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Post by Mickmack on Aug 12, 2020 22:04:29 GMT
Irish Times Logo User Menu NEWS
Seán Moran 17 minutes ago 0 There has been a shake-up in Dublin football manager Dessie Farrell’s back-room team. Paul Clarke, one of the links with Jim Gavin’s five-in-a-row All-Ireland winners, has stepped away from the team management and Ballyboden St Enda’s Director of Coaching Brian O’Regan has joined.
Clarke has a long record of service with the county footballers, having captained the All-Ireland minor winners in 1984 and in 1995, added a senior medal. He was well regarded as a developer of young talent and took charge of the development teams that competed in the O’Byrne Cup in recent years when the senior team was on holiday.
It is understood that he had been working as a defence coach in Farrell’s new management and there was no elaboration on why he decided to leave.
Players had been informed last week that O’Regan would be joining the county set-up.
Clarke’s is the second high-profile departure from the All-Ireland champions this summer after former Footballer of the Year Jack McCaffrey left in June.
It has been a disrupted first year for Farrell with the Covid pandemic destroying the season but in a month’s time county teams will return to training in advance of October’s return to play, which begins with the final two rounds of the league Division One campaign, against Meath and Galway.
Their first championship match is against Westmeath.
Meanwhile, the GAA will hold a Central Council meeting on Thursday. Described by officials as ‘a housekeeping operation’ it takes place in a discouraging context with Kildare, Laois and Offaly in lockdown and most counties facing financial difficulty in fielding teams for the upcoming provincial and All-Ireland championships.
That difficulty was exacerbated last week with the news that Phase 4 of the exit from national lockdown had been again postponed and with it the raising of maximum attendances from 200 to 500.
That obviously impacts on the inter-county season due to start in little more than two months’ time both in terms of what would effectively be a ‘behind closed doors’ restriction on the matches and also the current difficulties counties are experiencing in raising their own revenues.
The three midland counties, subjected to special restrictions for at least two weeks from last weekend, have had to re-schedule their county championships given the impact of the cessation of matches – which will cover three weekends if the scheduled 16 days isn’t reviewed.
Not going to a new limit of 500 has hit projected revenues quite hard, as the additional 300 would be purely profit given that the current 200 has to include players, officials and media. That lost 300 at €10 per head represents €3,000 per match.
There’s unlikely to be a full accounting for projected losses in the light of the new restrictions for another few weeks but with county teams due to resume training on September 14th the matter will become urgent before too long.
GAA sources say that the Government is very keen for the provincial and All-Ireland championships to proceed.
It is increasingly likely though that some sort of Government assistance will be needed to ensure that this happens, as the restrictions imposed by NPHET (National Public Health Emergency Team) and the Government in the interests of public health have severely compromised the GAA’s ability to stage the matches.
Whereas the Department of Sport announced in June a Covid relief package of €40,000,000 to be shared between the GAA, FAI and IRFU, the precise grants won’t be finalised until October. It would be the contention of the GAA that such funding would be separate from that needed to help the championship to go ahead.
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© 2020 THE IRISH TIMES
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 15, 2020 10:47:31 GMT
Clontarf v Vincents on RTE 2 tonight.
Plenty of edge likely in this one.
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Post by sullyschoice on Aug 15, 2020 16:05:21 GMT
Clontarf v Vincents on RTE 2 tonight. Plenty of edge likely in this one. Chris Barrett from Mayo is now a Clontarf player. Not sure if Jack will be ready for this game. Keep an eye on Andy Foley I lar na pairc and Kevin Lillis and Kieran Mc Keown up front. Class players.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2020 19:19:32 GMT
Clontarf getting an awful trimming. Seemed like an odd game to show on RTE to be honest. Hope Clontarf can keep it some but respectable.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2020 19:52:21 GMT
Plenty of talent in that Clontarf side and definitely a team to watch over the next few years
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Post by jackiel on Aug 15, 2020 20:09:52 GMT
The Ballymun v Thomas Davis earlier was much the same. Ballymun with a handful of starting Dubs.My club played them in a challenge before the leagues started in Meath, they hammered us. Most of their Dublin panel members took part. James McCarthy was carrying an injury but was at the match.
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Post by dc84 on Aug 15, 2020 20:25:02 GMT
There is a big difference in quality from the four or 5 contenders to the rest in dublin to be fair.
10+ beatings ate fairly normal
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Post by sullyschoice on Aug 15, 2020 21:02:16 GMT
We just cant compete without Jack Mc Caffrey. It's a very young team. Still a step below the top few. Maintaining A Chamoionship status for a couple of years will bring is on. Need a free taker. Plenty of talent coming through at underage level in both men's and ladies. Depressing viewing tonight.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Aug 16, 2020 0:20:00 GMT
We just cant compete without Jack Mc Caffrey. It's a very young team. Still a step below the top few. Maintaining A Chamoionship status for a couple of years will bring is on. Need a free taker. Plenty of talent coming through at underage level in both men's and ladies. Depressing viewing tonight. Jazus not so bad sully, CT never gave in, lots of Dubs tactics on display, ah novelty factor too, as Paul Galvin says, crops of talent are sporadic, 'tiz more acute at club level, all of the 30 knew what to do around the ball and that's as much as one can see on a screen, hopefully we will see a bit more in the not too distant future! BTW didn't realise Jack had also packed in playing for the Club - what's up there? On another note and hinted by one of said Jack's views, if we have free education then why not free sport? Horse trainer Aidan O'Brien advocates that we shouldn't let school interfere with our education - SPORT IS THE ULTIMATE EDUCATION, strangers become instant friends through sport, brings out the best is mankind, is it how some don't get the meaning of the word? A lot easier to get that point across in corva-era!
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2020 9:19:06 GMT
Gaelic Football
Premium
'There is no enigma to Seán Boylan' - Ex-Meath captain Gerry McEntee responds to Tommy Conlon
Former Meath captain Gerry McEntee insists Tommy Conlon's memory of Gaelic football over the last 40 years is tainted Seán Boylan. Photo: Sportsfile 1 Seán Boylan. Photo: Sportsfile Gerry McEntee August 16 2020 02:30 AM
I think it is only appropriate to reply to Tommy Conlon's poisonous article in last week's Sunday Independent ('Enigma of Boylan goes unexplained') about our former manager and great personal friend Seán Boylan. There is no enigma Mr Conlon. What you see is what you get - a true gentleman.
Conlon will no doubt be disappointed and a long time "waiting for a glimpse of the darkness behind this sunny façade" because there is no darkness. Seán Boylan only sees the good in everybody - Meath people or otherwise.
Never once did I ever hear him vilify any of the opposition and never once did he encourage "assault and battery" as Conlon suggested. If his players overstepped the mark, and at times they did (myself included), they did so of their own volition but never could it be attributed to the influence of Seán.
But let's take a look at Conlon's recollection of Gaelic football over the last 40 years and ask if his tainted memory is the same as ours. He says the Kerry team of 1975-1986 "elevated Gaelic football with charisma and class". They were truly a fantastic team but where was the "charisma" in Kerry's renowned corner-back dragging Jimmy Barry Murphy throughout at least one Munster final and highlighted by many reporters at the time, including Paddy Downey and Con Houlihan, two journalists quoted in his condemnation of Meath. And was it any different to Mark O'Reilly's approach in the 1996 Leinster final.
Where was the "class" in Kerry's renowned half-back's "assault and battery" of Dinny Allen in the 1975 Munster final that went completely unpunished by a referee standing within striking distance but lucky to have slipped at the appropriate time.
Mr Conlon also has a selective memory if he thinks the Meath teams of the 1980s and '90s were "the last incarnation of that long and ignoble era". Has he forgotten the carefully orchestrated cynicism of four - or was it five - Dublin forwards in the final minutes of the 2017 All-Ireland final when they dragged Mayo players to the ground to prevent them receiving a kickout in a match described on RTE.ie as "unsurprisingly ill-tempered"?
Has he suitably forgotten his very own criticism of Tyrone and Armagh on these pages, who he claims pioneered the "endemic" and "seriously disruptive" strategy of fouling opponents outside the scoring zone.
Conlon suggests that Seán Boylan inspired his "young men into doing things that have consequences for others". Never in the eight years that I had the privilege of playing under him did I ever hear him encourage or promote any negative activity on or off the field. Does Conlon, I wonder, feel that the inspirational qualities of Mick O'Dwyer, Mickey Harte, Joe Kiernan and Jim Gavin likewise "had consequences for players on other teams who felt cheated and deprived of justice" because of the cynicism of the teams these people managed or is he abusing his privileged position to vilify a person admired and respected throughout the country?
Gaelic football, like all contact sports, is a physical game, and as such, all teams aspiring to get to the top have to at least match the physicality of the other top teams of their day. This inevitably leads to some players overstepping the mark, but let's have a bit of balanced analysis here. Cynical play went on before the Boylan era and will continue long after the Boylan era. It is carried out by both the victors and the vanquished, as the very Meath matches referred to by Conlon will testify. But to suggest that somehow Seán Boylan promoted "macho cynicism" shows how unbalanced some analysts can be.
Seán is a wonderful human being, as anyone who knows him will verify.
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Post by sullyschoice on Aug 17, 2020 22:03:13 GMT
We just cant compete without Jack Mc Caffrey. It's a very young team. Still a step below the top few. Maintaining A Chamoionship status for a couple of years will bring is on. Need a free taker. Plenty of talent coming through at underage level in both men's and ladies. Depressing viewing tonight. Jazus not so bad sully, CT never gave in, lots of Dubs tactics on display, ah novelty factor too, as Paul Galvin says, crops of talent are sporadic, 'tiz more acute at club level, all of the 30 knew what to do around the ball and that's as much as one can see on a screen, hopefully we will see a bit more in the not too distant future! BTW didn't realise Jack had also packed in playing for the Club - what's up there? On another note and hinted by one of said Jack's views, if we have free education then why not free sport? Horse trainer Aidan O'Brien advocates that we shouldn't let school interfere with our education - SPORT IS THE ULTIMATE EDUCATION, strangers become instant friends through sport, brings out the best is mankind, is it how some don't get the meaning of the word? A lot easier to get that point across in corva-era! Jack has a hamstring injury. He is still very much committed to the club
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 17, 2020 22:04:14 GMT
Irish Times Logo
Seán Moran about an hour ago 0 The GAA has moved to emphasise that members and players, who test positive for coronavirus, do not automatically require their clubs to be shut down. Dick Clerkin, chair of Croke Park’s medical, scientific and welfare committee, reassured clubs, as the number of cases involving the association rises, standing around 40 at the last count.
Also on Monday, Dublin GAA chief executive John Costello issued a message to all clubs pointing out that, ‘The playing of our games has been classified as a casual contact activity’. That means that anyone playing or training with someone who had tested positive is not taken to require testing – unless they display symptoms of their own.
Dublin had to postpone a football championship match at the weekend when a Raheny player unexpectedly tested positive after undergoing a routine, work-related test.
“From a GAA point of view,” according to Clerkin, who also sits on the GAA’s Covid advisory group, “we are not stating that on the basis of a single case, a club goes into lockdown, which we do see on an ad hoc basis. There are also many clubs who don’t.
“It’s going to get more prevalent, which is a simple fact of life. To date – and this all could change – if a player or club member tested positive and went into the public health contact tracing system, the authorities weren’t deeming team-mates or training partners as close contacts so they in turn weren’t being called for contact tracing, which suggests that there hasn’t been any crossover from playing games.
“We have been taking the HSE’s lead on this and this has been stated to clubs and county boards. Now some clubs have taken the decision to close but as many haven’t.
“It’s a major decision to take, to shut down everything when everyone’s playing and training at the moment because everything is bottlenecked into this time of the year.”
The same issue also arose in Meath and on Monday county PRO Ciarán Flynn told LMFM local radio that case in Simonstown Gaels had arisen because of work, “a frontline worker so they got it in the act of doing their job. Thankfully it means they didn’t get it on a Gaelic football field or hurling field in county Meath.
“That’s something a lot of clubs around the county were concerned with – did he get it from playing football or while working? The evidence is suggesting that he got it while working, so that was a bit of solace.”
The GAA had been concerned on the return to play that clarity be given as to whether on-field contact would be deemed ‘casual’ or ‘close’. So far the HSE has treated such incidents as casual contacts, which has proved important for association in limiting the impact of cases contracted outside of club activity.
If deemed casual contacts of a positive case, players or members can continue to be involved unless they become symptomatic. If deemed a close contact, they must step aside and get tested.
“It makes a massive difference,” according to Clerkin, “because if they hadn’t basically things could have ground to a halt. At last count we have 40-odd reported cases through clubs and they would have locked down with a big knock-on effect on fixtures.
“As numbers rise in the community – and we are the community so it’s going to rear its head. The critical distinction is that there is – as yet – no evidence of a player who contracts it in a work or social context passing it on at a training session or match.”
The only element of games activity to date that has caused material concern is transport to and from matches or training.
“What makes it a bit different is if that player has car-pooled – and there may have been one case of transmission from transport – there is an elevated exposure, which is why we have given very clear guidelines not to share cars. The GAA protocols have been set out so that if you follow them, all things being equal you’ll be low-risk. But if you go outside those guidelines, that’s not guaranteed.”
© 2020 THE IRISH TIMES
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 18, 2020 11:49:34 GMT
Irish Examiner Logo
NEWS SPORT LIFESTYLE OPINION GAA will likely need aid to run All-Ireland championships
GAA will likely need aid to run All-Ireland championships File picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020 - 06:00 AM JOHN FOGARTY It’s looking increasingly likely that the GAA will need financial assistance from the state if they are to run their various inter-county championships later this year.
County boards have already articulated to Croke Park their precarious financial situations and the difficulty in funding the cost of preparing teams from September 14 and fielding them from the middle of October.
The GAA at central level is facing major financial difficulties and it is believed the organisation’s part of the €40 million in a Government sports resilience fund ringfenced for it, the FAI and IRFU which will be announced in October may come too late to ensure the Championship takes place.
Speaking over the weekend, GAA president John Horan warned that money could stand in the way of the Championship taking place.
We are not going to walk blindly into an inter-county championship that would cause large expenditure without working out the whole viability of everything involved. At last Thursday's meeting, a number of Central Council delegates were disheartened by the tone of the top GAA officials about the prospects of the Championship going ahead. The situation will become clearer early next month.
The Government are known to be keen for the provincial and All-Ireland championships to take place. They have already stipulated that inter-county fixtures and contact training can go ahead even counties that experience heavier restrictions.
According to the document issued by the Government and the National Public Health Emergency Team last Friday week, Kildare, Laois and Offaly could take part in inter-county games and training behind closed doors despite being in lockdown were the GAA to allow it.
Meanwhile, Leitrim chairman Enda Stenson will meet angry clubs this evening after the executive decided to play championship knockout games behind closed doors. The call was made last week to ease the pressure on GAA officials in the county but there has been opposition to it in recent days and it could yet be overturned.
"Due to the disquiet caused by the decision and on foot of a number of emails from clubs, we have decided to hold a meeting with the clubs’ chairpersons on Tuesday evening at the centre of excellence," Stenson told the Leitrim Observer.
“The clubs can discuss the issue with the Board and whatever they decide, we will have no issue with it. "However, all that can be allowed in to any game at one time is 200 people according to the guidelines and this includes both teams, match officials, media as well as stewards and officials.”
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 18, 2020 20:01:16 GMT
Galway to join Wexford in surpassing 10,000 live-stream subscriptions TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020 - 13:35 PM JOHN FOGARTY Streaming subscriptions for Galway club games are expected to exceed the 10,000 mark when the third and final round of the hurling championship group stage takes place this weekend.
As Wexford reported they broke that figure for their hurling championships over the last five weeks, Galway have been just as delighted with their numbers for the past four weeks, which have comprised two rounds in both hurling and football.
“We’re just short of 8,000 subscriptions to date over the four weekends,” hurling board chairman Paul Bellew told Galway Bay FM’s Over The Line.
“Looking at the hurling numbers in particular so far, we’ll definitely break the 10k barrier by the end of the weekend so that’s been really positive. We’re learning as we go. It’s a new initiative but we’ll improve it as we go.
“You can’t show every club but by Sunday evening in the hurling, we’ll have 17 shown in some capacity be it streaming or TG4 and that will hit 19 by the time the preliminary quarter-finals are shown.
“In fairness to the football committee, they have spread it around very well also. I think they’ll have covered nearly everyone in the senior championship by the finish of it. That’s as good as we can do initially because we can’t stream games against each other from a logistical point of view and an audience share. We want to strike a balance between covering as many clubs but you have to factor in demand.”
Breaking down the subscriptions, Bellew believes the interest in Galway club hurling is significant. “From the two hurling weekends, 30% of people have purchased passes; it’s not just about their own club so there is a great interest from the neutral as well.
“Long-term, it’s something we want to push out even if we do get crowds back in the future, that it’s there for people outside the county and indeed outside the country. It’s up about 80%-90% that are within Ireland but that just shows 700-800 people from outside Ireland have accessed it too.”
Wexford GAA reported interest in their senior semi-finals this past weekend increased subscriptions by over 3,000 at €5 per single game subscription. TG4 are televising the SHC final between Naomh Éanna and Shelmaliers this Sunday in Chadwicks Wexford Park.
Galway charge €6 per match with passes ranging from €10 for two games to €20 for four games.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Aug 20, 2020 17:12:06 GMT
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Post by Ballyfireside on Aug 21, 2020 0:40:35 GMT
Gaelic Football Premium 'There is no enigma to Seán Boylan' - Ex-Meath captain Gerry McEntee responds to Tommy Conlon Former Meath captain Gerry McEntee insists Tommy Conlon's memory of Gaelic football over the last 40 years is tainted Seán Boylan. Photo: Sportsfile 1 Seán Boylan. Photo: Sportsfile Gerry McEntee August 16 2020 02:30 AM I think it is only appropriate to reply to Tommy Conlon's poisonous article in last week's Sunday Independent ('Enigma of Boylan goes unexplained') about our former manager and great personal friend Seán Boylan. There is no enigma Mr Conlon. What you see is what you get - a true gentleman. Conlon will no doubt be disappointed and a long time "waiting for a glimpse of the darkness behind this sunny façade" because there is no darkness. Seán Boylan only sees the good in everybody - Meath people or otherwise. Never once did I ever hear him vilify any of the opposition and never once did he encourage "assault and battery" as Conlon suggested. If his players overstepped the mark, and at times they did (myself included), they did so of their own volition but never could it be attributed to the influence of Seán. But let's take a look at Conlon's recollection of Gaelic football over the last 40 years and ask if his tainted memory is the same as ours. He says the Kerry team of 1975-1986 "elevated Gaelic football with charisma and class". They were truly a fantastic team but where was the "charisma" in Kerry's renowned corner-back dragging Jimmy Barry Murphy throughout at least one Munster final and highlighted by many reporters at the time, including Paddy Downey and Con Houlihan, two journalists quoted in his condemnation of Meath. And was it any different to Mark O'Reilly's approach in the 1996 Leinster final. Where was the "class" in Kerry's renowned half-back's "assault and battery" of Dinny Allen in the 1975 Munster final that went completely unpunished by a referee standing within striking distance but lucky to have slipped at the appropriate time. Mr Conlon also has a selective memory if he thinks the Meath teams of the 1980s and '90s were "the last incarnation of that long and ignoble era". Has he forgotten the carefully orchestrated cynicism of four - or was it five - Dublin forwards in the final minutes of the 2017 All-Ireland final when they dragged Mayo players to the ground to prevent them receiving a kickout in a match described on RTE.ie as "unsurprisingly ill-tempered"? Has he suitably forgotten his very own criticism of Tyrone and Armagh on these pages, who he claims pioneered the "endemic" and "seriously disruptive" strategy of fouling opponents outside the scoring zone. Conlon suggests that Seán Boylan inspired his "young men into doing things that have consequences for others". Never in the eight years that I had the privilege of playing under him did I ever hear him encourage or promote any negative activity on or off the field. Does Conlon, I wonder, feel that the inspirational qualities of Mick O'Dwyer, Mickey Harte, Joe Kiernan and Jim Gavin likewise "had consequences for players on other teams who felt cheated and deprived of justice" because of the cynicism of the teams these people managed or is he abusing his privileged position to vilify a person admired and respected throughout the country? Gaelic football, like all contact sports, is a physical game, and as such, all teams aspiring to get to the top have to at least match the physicality of the other top teams of their day. This inevitably leads to some players overstepping the mark, but let's have a bit of balanced analysis here. Cynical play went on before the Boylan era and will continue long after the Boylan era. It is carried out by both the victors and the vanquished, as the very Meath matches referred to by Conlon will testify. But to suggest that somehow Seán Boylan promoted "macho cynicism" shows how unbalanced some analysts can be. Seán is a wonderful human being, as anyone who knows him will verify. Bit of an old chestnut this wan and while a fella wouldn't want to get stuck between any of these buckos in their day. Meath were hardy alright but any team in that era could fairly mix it and anyone that didn't do so didn't prevail. You never saw a Mayo man or a Dub lie down and The Rebels wouldn't be famous for refusing a dance either if the right offer came up. What has me leaning away from Moran on this one is that what went on was auld fashioned, fellas not keeping their calm, hard to fault amateurs really, life was a bitteen like that. Now look at cynical stuff today, if ya weren't trained for it then serious injury could ensue. And unless Boylan is the best actor on the planet I don't think he was advocating it, no more than Dwyer telling Deenihan to maul Jimmy Barry. And I must defend Dwyer here too - his view on the sandwiching of Mickey Ned in '75 was that 'he should have gotten rid of the ball sooner' and while that may well be the case, Dwyer put this above Micky Ned's welfare and which I though rather harsh, and worse still, against his own. I wonder did Meath ever injure anyone, well apart from knocks and bruises? I don't think anyone ever suffered that badly, and if they did they probably wouldn't give it to say anyway so we'll never know. A Louthy fella was telling me lately of Galvin getting a haymaker from some Farney bucko of a day - he seemed to speak with authority when he asserted that Galvin feigned painlessness, though he had to have an injection at half time to numb the pain down the entire of wan side. Must be some truth in it as the enemy would hardly be saying so otherwise? The professional stuff today, and this 'sledging' dwarfs all that went on way back so was Boylan an enigma - on numbers alone would he be at No 4 behind Dwyer, Heffo and Harte? Where would Cody be? They the top 5? All reminds of the auld Dub snuffin' at The Bawn during the Anthem and jibing that 'he could get a right smell of fish', only for the Bawn to predict that 'there would be a right smell of 5h1t around the place shortly' - and now whatever about The Bawn's hygiene standards, he was a man true to his word, and a right smell of 5h1t there was!
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 21, 2020 16:25:21 GMT
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 21, 2020 16:36:06 GMT
John Egan has a special place in the the heart of Kerry people of a certain age. Played the game will a smile on his face and was pretty much unmarkable circa 1979.
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Post by veteran on Aug 22, 2020 8:59:01 GMT
I am not sure why the O'Sullivan brothers are now playing with Austin Stacks. Perhaps they are living/working in the greater Tralee area and long distance travel is too demanding. Perhaps it stems from a row with their home club. I do not know. While I wish them well it leaves me with a feeling of disappointment and discomfort at a time when Valentia are struggling badly.
Inevitably, this set me thinking about another man and another time. How he rowed from the island to the mainland and back again when division and county came calling. It was palpably clear by what he said , by what he wrote and how he disported himself on the field of play that Michael O'Connell played football for the love of the game, fortified by a love of parish. Winning was of secondary importance and adulation was a nuisance. Naive and quaint by the attitudes of today.But noble too. Naivety and nobility. Incomparable and infuriating. Michael was a man , as Bryan McMahon might put it, who dared be himself. A rare and precious commodity. Oh, he was different alright.
I must acknowledge of course that nostalgia in too large a dose can debilitate both mind and soul. But still.
Michael, I hope you are still keeping well back there. Always on my mind.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 22, 2020 14:17:58 GMT
I am not sure why the O'Sullivan brothers are now playing with Austin Stacks. Perhaps they are living/working in the greater Tralee area and long distance travel is too demanding. Perhaps it stems from a row with their home club. I do not know. While I wish them well it leaves me with a feeling of disappointment and discomfort at a time when Valentia are struggling badly. Inevitably, this set me thinking about another man and another time. How he rowed from the island to the mainland and back again when division and county came calling. It was palpably clear by what he said , by what he wrote and how he disported himself on the field of play that Michael O'Connell played football for the love of the game, fortified by a love of parish. Winning was of secondary importance and adulation was a nuisance. Naive and quaint by the attitudes of today.But noble too. Naivety and nobility. Incomparable and infuriating. Michael was a man , as Bryan McMahon might put it, who dared be himself. A rare and precious commodity. Oh, he was different alright. I must acknowledge of course that nostalgia in too large a dose can debilitate both mind and soul. But still. Michael, I hope you are still keeping well back there. Always on my mind. Were Waterville a club side in those 3 county finals in the late 60s. Mick O'Connell and Mick O'Dwyer were the mainstays.
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Post by veteran on Aug 22, 2020 19:00:18 GMT
I am not sure why the O'Sullivan brothers are now playing with Austin Stacks. Perhaps they are living/working in the greater Tralee area and long distance travel is too demanding. Perhaps it stems from a row with their home club. I do not know. While I wish them well it leaves me with a feeling of disappointment and discomfort at a time when Valentia are struggling badly. Inevitably, this set me thinking about another man and another time. How he rowed from the island to the mainland and back again when division and county came calling. It was palpably clear by what he said , by what he wrote and how he disported himself on the field of play that Michael O'Connell played football for the love of the game, fortified by a love of parish. Winning was of secondary importance and adulation was a nuisance. Naive and quaint by the attitudes of today.But noble too. Naivety and nobility. Incomparable and infuriating. Michael was a man , as Bryan McMahon might put it, who dared be himself. A rare and precious commodity. Oh, he was different alright. I must acknowledge of course that nostalgia in too large a dose can debilitate both mind and soul. But still. Michael, I hope you are still keeping well back there. Always on my mind. Were Waterville a club side in those 3 county finals in the late 60s. Mick O'Connell and Mick O'Dwyer were the mainstays. I am not sure if it was just Mick O’Connell joined Waterville for a few county championships or the entire Valentia team , presumably the latter. Of course Valentia continued to field a team in the South Kerry championship during those years with Mick O’Connell in their midst. My memory of those Waterville matches is hazy enough but I clearly remember that is was Mick O’Dwyer who was the driving force , playing football that belonged on another planet. It is a shame that he did pull off one of them. I wonder has anybody on here a better recall of those Waterville efforts?
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mandad
Senior Member
Posts: 448
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Post by mandad on Aug 22, 2020 20:07:33 GMT
In 1933 there were three separate teams on Valentia island, Derarcas, Young Islanders, and Spring Hallows. The Western Union Cable Station closed down in 1966. As a result, many families were forced to leave the island to take up employment elsewhere, including Mick O’Connell himself who took up temporary employment in Newcastle in the traditional ‘Beet Campaign’ in the winter of 1966.
In 1967, Valentia Young Islanders took the unprecedented decision to fold the club and declare the Island and ‘Open Area’, citing ‘inability to field a team for the coming season’. Mick O’Connell declared for Waterville. The only other Valentia player to play locally in 1968 was Nealie Murphy who played with Portmagee.
1968 Co. Final - East Kerry 6-8. Waterville 1-9. 1969. Co. Final - East Kerry 2-7 Waterville 1-8. 1970. Co. Final - East Kerry 1-15 Waterville 0-15
They were we beaten in the semi-final 1971 by Shannon Rangers.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 22, 2020 20:18:53 GMT
East Kerry had a powerful team. They won the first 'club' All Ireland.
The goal in the last final was from a Donie oSullivan free from far out that went all the way to the net.
Everyone was rooting for Waterville at that time bar East Kerry.
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Post by dc84 on Aug 23, 2020 9:49:41 GMT
Nice bit of history there lads! I know there are so many negative aspects at the moment but one great thing for me as someone who is living outside the county is the amount of club games there ate to watch its fantastic! I hope the streaming will continue post pandemic id happily pay 100e for a season pass if the county board are reading this , maybe anyone with a season ticket should get it for free just a thought!
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 23, 2020 9:57:52 GMT
Nice bit of history there lads! I know there are so many negative aspects at the moment but one great thing for me as someone who is living outside the county is the amount of club games there ate to watch its fantastic! agree to that. And can i say that the winner takes all edge is what makes it. No more back door hopefully in either hurling or football championship hopefully
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 26, 2020 16:05:52 GMT
Consent
Irish
Green light for GAA's hotel near Croke Park
August 26 2020 02:30 AM
The GAA has secured planning permission for a seven storey, 200-bedroom hotel on the grounds of Clonliffe College located close to Croke Park in Dublin.
Dublin City Council has granted planning permission for the proposal in spite of opposition from a number of local residents, a nursing home operator and the Mountjoy Square Society.
Stock market-listed hotel group, Dalata is to operate the hotel under the group's Maldron brand.
The city council gave the project the green light after the planner in the case concluded that the scale of the development "is acceptable and would not seriously injure amenities of the neighbouring properties which surround the application site".
The Council planner concluded that "the proposed development would provide high-quality modern hotel accommodation as well as an active ground floor uses".
However, planning consultants for operator of the family run Shrewsbury House Nursing Home, Margaret Gaughran claimed that the proposal would seriously injure the residential amenities of adjoining dwellings and would constitute an excessive scale and density of development in a prominent location.
Chairperson of the Mountjoy Square Society, Karin O'Flanagan argued that the hotel site is currently used as a 2,000- to 3,000-space car park for Croke Park for match-days and concerts.
Ms O'Flanagan said the proposed extinguishment of the car park to make way for the hotel "will have a disproportionately negative impact on the surrounding metropolitan area and on the functioning of the stadium itself".
The loss of the car park and no planned replacement will result in more legal and illegal parking on streets in the area and greater traffic congestion, said Ms O'Flanagan.
Drumcondra resident, Paul Tierney told the city council that the "scale and bulk of the development is excessive". Clonliffe Rd resident, Denis Costello told the city council that the proposed hotel development is unsuitable for the site as its dominant positioning so close to Clonliffe Rd would be out of character with the area.
A spokesman for the GAA stated yesterday "Croke Park is pleased" to have received planning permission for a new 200-bedroom hotel on the recently acquired Clonliffe College site".
Irish Independent
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Post by onlykerry on Aug 26, 2020 16:20:42 GMT
A spokesman for the GAA stated yesterday "Croke Park is pleased" to have received planning permission for a new 200-bedroom hotel on the recently acquired Clonliffe College site". Irish Independent An interesting turn of phrase - "Croke Park is pleased", not the GAA or anything else but the business that is Croke Park. Further proof of the divergence between the grass roots association that is call the GAA and the business that is managed from Croke Park - or am I being over sensitive.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 26, 2020 16:36:37 GMT
I am sure the PP was in the pipeline for some time but i cant it being built for a few years.
Rakes of half empty hotels around. Dublin city centre is eerie without office workers and tourists.
Airbnbs are now available for long tern rental too.
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Post by onlykerry on Aug 26, 2020 16:57:51 GMT
I am sure the PP was in the pipeline for some time but i cant it being built for a few years. Rakes of half empty hotels around. Dublin city centre is eerie without office workers and tourists. Airbnbs are now available for long tern rental too. As with so many projects it will end up going to An Bord Pleanala and take another year before the PP is actually finalised - all it takes is one of the objectors to appeal. Was in Dublin city centre recently and found it erie with the lack of people and the number of premises closed - restaurants in particular.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 29, 2020 17:58:58 GMT
Irish Times Logo User Menu NEWS SPORT
Seán Moran Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 06:00 0 Necessity has been mothering plenty of invention in the GAA during the past six months but in one vital area, communication, a trickle of technology has turned into a torrent.
This year, with its enforced alienation of match goers, is by no means the first experience of live streaming matches, which adventurous clubs have been dabbling in for a while and which Croke Park have been harnessing for the diaspora on the GAAGO platform in conjunction with RTÉ since 2016.
It has, however, provided a massive stimulus, according to Noel Quinn, the GAA’s senior marketing and media rights manager.
“You’d have to call it a success. What has surprised me has been the phenomenal mobilisation nationwide. There have varying levels of that success but at this stage every county has streamed a live game and if you had said that six months ago they’d have been saying, ‘not for us’ and ‘maybe next year’ but needs must in the circumstances.
“We’ve been supporting and advising county boards – as much to warn off anyone trying to take advantage. We’ve protocols in place that help clubs to protect themselves as well as guarding our national rights.”
In the rush to bring fixtures to club members, who have either struggled to secure tickets in the context of the old limit of 200 at a match (de facto, closer to 100) or else have been completely shut out by the Government directive to play fixtures behind closed doors, have been accessing live streaming services or Facebook links.
This has provided a vital link, which is also proving a source of some revenue, with streaming subscriptions passing 10,000 in both Wexford and Galway.
Quinn says that whereas television and particularly the big terrestrial stations continue to be the most effective tools of games promotion beyond physically heading to the playing field and coaching youngsters, the broadcast landscape has changed almost beyond recognition during his 13 years in Croke Park.
“Broadcast is our mass-exposure vehicle. Traditionally it has been TV but the next deal I’ll be working on with Peter McKenna [GAA commercial director] will run from 2022 and will be my sixth media rights cycle in Croke Park. It’s crazy the change and evolution since my first at the tail end of 2007.
“Media rights used just be sold with no stipulations, which was a direct sale for a fee but increasingly, the GAA has adopted what’s called a ‘moderation’ position in which broadcasters are asked what fixtures they want to show and how they intend to present them.
“We’re still maintaining that traditional linear relationship with the television partners but we’ve expanded into the OTT space [Over the Top – technology that delivers streaming straight to the consumer], which is huge in recent years and driven by sport.
“It’s why Amazon are getting into sport, why Disney Plus have merged with ESPN. Sport is the last bastion of live viewing. Netflix and Apple TV have conditioned people to pay and watch on appointment. It’s come into sport, Ireland and the GAA and when GAAGO was set up in 2014 that was our first step into OTT.”
The word he most uses is ‘balance’, which describes the trade-off between allowing optimal access to streaming services while at the same time respecting the interests of the established media rights holders.
He references the permission granted by the latter for live streaming to go ahead at the same time as their terrestrial broadcasts, which is at odds with one of the most established principles of media rights – avoiding wherever possible a clash between rights holders.
“Kudos to RTÉ and TG4 for their generosity in allowing streaming to happen as well as providing a quality offering on television. They knew that it was cannibalising their rights but only in extenuating circumstances.”
Quinn also reflects on the irony of the firestorm of controversy that attended the first rights issue to Sky six years ago on the question of awarding championship rights to subscription television.
“It’s been an interesting process. Society has been conditioned to accept that it will pay for Spotify and Netflix and is now okay with paying for Sarsfields against Clarinbridge in a game they wouldn’t see otherwise.”
Another challenge on the horizon and one not fully resolved yet is how to deliver satisfactory coverage of the proposed intercounty championship, scheduled from October, in the context of a jam-packed schedule and the possibility of it being played behind closed doors or to tiny capacities.
“It’s still a work in progress because there are so many moving parts. Normally we have an 18-week championship and 45 live games. We now have a nine-week championship, half the amount of time. As an amateur association we don’t have Friday night lights or midweek matches so there’s a limited number of slots, Saturday and Sunday.
“We’re going to have to look at particular time slots and also things like venues with no floodlights and same-day finishes.
“RTÉ and Sky will announce their respective schedules in the next few weeks. It will be a challenge because if people can’t attend we need to get as much coverage as possible, live TV and streaming.
“Also bear in mind with other sports like soccer, rugby, athletics and every other sport that’s been back-logged to Q3 and Q4 this year, there’s going to be a drain on technical services personnel. Getting this done will be a mammoth task.”
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