Congress to Consider Rugby World Cup Role

[Eamonnca1]

Insular? Grow up gasúinín - it's you and bucks like you who touch the forelock to ye're rubby "betters" who have a problem.
It's as if ye're always looking for someone ( Brits/Yanks/Rubbyites) to say ye're great little ladeens altogether while independent thinkers like me ( and Cusack and the lads in 1884) don't give two sh1tes about those "someones" as we have  belief and confidence in ourselves and our own.

The Country's curent "peachy state" was surely caused by arsholes who thought they were forward thinking internationalists and global players .

If and it's a big IF the GAA got a few million €s  and got 3 or 4 of our grounds done up for free ( = you and I pay for it  ) it might just be worth thinking about.
However the GAA's role is to foster our games not provide generic stadia for other sports to host international events.

Bring back "the ban" then. Anyone playing soccer or even going to a soccer match gets suspended.  That kind of protectionism was always a roaring success in the past, wasn't it?

(PS: Cusack played rugby and cricket in his day too. Didn't seem to stop him from getting into Gaelic games, wouldn't you say?)

[Eamonnca1]

I agree that the GAA should never get complacent.  The community identity thing is great - if your family has lived in the same location for generations. But if you're a blow-in with parents from somewhere like Poland, is it as easy to get into the GAA culture?  Is it accessible to outsiders?  Or is it a wee bit too clannish for its own good? 

That said, hosting the RWC is going to promote sport and a healthy active lifestyle in a country that could use more of it. There's also the economic benefit of visitors and the international exposure that our tourist attractions get. We all benefit.  Our duty is to the greater good.

[laoislad]

Hope they aren't thinking of playing this Rubby shite in O'Moore Park Portlaoise.

[Syferus]

I agree that the GAA should never get complacent.  The community identity thing is great - if your family has lived in the same location for generations. But if you're a blow-in with parents from somewhere like Poland, is it as easy to get into the GAA culture?  Is it accessible to outsiders? Or is it a wee bit too clannish for its own good? 

That said, hosting the RWC is going to promote sport and a healthy active lifestyle in a country that could use more of it. There's also the economic benefit of visitors and the international exposure that our tourist attractions get. We all benefit.  Our duty is to the greater good.

That's a very important point. I think for complete outsiders the GAA is probably the hardest of Ireland's major sports to get their heads around joining. You've seen a good few race barriers hurdled in recent years but perhaps the biggest way the GAA could re-brand itself as more accessible in peoples' eyes is aggressively target first and second generation Irish from immigrant families. Those are the people who will have dual cultural identities and should be more noticeably receptive to playing football and hurling. The more Lee Chin's and Craig Diaz's that are playing the game at a high level the more the public perception will change.

Once you get over the initial hurdle the sheer level of the support network in the GAA should do the rest.

[neilthemac]

of the Roscommon 2009 minor team, 4 of them have been lost to full time rugby - three of them currently contracted with Connacht, with one lad injured.
If the Roscommon under 21 team had those four players this year it could have got them over the line against Dublin in the final

And believe it or not, county Roscommon doesn't actually have ONE adult rugby club within the county
though rugby has got into most of the secondary schools - so they are making inroads

So if rugby can have this effect on a primarily GAA county like Roscommon, then what effect will increased exposure for rugby have elsewhere?

I personally think the GAA are very poor at promoting themselves and get poor value for money for the money put into coaching programmes

[Syferus]

of the Roscommon 2009 minor team, 4 of them have been lost to full time rugby - three of them currently contracted with Connacht, with one lad injured.
If the Roscommon under 21 team had those four players this year it could have got them over the line against Dublin in the final

And believe it or not, county Roscommon doesn't actually have ONE adult rugby club within the county
though rugby has got into most of the secondary schools - so they are making inroads

So if rugby can have this effect on a primarily GAA county like Roscommon, then what effect will increased exposure for rugby have elsewhere?

I personally think the GAA are very poor at promoting themselves and get poor value for money for the money put into coaching programmes

To be fair Creggs and Buccaneers are for all intensive purposes drawing as much from Roscommon as from Galway and Westmeath.

[saffron sam2]

of the Roscommon 2009 minor team, 4 of them have been lost to full time rugby - three of them currently contracted with Connacht, with one lad injured.
If the Roscommon under 21 team had those four players this year it could have got them over the line against Dublin in the final

And believe it or not, county Roscommon doesn't actually have ONE adult rugby club within the county
though rugby has got into most of the secondary schools - so they are making inroads

So if rugby can have this effect on a primarily GAA county like Roscommon, then what effect will increased exposure for rugby have elsewhere?

I personally think the GAA are very poor at promoting themselves and get poor value for money for the money put into coaching programmes

To be fair Creggs and Buccaneers are for all intensive purposes drawing as much from Roscommon as from Galway and Westmeath.

What does this mean?

[Syferus]

of the Roscommon 2009 minor team, 4 of them have been lost to full time rugby - three of them currently contracted with Connacht, with one lad injured.
If the Roscommon under 21 team had those four players this year it could have got them over the line against Dublin in the final

And believe it or not, county Roscommon doesn't actually have ONE adult rugby club within the county
though rugby has got into most of the secondary schools - so they are making inroads

So if rugby can have this effect on a primarily GAA county like Roscommon, then what effect will increased exposure for rugby have elsewhere?

I personally think the GAA are very poor at promoting themselves and get poor value for money for the money put into coaching programmes

To be fair Creggs and Buccaneers are for all intensive purposes drawing as much from Roscommon as from Galway and Westmeath.

What does this mean?

Intents and purposes, lad!

[Declan]

Mr Greenan's thoughts on the subject

Greenan: GAA is 'prostituting' itself to IRFU
By John Fogarty
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Former Ulster chairman Micheál Greenan claims the GAA has prostituted itself by giving consideration to make more stadiums available to another sport.
The Cavan man was reacting to Central Council's decision to ask Congress to make six grounds available to the IRFU for a potential bid to host the 2023 or 2027 Rugby World Cups.

He also predicts more GAA grounds, right down to the grassroots of the organisation, will be made available to foreign sports.

Greenan was a fervent opponent of Croke Park being made available for international rugby and soccer games in 2005. He believes he has been proven correct in his assessment back then that it was the "thin end of the wedge".

However, he said he won't be attempting to convince Congress delegates to vote against the motion in Derry next March.

"No matter what I do now I'm going to be wrong but as it transpired I was right. There's not much point in me trying to do something about it because the people in charge of the GAA are promoting it. We have prostituted ourselves and the bottom line is when you have prostituted yourself for money, the people who make the money are not the prostitutes but the pimps. We all know how much the GAA got for making Croke Park available but does anyone know how much the soccer or the rugby boys got out of it?

"Even if they did put out a number, would it be a true figure?"

Greenan maintains Congress's decision seven years ago has created a dangerous precedent.

He believes it is only a matter of time before more GAA pitches are used by rugby and soccer teams.

"It's not finished here. There'll be more grounds given up. In a few years time, we'll be trying to work local GAA fixtures around soccer and rugby fixtures.

"What happened was the thin end of the wedge and it's only getting off the ground now.

"I protested at the time because the GAA was selling out to rival sports. It wasn't about the opening of Croke Park — it was about the closing of it."

He insists the GAA have too many problems with football and hurling to allow another sport stage worldwide games in their grounds.

"With all due respects, we have too much to be concerned about in our own games than promoting other ones.

"In the minor hurling semi-final, a young Galway lad (Paul Killeen) got sent off for basically doing nothing. Yet in the senior game there were melees all over the place and nothing was done about it.

"To enter a melee is a sending off offence but I didn't see anyone sent off in that game. Rugby is the leading sport in Ireland and it's there partly because we have helped to promote it."

[magpie seanie]

He makes great points but will no doubt be written off as a lunatic in many quarters. He was right about the Croker debate though, it was clearly the thin edge of the wedge but many denied that.

[armaghniac]

"It's not finished here. There'll be more grounds given up. In a few years time, we'll be trying to work local GAA fixtures around soccer and rugby fixtures.

This is completely over the top.
I think a distinction should be made between stadia and pitches. Enormous expensive stadia filled once a year do nothing for local GAA fixtures.

"In the minor hurling semi-final, a young Galway lad (Paul Killeen) got sent off for basically doing nothing. Yet in the senior game there were melees all over the place and nothing was done about it.

This is very true, as are the points made about fixtures etc. But these are entirely independent of rugby, stadia etc. The only thing you can say is that the attention and debate on rugby is diverting from the need to address these issues. But the likes of Micheál Greenan will always make a lot of noise about the rugby issue while largely remaining silent on these real issues.

[thewobbler]

"It's not finished here. There'll be more grounds given up. In a few years time, we'll be trying to work local GAA fixtures around soccer and rugby fixtures.

This is completely over the top.
I think a distinction should be made between stadia and pitches. Enormous expensive stadia filled once a year do nothing for local GAA fixtures.

Absolutely right. Pure over the top scaremongering.

I doubt there is a GAA club in the land whose pitches aren't in constant use between football, hurling, camogie and ladies football. I really can't see how any club that operates an underage system in any code would be looking at anything other than building new pitches, and not renting out what they have.

[Hardy]

Mr. Greenan seems to have a great line in hysteria. This "wedge" of which he speaks - does he mean the decision of the members as to how we will use our assets to best advantage as we see it? To paraphrase an Irish parliamentarian being interviewed on the BBC - over here we call that democracy, Mr. Greenan.

[deiseach]

He insists the GAA have too many problems with football and hurling to allow another sport stage worldwide games in their grounds.

"With all due respects, we have too much to be concerned about in our own games than promoting other ones.

"In the minor hurling semi-final, a young Galway lad (Paul Killeen) got sent off for basically doing nothing. Yet in the senior game there were melees all over the place and nothing was done about it.

"To enter a melee is a sending off offence but I didn't see anyone sent off in that game. Rugby is the leading sport in Ireland and it's there partly because we have helped to promote it."

Look up non-sequitur in the dictionary and you'll find this. I mean . . . what?

[IolarCoisCuain]

I'd have sympathy for Greenan but the press tends to involve him to set a cat among pigeons, rather than foster debate. It's not helpful.

If this is going to happen, the only question is how much. All the GAA can do now is stop the IRFU low-balling them over the price. Donal Lenihan was on the radio last night talking about how much he'd like to see rugby in Killarney. It's time the GAA set a price.

And to do that, they could do worse than follow highorlow's example:

If a levy is applied to all club rugby games and Heiniken Cup games of say € 1 / ticket and passed onto the GAA between now and 2023 then I would be happy to run with it.

Someone from the GAA - other than Mr Greenan or, Christ alive, Seán Kelly, MEP, should get on the radio now and say the GAA would be delighted to do its piece for mother Erin. He or she should then suggest planning start immediately and, if the IRFU don't mind some friendly advice, a one Euro level on tickets into all games starting now would see the money being raised quite painlessly.

If the IRFU go along with that, fair enough and good luck to them. If not, when they go Béal Bochting in 2019 and complaining to the Minister and sliming the GAA, the GAA can respond that we were worn out telling you to start raising money in 2013 but would you listen? Indeed you would not. You've made your bed, lie in it.