamp...

"If the refusal of the CCCC to allow Kildare play Limerick in round three of the qualifiers does nothing else, it might, and I emphasise might, just help to concentrate the minds and finally put an end to the embarrassment that Kildare GAA's number one ground is. The time for a splash of paint, fresh soap and new 'smellies' in the loos to keep the natives on side is well and truly gone."

https://www.joe.ie/sport/the-best-thing-ever-written-about-a-kildare-gaa-ground-38451

If it's suitable to host a Div 1 league game it's suitable to hold a qualifier game

*unless it was made clear to Kildare ahead of the championship it wasn't

Surely Kildare county board have agreed to this on some level? Couldn't go ahead without them giving the go ahead.... could it??

They should threaten to not field but they don't have to agree, the CCCC or any CCC for that matter can fix games as they wish and you can't object/appeal a fixture (that is assuming of course there is a get out clause in the rules that they don't automatically get home advantage without conditions)

Interesting, are you aware of any clauses Heffo? Is this tied back to the bail out do you think?

I'd imagine any new competition being drawn up would have a rule along the lines of first team drawn out gets home advantage *Provided home ground meets certain requirements and final decision rests with CCCC*

Would be very surprised if there were still any strings around the bailout - more likely a behind doors deal was done.

KCB should stand their ground, no reason the game shouldn't go ahead in Newbridge.

Surely Kildare county board have agreed to this on some level? Couldn't go ahead without them giving the go ahead.... could it??

They should threaten to not field but they don't have to agree, the CCCC or any CCC for that matter can fix games as they wish and you can't object/appeal a fixture (that is assuming of course there is a get out clause in the rules that they don't automatically get home advantage without conditions)

That's why I can't believe he's the parent - he'd have to know he'd never get away with that.

He's not

As a local involved in the club people seem to be missing two points.

1. The GAA, in the absence of any censure are perceived to be backing the club and Liam Howley.

2. Howley is destroying the club. And the club was struggling long before this incident.

The Driver is a committed Gael and refused to take money from the club. He is entirely the wronged party. His treatment is disgusting and the ordinary members have been cut off at the knees. Refusing to allow the kids on that team play, punishing them to get at the Driver, is a disgrace. We aren't losing kids to other clubs, we are losing them to the far better run soccer and rugby clubs in the area. Better facilities, none of this messing.

I can only assume the DCB and Croke Park are backing him because of the property play with Fingal CC to move up the road in a land swap. And they are having to do that because the facilities are a shambles.

I have serious fears for the club and efforts to get answers, let alone accountability have been stonewalled.

To the best of your knowledge,
a) Was Paul Kimmage in attendance at the AGM? Y
b) Was he 'The Parent', whose actions were described in the article? N

AFAIK

Why would GAA insurance even cover something like defamation?

I'd imagine it's a catch all cover for GAA officers that they will be underwritten for issues arising discharging their role (however hairbrained they may be)

Walter, what's your budget?

Sukhimvit Road has all the big hotel chains , Sky train & is reasonably central from memory, decent hotels there shouldn't be too bad.

For the full on backpacker experience head for Ko San road, dirt cheap hostels/guest houses etc there.

Cheers Subbie. Just the 2 nights in Bangkok prior to heading down to the islands. Have heard Sukhimvit Road is the place to stay. Walking distance to the madness. Any ideas on which islands to go to folks? Obviously Koh Phangan for the full moon party but for the remainder of the week I'd prefer a mix of lively/chilled out islands.

If it's only the islands you want to do get a flight Bangkok to Ko Samui, 1 or 2 nights there then get ferry and head Ko pagan nagn do full moon, allow a few days either side of full moon 3 before and 2 or 3 after as accomodation is hard to get just before the full moon, after you've recovered head for Ko Tao, get ferry from Ko pagn nagn, lovely chilled out spot.

Phuket and Ko Phi Phi are other options but if you want to hit a full moon Phuket is a fair hike to Samui.
Ko phi phi is a grand spot but I found it a bit boring after 3 days , it's tiny and you'll be eating and drinking in the same few places if there for longer.

A place worth considering is Krabi, I went there and only gave myself 3 nights there and regretted it ever since, loads to do, not as expensive as the islands ( Thailand wise if that makes sense, it'll still be cheaper than what you are used to!)

If you can try and get up north , Chiang mai or Chaing Rai, easy cheap flight from Bangkok, loads to do that in both places, I went to Chaing Mai intending to stay 3-4 nights ended up staying there 2 1/2 weeks !

You'll have a ball there no matter where you go though, Asia rooms.com and Agoda.com were best I found for good deals on accom , never trust the taxi drivers , make sure when you are in Bangkok to get a motorcycle taxi, not a tuk tuk, a motorbike taxi, you'll see them, jump on the back and away you go, madness but a great way to get round Bangkok!!

Also, is it hard to get free upgrades? Any secrets such as DONT check in online but get in early and ask at the check in desk?

Very hard if you don't have status. If Economy is overbooked they'll upgrade economy passengers with the highest status first and then slide down status-wise.

Speaking of Specialized bikes I see the old Browns Barn restaurant on the N7 at Citywest is being turned into a Specialized bike shop.

Due to open next month

Athenry didn't cover themselves in glory with how they handled the complaint by any means but Kimmage shouldn't have named the two people involved.

Having been a Juv Chair, Club Chair and lots of other county and national positions, I can honestly say that about 80% of issues I encountered in all that time were from pushy parents who felt their son/daughter were too good to play on a B team or their teammates on their own team weren't good enough for their son/daughter.

In Dublin I believe the county board assigns the schools to each club and then that clubs GPO can only attend those schools......

No parish rule in Dublin - the club Steering committee would typically look at what they're getting out of different schools and concentrate resources accordingly - lots of schools in Dublin with crossover between clubs.

Looming Tower (already recommended) is very good as is The Terror

Isn't he the same fella who tweeted at Parkinson that he was going to burst him over something?

[Naas CBS won the Br Bosco Cup (Leinster A schools)]

Kildare has 7 rugby clubs Barnhall (Leixlip/Celbridge), Naas, Cill Dara(Kildare) Newbridge, Clane, Athy, North Kildare(Maynooth/Kilcock). 1 u16 Dev Squad which feeds into the Leinster pathway.

I use to coach that u16 squad and notable professional rugby players produced are Adam Byrne, Joey Carberry, Jeremey Loughman and Adam Coyle, all who have played professionally in the last year. None of those 4 players, 2 of whom are props, with the exception of Byrne, whose brother was on the books of Man United, had shown much interest in GAA. So possibly 1 player was lost to Kildare in that period, in years gone by McFadden(Suncroft), Heaslip(Naas), Johne Murphy(Ellistown) Geordan Murphy(Naas) all showed underage GAA potential so any arguement could be made, just not a very strong one.

So player wise the GAA are not really losing out to rugby whereas Cribben, Brophy, Hurley and Flynn all tried their hand at AFL, a bigger threat if you want to call it that.

Attendance wise at county games Kildare is way down because we are shite and living in Dublin's shadow is killing any enthusiasm for the game. However the club game is pretty vibrant, Moorefield won the Leinster Club, Naas CBS won the Br Bosco Cup (Leinster A schools) and our minor teams are competitive, 3 of the last 5 Leinsters.

The majority of Leinster season ticket holders live in Dublin and Dublin GAA seemingly is the model we should all follow.

I like McGeeney but on this he is talking shite.

Yeah, I saw that Dinny.
Great achievement.
It's the first time I've even clocked them playing at 'A' level.
Have they come out of nowhere or is there a lot of work going on there?

Cormac Kirwan the new Kildare GAA Operations officer I believe was the brains behind it all.

More Dubs helping out Kildare

When will we have the white smoke for his successor?

Friday

Watched Annihilation on Netflix at the weekend based on decent reviews. Didn't do it for me at all - 6/10 at a push.

Annihilation would be lucky to get a 4 from me - really bad.

Was looking forward to Annihilation after the very good reviews - it was awful