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Derry need put out of their misery absolutely awful display.

Real vibe of a team just waiting to be done.

Fermanagh were 0-8 to 0-2 up at HT against Antrim.

Antrim won it 1-11 to Fermanagh 0-11.

Fermanagh kicked a fair few wides.

No wind factor.

Cork Tyrone lively enough - decent pace to it - both defences looking a bit shaky. Could well go down to the wire.

Sounds like an ideal start for Donegal.

Who Sir Roger Casement was won't be lost on the Tories, the last thing they're doing in their death knell is sending tens of millions towards infrastructure with the name of someone executed for high treason, they'd rather Labour do it so they can sit in opposition and call it out

I would be surprised if a significant percentage of the Tories would actually have any idea who Casement was.

The Ulster Council seemed sure of the money a few weeks ago?! What has happened?

https://x.com/mcgeehanstephen/status/1794269504782110948?s=46&t=CPMqYDyBX5OxJavXiPzZVQ

Rishi called a General Election and got CHH off the hook

The ROI will pull their funding now you'd think or drastically reduce it? I'd hope not but can see that happening.

There's no chance they will completely pull their funding but I could see them saying that it will have to be revised down with the Euros off the table. It's one thing putting in €50 million when the total cost was going to be £308 million. If the budget is reduced to £200 million, I can definitely see some civil servant in Dublin going we agreed to pay 1/6 of the cost not a 1/4, especially if the five Euro games are switched to the somewhere outside Ireland.

If as likely there is a delay to this - there might be a new bunch in charge in Dublin by the time funding is required.
If SF do get in power in Dublin (which I wouldn't say is that likely) I just can't see them increasing the £50million figure
Increasing a direct transfer of money to the North would be a very sticky political issue for them in South and the fact that the Euros would be gone from the equation would lead to all the other parties kicking up a fuss about paying more and getting less (with the Euros gone) I can't see it flying politically (really can't see any coalition partners agreeing to it -as it would give so much to the opposition)  I would say it would mean the odds of the €50million being reduced would be somewhat less under SF but I really wouldn't rate their chances of getting power next time around in the Republic that likely.

Could jarlath  not  just be putting the pressure on the  Brits here?

As in, they  promised the money would be found , and it's clearly not coming.  And at  the same time , taking the focus away from the GAA having to find  more money .

The thing is there are no Brits to put the pressure on.
The individual politicians who made those promises have left town so those promises are worth nothing.
The civil servants can't do anything without the political sign-off.
The lads who will be arriving in are a completely different set of individuals and by the time they take over they will legitimately and honestly be saying - the lads before us promised you money, on the basis that the stadium would be ready to host games for the Euros - there's no potential for that now so we're going to have to revise the amount we can provide. While Labour are better than the Tories, there's no chance there's going to be a blank cheque/all costs covered to completion promise when the Euros are off the table. They are still likely to contribute a significant amount of money (in the multi millions) but there's a significant difference between being told we'll chip in with £100 million (or something of that ilk) versus we'll pay you whatever it takes to get this project done.

Given the litany of failures/f**k-up and screw-ups in this project since inception is anyone surprised that the people in Ulster GAA got sold down the river by trusing the political promises of the Tories? 

The Ulster Council seemed sure of the money a few weeks ago?! What has happened?

https://x.com/mcgeehanstephen/status/1794269504782110948?s=46&t=CPMqYDyBX5OxJavXiPzZVQ

I'd be shocked if the Tories heading for the hills wasn't a big part of it. I'd imagine that the civil servants legally needed the politicans sign-off for the actual funds/blank cheque and the Tories didn't do that before exiting stage left. The timelines on the project were so tight already in terms of the UEFA rules that by the time Labour get someone in place that it will more than likely be too late.

The issue now is what sort of capacity stadium can be built with whatever funds Ulster GAA can get their hands on when Labour take over. Not having to comply with the UEFA requirements and deadlines should save a bit on the costs front but I would guess that capacity will have to be scaled back a good bit as I can't see Labour supplying a blank cheque promise to cover all the cost when the Euros are no longer on the table.

If I had to guess I would say that something around the 25k/28k size is the likeliest outcome at the moment.
Even something of that size is going to cost many millions - getting rid of the Euro requirements the current capacity would probably still probably cost somewhere around the £250 million mark based on £308 million figure being anyway realistic [the Euro requirements being dumped probably won't knock £58 million off the cost - but I would have say the the £308 estimate was at the higher end of the scale) so I can see Ulster GAA looking at carrying serious debt and paying serious interest for a good few decades to come.

[missed a glorious goal chance when the match was level and then Laois scored a goal of their own in the next attack.]

New York ahead again Laois at HT 1-06 to 8 points and full value for it.

Laois win by four points. Just three points for New York 2nd half did they run out of juice? 

New York will be kicking themselves, the game was there for them, they hit some really bad wides in the second half, missed a glorious goal chance when the match was level and then Laois scored a goal of their own in the next attack.
They definitely seemed to run out of steam in last 15 minutes.

Should have scored or laid off the ball to the unmarked player.

Nightmarish miss - in addition to being off target he didn't even get a decent contact on the kick and it skewed away completely.

Not the most suitable time to be holding trials. Players should be allowed to focus fully on their championship matches.

I don't think the AFL teams care all that much about the championship matches.

It's not as if there's any obligation on the players to attend the trials.

Kerry, Roscommon and Tyrone prospects all on AFL radar

It is understood Kerry U20 defender Charlie Keating, who helped his side to the All-Ireland final, is on the radar of Carlton and has already met with club representatives

WED, 05 JUN, 2024 - 14:48
MAURICE BROSNAN

Prospects from Kerry, Roscommon and Tyrone are attracting interest from AFL clubs as another offseason of Irish signings approaches.

It is understood Kerry U20 defender Charlie Keating, who helped his side to the All-Ireland final, is on the radar of Carlton and has already met with club representatives. Keating was named Munster U20 Player of the Year this season.

Man of the Match in the decider, Eoin McElholm, is another notable talent. McElholm was invited to Melbourne last October with Down's Odhran Murdock, Galway's James McLaughlin and Cork's Conor Corbett for two weeks to visit AFL clubs and test alongside Australian prospects. He is one of four players to join the senior setup after their recent success.

Meanwhile, The Irish Examiner also understands Carlton scouts met with Roscommon forward Daire Cregg. The rising Boyle star kicked 0-9 in the Sigerson Cup final for UCD and scored 0-4 in his last two games against Dublin and Mayo in the Sam Maguire SFC series.

It comes amidst a wave of renewed interest in Irish players. Kerry's Rob Monahan, Longford's Matt Duffy, Cork's Liam O'Connell and Monaghan's Karl Gallagher all made the move in the recent offseason. Brisbane Lions representatives are currently in the country meeting with players. A trial session is scheduled to take place in Dublin this week with a host of young players invited to partake.

It was reported last December that the AFL was due to cease funding for talent camps in Ireland. However, in March clubs were informed at the AFL's headquarters in Melbourne that the funding was back on.

In April, Carlton sent a crew that included the club boss Nick Austin, national recruiting manager Mick Agresta, footy director and club legend Greg Williams to Dublin. AFLW boss Ash Naulty also made the trip. Geelong AFLW coach Dan Lowther also travelled to meet current and future players.

9News reported that Carlton had launched a three-year strategic plan to draft players through non-traditional means. Ireland is set to be a big part of that $400,000 per year investment.

There are currently 13 Irish players in the AFL.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41409974.html?utm_source=irishexaminer&utm_campaign=41409974&utm_medium=sportnewsletter

Sunday June 16th

Portlaoise, 3pm: Kerry v Louth

Breffni Park, 3pm: Monaghan v Meath (GAAGO)

Monaghan and Meath getting it handy.

Powers that be wanted to make it as easy as possible for those supporters who do travel given both teams's results this year I'd imagine.

Bit disappointed that the Kerry v Louth game isn't being shown on GAAGo - was interested to see if Louth could make it as difficult for Kerry as they did for Dublin, especially given how easy they had it against Monaghan and Meath.

Taliteann Cup clash of Waterford V Longford had an attendance figure of 75. That's not a typo.

Know a father of one of the players on the Waterford panel. He was at it yesterday.
Last time I was talking to him he did say the Tailteann cup has improved things in terms of players being willing to commit to football and the regular games. However in Waterford their footballers are fighing a battle in terms of the Waterford County Board. A lot of them wish they could do a Kilkenny and not compete in football at all.

Count me in as another who thinks a three-tier championship would make much more sense but I fear that the GAA politics of getting it passed would be close to almost impossible any time soon.

Looking at the highlights, Donegal gave up 3-1 through terrible ball handling. Mogan (twice), McHugh and Eoghan Ban all guilty of shockingly cheap turnovers for that level. Second goal was poor defending elsewhere also. Pewter shot from the 14 yard line. Shouldn't be hitting the net that easy from there. Maybe Patton unsighted by the defender in front.

Yeah it was very atypical Donegal defensive performance - Cork had a number of other goal chances as well besides the goals. I wouldn't count Donegal out just yet, especially if they win the group.

A lot of pundits seem to be proclaiming it a great performance by Cork but I would say more it was a great result for them but I don't think it was all that great a performance overall listening to the game it felt very much like a game where they basically fell over the finishing line. The fact is Donegal very nearly got back to get a draw or even a win in a game where they conceded three goals and scored none would have me wary as a Cork supporter. It will be a long time before Cork get three such soft goals in a match again.
Would be very Cork like to go out and get beaten fairly comfortably by Tyrone in the final round.

I have genuine fear for this weekend. I hope Kerry just come for a bit of practice rather than at full tilt. Cause under Colm they can win by whatever margin they want. Upto and including 20 points. Meath have never been as low as we are now. I wonder what the geniuses who destroyed mcentee last year by voting against him think now. After we had lost a playoff to get promoted and lost to Dublin by lowest score in years.  Pathetic.  We are a shambles I'd say worse than Kildare. But Colm will put out excuse after excuse after excuse.  And of course a few Latin phrases too just for good measure.

Still seems bizarre to me that he ended up as an intercounty manager given how poor he was on The Sunday Game for years.

By comparison neither Brolly or Spillane were allowed within an asses roar of any intercounty team.

At the end of the day, these are still children at minor.

Let them be kids I say.

Watched the Munster Final a few weeks back which finished Kerry 2-18 Cork 1-6.

Really don't think it would have benefitted anyone to have this game on in front of a senior Munster Final.

U20s I would be far more comfortable being in front of senior games if logistics allowed it.