Against the Breeze
By Paddy Heaney
First Published March 10 2009
AS Tadhg Kennelly walked off the Bellaghy pitch on Sunday evening, a posse of newspaper journalists waited for him at the corner of the ground.
Tadhg was the story. After spending 10 years in the outback that is Aussie Rules football, he had finally made his debut for Kerry.
Smiling and chatting as he made his way towards the changing rooms, Kennelly probably knew the crowd of grim-faced reporters was waiting for him.
“Can we get a word, Tadhg?”
“I’ll speak to you when I come out,” came the cheery response.
Kennelly is a skilled media practitioner. They loved him in Australia. He danced a jig on the podium when the Sydney Swans won the Grand Final.
His popularity was evident during last year’s International Rules Tour. Members of the Irish squad who spent time in his company readily testified to his appeal. Women stopped him in the street. Good-looking women.
And yet there was none of the jealousy that normally comes with such popularity. He is one of those rare specimens, loved by women, admired by men.
After showering and changing, he was true to his word and presented himself for an interview to the waiting journalists.
With his tan and white teeth, he jarred with the pale, yellow-toothed hacks surrounding him.
Or maybe it was his comments which didn’t seem to tally with his new environment. When asked how he felt about making his senior debut, Kennelly said: “I felt a bit emotional before the game. When Jack called me to come on, I kind of welled up a bit.”
My reaction to Kennelly’s response was instantly negative. ‘Tadhg still thinks he’s talking blarney to the Australians,’ I said to myself.
It is all well and good Riverdancing in the MCG. But this is the GAA and Tadhg Kennelly was in Bellaghy, a place where men don’t ‘well up’ before they play a game of football.
Of course, my response to Kennelly’s statement says more about me than it does about the Kerryman. As my uncle Pat once observed about his own family: “The Heaneys don’t have hearts, they’ve pumps.”
This emotional vacuum means my default position ranges from scepticism to outright distrust. Or, as a southerner might say, I’m just a typical Nordie.
Too cold. Too blunt. Too cynical. Too forthright. And far too damned serious. This is how our southern cousins are increasingly viewing us lot ‘up North’. Our zealous behaviour on all issues
regarding the GAA is increasingly becoming a source of irritation to them, and has led to a growing north-south divide.
In the south, they just couldn’t be bothered with the hassle. It’s not like there was no opposition to the players’ grants or the International Rules outside Ulster.
But, there was no way they would be driving to hotels on a cold winter night to demonstrate their opposition. Similarly, none of the other provincial councils would bother debating a motion about the International Rules, an issue which is an irrelevance to them.
But that’s just the way we seem to be in Ulster. More militant. Always shouting from the sidelines.
Take Tadhg Kennelly as an example. After opting not to play Gaelic football in favour of a career in the AFL, the Listowel man has already been appointed as the coaching officer for North Kerry.
We can only assume that the Kerry County Board overlooked candidates who have been
actively involved in coaching Gaelic games during the decade in which Kennelly was playing Aussie Rules.
Yet, there has been no public outcry. Just imagine if that happened in an Ulster county. There would be a riot.
It can be assumed there will be some ill-feeling in Kerry. But it will be suppressed and contained. This isn’t an entirely healthy way of dealing with issues (see ‘The Field’ by John B Keane from Listowel, North Kerry).
Buried anger doesn’t go away. It only festers and ferments until the days comes when it can’t be stifled any longer.
This is precisely what has happened in Cork where a dysfunctional and power-hungry county board has been allowed to go unchallenged for too long.
A catastrophic error from chairman Jerome O’Sullivan has finally brought the situation to a head. The defining moment in the saga came when O’Sullivan stated that the clubs of Cork would have no say in deciding who manages the county hurling team.
O’Sullivan made the mistake of confirming what the clubs had known for a long time – the county board was a law onto itself, an inner sanctum that ran its business without feeling any need to consult the people they were supposed to be serving.
And now the clubs have risen. At long last, they are prepared to give voice to the frustration that has been building for years.
The question that must be asked is: why did it take so long? Why did the clubs allow themselves to be marginalised by the
power-brokers at Pairc Ui Chaoimh?
The answer is simple. No-one was prepared to speak out. No-one was prepared to offend or to be offended. Too much hassle. Better to say nothing. It’s not worth it.
But it is worth it.
Southerners may feel that we in the North are a little too ‘precious’ about the GAA.
This attitude is not because Ulstermen are better gaels than their southern counterparts. It is because there is a greater
appreciation in Ulster that the GAA is ‘precious’. It needs to be protected.
Whether you agree or disagree with ‘Of One Belief’ and Mark Conway’s strident opposition to the player grants is irrelevant. The same applies to Mickey Harte and his stance on the International Rules.
The important thing is that there are individuals and groups who are prepared to challenge
anything which they believe contradicts the ethos of the GAA.
It’s true, we nordies could sometimes benefit from adopting some of the laissez-faire attitude of our southern cousins. We can be a bit po-faced at times.
But the Gaels in the south could also profit from copying their placard-wielding Ulster
counterparts.
The clubs in Cork kept their heads down for so long that the county board forgot they were there.
When it comes to the things in life that are of value, it is absolutely necessary to stand up and speak out.
Monday 11 May 2009
35 All-Irelands suggest Kerry folk might know a thing or two
Against the Breeze
By Paddy Heaney
VISIT THE OFFICIAL IRISHNEWS.COM 125 SITE CLICK HERE
By Paddy Heaney
First Published March 3 2009
When I met Eoin Liston at the Nationwide Building Society in Tralee last September, the Kerry legend was under pressure.
The previous week a Sunday newspaper had carried a scare store about the Nationwide. It was an uncertain time and Eoin hadn’t much time to spend chatting to a journalist.
Nevertheless, my interview with ‘the Bomber’ ended with the two of us waltzing around his office, trying to avoid clattering into the table and chairs.
Those confused by this behaviour may be relieved to learn that we were simulating a tackling drill that’s fairly standard practice among northern county teams.
When I failed to explain the drill to the Bomber’s satisfaction, he asked me for a physical demonstration. Naturally, ‘the Bomber’ was the forward and I was the defender.
I demonstrated the ‘near hand’ tackling technique which prevents forwards from drawing easy fouls by grabbing an outstretched arm and falling over.
I told ‘the Bomber’ that if he watched Tyrone, he would see that their players tackled with the ‘near’ hand all the time. The Bomber, who is a club manager in Kerry, was utterly fascinated.
Liston loves his football and he talked about all facets of the game with unbridled enthusiasm. So much so that the interview ended with the seven-time All-Ireland medallist asking me for my telephone number.
Think about that. A GAA icon, unabashedly seeking to learn something from a journalist whom he’d never met before in his life.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is genuine humility. The attitude of ‘the Bomber’ and many other Kerrymen is in marked contrast to the growing legion of ex-footballers, managers, and supporters in Ulster who reckon they have nothing left to learn.
When Kerrymen occasionally drop their guard to voice a complaint about the “nouveaux riches” in the north they point to our arrogance and growing conceitedness. It must be said their objections aren’t without foundation.
Let’s consider a few home truths. Kerry have won 35 All-Ireland titles. And yes, I know what you Kerry-begrudgers are already saying, that they won the bulk of those medals ‘back in the day’. This is nonsense.
During the last 20 years, Kerry have lifted the Sam Maguire Cup on five occasions (1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2007). Also, bear in mind that these five titles were won during a period which covered the 11-year ‘famine’ that lasted from 1986 to 1997.
That same period of time marked an era of unparalleled success for Ulster football in which the Sam Maguire Cup was brought north on eight occasions.
All in all, this means that, during the last 20 years, our proud and boastful nine-county province has managed to beat the one county of Kerry on a scoreline of 8-5. It’s not exactly a trouncing.
And yet listen to northern gaels and you’d swear that Kerry were our poor cousins. An increasingly sniffy attitude is being adopted towards the most successful county in the history of the game.
The longer this unfounded superiority complex persists, the more likely Kerry are to remain in their vaunted position at the top of the roll of honour.
Why? Because Kerry’s greatness lies in the fact that they’re never too proud to copy.
When Paidi O Se refused to learn from Armagh and Tyrone in 2002 and 2003, he was swiftly replaced. His successor Jack O’Connor admitted that he met an Ulster coach to learn tackling drills. O’Connor openly revealed that he analysed DVDs of Tyrone over and over again.
Meanwhile, we in Ulster steadfastly refuse to imitate any aspect of the county which continues to dominate gaelic football.
In a way, northern gaels now share the outlook of some of our unionist brethren. Their terms of reference and field of vision stop at Newry.
Subsequently, Ulster counties only copy other Ulster counties. For instance, since Derry became the first county to develop a purpose-built training complex, they have been copied by Armagh, Monaghan, and Fermanagh. Donegal, Tyrone and Antrim also plan to follow suit.
The same can be said of Club Tyrone which has spawned Club Derry, Club Antrim, Club Erne and the Friends of the Orchard County.
Ulster is the ultimate ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ province. Templates for Go-games, development squads, and foreign training camps have all been slavishly imitated.
In Ulster, we believe that success at underage level and schools level are pre-requisites for success at senior level.
But Kerry buck all these accepted tenets of Ulster football. Their schools don’t win the Hogan Cup. In 1994, they won their only All-Ireland minor title of the past 20 years. They have no county training complex. The seniors train on a pitch beside Fitzgerald Stadium.
And yet, Kerry continue to thrive at senior level. How? They must do something that sets them apart.
It could be the unique way in which they set up their county Championship. The divisional system allows the best players from smaller clubs to compete with the heavyweight outfits like Laune Rangers, Dr Croke’s, and Kerin O’Rahilly’s.
Last season’s South Kerry side was an amalgamation of eight clubs: St Mary’s, Cahirciveen, Rendard, Waterville, Sneem, Derrynane, Skellig Rangers, Valentia and St Michael’s, Foilmore.
It must also be noted that divisional competition hasn’t diminished the quality of the smaller clubs. South Kerry produced this year’s All-Ireland Junior (Skellig Rangers) and Intermediate champions (St Michael’s, Foilmore).
An argument could be made that the divisional system helps to dilute the instense rivalry of club football that is so prevalent in a county like Derry.
If the Kerry model was replicated in Derry, then the best players from Claudy, Foreglen, Drum, Drumsurn, and Ardmore could form a North Derry divisional team. A North-West team would comprise Magilligan, Limavady, Glack, Faughanvale, Slaughtmanus, Ogra Colmcille, and Steelstown. These divisional sides would play in the senior championship against clubs such as Dungiven, Ballinderry, and Bellaghy. Likewise in Down, the Belfast-based clubs of Bredagh, Carryduff, and St Paul’s, Holywood could form an East Down side.
It’s just a suggestion. But the main thrust of the argument lies in the fact that we in Ulster have not made a concentrated and deliberate effort to rigorously examine the structures of Kerry football.
There must be a reason why they can continue to prosper despite an absence of specialised training complexes and successful college and minor teams.
Only pride, the price of petrol and a partitionist mindset is stopping Ulster counties from turning their myopic gaze to the deep south of the country.
Part of Kerry’s strength lies in their willingness to learn from the opponent that beats them. Unless Ulster teams are willing to learn from the strongest county of them all, then we are never going to produce humble bank managers (with seven All-Ireland medals) who practise tackling drills in their office.
PS Eoin, I’m still waiting on that call.
The previous week a Sunday newspaper had carried a scare store about the Nationwide. It was an uncertain time and Eoin hadn’t much time to spend chatting to a journalist.
Nevertheless, my interview with ‘the Bomber’ ended with the two of us waltzing around his office, trying to avoid clattering into the table and chairs.
Those confused by this behaviour may be relieved to learn that we were simulating a tackling drill that’s fairly standard practice among northern county teams.
When I failed to explain the drill to the Bomber’s satisfaction, he asked me for a physical demonstration. Naturally, ‘the Bomber’ was the forward and I was the defender.
I demonstrated the ‘near hand’ tackling technique which prevents forwards from drawing easy fouls by grabbing an outstretched arm and falling over.
I told ‘the Bomber’ that if he watched Tyrone, he would see that their players tackled with the ‘near’ hand all the time. The Bomber, who is a club manager in Kerry, was utterly fascinated.
Liston loves his football and he talked about all facets of the game with unbridled enthusiasm. So much so that the interview ended with the seven-time All-Ireland medallist asking me for my telephone number.
Think about that. A GAA icon, unabashedly seeking to learn something from a journalist whom he’d never met before in his life.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is genuine humility. The attitude of ‘the Bomber’ and many other Kerrymen is in marked contrast to the growing legion of ex-footballers, managers, and supporters in Ulster who reckon they have nothing left to learn.
When Kerrymen occasionally drop their guard to voice a complaint about the “nouveaux riches” in the north they point to our arrogance and growing conceitedness. It must be said their objections aren’t without foundation.
Let’s consider a few home truths. Kerry have won 35 All-Ireland titles. And yes, I know what you Kerry-begrudgers are already saying, that they won the bulk of those medals ‘back in the day’. This is nonsense.
During the last 20 years, Kerry have lifted the Sam Maguire Cup on five occasions (1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2007). Also, bear in mind that these five titles were won during a period which covered the 11-year ‘famine’ that lasted from 1986 to 1997.
That same period of time marked an era of unparalleled success for Ulster football in which the Sam Maguire Cup was brought north on eight occasions.
All in all, this means that, during the last 20 years, our proud and boastful nine-county province has managed to beat the one county of Kerry on a scoreline of 8-5. It’s not exactly a trouncing.
And yet listen to northern gaels and you’d swear that Kerry were our poor cousins. An increasingly sniffy attitude is being adopted towards the most successful county in the history of the game.
The longer this unfounded superiority complex persists, the more likely Kerry are to remain in their vaunted position at the top of the roll of honour.
Why? Because Kerry’s greatness lies in the fact that they’re never too proud to copy.
When Paidi O Se refused to learn from Armagh and Tyrone in 2002 and 2003, he was swiftly replaced. His successor Jack O’Connor admitted that he met an Ulster coach to learn tackling drills. O’Connor openly revealed that he analysed DVDs of Tyrone over and over again.
Meanwhile, we in Ulster steadfastly refuse to imitate any aspect of the county which continues to dominate gaelic football.
In a way, northern gaels now share the outlook of some of our unionist brethren. Their terms of reference and field of vision stop at Newry.
Subsequently, Ulster counties only copy other Ulster counties. For instance, since Derry became the first county to develop a purpose-built training complex, they have been copied by Armagh, Monaghan, and Fermanagh. Donegal, Tyrone and Antrim also plan to follow suit.
The same can be said of Club Tyrone which has spawned Club Derry, Club Antrim, Club Erne and the Friends of the Orchard County.
Ulster is the ultimate ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ province. Templates for Go-games, development squads, and foreign training camps have all been slavishly imitated.
In Ulster, we believe that success at underage level and schools level are pre-requisites for success at senior level.
But Kerry buck all these accepted tenets of Ulster football. Their schools don’t win the Hogan Cup. In 1994, they won their only All-Ireland minor title of the past 20 years. They have no county training complex. The seniors train on a pitch beside Fitzgerald Stadium.
And yet, Kerry continue to thrive at senior level. How? They must do something that sets them apart.
It could be the unique way in which they set up their county Championship. The divisional system allows the best players from smaller clubs to compete with the heavyweight outfits like Laune Rangers, Dr Croke’s, and Kerin O’Rahilly’s.
Last season’s South Kerry side was an amalgamation of eight clubs: St Mary’s, Cahirciveen, Rendard, Waterville, Sneem, Derrynane, Skellig Rangers, Valentia and St Michael’s, Foilmore.
It must also be noted that divisional competition hasn’t diminished the quality of the smaller clubs. South Kerry produced this year’s All-Ireland Junior (Skellig Rangers) and Intermediate champions (St Michael’s, Foilmore).
An argument could be made that the divisional system helps to dilute the instense rivalry of club football that is so prevalent in a county like Derry.
If the Kerry model was replicated in Derry, then the best players from Claudy, Foreglen, Drum, Drumsurn, and Ardmore could form a North Derry divisional team. A North-West team would comprise Magilligan, Limavady, Glack, Faughanvale, Slaughtmanus, Ogra Colmcille, and Steelstown. These divisional sides would play in the senior championship against clubs such as Dungiven, Ballinderry, and Bellaghy. Likewise in Down, the Belfast-based clubs of Bredagh, Carryduff, and St Paul’s, Holywood could form an East Down side.
It’s just a suggestion. But the main thrust of the argument lies in the fact that we in Ulster have not made a concentrated and deliberate effort to rigorously examine the structures of Kerry football.
There must be a reason why they can continue to prosper despite an absence of specialised training complexes and successful college and minor teams.
Only pride, the price of petrol and a partitionist mindset is stopping Ulster counties from turning their myopic gaze to the deep south of the country.
Part of Kerry’s strength lies in their willingness to learn from the opponent that beats them. Unless Ulster teams are willing to learn from the strongest county of them all, then we are never going to produce humble bank managers (with seven All-Ireland medals) who practise tackling drills in their office.
PS Eoin, I’m still waiting on that call.
VISIT THE OFFICIAL IRISHNEWS.COM 125 SITE CLICK HERE
Tuesday 24 February 2009
Second-class treatment for second city’s gaels
Against the Breeze
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 24/02/2009
DURING the International Rules tour in Melbourne last year, GAA President Nickey Brennan announced that Belfast was being lined up to host the first Test in this year’s series.
Brennan wanted the game to be staged in IRELAND’S SECOND CITY. Unfortunately, others in Croke Park, including the incoming president Christy Cooney, didn’t share Brennan’s enthusiasm for staging the game in Casement Park.
When the discussion returned to Ireland, the GAA’s management committee came up with an alternative plan. They asked the four provincial councils to make a case for a venue in their jurisdiction. At this juncture, Casement Park’s bid to host the first Test was dead in the water.
How can we make this claim? Very simply. That’s the way the GAA works.Can anyone recall the Connacht Council having to submit a proposal for Pearse Stadium when the first Test was staged there in 2006?
The bidding process was a classic GAA smokescreen: its sole purpose was to give the illusion that Casement Park was defeated in a fair, democratic process.
It’s all window-dressing of course. If there was a will by the GAA’s management committee for this game to be held in Ireland’s second city, then it would have been done and dusted with the minimum of fuss. The notion that each of the four provinces had an equal chance is a total farce. After Pearse Stadium was used in 2006, no stadium in Connacht stood a chance. The same applied to any venue in Leinster as Croke Park is used for the second test.
As it panned out, a bid for Casement Park was submitted by Antrim secretary Frankie Quinn. The Cavan County Board also put in a bid for Kingspan Breffni Park. Both submissions paled in comparison to the all-singing and all-dancing business plan that was submitted in favour of the Gaelic Grounds by the Limerick County Board.
Their bid for the Gaelic Grounds came with a letter of endorsement from the Munster Council and included letters of support from a range of third parties including media groups and commercial interests in Limerick. The Limerick County Board and the Munster Council should be congratulated on their success – but it must be noted that the access to the Gaelic Grounds is awful and the changing rooms are no better than in Casement Park. The irony in all of this is that Nickey Brennan, who campaigned to have the Test held in Belfast, received virtually no support from Ulster when he went head-to-head against Cooney in the race for the presidency in 2005.
Meanwhile, Cooney, who got huge support from Ulster due to his opposition to the opening of Croke Park, didn’t seem to remember those votes when it came to holding the International Rules game in Belfast. It’s a pity that Cooney and his colleagues in the GAA’s Management Committee failed to appreciate why this game should be staged in Ireland’s second city.
The dire state of Gaelic games in Belfast is probably the single biggest problem facing the GAA. Dublin is thriving compared to its northern counterpart. The contrast was illustrated at the start of the National League. With the help of Dublin’s enthusiastic fan base, a total of 79,161 fans were packed into Croke Park for the county’s opening game against Tyrone. The following day, a trickle of Antrim fans turned up to watch the Saffron footballers play Wicklow in Casement.
The vast scale of the malaise facing Belfast was rammed home to me a few weeks ago when I accepted an invitation from St Gemma’s High School in north Belfast to speak to some of their pupils, and others from their feeder primaries. Over the course of an enjoyable day, I spoke to four different groups of roughly 30 pupils. From approximately 120 children, about half-a-dozen were members of a GAA club (Ardoyne Kickhams).
In one group, not a single pupil had ever heard of Mickey Harte (some Irish News columnists are better known than others). Like other inner city areas, north Belfast is afflicted by high unemployment, low incomes, poor health, fractured social structures, low educational achievement, and poor housing.
But these problems can’t be used as an excuse for the virtual non-existence of the GAA. Ballymun isn’t exactly the French Riviera, but they have a first class GAA club. Furthermore, the problems experienced in inner city Belfast are the very reason why the GAA should be trying to gain a foothold in these areas.
A sporting and cultural organisation that promotes a sense of individual worth, and fosters pride in place is exactly what these communities need. Yet, let’s not kid ourselves – while the GAA is struggling in parts of west and north Belfast, it’s not exactly thriving in the south of the city. There are three primary schools within half-a-mile of the Ormeau Road and Gaelic football isn’t being coached in any of them.
Again, the comparison with Dublin demonstrates the chasm between the country’s two main urban centres. St Vincent’s from north Dublin won last year’s All-Ireland club championship, while Kilmacud Croke’s from the prosperous south of the city have qualified for this year’s final.
Dublin clubs have benefited from massive cash investment from the Leinster Council and Central Council. Belfast is playing catch-up, but the Ulster Council is in the final stages of completing a strategy designed to address the problems affecting the city.
Yet, just think how an International Rules test in west Belfast would have helped to generate some interest in the GAA. Free tickets could have been distributed to primary schools. Yes, it would only be a start, but it would serve as an introduction to Cumann Luthchleas Gael. But instead, the game goes to Limerick and Munster, the province of the incoming president, Christy Cooney.
Who knows? The schoolchildren among the 570,000 population of urban Belfast might watch it on television. Or then again, they mightn’t even know the game is taking place. Belfast.
As far as some in the GAA are concerned, IRELAND’S SECOND-CLASS CITY.
- Readers of Paddy’s column can enjoy a glossy 12-page Best of Against the Breeze booklet free in The Irish News tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
VISIT THE OFFICIAL IRISHNEWS.COM 125 SITE CLICK HERE
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 24/02/2009
DURING the International Rules tour in Melbourne last year, GAA President Nickey Brennan announced that Belfast was being lined up to host the first Test in this year’s series.
Brennan wanted the game to be staged in IRELAND’S SECOND CITY. Unfortunately, others in Croke Park, including the incoming president Christy Cooney, didn’t share Brennan’s enthusiasm for staging the game in Casement Park.
When the discussion returned to Ireland, the GAA’s management committee came up with an alternative plan. They asked the four provincial councils to make a case for a venue in their jurisdiction. At this juncture, Casement Park’s bid to host the first Test was dead in the water.
How can we make this claim? Very simply. That’s the way the GAA works.Can anyone recall the Connacht Council having to submit a proposal for Pearse Stadium when the first Test was staged there in 2006?
The bidding process was a classic GAA smokescreen: its sole purpose was to give the illusion that Casement Park was defeated in a fair, democratic process.
It’s all window-dressing of course. If there was a will by the GAA’s management committee for this game to be held in Ireland’s second city, then it would have been done and dusted with the minimum of fuss. The notion that each of the four provinces had an equal chance is a total farce. After Pearse Stadium was used in 2006, no stadium in Connacht stood a chance. The same applied to any venue in Leinster as Croke Park is used for the second test.
As it panned out, a bid for Casement Park was submitted by Antrim secretary Frankie Quinn. The Cavan County Board also put in a bid for Kingspan Breffni Park. Both submissions paled in comparison to the all-singing and all-dancing business plan that was submitted in favour of the Gaelic Grounds by the Limerick County Board.
Their bid for the Gaelic Grounds came with a letter of endorsement from the Munster Council and included letters of support from a range of third parties including media groups and commercial interests in Limerick. The Limerick County Board and the Munster Council should be congratulated on their success – but it must be noted that the access to the Gaelic Grounds is awful and the changing rooms are no better than in Casement Park. The irony in all of this is that Nickey Brennan, who campaigned to have the Test held in Belfast, received virtually no support from Ulster when he went head-to-head against Cooney in the race for the presidency in 2005.
Meanwhile, Cooney, who got huge support from Ulster due to his opposition to the opening of Croke Park, didn’t seem to remember those votes when it came to holding the International Rules game in Belfast. It’s a pity that Cooney and his colleagues in the GAA’s Management Committee failed to appreciate why this game should be staged in Ireland’s second city.
The dire state of Gaelic games in Belfast is probably the single biggest problem facing the GAA. Dublin is thriving compared to its northern counterpart. The contrast was illustrated at the start of the National League. With the help of Dublin’s enthusiastic fan base, a total of 79,161 fans were packed into Croke Park for the county’s opening game against Tyrone. The following day, a trickle of Antrim fans turned up to watch the Saffron footballers play Wicklow in Casement.
The vast scale of the malaise facing Belfast was rammed home to me a few weeks ago when I accepted an invitation from St Gemma’s High School in north Belfast to speak to some of their pupils, and others from their feeder primaries. Over the course of an enjoyable day, I spoke to four different groups of roughly 30 pupils. From approximately 120 children, about half-a-dozen were members of a GAA club (Ardoyne Kickhams).
In one group, not a single pupil had ever heard of Mickey Harte (some Irish News columnists are better known than others). Like other inner city areas, north Belfast is afflicted by high unemployment, low incomes, poor health, fractured social structures, low educational achievement, and poor housing.
But these problems can’t be used as an excuse for the virtual non-existence of the GAA. Ballymun isn’t exactly the French Riviera, but they have a first class GAA club. Furthermore, the problems experienced in inner city Belfast are the very reason why the GAA should be trying to gain a foothold in these areas.
A sporting and cultural organisation that promotes a sense of individual worth, and fosters pride in place is exactly what these communities need. Yet, let’s not kid ourselves – while the GAA is struggling in parts of west and north Belfast, it’s not exactly thriving in the south of the city. There are three primary schools within half-a-mile of the Ormeau Road and Gaelic football isn’t being coached in any of them.
Again, the comparison with Dublin demonstrates the chasm between the country’s two main urban centres. St Vincent’s from north Dublin won last year’s All-Ireland club championship, while Kilmacud Croke’s from the prosperous south of the city have qualified for this year’s final.
Dublin clubs have benefited from massive cash investment from the Leinster Council and Central Council. Belfast is playing catch-up, but the Ulster Council is in the final stages of completing a strategy designed to address the problems affecting the city.
Yet, just think how an International Rules test in west Belfast would have helped to generate some interest in the GAA. Free tickets could have been distributed to primary schools. Yes, it would only be a start, but it would serve as an introduction to Cumann Luthchleas Gael. But instead, the game goes to Limerick and Munster, the province of the incoming president, Christy Cooney.
Who knows? The schoolchildren among the 570,000 population of urban Belfast might watch it on television. Or then again, they mightn’t even know the game is taking place. Belfast.
As far as some in the GAA are concerned, IRELAND’S SECOND-CLASS CITY.
- Readers of Paddy’s column can enjoy a glossy 12-page Best of Against the Breeze booklet free in The Irish News tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
VISIT THE OFFICIAL IRISHNEWS.COM 125 SITE CLICK HERE
Tuesday 17 February 2009
Did you deserve to receive a card on Valentine’s weekend?
Against the Breeze
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 17/02/09
Fast, free-flowing football devoid of cynicism and interruptions. Classy forwards allowed to express themselves. Marauding defenders charging up the pitch and not being body-checked. More scores and fewer frees. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
This is precisely what the experimental rules were supposed to offer. And so far, it seems good. We have been given a tantalising glimpse of what the game could be and it looks fantastic.
The counter-argument, that the rules are taking the physicality out of football, is complete nonsense. There’s nothing manly about pulling jerseys, third-man tackling, and hauling good footballers to the ground. Show me the manager who makes this complaint and I’ll show you a manager with a blanket defence and a shortage of proper footballers.
Given the manner in which these new rules could transform gaelic football for the better, it is hugely tempting to ignore our misgivings and accept the changes at the next Congress.
However, the following stark warning must be heard: If the county boards accept the new rules as they are, then they will have been sold a pup. Unless the rules undergo some serious revision, then nothing but chaos lies in store.
The fundamental problem with the new rules is that the referee is entrusted with far too much responsibility. His interpretation will completely dictate the outcome of a game.
It’s actually unfair on referees because it is putting far too much pressure on them. The very reason this current experimentation hasn’t already ended in uproar is because match officials have not enforced the rules.
Probably through a mixture of sound judgement, sympathy for the players, pressure from Croke Park, and fear of the crowd, the country’s top whistlers have steadfastly refused to implement the new laws.
Subsequently, we have been served up some tasty games. But this has been the result of the country’s top referees doing their best with a system that is inherently flawed.
Sunday’s game between Tyrone and Kerry was a prime example. Jimmy White is a top class referee. He won five county championship with Killybegs as a player/manager. He understands the game. His display in the 2007 Ulster Club final between Crossmaglen and St Gall’s was one of the finest I’ve ever seen.
Like all good whistlers, Jimmy can quickly grasp the rhythm of a game and he tries to let it flow without getting in the way.
But these new rules call for referees to get in the way. They are devised to root out the type of cynical, tactical, and disrupting fouling that has blighted the game.
Unfortunately, we are so conditioned to this type of football that we no longer pass any remarks when a forward decides to haul down a defender who is trying to launch a counter-attack.
Jimmy chose to turn a blind eye when Colm McCullagh grabbed Marc O Se’s jersey and hauled him to the ground. McCullagh had already been black booked. But the black book shouldn’t have made any difference.
The rules are clear: ‘To pull down an opponent’ is a yellow card offence. McCullagh should have walked. So too should Sean O’Sullivan. His late and clumsy shoulder charge into Owen Mulligan’s back was an obvious booking that was not yellow-carded.
While O’Sullivan escaped without the prescribed censure, Conor Gormley was black-booked for his first foul on Tommy Walsh. When Gormley committed his second foul on Walsh in the 35th minute, he should have walked. Again, the rules are clear, but again, White took no action.
By the end of the first half, Jimmy had yellow-carded Joe McMahon. But had he implemented the rules by the letter of the law then Colm McCullagh, Conor Gormley, and Sean O’Sullivan should also have been replaced.
And of course, how Ryan McMenamin managed to stay on the pitch for the entire 73 minutes is nothing short of a miracle. We can only assume that Jimmy received a card and a dozen roses from ‘Ricey’ the previous day.
While Jimmy must have missed Ricey’s ‘cupping’ of Paul ‘Gazza’ Galvin, the Tyrone defender could have been yellow-carded for a selection of other offences.
But now the question we have to ask ourselves is this: was it the type of first half which merited four yellow cards and one red? The answer is an unequivocal ‘No.’
Again, the reason the game wasn’t ruined was because Jimmy White chose to ignore the rules. But consider the possibilities if these new rules were left in the hands of bog-standard club referees. There would be anarchy.
And it’s not just Jimmy White who has adopted a ‘pick and mix’ approach.
On Sunday, Pat McEnaney completely ignored two blatant yellow card offences during the game between Derry and Westmeath. Again, Pat probably did right by doing wrong. But we are talking about the best referees in the country. Sligo’s Marty Duffy behaved in a similar manner for the showcase game between Dublin and Kerry.
However, it seems that the footballers from the lower leagues aren’t benefiting from the same type of leeway.
Antrim had two players replaced in their McKenna Cup game against Armagh. Michael Magill and Aodhan Gallagher could have little complaint – but Armagh players went unpunished for worse offences. Then, at the weekend, Conor McGourty was yellow-carded for a nothing challenge against the Clare goalie.
These new rules have lots to offer. Pat Daly, the head of Games Development at Croke Park, has correctly identified the cancer that’s killing football. The new rules have pointed us in the direction the game must progress.
But, as things stand, it’s impossible for anyone to make a proper judgement on the new rules because we have yet to see them being implemented.
And the fact that the best referees in the country are unwilling to enforce the rules suggests some more work is required.
VISIT THE OFFICIAL IRISHNEWS.COM 125 SITE CLICK HERE
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 17/02/09
Fast, free-flowing football devoid of cynicism and interruptions. Classy forwards allowed to express themselves. Marauding defenders charging up the pitch and not being body-checked. More scores and fewer frees. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
This is precisely what the experimental rules were supposed to offer. And so far, it seems good. We have been given a tantalising glimpse of what the game could be and it looks fantastic.
The counter-argument, that the rules are taking the physicality out of football, is complete nonsense. There’s nothing manly about pulling jerseys, third-man tackling, and hauling good footballers to the ground. Show me the manager who makes this complaint and I’ll show you a manager with a blanket defence and a shortage of proper footballers.
Given the manner in which these new rules could transform gaelic football for the better, it is hugely tempting to ignore our misgivings and accept the changes at the next Congress.
However, the following stark warning must be heard: If the county boards accept the new rules as they are, then they will have been sold a pup. Unless the rules undergo some serious revision, then nothing but chaos lies in store.
The fundamental problem with the new rules is that the referee is entrusted with far too much responsibility. His interpretation will completely dictate the outcome of a game.
It’s actually unfair on referees because it is putting far too much pressure on them. The very reason this current experimentation hasn’t already ended in uproar is because match officials have not enforced the rules.
Probably through a mixture of sound judgement, sympathy for the players, pressure from Croke Park, and fear of the crowd, the country’s top whistlers have steadfastly refused to implement the new laws.
Subsequently, we have been served up some tasty games. But this has been the result of the country’s top referees doing their best with a system that is inherently flawed.
Sunday’s game between Tyrone and Kerry was a prime example. Jimmy White is a top class referee. He won five county championship with Killybegs as a player/manager. He understands the game. His display in the 2007 Ulster Club final between Crossmaglen and St Gall’s was one of the finest I’ve ever seen.
Like all good whistlers, Jimmy can quickly grasp the rhythm of a game and he tries to let it flow without getting in the way.
But these new rules call for referees to get in the way. They are devised to root out the type of cynical, tactical, and disrupting fouling that has blighted the game.
Unfortunately, we are so conditioned to this type of football that we no longer pass any remarks when a forward decides to haul down a defender who is trying to launch a counter-attack.
Jimmy chose to turn a blind eye when Colm McCullagh grabbed Marc O Se’s jersey and hauled him to the ground. McCullagh had already been black booked. But the black book shouldn’t have made any difference.
The rules are clear: ‘To pull down an opponent’ is a yellow card offence. McCullagh should have walked. So too should Sean O’Sullivan. His late and clumsy shoulder charge into Owen Mulligan’s back was an obvious booking that was not yellow-carded.
While O’Sullivan escaped without the prescribed censure, Conor Gormley was black-booked for his first foul on Tommy Walsh. When Gormley committed his second foul on Walsh in the 35th minute, he should have walked. Again, the rules are clear, but again, White took no action.
By the end of the first half, Jimmy had yellow-carded Joe McMahon. But had he implemented the rules by the letter of the law then Colm McCullagh, Conor Gormley, and Sean O’Sullivan should also have been replaced.
And of course, how Ryan McMenamin managed to stay on the pitch for the entire 73 minutes is nothing short of a miracle. We can only assume that Jimmy received a card and a dozen roses from ‘Ricey’ the previous day.
While Jimmy must have missed Ricey’s ‘cupping’ of Paul ‘Gazza’ Galvin, the Tyrone defender could have been yellow-carded for a selection of other offences.
But now the question we have to ask ourselves is this: was it the type of first half which merited four yellow cards and one red? The answer is an unequivocal ‘No.’
Again, the reason the game wasn’t ruined was because Jimmy White chose to ignore the rules. But consider the possibilities if these new rules were left in the hands of bog-standard club referees. There would be anarchy.
And it’s not just Jimmy White who has adopted a ‘pick and mix’ approach.
On Sunday, Pat McEnaney completely ignored two blatant yellow card offences during the game between Derry and Westmeath. Again, Pat probably did right by doing wrong. But we are talking about the best referees in the country. Sligo’s Marty Duffy behaved in a similar manner for the showcase game between Dublin and Kerry.
However, it seems that the footballers from the lower leagues aren’t benefiting from the same type of leeway.
Antrim had two players replaced in their McKenna Cup game against Armagh. Michael Magill and Aodhan Gallagher could have little complaint – but Armagh players went unpunished for worse offences. Then, at the weekend, Conor McGourty was yellow-carded for a nothing challenge against the Clare goalie.
These new rules have lots to offer. Pat Daly, the head of Games Development at Croke Park, has correctly identified the cancer that’s killing football. The new rules have pointed us in the direction the game must progress.
But, as things stand, it’s impossible for anyone to make a proper judgement on the new rules because we have yet to see them being implemented.
And the fact that the best referees in the country are unwilling to enforce the rules suggests some more work is required.
VISIT THE OFFICIAL IRISHNEWS.COM 125 SITE CLICK HERE
Thursday 12 February 2009
Warring Rebels shouldn’t wait for a Pyrrhic victory
Against the Breeze
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 10/02/2009
Maggie Thatcher’s daughter, Carol, got sacked from her job in the BBC last week because she refused to apologise for referring to a black tennis player as a “golliwog”.
Thatcher made the dreadful comment during a private conversation with the presenter Adrian Chiles and the comedienne Jo Brand. Chiles and Brand reported her. There has been some discussion as to why Chiles and Brand were so willing to tout on Thatcher. Political correctness? Maybe.
Politics probably had something to do with it. I have my own pet theory, which I hope is true. I’d like to think that Chiles suffered in some way during Maggie Thatcher’s reign of power. Maybe a family member lost their job.
Jo Brand might also have a callous regard for the Thatchers. A former nurse, she will have witnessed at first hand how Maggie’s cutbacks would have crippled the National Health Service. When presented with the chance of exacting some revenge against the Thatcher dynasty, Brand and Chiles seized it without hesitation.
I dearly hope my theory is true. It could be. Maggie Thatcher and her children’s children will be despised for generations to come. This is the price you pay for ‘not turning,’ and for being prepared to do whatever it takes to win. The Cork County Board should take note. They share some similarities with the ‘Iron Lady.’
In 1984 Thatcher practically invited Arthur Scargill to strike. She created conditions that were so unacceptable to the British miners that Scargill’s National Union of Mineworkers had little other choice. Thatcher had chosen her battleground carefully. She was in a strong position of power, and the full force of the establishment was behind her. The miners were led into an ambush.
The Cork County Board’s decision to reappoint Gerald McCarthy has a certain Thatcherite touch to it. The players had made it known to the board they didn’t want McCarthy. But the board weren’t interested in the players. After the previous year’s strike, they reckoned the public’s sympathy with the players had been exhausted. If the hurlers downed tools again, then it would prove Sean Og and Donal Og were unmanageable, power-hungry, spoilt brats.
Rather than setting out to appease the players, the board jumped at the chance to put the players in their place, and to end the power struggle once and for all. Thatcher’s battle with the miners was part of her bigger war against the trade unions. She wanted to prove the days of the country being dictated to by the unions were over. Defeating the miners was her way of forcibly demonstrating that she was in charge.
Like Thatcher, the Cork board is determined to prove they run gaelic games in the county. They are prepared to see this one through to the bitter end. Gerald McCarthy has evidently being given assurances that he will be backed to the hilt.
It has all got extremely personal and poisonous. Cork hurling is now ripping itself apart. It’s the sporting equivalent of civil war. Houses are divided. Jerry O’Sullivan is chairman of the county board. His son, Paudie is one of the striking hurlers.
Club teams are divided. Kieran Murphy is from Sarsfield’s. He is on strike, but five of his fellow clubmen lined out for the Cork team beaten by Dublin on Sunday.
More than 2,000 Cork supporters turned out to watch a third choice team get beaten by the Dubs. It was a huge crowd for such a fixture. The Cork fans who paid E15 at the turnstiles gave the players a standing ovation before the game, at half-time, and at the final whistle.
There was no admission charge to the public rally held for the striking hurlers in Cork city centre the previous day. Nevertheless, people have other things to be doing on a cold Saturday afternoon and more than 10,000 turned up. It was a dramatic show of support.
But Gerald McCarthy isn’t interested. On the same day, he went on RTE radio and got involved in a ding-dong debate with Donal Og Cusack.
McCarthy argued that the current stand-off is not really about the players’ principles. Instead, he suggested the strike is part of a sub-plot where the long-term aim is pay-for-play.
McCarthy is an honourable man but his words somehow ring hollow. The irony in all of this is that the players are striking because they are amateurs. They don’t play to get paid. They play to win. And they don’t think they are going to win with Gerald McCarthy in charge of them. It’s really that simple.
The Offaly footballers are exactly the same. At the weekend, they ousted Richie Connor, the captain of the All-Ireland winning team of 1982. It was nothing personal against Richie. But you can’t commit yourself to a cause if you think the man in charge isn’t competent. The Wexford hurlers and the Cork footballers performed a similar stunt last year.
In each case, John Meyler and Teddy Holland walked away. It was the sensible thing to do. Further down the line, we must start to ask ourselves: where this is going to end? Many GAA supporters will believe that players are getting too big for their free boots. They will sympathise with county boards whose decisions and appointments are increasingly being undermined and questioned by the players.
Yet, these spats can easily be avoided by sensible management. By communicating with the players, and sussing out their opinions, it’s easy to discover which candidates will command respect in the changing room. The trouble is the Cork County Board is not interested in satisfying the needs of its hurlers. This strike is about personalities and power. It’s about showing who runs Cork hurling.
In their bid to assert authority, the county board is prepared to force their own sons into exile. Like Maggie Thatcher, they could win. And we could very well have seen some of these fine hurlers in the red jersey for the last time.
That would be a huge pity, and not just because these players would be denied the chance to win the MacCarthy Cup. No, the real tragedy would lie in the decades of resentment that such an outcome is guaranteed to generate.
There are some battles where the price of victory is just too great. Sometimes, you’ve got to surrender to win. Gerald McCarthy and the Cork County Board really can’t afford the legacy of bitterness that will come gift-wrapped from winning this particular stand-off. It’s a victory that will be thrown in the faces of their children’s children.
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 10/02/2009
Maggie Thatcher’s daughter, Carol, got sacked from her job in the BBC last week because she refused to apologise for referring to a black tennis player as a “golliwog”.
Thatcher made the dreadful comment during a private conversation with the presenter Adrian Chiles and the comedienne Jo Brand. Chiles and Brand reported her. There has been some discussion as to why Chiles and Brand were so willing to tout on Thatcher. Political correctness? Maybe.
Politics probably had something to do with it. I have my own pet theory, which I hope is true. I’d like to think that Chiles suffered in some way during Maggie Thatcher’s reign of power. Maybe a family member lost their job.
Jo Brand might also have a callous regard for the Thatchers. A former nurse, she will have witnessed at first hand how Maggie’s cutbacks would have crippled the National Health Service. When presented with the chance of exacting some revenge against the Thatcher dynasty, Brand and Chiles seized it without hesitation.
I dearly hope my theory is true. It could be. Maggie Thatcher and her children’s children will be despised for generations to come. This is the price you pay for ‘not turning,’ and for being prepared to do whatever it takes to win. The Cork County Board should take note. They share some similarities with the ‘Iron Lady.’
In 1984 Thatcher practically invited Arthur Scargill to strike. She created conditions that were so unacceptable to the British miners that Scargill’s National Union of Mineworkers had little other choice. Thatcher had chosen her battleground carefully. She was in a strong position of power, and the full force of the establishment was behind her. The miners were led into an ambush.
The Cork County Board’s decision to reappoint Gerald McCarthy has a certain Thatcherite touch to it. The players had made it known to the board they didn’t want McCarthy. But the board weren’t interested in the players. After the previous year’s strike, they reckoned the public’s sympathy with the players had been exhausted. If the hurlers downed tools again, then it would prove Sean Og and Donal Og were unmanageable, power-hungry, spoilt brats.
Rather than setting out to appease the players, the board jumped at the chance to put the players in their place, and to end the power struggle once and for all. Thatcher’s battle with the miners was part of her bigger war against the trade unions. She wanted to prove the days of the country being dictated to by the unions were over. Defeating the miners was her way of forcibly demonstrating that she was in charge.
Like Thatcher, the Cork board is determined to prove they run gaelic games in the county. They are prepared to see this one through to the bitter end. Gerald McCarthy has evidently being given assurances that he will be backed to the hilt.
It has all got extremely personal and poisonous. Cork hurling is now ripping itself apart. It’s the sporting equivalent of civil war. Houses are divided. Jerry O’Sullivan is chairman of the county board. His son, Paudie is one of the striking hurlers.
Club teams are divided. Kieran Murphy is from Sarsfield’s. He is on strike, but five of his fellow clubmen lined out for the Cork team beaten by Dublin on Sunday.
More than 2,000 Cork supporters turned out to watch a third choice team get beaten by the Dubs. It was a huge crowd for such a fixture. The Cork fans who paid E15 at the turnstiles gave the players a standing ovation before the game, at half-time, and at the final whistle.
There was no admission charge to the public rally held for the striking hurlers in Cork city centre the previous day. Nevertheless, people have other things to be doing on a cold Saturday afternoon and more than 10,000 turned up. It was a dramatic show of support.
But Gerald McCarthy isn’t interested. On the same day, he went on RTE radio and got involved in a ding-dong debate with Donal Og Cusack.
McCarthy argued that the current stand-off is not really about the players’ principles. Instead, he suggested the strike is part of a sub-plot where the long-term aim is pay-for-play.
McCarthy is an honourable man but his words somehow ring hollow. The irony in all of this is that the players are striking because they are amateurs. They don’t play to get paid. They play to win. And they don’t think they are going to win with Gerald McCarthy in charge of them. It’s really that simple.
The Offaly footballers are exactly the same. At the weekend, they ousted Richie Connor, the captain of the All-Ireland winning team of 1982. It was nothing personal against Richie. But you can’t commit yourself to a cause if you think the man in charge isn’t competent. The Wexford hurlers and the Cork footballers performed a similar stunt last year.
In each case, John Meyler and Teddy Holland walked away. It was the sensible thing to do. Further down the line, we must start to ask ourselves: where this is going to end? Many GAA supporters will believe that players are getting too big for their free boots. They will sympathise with county boards whose decisions and appointments are increasingly being undermined and questioned by the players.
Yet, these spats can easily be avoided by sensible management. By communicating with the players, and sussing out their opinions, it’s easy to discover which candidates will command respect in the changing room. The trouble is the Cork County Board is not interested in satisfying the needs of its hurlers. This strike is about personalities and power. It’s about showing who runs Cork hurling.
In their bid to assert authority, the county board is prepared to force their own sons into exile. Like Maggie Thatcher, they could win. And we could very well have seen some of these fine hurlers in the red jersey for the last time.
That would be a huge pity, and not just because these players would be denied the chance to win the MacCarthy Cup. No, the real tragedy would lie in the decades of resentment that such an outcome is guaranteed to generate.
There are some battles where the price of victory is just too great. Sometimes, you’ve got to surrender to win. Gerald McCarthy and the Cork County Board really can’t afford the legacy of bitterness that will come gift-wrapped from winning this particular stand-off. It’s a victory that will be thrown in the faces of their children’s children.
Common ‘cents’ prevails as festivities get the thumbs-up
Against the Breeze
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 03/02/09
WHILE driving through north Dublin on Sunday morning, I spotted two hurling teams waiting for the sliotar to be tossed in. It was 11am. I wasn’t envious. There was a biting wind. The car was warm. Not a day for short trousers. The scene reminded me of my school days. Saturday mornings on the loughshore. Poached eggs and toast for breakfast. The right fuel for football in Derrylaughan and Brocagh.
Later on Sunday afternoon, I tuned in to watch some of TG4’s coverage of the National Football League. Again, the scenes weren’t particularly inviting. The game in Pairc Ui Chaoimh had a certain Siberian resonance. Grey, empty, windswept terraces. All that was missing were some soldiers and snow.
But we cannot dismiss or be ashamed of these things. The GAA is about long, boring and unproductive committee meetings. It is about poor games played in front of sparse crowds. For much of the time, it is about the mundane tasks of washing jerseys, selling tickets and driving to another training session.
We keep doing these things safe in the knowledge that we are part of a unique and magnificent sporting organisation. And, at times, we need to remind ourselves of what we have, and how far we have come.
Anyone who had the privilege of being in Croke Park on Saturday night was given that reminder in some style. The message was rammed home with champagne football, bright lights, and glittering explosions. Forceful, convincing and persuasive arguments had been made to criticise the GAA’s decision to spend e500,000 on a fireworks display.
Rather than enter the debate, I decided to wait and see what Jarlath Burns and his committee were going to give us for our money. I think it’s safe to say that anyone who was in Croke Park will not be complaining about the cost.
And let’s not forget, it was the five extra euro added to the admission fee which paid for the visual feast. Besides, not too long ago, half-a-million euro wouldn’t have bought you a bedsit in Ranelagh. Admittedly, the football match was the highlight of the night. In the first half, we were treated to an exhibition from the All-Ireland champions.
Stephen O’Neill has a sublime talent that deserves a bigger audience than club games in Tyrone. It was uplifting to see him strutting his stuff on the stage that befits his majestic left boot. The same can be said of ‘Mugsy’. His goal was great. But the puffed chest, raised chin, and dramatic stare into the throat of Hill 16 was even better. More of the same, please, Mugsy.
What followed after the parade of the teams in 19th century kits and the superb match was a radical departure from the Artane Boys Band. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
Yes, it cost a few quid. Yes, the money could have been used to serve other purposes. But that argument can always be made. An obsession with purpose and with function created places like communist Russia.
The trains ran on time, but no-one was in any rush to leave their grey concrete tower blocks. Why waste money on paint when it could buy new staplers and paper clips for the civil service?
Communism fell because democracy painted better pictures. Potato dumplings might be good for you, but Big Macs and bottles of Coke look good. And people crave colour in their lives. We want a bit of razzamatazz.
The GAA is celebrating 125 years of existence and on Saturday night they presented the Association to the country in a cacophony of colour and strobe lighting. Like any great party, anyone who got off their backside and went to it was glad they made the effort.
But would the men who gathered in the billiards room of the Hayes Hotel in 1884 have approved of spending e500,000 on a fireworks display? Don’t leap to any conclusions. The objective of the GAA’s founding fathers was to promote Ireland’s indigenous games and to stop the country from being colonised by the pastimes of the British Empire.
For much of the past 125 years, the GAA has invested much of its energy in securing the property on which the games would be played. The men in the clubs and counties who realised this vision were not small-minded penny-pinchers. More often than not, they borrowed big in lean times.
Men like Peter Quinn, who forged ahead with redeveloping Croke Park while the IRFU and FAI dithered and waited on Bertie to take them by hand. Nowadays, the battleground has changed, but the threat posed by soccer and rugby remains as large as ever.
So how can the GAA compete with Sky TV’s manic marketing for another Super Sunday? How can young Irishmen resist the allure of mimicking Ronaldo’s gleaming tan and his eye-catching goals?
The answer was given to us at the weekend when the GAA staged its own propaganda show.
Like the citizens of Rome, we gathered at the amphitheatre to watch the games and rejoice at our own magnificence. The spectacle will have had a positive effect on the thousands of impressionable young minds who were brought to the colosseum in north Dublin. Pictures were painted for these future gladiators of the GAA.
And it needs to be so. Because if the GAA is to succeed and prosper for another 125 years, then we need children to grow up wanting to emulate Stevie O’Neill rather than Stevie Gerrard, to score goals like Owen Mulligan rather than Michael Owen.
To achieve that aim, the GAA must provide occasions that will inspire and fire the ambition of the nation’s youth. Given the competition from the Premiership and the Champions League, a couple of big Sundays in September are not enough.
There were 79,161 at Croke Park. Smaller crowds filed into Anfield and the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa for the Super Bowl.
In Croke Park, we were entertained, we were thrilled, we were made to feel proud. The stars of the future were given stars to watch and enough pomp and pageantry to rival any other sport. Some of them just might need to know that there is more to the GAA than shivery Sunday mornings.
€500,000. And it was raised by charging an extra €5 on every seat.
Bah. For propaganda like that, it was a pittance.
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 03/02/09
WHILE driving through north Dublin on Sunday morning, I spotted two hurling teams waiting for the sliotar to be tossed in. It was 11am. I wasn’t envious. There was a biting wind. The car was warm. Not a day for short trousers. The scene reminded me of my school days. Saturday mornings on the loughshore. Poached eggs and toast for breakfast. The right fuel for football in Derrylaughan and Brocagh.
Later on Sunday afternoon, I tuned in to watch some of TG4’s coverage of the National Football League. Again, the scenes weren’t particularly inviting. The game in Pairc Ui Chaoimh had a certain Siberian resonance. Grey, empty, windswept terraces. All that was missing were some soldiers and snow.
But we cannot dismiss or be ashamed of these things. The GAA is about long, boring and unproductive committee meetings. It is about poor games played in front of sparse crowds. For much of the time, it is about the mundane tasks of washing jerseys, selling tickets and driving to another training session.
We keep doing these things safe in the knowledge that we are part of a unique and magnificent sporting organisation. And, at times, we need to remind ourselves of what we have, and how far we have come.
Anyone who had the privilege of being in Croke Park on Saturday night was given that reminder in some style. The message was rammed home with champagne football, bright lights, and glittering explosions. Forceful, convincing and persuasive arguments had been made to criticise the GAA’s decision to spend e500,000 on a fireworks display.
Rather than enter the debate, I decided to wait and see what Jarlath Burns and his committee were going to give us for our money. I think it’s safe to say that anyone who was in Croke Park will not be complaining about the cost.
And let’s not forget, it was the five extra euro added to the admission fee which paid for the visual feast. Besides, not too long ago, half-a-million euro wouldn’t have bought you a bedsit in Ranelagh. Admittedly, the football match was the highlight of the night. In the first half, we were treated to an exhibition from the All-Ireland champions.
Stephen O’Neill has a sublime talent that deserves a bigger audience than club games in Tyrone. It was uplifting to see him strutting his stuff on the stage that befits his majestic left boot. The same can be said of ‘Mugsy’. His goal was great. But the puffed chest, raised chin, and dramatic stare into the throat of Hill 16 was even better. More of the same, please, Mugsy.
What followed after the parade of the teams in 19th century kits and the superb match was a radical departure from the Artane Boys Band. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
Yes, it cost a few quid. Yes, the money could have been used to serve other purposes. But that argument can always be made. An obsession with purpose and with function created places like communist Russia.
The trains ran on time, but no-one was in any rush to leave their grey concrete tower blocks. Why waste money on paint when it could buy new staplers and paper clips for the civil service?
Communism fell because democracy painted better pictures. Potato dumplings might be good for you, but Big Macs and bottles of Coke look good. And people crave colour in their lives. We want a bit of razzamatazz.
The GAA is celebrating 125 years of existence and on Saturday night they presented the Association to the country in a cacophony of colour and strobe lighting. Like any great party, anyone who got off their backside and went to it was glad they made the effort.
But would the men who gathered in the billiards room of the Hayes Hotel in 1884 have approved of spending e500,000 on a fireworks display? Don’t leap to any conclusions. The objective of the GAA’s founding fathers was to promote Ireland’s indigenous games and to stop the country from being colonised by the pastimes of the British Empire.
For much of the past 125 years, the GAA has invested much of its energy in securing the property on which the games would be played. The men in the clubs and counties who realised this vision were not small-minded penny-pinchers. More often than not, they borrowed big in lean times.
Men like Peter Quinn, who forged ahead with redeveloping Croke Park while the IRFU and FAI dithered and waited on Bertie to take them by hand. Nowadays, the battleground has changed, but the threat posed by soccer and rugby remains as large as ever.
So how can the GAA compete with Sky TV’s manic marketing for another Super Sunday? How can young Irishmen resist the allure of mimicking Ronaldo’s gleaming tan and his eye-catching goals?
The answer was given to us at the weekend when the GAA staged its own propaganda show.
Like the citizens of Rome, we gathered at the amphitheatre to watch the games and rejoice at our own magnificence. The spectacle will have had a positive effect on the thousands of impressionable young minds who were brought to the colosseum in north Dublin. Pictures were painted for these future gladiators of the GAA.
And it needs to be so. Because if the GAA is to succeed and prosper for another 125 years, then we need children to grow up wanting to emulate Stevie O’Neill rather than Stevie Gerrard, to score goals like Owen Mulligan rather than Michael Owen.
To achieve that aim, the GAA must provide occasions that will inspire and fire the ambition of the nation’s youth. Given the competition from the Premiership and the Champions League, a couple of big Sundays in September are not enough.
There were 79,161 at Croke Park. Smaller crowds filed into Anfield and the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa for the Super Bowl.
In Croke Park, we were entertained, we were thrilled, we were made to feel proud. The stars of the future were given stars to watch and enough pomp and pageantry to rival any other sport. Some of them just might need to know that there is more to the GAA than shivery Sunday mornings.
€500,000. And it was raised by charging an extra €5 on every seat.
Bah. For propaganda like that, it was a pittance.
Backstage work is what makes Harte’s Tyrone
Against the Breeze
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 27/01/2009
While the Dublin fans will pack out Croke Park on Saturday night, the focus of the attention will be on the visiting All-Ireland champions. And two of the eyes fixed on Tyrone will belong to Kerry manager Jack O’Connor. Jack might be sitting in the Cusack or the Hogan. Or he might watching at home in south Kerry. But he will be watching. We know that for sure.
Unlike other Kerry managers, Jack openly acknowledged that the Kingdom’s footballers could learn a lot from their northern cousins. One of the first things he did when taking over as Kerry manager was to arrange a meeting with an unnamed Ulster coach. Having watched Armagh and Tyrone get the better of Kerry in 2002 and 2003, O’Connor had identified a major weakness in the armoury of the Kingdom’s footballers.
They couldn’t tackle. Well, they couldn’t tackle as well as Tyrone and Armagh. O’Connor wanted to know that he could overcome this major deficiency.
In his book Keys to the Kingdom, O’Connor revealed that he hooked up with a collaborator from the north (who remains at large) who taught him specific coaching methods. Jack returned to Kerry with a smile on his face and a dossier of drills under his arm.
But that was back in 2003 and Mickey Harte is now entering his seventh year as Tyrone senior manager. Truth be told, neither Jack O’Connor nor anyone else will learn a whole lot new when watching Tyrone during Saturday night’s league opener in Croke Park.
By this stage, we are all too familiar with the Tyrone model. Harte will be on the sideline, motionless and pensive. Tony Donnelly, the trusted advisor and good friend, will be standing at his side. The Tyrone subs will be listed alphabetically, showing the absence of a hierarchy among the squad. The Tyrone team will not bear much similarity to the one that lined out at the same venue in September, but they will play to a similar style and pattern.
How do they do it? How can Harte’s teams keep winning with new faces and different gameplans?
The answer will not be found by watching video tapes of Tyrone in action. Rather, by this stage, it’s abundantly clear that the real secret to Tyrone’s success lies in what is done off the field.
Communication is central to Harte’s masterly management. Typically of the man, he’s never made any great secret of his methods.
After lifting Sam in 2003, Harte revealed in Knocking Down Heaven’s Door that he had been in frequent contact with Bart McEnroe. McEnroe is often described as a ‘motivational speaker’, but this is wholly inaccurate and misleading. Having spoken to other people who have sought out McEnroe’s services, the feedback is pretty much the same. Effective communication lies at the heart of McEnroe’s tutorials.
Getting the 30-odd players in the room to understand exactly what you want and how you want to achieve it is the key challenge facing any manager. Harte has identified this challenge as his primary task in the Tyrone management structure. He wants Tyrone to play to a certain system, but without being slaves to that system.
Harte preaches best practice, but doesn’t demand rigid adherence. This explains why his captain Dooher knows he has the liberty to take off on an 70-metre solo run, beat two men, and thump the ball over the bar with the outside of his boot in an All-Ireland final.
It’s a testament to Harte’s faith in the skill and intelligence of his own players that he allows them to operate within these parameters.
Many other managers, including professionals, often demand absolute obedience to the system... when you get to here, you kick the ball there, and so on. They trust the system, not the player. Harte is different. He trusts the players to work the system.
Sean Cavanagh is the best example. Last year Cavanagh was listed at full-forward, but he had the freedom to go where he pleased within about a 50-metre range of the goals. Sometimes Cavanagh stood on the square. At others times, he would be among the half-forwards, or even further back. It was up to Cavanagh to play where he felt the team needed him.
Few managers would give a player such a broad canvas – but then few managers have someone like Caroline Currid in their backroom team.
Last year, Currid’s role in the Tyrone backroom team was defined as ‘performance manager’. Again, the title offers no real clue towards her real brief.
The Sligo woman was recruited by Harte because he had identified a weakness in his own management techniques.
Although excellent at communicating with the media, Harte could often be detached and even introverted with his players.
He could be thinking about them. He could be impressed by them. He could be disappointed in them. Often, though, they’d be none the wiser.
Currid acted as conduit between the players and the management. Through her, they could provide negative and positive feedback. They were guaranteed anonymity while she couched the responses in a manner that reduced the possibility of any tension developing.
By providing an outlet for his players to communicate to him, and by being seen to act on that information, Harte probably increased the likelihood of the players acting on the instructions that he gave them.
Kerry manager Pat O’Shea didn’t enjoy the same bond with his players. When Paul Galvin slapped the book from referee Paddy Russell’s hand, he was doing his own thing. There was no system. No code of conduct. The same could be said for the three yellow cards issued to the Kerry players before half-time in the All-Ireland final.
Meanwhile, Harte brings in Stephen O’Neill from the cold without any dissent. He drops Ciaran Gourley for the final and there is no hassle. Brian McGuigan is happy not to start.
The members of the Tyrone camp understand what is happening and why it is being done. There are channels of communication and everyone appreciates the bigger picture.
Jack O’Connor has issues to address with the Kerry players. He has already taught them how to tackle. Now they must learn the necessity of discipline and why they must work to their system.
But if Jack wants to mimic Mickey Harte, he’ll not find any answers by watching Tyrone on Saturday night. By the time the ball is thrown in, most of Harte’s work has been done.
By Paddy Heaney
First Published 27/01/2009
While the Dublin fans will pack out Croke Park on Saturday night, the focus of the attention will be on the visiting All-Ireland champions. And two of the eyes fixed on Tyrone will belong to Kerry manager Jack O’Connor. Jack might be sitting in the Cusack or the Hogan. Or he might watching at home in south Kerry. But he will be watching. We know that for sure.
Unlike other Kerry managers, Jack openly acknowledged that the Kingdom’s footballers could learn a lot from their northern cousins. One of the first things he did when taking over as Kerry manager was to arrange a meeting with an unnamed Ulster coach. Having watched Armagh and Tyrone get the better of Kerry in 2002 and 2003, O’Connor had identified a major weakness in the armoury of the Kingdom’s footballers.
They couldn’t tackle. Well, they couldn’t tackle as well as Tyrone and Armagh. O’Connor wanted to know that he could overcome this major deficiency.
In his book Keys to the Kingdom, O’Connor revealed that he hooked up with a collaborator from the north (who remains at large) who taught him specific coaching methods. Jack returned to Kerry with a smile on his face and a dossier of drills under his arm.
But that was back in 2003 and Mickey Harte is now entering his seventh year as Tyrone senior manager. Truth be told, neither Jack O’Connor nor anyone else will learn a whole lot new when watching Tyrone during Saturday night’s league opener in Croke Park.
By this stage, we are all too familiar with the Tyrone model. Harte will be on the sideline, motionless and pensive. Tony Donnelly, the trusted advisor and good friend, will be standing at his side. The Tyrone subs will be listed alphabetically, showing the absence of a hierarchy among the squad. The Tyrone team will not bear much similarity to the one that lined out at the same venue in September, but they will play to a similar style and pattern.
How do they do it? How can Harte’s teams keep winning with new faces and different gameplans?
The answer will not be found by watching video tapes of Tyrone in action. Rather, by this stage, it’s abundantly clear that the real secret to Tyrone’s success lies in what is done off the field.
Communication is central to Harte’s masterly management. Typically of the man, he’s never made any great secret of his methods.
After lifting Sam in 2003, Harte revealed in Knocking Down Heaven’s Door that he had been in frequent contact with Bart McEnroe. McEnroe is often described as a ‘motivational speaker’, but this is wholly inaccurate and misleading. Having spoken to other people who have sought out McEnroe’s services, the feedback is pretty much the same. Effective communication lies at the heart of McEnroe’s tutorials.
Getting the 30-odd players in the room to understand exactly what you want and how you want to achieve it is the key challenge facing any manager. Harte has identified this challenge as his primary task in the Tyrone management structure. He wants Tyrone to play to a certain system, but without being slaves to that system.
Harte preaches best practice, but doesn’t demand rigid adherence. This explains why his captain Dooher knows he has the liberty to take off on an 70-metre solo run, beat two men, and thump the ball over the bar with the outside of his boot in an All-Ireland final.
It’s a testament to Harte’s faith in the skill and intelligence of his own players that he allows them to operate within these parameters.
Many other managers, including professionals, often demand absolute obedience to the system... when you get to here, you kick the ball there, and so on. They trust the system, not the player. Harte is different. He trusts the players to work the system.
Sean Cavanagh is the best example. Last year Cavanagh was listed at full-forward, but he had the freedom to go where he pleased within about a 50-metre range of the goals. Sometimes Cavanagh stood on the square. At others times, he would be among the half-forwards, or even further back. It was up to Cavanagh to play where he felt the team needed him.
Few managers would give a player such a broad canvas – but then few managers have someone like Caroline Currid in their backroom team.
Last year, Currid’s role in the Tyrone backroom team was defined as ‘performance manager’. Again, the title offers no real clue towards her real brief.
The Sligo woman was recruited by Harte because he had identified a weakness in his own management techniques.
Although excellent at communicating with the media, Harte could often be detached and even introverted with his players.
He could be thinking about them. He could be impressed by them. He could be disappointed in them. Often, though, they’d be none the wiser.
Currid acted as conduit between the players and the management. Through her, they could provide negative and positive feedback. They were guaranteed anonymity while she couched the responses in a manner that reduced the possibility of any tension developing.
By providing an outlet for his players to communicate to him, and by being seen to act on that information, Harte probably increased the likelihood of the players acting on the instructions that he gave them.
Kerry manager Pat O’Shea didn’t enjoy the same bond with his players. When Paul Galvin slapped the book from referee Paddy Russell’s hand, he was doing his own thing. There was no system. No code of conduct. The same could be said for the three yellow cards issued to the Kerry players before half-time in the All-Ireland final.
Meanwhile, Harte brings in Stephen O’Neill from the cold without any dissent. He drops Ciaran Gourley for the final and there is no hassle. Brian McGuigan is happy not to start.
The members of the Tyrone camp understand what is happening and why it is being done. There are channels of communication and everyone appreciates the bigger picture.
Jack O’Connor has issues to address with the Kerry players. He has already taught them how to tackle. Now they must learn the necessity of discipline and why they must work to their system.
But if Jack wants to mimic Mickey Harte, he’ll not find any answers by watching Tyrone on Saturday night. By the time the ball is thrown in, most of Harte’s work has been done.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
