Wanted: 15 hurlers, 15 footballers, a truck and a flat screen TV.

[Bud Wiser]

Does anyone think that because on St Patricks Day we celebrate above all our national heritage/culture,  that part of those celebrations, in terms of the parade in our capital city should be our national sports. We have 400,000 spectators from all corners of the globe lining the streets of Dublin for the parade which ends around 12.30pm leaving them standing on the streets with nowhere to go but the pubs.  Why do we not have Michael O'Muircheartaig nominated as Grand Marshall to lead the parade next year in honour of his contribution to not just gaelic games but to Irish culture. For that matter, why not take a loan of that big screen over the Nally Stand and stick it on the back of a truck and have it showing clips of exciting big games in Croke Park and advertising that the All-Ireland Club Finals are on at 2pm and that there are special family packages ?  Thirty young lads with the McCarthy & Sam cups would not be out of place either and shur Michael could do a running commentary on what counties they came from and who was famous in each county.  I think myself that the GAA are missing out on an opportunity here and a lot of American tourists in particular would head down to Croker for an hour if they made the effort.

[thewobbler]

Why on earth would we want a load of American tourists at the club finals? Any Irishman in Dublin on St Paddy's Day is not going to be swayed to go to Croke Park by a few videos. So unless you're talking 1,000+ yanks making the trip, the idea isn't going to pay for itself.

Your intentions are good Bud, but let's market our games at audiences that might maintain an interest instead.

[haranguerer]

I think its a great idea Bud. The fuller the stadium the better, and theres loads of people who would have a bit of an interest in gaelic games but probably wouldnt know the club finals are on - some promotion like this could certainly sway a few, which can only be a good thing.

[Bud Wiser]

Well forget about the yanks then, put a sign up on Jones' Rd saying no yanks allowed.


Ban the Chinese as well and lock up the museum for the day when there are half a million in the city.

There are plenty of famillies that go into the city on St Patricks Day and are at a loose end when the parade is over. Maybe get Dessie Farrell to lead the parade instead of Michael and just let him walk behind the teams with two greyhounds. The GAA are in for a bit of a shock if they think they will have sold out all their premium seats next year and I think they will see a big change in gate receipts.

A few years ago AIB were handing out free tickets for the Al-Ireland Club Finals on the top of Grafton Street so special offers for Paddy's Day would be a good way of promoting the GAA.  But no, I'll tell you what will happen, families that are in town won't know how to gain access to Croke Park without a credit card because they will think that all access is by ticket only from ticketmaster.

I am probably wrong of course and there is absolutely no need to advertise our games at all and Croke Park will be packed to the rafters on Paddy's Day.

[ardmhachaabu]

Bud, you are of course right.  Games need to be promoted.  I don't know what the advertising folk in Croker are paid for when a good percentage of the country aren't even aware when the club finals take place

[Eamonnca1]

Why on earth would we want a load of American tourists at the club finals?

Because Gaelic games are the most under-exploited tourist attraction Ireland has.

Because it's good for the GAA if more people pay money to come in through the gates.

Because hurling and gaelic football are the greatest sports on Earth but most of the people on said Earth have never heard of them.

Because the only aspect of our national culture that gets any decent amount of recognition is our ability to drink ourselves silly until the contents of our guts are spilling across the footpath.

Because gaelic games are a far more positive and genuine expression of our culture than a pint of Guinness.

Because we want people from around the world to watch and play our games.

Because we need to get out of this mentality that only Irish people are interested in Irish sports. That's a hangover from an inferiority complex that has got to go. The Brits invented soccer, rugby, cricket, tennis, snooker, and god knows how many other sports and weren't one bit shy about getting the rest of the world to play them, so why can't we show a bit of pride in our sports and get other people roped into them?

Because it's a known fact that as soon as you show a video of hurling or Gaelic football to someone who has never seen the games before, there's a 90% chance that they're going to become interested.

For a few reactions, see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiuzYvScbnY

[thewobbler]

you were doing well until:

Because it's a known fact that as soon as you show a video of hurling or Gaelic football to someone who has never seen the games before, there's a 90% chance that they're going to become interested.

Look, the point is simple.

The campaign Bud is proposing is aimed at people who are in Dublin and might be swayed to go to Croke Park.

My feeling is that if you're Irish and in Dublin on St Patrick's Day and not already attending the match, then you're not suddenly going to change your mind.

So that leaves the foreigners. And in my opinion pushing a chunk of the marketing budget and a fair bit of time into the chance that you might get a couple of hundred foreigners to attend one game in their lifetime is a debatable pursuit.

Dropping leaflets into every hotel bedroom in Dublin for a couple of nights before the games would be a cheaper, simpler and more informative marketing approach.

[Bud Wiser]

Leave aside the club finals, forget about them as if they are not on at all for a minute.  My point is that the figures that I copy and paste here,  This year we are expecting a crowd of 670,000 people to line the 3 km route and an audience of over 350,000 to tune in to the celebrations live on RTE1. speak for themselves.  It is a day of celebrating our culture and heritage and what I am saying is that Michael O'Muircheartaig has contributed as much to that as Packie Bonner who was last years grand marshall, a position that the soccer boys were not slow in accepting.  Sponsorship will be hard to get next year so if a representative from every county was taking part in the parade with the county jersey and sponsor as part of the deal in getting sponsorship, that alone would benefit the GAA - my own county would have got more prominance in the St Patricks Day parade for their sponsor this year than they did in the championship, and they were not on their own.

The cost of having an entry from CLG in our national days parade is inconsequential because if you look at the parades committee details you will see that their concern is more about what each entry portrays than what it costs to enter and anyway if a marching band from Boston can raise enough to get flights to Ireland and pay for entry the cost of getting someone in Croke Park to get off their arse and get a group to walk the few hundred yards from Jones' Rd to the top of Parnell Square should be fairly small. 

[johnneycool]

I think its a great idea Bud. The fuller the stadium the better, and theres loads of people who would have a bit of an interest in gaelic games but probably wouldnt know the club finals are on - some promotion like this could certainly sway a few, which can only be a good thing.

I'm with Bud on this one, after the parades there's still a huge throng of people about, mostly tourists and from what I've seen the last few years they head up Grafton Street and Stephens green particularly if the weathers good with nothing really to do. (P.S. its normally only the Irish getting pished at 1pm in the day)

Advertise what's going on in Croke park and maybe offer free shuttle buses to the stadium and let them in and offer a bit of merchandising on the way out.
I can't see it taking great chunks out of any advertising budget as the GAA normally leaves it up to the sponsors to do that anyway!

[Banana Man]

it's a brilliant idea Bud, it's the one day of the year that a final is on and the stadium won't be anywhere near capacity. I guarantee people from America for example would love it. If they even knew a game was on they would probably assume there would be no chance of tickets for the game and wouldn't bother, but it would be a guaranteed impulse purchase...

[Lecale2]

The parade should be led by the competing teams and end up at Croke Park.

[ONeill]

I'd still be on for banning the Chinese though.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Great idea Bud, it's time the GAA raised its sights beyond parochial boundaries.