Do they serve soup at Windsor Park?

[Eamonnca1]

Lisbon 1+2 give us a good indication of how much Governments care about the will of their people.

Lisbon 2 was different from Lisbon 1 in that it came with additional guarantees for the ROI, such as neutrality and control over taxation.  Without those guarantees the people voted against it. With those guarantees the people voted for it.

[magpie seanie]

2 things: 

1 - It was Brooke, not Sir Paddy, who made the "no selfish strategic interest" speech.

2 - I lived in England long enough to know that the people don't give a toss about the six counties, don't understand what it's doing on their evening news, don't know what the conflict was/is about, and those of them who are actually aware that the place is part of the UK would be only too happy to get shot of it and their government is not too far behind them.

There has been no indication that the British establishment (the ones who actually run the place) have any desire to leave Ireland. quite the contrary. Lisbon 1+2 give us a good indication of how much Governments care about the will of their people.

That was the ROI government at the behest of their European masters "partners" and we'll have to agree to disagree on this but I think they (ROI Govt) would have greater concerns about a 32 county Ireland than their British counterparts.

Thanks for arguing the points with me. I don't agree with you but I think some of the stuff thrown at you here was unfair.

[magpie seanie]

Lisbon 1+2 give us a good indication of how much Governments care about the will of their people.

Lisbon 2 was different from Lisbon 1 in that it came with additional guarantees for the ROI, such as neutrality and control over taxation.  Without those guarantees the people voted against it. With those guarantees the people voted for it.

Sorry Eamonnca1 but I'm not having that. It was exactly the same legally and we saw with Mr Sarcozy recently just how strong those guarantees were. People voted for Lisbon 2 because the economy was going down the shitter and they thought Europe would save us. How did that go then? 

[Eamonnca1]

Lisbon 1+2 give us a good indication of how much Governments care about the will of their people.

Lisbon 2 was different from Lisbon 1 in that it came with additional guarantees for the ROI, such as neutrality and control over taxation.  Without those guarantees the people voted against it. With those guarantees the people voted for it.

Sorry Eamonnca1 but I'm not having that. It was exactly the same legally and we saw with Mr Sarcozy recently just how strong those guarantees were. People voted for Lisbon 2 because the economy was going down the shitter and they thought Europe would save us. How did that go then? 

The ROI's problems are caused by its membership of the Eurozone, not the Lisbon Treaty. In fact the Lisbon Treaty was a response to the rejection of the EU constitution by French and and Dutch voters in 2005.

[magpie seanie]

Lisbon 1+2 give us a good indication of how much Governments care about the will of their people.

Lisbon 2 was different from Lisbon 1 in that it came with additional guarantees for the ROI, such as neutrality and control over taxation.  Without those guarantees the people voted against it. With those guarantees the people voted for it.

Sorry Eamonnca1 but I'm not having that. It was exactly the same legally and we saw with Mr Sarcozy recently just how strong those guarantees were. People voted for Lisbon 2 because the economy was going down the shitter and they thought Europe would save us. How did that go then? 

The ROI's problems are caused by its membership of the Eurozone, not the Lisbon Treaty. In fact the Lisbon Treaty was a response to the rejection of the EU constitution by French and and Dutch voters in 2005.

Largely correct but my point about the reasons people voted yes the second time still stand. "Vote Yes for Jobs" - that's going well!

[Eamonnca1]

Largely correct but my point about the reasons people voted yes the second time still stand. "Vote Yes for Jobs" - that's going well!

"Yes for jobs" was stretching things a bit. Lisbon was about re-arranging the democratic institutions in Europe, its impact on jobs (positive or negative) was always going to be negligible.

[Evil Genius]

Meanwhile back at the ranch...



Two GAA stars were at Windsor Park again recently to cheer on Nigel Worthington and his team against the Faroe Islands. John and Martin Clarke, members of Down's 2010 All-Ireland final squad, rarely miss a Northern Ireland game.

"I would always have looked out for them when I was growing up, but I guess I really caught the bug when I moved up to Belfast to go to university. Windsor Park was just down the road from me, so I started going to the matches pretty regularly. I'd say I've been to Windsor about 25 times in the past five or six years, I love it" said John.

A full interview by Colin McAlinden with the Clarke brothers will be in the Northern Ireland v Serbia match programme.
http://www.irishfa.com/news/item/6687/down-gaa-stars-cheer-on-nigels-boys/

[armaghniac]

Two GAA stars were at Windsor Park again recently to cheer on Nigel Worthington and his team against the Faroe Islands.

Fair enough. Will we be seeing any prominent non Taig OWC players being photographed at a GAA match?

[Eamonnca1]

Meanwhile back at the ranch...



Two GAA stars were at Windsor Park again recently to cheer on Nigel Worthington and his team against the Faroe Islands. John and Martin Clarke, members of Down's 2010 All-Ireland final squad, rarely miss a Northern Ireland game.

"I would always have looked out for them when I was growing up, but I guess I really caught the bug when I moved up to Belfast to go to university. Windsor Park was just down the road from me, so I started going to the matches pretty regularly. I'd say I've been to Windsor about 25 times in the past five or six years, I love it" said John.

A full interview by Colin McAlinden with the Clarke brothers will be in the Northern Ireland v Serbia match programme.
http://www.irishfa.com/news/item/6687/down-gaa-stars-cheer-on-nigels-boys/

They're braver men than me.

[Evil Genius]

Two GAA stars were at Windsor Park again recently to cheer on Nigel Worthington and his team against the Faroe Islands.

Fair enough. Will we be seeing any prominent non Taig OWC players being photographed at a GAA match?

At the risk of indulging your "Whataboutery", I shall attempt to reply.

First, since all of the "non Taig" NI players are professionals, living and working in England/Scotland with their families etc, I doubt you'll see too many in the near future.

Which is why I doubt you'll see even former GAA players like Baird, McGinn or Clingan attending GAA matches too often, either.

But leaving aside the logistical considerations, your post raises two aspects of NI Prod attendance at GAA matches.

The first is whether they would be welcome  to attend. In this respect, I have little doubt that they would. After all, no-one said a word to any of Shane McCabe's Glentoran pals when they went along to support him at a GAA match. Ditto when Edwin Poots decided to go along when he was Sports Minister.

The second, however, is whether NI Prods would have any interest in attending GAA games. In this respect, I have equally little doubt that with the occasional exception, they wouldn't.

Which leaves open the question why this should be so. Logically, there can really only three explanations. The first is that 99% of Prods are so bigoted that they could not be tempted to go along whatever the GAA did.

The second is that the GAA makes no real effort, beyond certain 'token' initiatives, to persuade NI Prods that they should get involved.

And the third is that the organisation may be making concerted efforts at persuasion, but these are being thwarted by other aspects of the organisation's image and activities.

As a (nominal) Prod myself, I know which I think it is.

[Evil Genius]

Meanwhile back at the ranch...



Two GAA stars were at Windsor Park again recently to cheer on Nigel Worthington and his team against the Faroe Islands. John and Martin Clarke, members of Down's 2010 All-Ireland final squad, rarely miss a Northern Ireland game.

"I would always have looked out for them when I was growing up, but I guess I really caught the bug when I moved up to Belfast to go to university. Windsor Park was just down the road from me, so I started going to the matches pretty regularly. I'd say I've been to Windsor about 25 times in the past five or six years, I love it" said John.

A full interview by Colin McAlinden with the Clarke brothers will be in the Northern Ireland v Serbia match programme.
http://www.irishfa.com/news/item/6687/down-gaa-stars-cheer-on-nigels-boys/

They're braver men than me.

Why so?

What exactly do you think might happen to you at a football match between NI and the Faroes, on an August night in Belfast? 

[Nally Stand]

Meanwhile back at the ranch...



Two GAA stars were at Windsor Park again recently to cheer on Nigel Worthington and his team against the Faroe Islands. John and Martin Clarke, members of Down's 2010 All-Ireland final squad, rarely miss a Northern Ireland game.

"I would always have looked out for them when I was growing up, but I guess I really caught the bug when I moved up to Belfast to go to university. Windsor Park was just down the road from me, so I started going to the matches pretty regularly. I'd say I've been to Windsor about 25 times in the past five or six years, I love it" said John.

A full interview by Colin McAlinden with the Clarke brothers will be in the Northern Ireland v Serbia match programme.
http://www.irishfa.com/news/item/6687/down-gaa-stars-cheer-on-nigels-boys/

They're braver men than me.

Why so?

What exactly do you think might happen to you at a football match between NI and the Faroes, on an August night in Belfast? 

You could get stuck amongst large groups singing about rifles and pistols and the YCV. Like these lads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3ZgfdQeBjs

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Two GAA stars were at Windsor Park again recently to cheer on Nigel Worthington and his team against the Faroe Islands.

Fair enough. Will we be seeing any prominent non Taig OWC players being photographed at a GAA match?

At the risk of indulging your "Whataboutery", I shall attempt to reply.

First, since all of the "non Taig" NI players are professionals, living and working in England/Scotland with their families etc, I doubt you'll see too many in the near future.

Which is why I doubt you'll see even former GAA players like Baird, McGinn or Clingan attending GAA matches too often, either.

But leaving aside the logistical considerations, your post raises two aspects of NI Prod attendance at GAA matches.

The first is whether they would be welcome  to attend. In this respect, I have little doubt that they would. After all, no-one said a word to any of Shane McCabe's Glentoran pals when they went along to support him at a GAA match. Ditto when Edwin Poots decided to go along when he was Sports Minister.

The second, however, is whether NI Prods would have any interest in attending GAA games. In this respect, I have equally little doubt that with the occasional exception, they wouldn't.

Which leaves open the question why this should be so. Logically, there can really only three explanations. The first is that 99% of Prods are so bigoted that they could not be tempted to go along whatever the GAA did.

The second is that the GAA makes no real effort, beyond certain 'token' initiatives, to persuade NI Prods that they should get involved.

And the third is that the organisation may be making concerted efforts at persuasion, but these are being thwarted by other aspects of the organisation's image and activities.

As a (nominal) Prod myself, I know which I think it is.

Well I am slowly wearing them down in Liverpool, got a few NI Protestants following the Mayo matches now. Determined I will get a few across to a Connacht Championship match next year.

[Eamonnca1]

And the third is that the organisation may be making concerted efforts at persuasion, but these are being thwarted by other aspects of the organisation's image and activities.

You're on to something there. The outreach initiatives involve a lot of work, particularly the Cu Chullain cross community underage hurling teams.  But they don't have the same headline-grabbing appeal of a small number of incidents of politically charged events on GAA grounds. The Newsletter only ever mentions the GAA whenever there's something negative to be said about it, so it's unsurprising that your boys have a negative impression of the association. The best way for us to fix that is to not give youse any ammunition to throw at us in the first place rather than bitching about it when you do.

[Eamonnca1]

Why so?

What exactly do you think might happen to you at a football match between NI and the Faroes, on an August night in Belfast? 

I'd be afraid of getting my head kicked in if anyone were to find out I was a fenian.