The Connaught Thread

[twohands!!!]

hell is looking more attractive with every posting 

[muppet]

Has any current Ballaghderreen player formally requested to play for Ros?

[Rossfan]

They can't play for Ros so no point asking. Who would they ask anyway?

[muppet]

They can't play for Ros so no point asking. Who would they ask anyway?

If I want something I am inclined to start by asking for it.

I could go on the internet, find an anonymous forum and bitch about it for 20 years. That might work too.

But I find the former works better.

[Rossfan]

Unless the rules of the GAA change - they are not eligible to play for Ros.

[muppet]

Unless the rules of the GAA change - they are not eligible to play for Ros.

So what are you constantly whinging about it here for?

[Lar Naparka]

Now you have me well and truly confused as you have gone to great lengths to emphasise a point I've been attempting to make all along.
I think it's fair to say that I accept that county boundaries are political constructs and have no legal standing in GAA circles.
Without going back to the Composition of Connaught or the Grand Jury and Poor Law Union systems and all that, I think it's fair to say that the redrawing of the Mayo/Roscommon boundary did not alter the status of the Ballagh club in any way.
Ballagh affiliated with the Mayo County Board and the subsequent re-jigging of county boundary lines did not and does not the club's right to continue its association with Mayo.
To date, you appear to be the only Rossie, on this board anyway, who grasps this, even if you don't fully accept that fact.
You seem to favour the setting up of another club in the same parish which would affiliate with Roscommon. Therefore, your motives are political, pure and simple.
Is the GAA above politics or are politics above the GAA?
There are democratic procedures open to you and other Rossies in the parish without having to throw your rattles out of your prams when you don't get your own way.
Why not join the club instead of harping about it?
If it's a case of one member one vote, your "side" should be able to gain control of the club in a remarkably short period of time.
As a matter of interest, are you a registered member of the Ballagh club and if not, why not?
Is it not open to you and all other Rossie supporters in Ballagh to work within the structures of the GAA to seek to bring about change?
Seriously, if I were a GAA man in Roscommon, I'd be too embarrassed to publicise the fact that the members of Ballagh prefer to play their football in another county and this has been the case for the last 118 (or so) years.
Doesn't say much about your bleddy bus and all that goes with it, does it?

The only thing I advocate is for Roscommon people living in Ballaghaderreen to have the right to represent their native county, without having to transfer to another part of Roscommon (as Sean Kilbride had to do). I would not call that politics, I would call that a normal state of affairs for most GAA footballers in the land and I think one could only truly understand that if they lived in a county, their own beloved county, supported that county through thick and thin, only to be told by a callous provincial council that if you live in that part of your county, then you can only represent your neighbor and your most bitterest rival on the GAA field. I would say if most people on this board were given that choice and that choice only, then I'd say their provincial council would have damned them to a life of GAA hell.

I also would not ever wish for the current club to be forced to play in Roscommon and I would want Ballagh people who support Mayo (about 50% of the parish) to forever retain their right to maintain this tradition and represent Mayo (de hoors!). My football days are long over but I did play with the Ballaghaderreen GAA club and have many happy memories, but such were my football skills that neither Mayo nor Roscommon wanted me, although I did if truth be told get invited to a Mayo minor trial but was too busy chasing the girls back in those days. Thankfully I was a feckless youth and therefore my primrose and blue purity was never stained.

That's my final say on the matter. The title of the thread is Connacht and whatever about our disagreements about GAA, there's no finer province in Ireland for beauty, storytelling and the character of the people.

That is indeed a fine post and I can understand your feelings. In all seriousness, I would  feel the same if our positions were reversed.
However, you are one of the very few Rossies on this board who has been able to come up with a sensible post on the subject.
I can't speak for every Mayo poster here or for anyone from other counties either but I think it's obvious there's very little sympathy for the Rossie's cause.
The reason shouldn't be hard to find.
It's been one hundred and umpteen years ago since the county boundaries were changed.
The people of Ballagh today are Rossies in every sense of the word, bar one.
A majority of the GAA club members opt to maintain the link with Mayo.
What is the reason for this when, in all other respects, they are as proud of their native county as anyone from Tulsk or Frenchpark or any other part of Roscommon?

So there's primrose and blue all around them but fifth or sixth generation Roscommon folk follow in the footsteps of their great great grandfathers and choose to follow the green and red.

I'm being totally serious when I say there must be something singularly unappealing about Roscommon football when the Ballagh club won't play ball with their neighbours.
I would imagine that sensible Ross fans would play down the fact that their are unable to persuade the club in the second largest town in the county to join up with them.

I was far too young at the time to understand the details of the Connacht Council's decision in 1962 but it made provision for the switch over if a club majority (think it was two thirds majority) voted for it.
Mayo are not holding on to Ballagh in any sense of the word and I know the vast majority of Mayo folk agree with me. Ballagh club opts to play in Mayo, as they are entitled to, and we are very happy to have them.
This cuts both ways.
Gortaganny was also part of Mayo but, AFAIK, nobody objected to the Earleys playing with Roscommon. There was no affiliated Mayo club in the vicinity when the boundary changed and Mayo claimed no hold on those men or anybody else in a similar situation.
Maybe if you were to read what some of your fellow Rossies post here, you'd understand why I and many others treat what they have to say with derision.
Some want us to give Ballagh back. Back where? How can you give back something you never took in the first place?
Others want Roscommon County Council to withhold sports funds unless Ballagh changes affiliations.
Others just whine about nothing in particular. Why bitch about Mayo football in general when your gripe is with the members of the Ballagh club? Most of what gets plastered up here wouldn't entice anyone to join up with you.
You say the Ballagh club will always  maintain the link with Mayo and I can't get my head around that. Why are you so certain about this?
I accept that the present set up is hard on you and on others who think the same as you but setting up another club in a small rural parish wouldn't do much good for either side. Given the extent of rural depopulation in the region, it could banjax both clubs.
IMO, this is an internal Rossie issue and it's a matter for both factions to resolve.   
In the meantime, as long as rosquitos keep buzzing around the place, I'll keep swatting at them.

[Syferus]

Ballagh isn't the second largest town in Roscommon. It would be the fourth or fifth largest depending on how you judge the Roscommon part of Athlone. Players should allowed to choose who they can play for. Not much more to it than that.

If the club also would only take funding from the county they think they're apart of instead of the one they're actually in - it's funny how morals change when the wheels need greasing - then most Ballagh people wouldn't mind them going off to Wesport and Ballina for some football on the bogs of Mayo at the weekend. They seem well able for the Mayo teams despite being lowly Roscommon men.

[Shrewdness]

At this stage, the rights and wrongs of where Ballagh play their football has been well debated to say the least. The whole thing got me thinking about it from a different angle. So, hypothetically speaking, imagine the following scenario.. Ballagh Gaa decide to play in Roscommon.. This suddenly makes the entire Ballaghaderreen Senior Panel available to John Evans for the Roscommon Senior Panel.. Apart from a fit Andy Moran, who else from Ballagh would interest John Evans??

[Rossfan]

Few if any.

[Lar Naparka]

Ballagh isn't the second largest town in Roscommon. It would be the fourth or fifth largest depending on how you judge the Roscommon part of Athlone. Players should allowed to choose who they can play for. Not much more to it than that.

If the club also would only take funding from the county they think they're apart of instead of the one they're actually in - it's funny how morals change when the wheels need greasing - then most Ballagh people wouldn't mind them going off to Wesport and Ballina for some football on the bogs of Mayo at the weekend. They seem well able for the Mayo teams despite being lowly Roscommon men.

Ah now , Syf, there's no need to dump yer rattle outa the pram.
I didn't think Ballagh is the second largest town in Roscommon either but that's what weareros said and who am I to disagree with a native of the place?
I don't understand either why Roscommon natives cannot opt to play for their county but I also don't understand why you, and the other usual suspects keep bringing up your gripes on this board. It's an internal matter and there are democratic procedures than can be used to resolve any problem there may be.
No rosquito has stopped  buzzing about the place long enough to explain why fifth or even sixth generation Rossies refuse to play for their county.
You really can't expect much sympathy from Mayo posters, or from the rest of humanity for that matter, as long as ye keep moaning about yer hard luck.
I wouldn't lay all the blame on the Connacht Council either. I'd look a bit closer home if I were you.
If it was acting in breach of GAA rules and regulations back in '62,   the Roscommon CC would have taken it to court,
This was threatened but it didn't happen.
In '84 (I think) the Ross CC applied to let a junior club be set up in the parish but again the appeal was turned down.
You lads here gripe about Galway and Leitrim doing the dirt and siding with Mayo while your staunch ally, Sligo, did the right thing. Maybe the fact that Roscommon and Sligo were having talks at the time about Sligo moving their championship games to the Hyde might have something to do with it. (I think it was because of structural alterations to Marky Park but I'm not 100% sure.)

While I do feel your pain, it's mainly in me arse, I'm afraid.
Lookit Syf, as JH would put it, there no point moaning about Mayo hijacking Ballagh when you can't muster a majority of members in the club even though you have had 118 years to do it.

[Shrewdness]

Lar Naparka, we're not looking for sympathy from Mayo posters, because sympathy from Mayo is a currency of no value in Roscommon. As for you saying you have a pain in your arse, i'm not surprised, because that's where all your posts on this thread seem to have emanated from. Most of what you wrote was condescending bullshit against Roscommon people.

[Syferus]

Few if any.

Both Hanleys would have had they been a little less suited to the Aussie rules. Shehroz Akram is a very talented young lad and minor again this year. I can see him being a future Mayo senior if all goes well. Keith Rodgers is a good young corner-back too and would at least be someone to add depth at a position where we take a sharp intake of breath when one of the three starters picks up a knock.

Ballagh have the nucleus of a very good young team if they are managed correctly in the coming years. They'd have been able to contribute as much to the county team as the likes of Boyle and Ros Gaels have to our underage teams, after that it's about having the desire to put in the hours to be a senior IC footballer. The irony is Ballagh's team now reflects that of many other Roscommon clubs and even the county team itself.

[Rossfan]

Rogers has been cut from the Mayowestros panel.

[Syferus]

Rogers has been cut from the Mayowestros panel.

Aye, and never got a proper run out. I'd safely say he's a better player than Kevin Keane and he got reems of time in recent years with Mayo. Different teams have different needs.

If we had both Hanleys and Moran alone it would be some contribution by one club to any county team at one time. The reality is there's plenty of passion and talent we're missing out on.