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It reads like a Russia wish list. They get to consolidate the territory captured, plus some extra they haven't got. With the sanctions off they can rebuild their economy and with Ukraine's defence limited, they can launch a fresh assault in another few years.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/1121/1545177-david-hanly/

Former RTE Morning Ireland presenter David Hanly. Also wrote a couple of novels.

He had very distinctive voice. Before we always on media, usually it was his voice in the morning time that delivered whatever news was unfolding - atrocities in the north, bad economic news, global turmoil.

Ive often seen Gaelic clubs put bans on dual lads playing soccer more times than I can count. They do it because they can. Soccer would probably do the same if they were in their shoes.

Are there any examples of soccer doing this in areas where they are stronger?

I know that Klub Kildare - the national league schoolboy outlet in Kildare ban their lads from playing any other sports

So a League of Ireland acadamy insists on specialisation in the way playing intercounty would, or being in a provincial rugby academy

The conversation was more about grassroots than the pro/semi pro bit.

You asked for examples, you got examples, it doesn't suit your agenda, so you're trying to change the parameters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief_perseverance

How much money are players getting paid in academies, btw?

Ive often seen Gaelic clubs put bans on dual lads playing soccer more times than I can count. They do it because they can. Soccer would probably do the same if they were in their shoes.

Are there any examples of soccer doing this in areas where they are stronger?

Yes, it happens frequently in Dublin anyway.
The outrage seems to be one way though.

I have never, ever heard of soccer doing anything of the sort in Dublin. But I am sure you have examples to prove me wrong.

Well that doesn't surprise me...

Anyway, it happened to my own son and his friends who were playing underage soccer. The coach told that he wasn't going to tolerate players combining GAA and soccer, and that they had to be all in with soccer only.
So the boys wanting to play both moved en-masse to a nearby soccer club because the coach made it clear he would be accommodating. The original team folded soon after due to lack of numbers.

A boy a year older, was scouted by a league of Ireland club and had no choice but to quit GAA in order to be accepted into their academy. This is someone who wasn't yet a teenager (to save you grasping for the 'professionals' mental reservation).

Ive often seen Gaelic clubs put bans on dual lads playing soccer more times than I can count. They do it because they can. Soccer would probably do the same if they were in their shoes.

Are there any examples of soccer doing this in areas where they are stronger?

Yes, it happens frequently in Dublin anyway.
The outrage seems to be one way though.

For all of his adult life he'd have constantly met by back slappers telling him what a great fella he is.
It's easy to become more self-centred and egotistical.

[2026 Leinster GAA Senior Hurling Championship]

2026 Leinster GAA Senior Hurling Championship


Date    Round 1       
18th/19th April    Galway    v    Kilkenny    Pearse Stadium
Kildare    v    Wexford    Cedral St Conleths Park
Offaly    v    Dublin    Glenisk O'Connor Park

Round 2           
25th/26th April    Kilkenny    v    Wexford    UPMC Nowlan Park
Galway    v    Offaly    Pearse Stadium
Dublin    v    Kildare    Parnell Park
2nd/3rd May    Break Week

Round 3           
9th/10th May    Offaly    v    Kilkenny    Glenisk O'Connor Park
Kildare    v    Galway    Cedral St Conleths Park
Wexford    v    Dublin    Chadwicks Wexford Park

Round 4           
16th/17th May    Kilkenny    v    Kildare    UPMC Nowlan Park
Offaly    v    Wexford    Glenisk O'Connor Park
Galway    v    Dublin    Pearse Stadium

Round 5           
23rd/24th May    Dublin    v    Kilkenny    Parnell Park
Wexford    v    Galway    Chadwicks Wexford Park
Kildare    v    Offaly    Cedral St Conleths Park
6th June    Leinster GAA Senior Hurling & Joe McDonagh Final

[We seem to have a massively overinflated perception that anyone actually listens to us.]

Connolly's constant refrain that Ireland must use its voice to promote peace.
We seem to have a massively overinflated perception that anyone actually listens to us.

So she can call it "The Ukraine" all the wants then?

She can call it what she wants, global diplomacy is not her strong point.
Does she really think Putin, or Netenyahu, or any other tyrant is going to heed her calls for peace?

Connolly's constant refrain that Ireland must use its voice to promote peace.
We seem to have a massively overinflated perception that anyone actually listens to us.

And Fanning hadn't the balls to say anything to him, Brolly is becoming a total embarrassment

Fanning has that permanently beaten down look on his face these days.
He has no means to keep Joe under reins, so he goes along with it. He's probably wondering how his life ended up like this.

It was a poor debate by any standards. They spent plenty of time on Gaza for example, where a Irish President has no sway over.
It confirmed that Gavin's wooden persona when Dublin manager was not a mask for a brilliant performer behind closed doors.
Humphreys was generally safe and equally uninteresting.
Connolly probably had the best night. She managed to steer clear of her weak points, like her trip to Syria and her implied blaming of the West for the Ukraine invasion. I don't recall her using the term 'Nato' at all, which is a change of gear. She replaced this with continual use of 'Military Industrial Complex'. While it is tinfoil hat fodder, it's a quite unspecific label.

Also in regards to the envelope rule, that was created in the 70's surely it's a big enough tournament for each team to bring and extra player in the event of injury from now on.

The injury sub could become the tactical sub.
Rasmus Højgaard would have been 'injured' on Saturday if there was a player in better form on the bench.

BBC giving hatton the credit with a footnote to Lowry 😳🥴

The way it was going if Lowry hadn't get that half point to get to 14 there wasn't a hope in hell those last 3 Europe lads were going to do enough to get Europe across the line.

Correct. Had he lost, there is no guarantee that Tyrrell Hatton or Robert MacIntyre would have held on for halves in the final matches. The home crowd would have stayed and bolstered their opponents.

That took some guts from Shane to carve out the half. He had to sink a putt to survive on 17 also.
Him and McIlroy especially had experienced a hostile time from the crowd, so it's the best way to shush the trash talkers.

By the same token, if the openers Rose and Fleetwood hadn't lost on the final hole and if Fitzpatrick hadn't blown up when 5-up, Europe would have had an easier time in the remaining matches and gathered more points.

It had Brookline 1999 written all over it for a while yesterday!

It's some turnaround for Europe. I'd expected a big improvement from 2021 in Whistling Straits, but such a lead is quite crazy.

The advantage of a smart and experienced captain looks big. Hopefully Europe stick to picking debutant captains for home tournaments and re-using their experience for the away journey.
I'd never paid much heed to Keegan Bradley before this. All the build up blurb described him as highly driven and constantly succeeding in the face of adversity. After hearing from him the last few days, he comes across as a flat tyre.
By the same yardstick, Europe's big away defeats - 2008 and 2016 came with uninspiring and unpopular captains in Nick Faldo and Darren Clarke.

It sounds like the prep work beforehand was thorough as regard simulating the crowd noise and heckling. Most of it seems lame anyway. But still, it can be annoying as hell to have disruptions when you're standing over the ball.

The cat is not yet in the sack though. In the 1999 Bearpit the USA were massively behind but unleashed final day whoop ass, helped by a perfect cocktail of patriotism and unruliness from the crowd.
The mini-Maga army of 2025 is ready to do its bit if a comeback needs momentum.

A change of tack from Trump. Not his usual snuggling up to Putin, but he may just be hopping a ball.