What do you make of this?

[muppet]

Following the vote, the boys' mother Christine O'Sullivan vowed the issue was not over.

Maybe she is going to sulk.

[LaurelEye]

The cheek of them. I'm surprised though that the issue at hand was a proposed rule change. That was never going to pass. Why don't they just allow a transfer? If both team accede to it, then surely they can sort it out that way.

There has to be more to this than meets the eye. Where's that new Kerry poster, he seemed to have more detail.

Back to the High Court so. 

Don't believe they can go back, DRA is the last available avenue.

Well that and apply for a transfer after the Kerry county convention.

They've already been to the DRA.

[Pickas]

The enforcement of any catchment area, including a parish, is not a requirement of the rules of the GAA.  However, it is a requirement of the rules to promote "Gaelic Games and pastimes", and to promote "a community spirit through its clubs."
There is a similar case in Ballypickas, Laois, where the Club, community & families are split by unnecessary enforcement of "parish rule" and people have left the GAA!
Problems with the "parish rule" continue, resulting in people leaving the GAA and High Court cases.  This could have been prevented!
Flaws with the "parish rule" were highlighted in 2002 by GAA President & experienced officials from Central & Provincial levels, & recommendations were ignored.
These high-level officials seem to have adopted 'ostrich' management - if they ignore the problem long enough it will go away.  We all know this doesn't work!

[Mike Sheehy]

If something is so important to you that you would be willing to involve the high court, would it not make sense to take such a consideration into account when you are choosing where to live ?

[Zulu]

Eh? You now have to pick where you live on the off chance your kids will play football and their friends will come from another parish?

There are few problems in conties that don't have the parish rule e.g. Waterford. The idea that leaving these boys play with another club would open the floodgates is nonsense. This is the GAA making a show of itself over something that should never have gone beyond local boundaries. Rules applied without commonsense will always cause more problems than solutions.

[deiseach]

It's clear they want to keep the parish rule in Kerry. Yes, you will lose people because of it but they think it's a price worth paying to keep a balance between clubs. Are we meant to believe that we're doing it better in Waterford where the entire football programme was postponed last weekend for the 'benefit' of the hurlers?

[Zulu]

A joke of a decision to call the games off but not related to what's going on here. If Kerry want to keep the parish rule then they should enforce it sensibly, forcing two lads to play for a club 7 miles away when they could be Playing for a club 1 mile down the road is ludicrous. If somebody wants to make the journey then fine but what the club is basically saying to the parents is if you want your kids to play football then get off your arse and drive them to and from training 3 or 4 times a week. So what if you work late, so what if ye only have one car, so what if their friends play with a club just down the road, we have our rules and if we tweak them even in the slightest the whole GAA will crumble.

[muppet]

Are we meant to believe that we're doing it better in Waterford where the entire football programme was postponed last weekend for the 'benefit' of the hurlers?

They might have been better off postponing the hurling for the benefit of the hurlers.

[Mike Sheehy]

Eh? You now have to pick where you live on the off chance your kids will play football and their friends will come from another parish?

There are few problems in conties that don't have the parish rule e.g. Waterford. The idea that leaving these boys play with another club would open the floodgates is nonsense. This is the GAA making a show of itself over something that should never have gone beyond local boundaries. Rules applied without commonsense will always cause more problems than solutions.

No, you don't HAVE to pick where you live on the off chance that your kids will play football but the GAA should not HAVE to change its rules based on the off chance that your kids will play football.

[Mike Sheehy]

A joke of a decision to call the games off but not related to what's going on here. If Kerry want to keep the parish rule then they should enforce it sensibly, forcing two lads to play for a club 7 miles away when they could be Playing for a club 1 mile down the road is ludicrous. If somebody wants to make the journey then fine but what the club is basically saying to the parents is if you want your kids to play football then get off your arse and drive them to and from training 3 or 4 times a week. So what if you work late, so what if ye only have one car, so what if their friends play with a club just down the road, we have our rules and if we tweak them even in the slightest the whole GAA will crumble.

whats your threshold distance so that the rule can be enforced "sensibly" ?     7miles v 1mile ?   6miles v 2miles ? 5miles v 3miles etc...

[Zulu]

This isn't a GAA rule, Waterford don't apply it for one but like all rules it should be applied sensibly and not dogmatically. This is a victory for rules over commonsense and that always leads to disaster.

[Zulu]

Sense isn't always about distance but cases should be looked at individually and when it clearly isn't worth enforcing the rule it should be ignored, or a better solution agreed upon at least.

[deiseach]

This isn't a GAA rule, Waterford don't apply it for one but like all rules it should be applied sensibly and not dogmatically. This is a victory for rules over commonsense and that always leads to disaster.

What 'disaster' do you foresee here?  NB the loss of two children to the GAA does not represent a disaster

[Hardy]

like all rules it should be applied sensibly and not dogmatically. This is a victory for rules over commonsense and that always leads to disaster.

What can that mean? Who is to be the arbiter of common sense? We'll have a rule, but only to be enforced when it's not necessary. If it needs to be invoked to rule on a situation, that's when we'll ignore it. What is the purpose of a rule like that? Only in GAA administration would someone propose a solution like that with a straight face. And in Fianna Fáil, maybe.

[Zulu]

So hardy you think that the speed limit, for example, should be applied in all cases, the guy going 42 in a 40 zone should be done the same way the guy who is doing 100 in a 40 zone? Rules are there to prevent people taking the piss not to be rigidly applied even when common sense tells us otherwise, especially in a sporting context. 

Deiseach, the loss of two kids who want to kick a bit of ball but are prevented by muppet adults applying a rule in a ridiculous situation is a disaster IMO. We have two kids who want to join a smaller club, not for glory but to play with their friends and the GAA are telling them they can't and must play with strangers 7 miles away, if that isn't a disaster for an amateur sporting organisation I don't know what is.