About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?
GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011
CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.
The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.
Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.
"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.
"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."
McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.
"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.
"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"
Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.
"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."
Quote from: Kerry Mike on May 06, 2011, 09:05:07 AM
About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?
GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011
CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.
The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.
Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.
"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.
"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."
McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.
"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.
"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"
Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.
"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."
This raises further questions for me, in this supposedly amateur organisation, just how many full time employees are there and what is the pay structure? who appoints them? who interviews etc
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 10:01:53 AM
Quote from: Kerry Mike on May 06, 2011, 09:05:07 AM
About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?
GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011
CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.
The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.
Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.
"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.
"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."
McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.
"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.
"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"
Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.
"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."
This raises further questions for me, in this supposedly amateur organisation, just how many full time employees are there and what is the pay structure? who appoints them? who interviews etc
Don't be daft. In an organisation the size of the GAA, of course you need full-time staff. Especially so if you want to compete with the other sporting organisations for a big slice of the market.
The jobs are publicly advertised as far as I'm aware - have seen some ads for roles before.
Hope it works.
Although tourists should be warned before they go to a hurling match. Yes, there is no protective gears used.
Quote from: Tubberman on May 06, 2011, 10:08:09 AM
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 10:01:53 AM
Quote from: Kerry Mike on May 06, 2011, 09:05:07 AM
About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?
GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011
CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.
The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.
Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.
"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.
"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."
McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.
"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.
"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"
Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.
"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."
This raises further questions for me, in this supposedly amateur organisation, just how many full time employees are there and what is the pay structure? who appoints them? who interviews etc
Don't be daft. In an organisation the size of the GAA, of course you need full-time staff. Especially so if you want to compete with the other sporting organisations for a big slice of the market.
The jobs are publicly advertised as far as I'm aware - have seen some ads for roles before.
don't get me wrong i realise there is a need for some full time staff but the more articles i read i hear about permanent secretarys, directors, marketing people etc, now the county board secretarys are fully paid, i would be interested to know just how many people are making a full time living out of this 'amateur' organisation....
Quotei would be interested to know just how many people are making a full time living out of this 'amateur' organisation....
Every county probably has a full time person or two at this stage and maybe many more if you count in coaches for schools underage etc, then you have the provincial councils, they probably have 4-6 full timers each and Croke Park has a whole wad of people, wouldn't be surprised if 100 people or more are employed by the GAA and I'm not counting managers in that !
But I find it hard to believe there is a full time marketing manager , we just dont seem to be seeing the results of this ?
Bananaman, much as we would like it to be otherwise, it's simply not possible to provide the structures our games need without a large bank of paid employees.
No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og
But as Kerry Mike says - a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something
it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:20:28 AM
No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og
But as Kerry Mike says - a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something
it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true
...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.
Quote from: 5 Sams on May 06, 2011, 11:37:41 AM
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:20:28 AM
No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og
But as Kerry Mike says - a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something
it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true
...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.
that's what i thought!
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:41:18 AM
Quote from: 5 Sams on May 06, 2011, 11:37:41 AM
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:20:28 AM
No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og
But as Kerry Mike says - a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something
it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true
...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.
that's what i thought!
Agree with you there. The marketing of GAA games by the GAA (as opposed to sponsors etc) is very amateurish!
So to hear there is a permanent marketing manager (presumably solely dedicated to marketing the games) is a bit surprising. Does anyone know how long she's in the job?
Croke Park is a reputable conference and events venue, and I wouldn't be surprised that they have a full time manager on the marketing of it, much like many such facilities. I assume the marketing person is a Croke Park, rather than GAA, focused person.
I have certainly been a receipient of follow-up calls when equiring about, but subsequently not going with, Croke Park as a conference site for something I was organising.
Quote from: Tubberman on May 06, 2011, 11:46:10 AM
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:41:18 AM
Quote from: 5 Sams on May 06, 2011, 11:37:41 AM
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:20:28 AM
No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og
But as Kerry Mike says - a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something
it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true
...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.
that's what i thought!
Agree with you there. The marketing of GAA games by the GAA (as opposed to sponsors etc) is very amateurish!
So to hear there is a permanent marketing manager (presumably solely dedicated to marketing the games) is a bit surprising. Does anyone know how long she's in the job?
Hold your horses their lads. Before the flogging, I thought McKenna referred to her as 'our marketing person'. That doesn't sound like a high powered Marketing Manager. I'd imagine that's someone in the Croke Park office who was told to see what she could do or think of?
If she is a Marketing Manager, then all criticism is valid I think.
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 06, 2011, 11:55:04 AM
Quote from: Tubberman on May 06, 2011, 11:46:10 AM
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:41:18 AM
Quote from: 5 Sams on May 06, 2011, 11:37:41 AM
Quote from: Banana Man on May 06, 2011, 11:20:28 AM
No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og
But as Kerry Mike says - a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something
it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true
...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.
that's what i thought!
Agree with you there. The marketing of GAA games by the GAA (as opposed to sponsors etc) is very amateurish!
So to hear there is a permanent marketing manager (presumably solely dedicated to marketing the games) is a bit surprising. Does anyone know how long she's in the job?
Hold your horses their lads. Before the flogging, I thought McKenna referred to her as 'our marketing person'. That doesn't sound like a high powered Marketing Manager. I'd imagine that's someone in the Croke Park office who was told to see what she could do or think of?
If she is a Marketing Manager, then all criticism is valid I think.
fair point AZ - I'm not sure either, i'm just going by whatever info is in this article
So you want them to be amateur but you dont expect the work produced to be amateurish?
Of course theres a marketing manager. Of course they get paid. Results take time - this seems to be one initiative at least.
It would worry me much more if it was just someone in the office told to 'see what they could come up with'!!!
This is to be applauded . The idea of a package is the way to go. How about we get "Croke Park" to be top visitor attraction in Dublin on tripadvisor ? It should be in the top two or three anyway and one I would recommend to any sport orientated visitor.
The GAA marketing manager is Dermot Power and has been in the role for about 8/9 years.
thanks Dermot ;)
They should send Eddie Moroney down to the arrivals lounge of Dublin airport with a loudspeaker and a length of wavin.
(http://www.achgohairithe.com/content/2007/08/eddie.jpg)
QuoteThey should send Eddie Moroney down to the arrivals lounge of Dublin airport with a loudspeaker and a length of wavin.
That's exactly what we need.
Was there much marketing done around St. Patrick's Day? There were a noticable number of tourists at the club finals.
Sorry to have to drag the discussion back on topic but it's about bloody time the GAA has tapped into the tourist potential. I'm sick of reading tourist guides that make a squillion references to pubs, breweries and distilleries but only one reference to Gaelic games.
Most of the hurling teams that were started in America by Americans happened as a result of people going to Ireland as tourists and stumbling across the game. The more tourists that get to see it the more the game is going to spread.
Banana Man makes a good point. For example, who conducts the interviews for the DG? From where do they derive this authority? Asking the question doesn't imply that there must be some Masonic cabal pulling the GAA's strings. Not getting an answer, on the other hand . . ..
Quote from: Eamonnca1 on May 06, 2011, 05:02:52 PM
Sorry to have to drag the discussion back on topic but it's about bloody time the GAA has tapped into the tourist potential. I'm sick of reading tourist guides that make a squillion references to pubs, breweries and distilleries but only one reference to Gaelic games.
Most of the hurling teams that were started in America by Americans happened as a result of people going to Ireland as tourists and stumbling across the game. The more tourists that get to see it the more the game is going to spread.
Going off-topic? Never! *cough*
This sounds like a good idea. I occasionally flick though Lonely Planet-style travel books and as you note there isn't very much in there for a pursuit that is the very definition of something 'different'. But hoping clubs will mushroom across North America seems a bit optimistic. Let's set reasonable goals or it's bound to be disappointing
I think it is a fabulous idea. When I go as a tourist to other countries the sort of events that go deep into the culture in the way GAA matches do are always worth checking out. The next best thing would be a trad session.
And it's unique , untouchable.
80 of 202 things to do in dublin
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g186605-d546279-Reviews-Croke_Park_Stadium_Tour_GAA_Museum-Dublin_County_Dublin.html
Quote from: deiseach on May 06, 2011, 05:04:57 PM
For example, who conducts the interviews for the DG? From where do they derive this authority? Asking the question doesn't imply that there must be some Masonic cabal pulling the GAA's strings. Not getting an answer, on the other hand . . ..
GAA Mgt committee & outgoing DG
Quote from: Jinxy on May 06, 2011, 03:07:57 PM
They should send Eddie Moroney down to the arrivals lounge of Dublin airport with a loudspeaker and a length of wavin.
(http://www.achgohairithe.com/content/2007/08/eddie.jpg)
There could be a competition in the upper hogan.
Pick 10 foreigners with an intermediate level of English and see who can make the most sense out of Ger Loughnane in a 10 minute soliliquy about Munster hurling.
This shouldn't be limited to Croke Park alone.
Counties and clubs should be marketing their games through their local tourist offices too.
Surely it's not beyond Bord Failte and the GAA to work together to promote the games as part of the 'Irish tourism experience' right across the country?
(http://img.rasset.ie/00038425189r.jpg)
This tourist must of bought his hoodie in Carrolls
"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.
Great job Peter. Recently I got a ticket for a bus. the bus was heading towards Planet Reality so I boarded it Spain has been slowly weening out Bull fighting for quite a few years now, maybe Peter meant to say Mexico. Shouldn't be that hard to get some simplistic and extremely available facts right.
God I pity how the caveman is going to go about this job, but hey a big slap on the shoulder for catching on to what all the "Paddies away" have been doing for years, and trying to do it back in Ireland.
If my memory serves me correctly did not a certain poster on this board reccomend about two years ago that the GAA should develop a tourist package and sell it along with a suggestion that they should provide some form of music before or between games?
Quote from: Bud Wiser on May 08, 2011, 08:16:15 PM
If my memory serves me correctly did not a certain poster on this board reccomend about two years ago that the GAA should develop a tourist package and sell it along with a suggestion that they shoulod provide nsome form of music before or between games?
What lunatic would come up with something like that??
;)
Quote from: Kerry Mike on May 06, 2011, 11:09:01 AM
Quotei would be interested to know just how many people are making a full time living out of this 'amateur' organisation....
Every county probably has a full time person or two at this stage and maybe many more if you count in coaches for schools underage etc, then you have the provincial councils, they probably have 4-6 full timers each and Croke Park has a whole wad of people, wouldn't be surprised if 100 people or more are employed by the GAA and I'm not counting managers in that !
But I find it hard to believe there is a full time marketing manager , we just dont seem to be seeing the results of this ?
Are you serious? I'd say the Ulster Council has at least 15-20 people before you even look at coaches that are paid . . . it's probably more like the 50 mark.
Quote from: deiseach on May 06, 2011, 05:04:57 PM
Banana Man makes a good point. For example, who conducts the interviews for the DG? From where do they derive this authority? Asking the question doesn't imply that there must be some Masonic cabal pulling the GAA's strings. Not getting an answer, on the other hand . . ..
The posts are advertised in the national press, the interviews are conducted in the first instance by whomever the interviewee will be reporting to, normally with another person in attendance (I presume someone has HR responsibility in there too). Depending on the level of the post, further interviews may be conducted and you could have the likes of McKenna and Padraig Duffy at them.
There is a separate company called Croke Park Teoranta which runs croke park on behalf of the gaa, it usually this company who the croke park 'team' works for.
There are many ex GAA players who are now big stars. Let the torist know how important the GAA has been.
No ghosts in spirited volume
01-05-2011 - Eamonn Sweeney
At St Paul's, they have 120 lads training for Gaelic football every week. Their players have won titles at under 12, 14 and 16 and have been visited by Tyrone manager Mickey Harte.
So what's the big deal? Well, St Paul's Academy is in Abbeywood, a hardy part of South London near Charlton Athletic's ground without much of an Irish population. Yet thanks to the efforts of the first- and second-generation Irish teachers at the school, eight of whom coach football, and the talent of the boys themselves, it has become the mightiest footballing nursery in the capital.
Players from St Paul's have been British champions at under 12 and under 14 level with the Dulwich Harps club and last October won their first London under 16 title. "There's a great picture of the two sides together," says teacher, and former Fermanagh player, Niall McCann. "The North London team, they're all white players. Then you have the Dulwich Harps team standing beside them, and all bar three or four of the team are black."
Harps captain in that under 16 final was Ayrton Tansiri, son of a Brazilian mother and a Thai father. Former St Paul's stars include Daniel Uchechi who has played in the under 21 World Cup for Nigeria, Nkenjika Eka, who's currently on a four-year contract with Charlton and Patrick Okugwo Junior, who under his stage name of Tinie Tempah is the biggest star in British hip-hop. Every May, St Paul's tour Fermanagh and Tyrone, which is where they came to the attention of Mickey Harte.
The story of St Paul's is just one of the fascinating tales in the best GAA book I've read for a long time, A Very Different County by Robert Mulhern. Too many GAA books are ghost-written cash-ins which arrive in a haze of publicity before you realise that the latest one has been written according to the same template as all the others. A Very Different County, on the other hand, genuinely breaks new ground. It's a book which feels as though it had to be written, a look at the Association in London through the eyes of those involved.
Mulhern, who I've never met so there's no log-rolling going on here, is a 32-year-old journalist from Naas currently working with that venerable London Irish institution, the Irish Post.
He writes well and intelligently about not just St Paul's but the great London hurling team of 1973 which beat Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final and ran eventual champions Limerick close in the semi, exile Gerry Rea holding his brother Ned scoreless; about London hurling manager and publican Ambrose Gordon who RTE took to court to stop him supplying pubs with the pirated copies of The Sunday Game which were a lifeline for the likes of myself in eighties London; of Paul Hehir, the London-born star who made the reverse journey and brought Doonbeg to within a seconds of a Munster title and of many other stories worth telling.
Not the least of the author's achievements is his ability to capture the rackety, off-the-cuff, big-hearted flavour of London GAA, something which anyone who ever spent an afternoon at a game in Ruislip will remember with affection.
He's an excellent interviewer and has the confidence to let his protagonists speak for themselves a good deal of the time. My only complaint is that the book, at 164 pages, is too short.
A Very Different County is a great book with a great soul about some great people. Buy it if you get a chance at all.
I have been saying this for years too
It amazed me when I moved down to live in Dublin that quite often there could be a big game on in Croker and lots and lots of people in around the city would not even be aware of it.
I'd be getting the bus into town wearing the jersey and I was amazed by the amount of people asking me "Is there a game on today or Who's playing"
Then it hit me that if you weren't actually a GAA fan then there was nothing advertised around town to show non Gaels that there was a big game on and tickets available.
I met an Italian at a game with his son one time up on the very top of the Cusack. He was totally amazed by the whole set up and how the fans mingled with no crowd trouble. I asked how did he get tickets or know the game was on & he said he just happened to go past the stadium on a tour bus and asked when is the next game on.
I would imagine that every weekend in the summer there would be loads of tourists & even locals living in the city who would go to games if they knew tickets were easy to get.
We need cheerleaders too. Real ones mind.
Quote from: Fuzzman on May 10, 2011, 05:24:33 PM
I have been saying this for years too
It amazed me when I moved down to live in Dublin that quite often there could be a big game on in Croker and lots and lots of people in around the city would not even be aware of it.
I'd be getting the bus into town wearing the jersey and I was amazed by the amount of people asking me "Is there a game on today or Who's playing"
Then it hit me that if you weren't actually a GAA fan then there was nothing advertised around town to show non Gaels that there was a big game on and tickets available.I met an Italian at a game with his son one time up on the very top of the Cusack. He was totally amazed by the whole set up and how the fans mingled with no crowd trouble. I asked how did he get tickets or know the game was on & he said he just happened to go past the stadium on a tour bus and asked when is the next game on.
I would imagine that every weekend in the summer there would be loads of tourists & even locals living in the city who would go to games if they knew tickets were easy to get.
Do you have to have an interest in the GAA to be a
Gael??
Nope