Bigoted Grab All Assoociation

you forget the generosity the GAA showed to the other inferior sports organisations in this country when they had no home to play in and saved them having to go across the water.

Have to say  read the story, Rock, and was disgusted.  Was almost gong to start a thread.

What a bigoted bunch of backward, insular b@stards.  Let the young lads get out there and play sport. Any sport.  It is supposed to be a community facilty.

im a gaa man and im ashamed of this...puzzling really

Dromard wanted to have their cake and eat it. They are receiving massive grants from the GAA every year and possibly received money to build this facility but they also want to rent it out to promote rival sports which will take away youngsters from playing GAA. They can't have it both ways.

talking of insular, what about all the fee-paying schools around the country for the posh-boys kids where the only show in town is rugby and gaelic sports are not even promoted?? I think thats a better definition of insular.

Its very sad that an amateur sporting organisation sees other sports as 'rivals'.  And wants to hinder kids participating in other sports.  It's a shameful practice and utterly indefensible.

It's the reality with all sports. Kids can only play so many sports and will eventually focus on one sport as they get older. Soccer is only sport I have come across which actively tells kids not to play other sports in the run up to big matches and tournaments.

Naturally enough, clubs will say..come on and play gaa or soccer or whatever....but when a Central Committe enshrines and institutionalises this prejudice and forcefully denies (paid) usegae of their facilities to young lads just looking to kick a ball in a rural area, deprived of alternative facilities....its a discriminatory hoisting of the drawbridge, morally wrong and detrimental to the community at large.

Crazy stuff but I heard the organisers of the Jamie Carragher soccer school will foot some of the fine.......I reckon this will go no further.

A good chance for the soccer clubs to step in and host these camps........step up to the plate lads.

I enjoy both sports and have no bias towards or against either sport. Just because the FAI couldn't get their house in order over the last 30 or 40 years does not mean the GAA are obliged to provide them with facilities. Delaney is paid 400k a year plenty other officials paid big money, this would be better spent providing facilities across the country. The GAA has always been well organised and provided excellent facilites to supporters and players throughout it's history. Soccer should follow suit and not be relying on charity from other organisations.

Don't resort to a 'whataboutery' defence.

Even died in the wool GAA lads like Gant and Kavvie are embarrassed about this situation.

Rocketfingers and crew, it's time to shake off the tag of the "Percecuted Minority".
Did the LOI not sign a big live pictures deal for this season, spread a little of the wealth back to the youngsters.

My defence of the GAA is this instance is very clear. If this club are receiving grants and funding from the GAA. they shouldn't be using it to promote other sports. It should be used to promote our national games. Longford is hardly a stronghold for hurling, why didn't they run a hurling camp instead of teaching kids to play other sports.

New Approach......It was a Jamie Carragher soccer camp.....the kids pay a fee. The club probably got a few quid for use of the facilities.

Jaysus.

Exactly Ozymandius......mountain/molehill stuff.

Au contraire....tellingly demnonstrative of the badness at the very core of the organisation

The kids got their soccer camp and the fine will be paid or waived.........end of.

There is no getting away from the fact that the powers that be have sent a message.  And it stinks.

Maybe the FAI might get the bigger message.....I doubt it.

It does send a message and a very strong one. It is part of the ethos of the GAA to promote gaelic sports as they are our national games. GAA clubs shouldn't be prioritising short term financial gain over the long term health of our national games

If the GAA are giving out grants and funding to a club, it is not unreasonable that the club should only promote GAA imo. The FAI do not give out money to soccer clubs so that the facilities are used for other sports.

Whether we like it or not, there is intense competition between various sports to get kids playing their sport. Rugby has benefited from this in recent years with the success of Munster and to a lesser extent, Ireland. I wouldn't expect rugby clubs to allow football or hurling to be played on their pitches. It is up to the individual sports to be able to provide facilities to play their sport.

I doubt we will ever see the day when GAA and Rugby go cap in hand to the Soccer boys for facilities.

You are wasted in these enlightened times, newapproach.

The Dark Ages would have suited you much better.  The days when people didn't stray much from their village.

Thank God the bigger sports have moved on. Ozy, what happened your boys?.

Not sure who you are referring to tbh?

I will leave it be.

I'm a very progressive ozy as long as the change is for the better. Too many times do we see various interest groups call for change just for the sake of change and not caring whether it will make things better or worse. Sometimes things should be left the way they are rather than just making change for the sake of it.

You are allergic to change!  And positively dismissive of people making their own choices; whether it's about the contents of their womb, or children looking to play anther sport.

Its a defensive cirlce-the-wagons drwawbridge mentality; stick with the stats quo, retreat from Europe, return to a Theocracy, end free trade etc etc.  Just when we need to be outward facing to compete in a globalised world.

The GAA decides Gaelic football is "our national game"?  They didn't ask for opinions.
I vote soccer as the national games.

Ozy, the kids probably enjoyed the soccer camp.

Of course they did.  What on earth are you on about? f00k off if you have to resort to  talking in riddles!

I actually blame the E.U. for the mess.

I play soccer myself, played a variety of sports myself as a child and would never stop any child playing any sport they want. Th issue I have here is that the GAA are expected to provide the facilities on which all sports are to be played. That is unfair.

It was the politicians, and ordinary people of Ireland, that chose hurling should be our national sport. De Valera was a rugby man but even he realised the importance of GAA to this country.

I'm a big believer in free trade. I believe in free market economics. I think the E.U. worked better when it was solely focusing on maintaining peace and furthering economic development rather than expanding their empire and creating war in Ukraine.

Th issue I have here is that the GAA are expected to provide the facilities on which all sports are to be played.

That isn't the issue.  And you know it.

If the facilities are there, in a rural area, and not being used by the GAA at the time...why not let kids use them to play the sport of their choice.  And they are even prepared to play for the privelige!

We are a small, sparsely located, rural country with poor sporting facilities.  We need to cooperate not discriminate.

The issue here is that a central Committeee have deliberated and made a judgement that institutionalises backward insular bigotry.  They need to grow up.

it seems there was a bit of jockying for position here.more to it than meets the eye.not at liberty to say at the moment.watch this space

The GAA have provided excellent facilities all over the country and that is why they are the most popular sports. Other sporting organisations chose to only focus on Dublin for many, many years and suffered because of that.

I don't know the geography of Longford and I doubt you do either. We don't know whether there is another soccer pitch in the area or how close the nearest one is.

I have never seen rugby, soccer or any other clubs offer their facilites to any other sports and there is no reason why the GAA should be expected to. As Freddiek points out above, the only example I can think of is Croke Park being opened up to stop Irish fans having to travel abroad to watch their national teams.

The issue pf payment is a shot term financial gain for te gaa club. They should be using their facilities to encourage children to play gaelic games rather than generating a few bob which will probably go into the senior team mangers back pocket. There are GAA clubs renting out astro turf pitches all over the country to soccer clubs to generate money and the revenue raised is being pissed away rather than using it to develop gaelic games.

The kids came from 7/8 different counties, it was very well organised. Jamie Carragher even turned up on one of the days. It wasn't a little rural club kick about.

Civillsed countries have municipal stadia that are shared.  A common sense approach that works and makes best use of limited resources

We are anchored in the past.  Small minded backwardness, the type of civil war thinking and divisions that define our equally pathetic political parties.

The GAA has always been defined by its insular, defensive approach to minorities and those that choose to play other sports. As an organisation it needs to recognise times have changed and it needs to grow up.

The soccer boys had buckets of cash here in the good times but where did it all go. Poor calls and then the poor mouth.

Hard to feel sorry for self styled Persecuted Minorities. Then begrudgery is one of our favourite passtimes.

No other sport wanted to share with the GAA when it was being founded. The British hated our culture and wanted to destroy the GAA.They sent their soldiers into CRoke Park and shot at players and supporters. Crossmaglen Rangers matches were routinely disrupted by low flying army helicopters flying above their grounds. Players with hurleys and gaa equipment were kept for hours at army checkpoints on their way to matches.

If that is the case gant, the camp could have taken place in a variety of other locations without disrupting parents/children. I don't blame the organisers of the camp, I blame the gaa club for thinking they could receive funding from the gaa to build pitches and use this to promote other sports thus generating money to piss away. I'm not trying to prevent other sports from taking place as I enjoy playing soccer and other sports myself. I just understand why the gaa would not like their money being used to promote other sports popularity.

newapproach
The British hated our culture and wanted to destroy the GAA.  They sent their soldiers into CRoke Park and shot at players and supporters

The might be a GAA take on things.
This from Wiki:  These shootings, on the day which became known as Bloody Sunday, were a reprisal for the assassination of 15 people associated with the Cairo Gang, a group of British Intelligence officers, by Michael Collins's 'squad' earlier that day."

The kids will still play the sport they want to play this won't stop them, surely the GAA know at this kids will want to play football or rugby and they can't be stopped so they may as well allow their clubs to profit from it rather than ultimately close (i believe it's called amalgamation in HQ), after all their parents as tax payers have paid for their facilities.

Some kids will also want to play soccer.

I will try and spell it out for Ozymandius.

Imagine you are sitting in Paters favourite armchair listening to Peter Grimes on the phonograph,you have just had a light luncheon of grilled fish washed down by some Chateau dyquem when you spot an uncouth scruffy individual making his way up your tree limed avenue.

Its one of those neer do wells from the labourers cottages on the estate.

He knocks impudently on the front door,your butler lets him in.
You are forced to deal with this unwelcome intrusion.

Hogan what is the problem you ask,he shuffles nervously,its the daughter he replies she is 18 on Sunday and we were kind of wondering like would it be alright for her to have her party here.

Kelly do you ever get tired of the anti British, anti Rugby, anti football, anti cricket posts? You have not read the article, totally double standard by the GAA towards a small little club in Longford trying to make a few bob. This is 2016 people have to live together, now i am aware that in Ulster some of you are having issues moving on from the past but in the real Ireland we are trying. Btw i have never seen an Ulster GAA club get a fine !!!!

Rocketfingers , I purposely did not comment specifically on the Longford situation as I know nothing about it .  Any comments in my post are of a general nature , having lived ( and survived) in a state where discrimination affected myself and most of my co religionists adversely on a daily basis , jobwise and daily living. I suffered lengthy hold ups at check points because there was an O' Neill ball in the boot  , and my car was turned inside out when I was boarding the ferry to England with the kids hurls in the boot . My children were not allowed to transport hurley sticks on the public bus going to school , hockey sticks were OK ( and potentially of an equivalent degree of lethality ) . Ulster GAA club fines I am blissfully unaware of , anyway they are purely a matter for internal regulation  , and injustices would rebound long term .

The real Ireland you refer to is a mess politically , south and north .  South is unstable politically , Lord knows what sort of "government " will emerge next time , if I was a betting man I would be punting that it was not going to work . In the north the powers that be have cobbled together an unholy alliance which staggers from one disagreement to another .  The annoying thing is that potentially we have a great country , provided everyone was pulling in the same direction and took any "hard " decisions initially to ensure a stable and well motivated state , not divided by artificial borders or religion or race . A hard debate surely , but ultimately we have to live together and a 32 county country would work well provided all the checks and balances were agreed and guaranteed .  But a cursory glance at posts on this forum would indicate the current impossibility of that in the short term .

I do not regard myself as anti British , some of my best friends and family live happily in England . I would be anti colonialist though . I love cricket  , I like rugby but have reservations about the "collision" game as against the "evasion " game I grew up playing . Soccer is a business , top heavily organised and marketed , where it goes long term locally is anyones guess .

rocket, in terms of sporting knowledge and general commonsense, kelly is man utd and you, well, are sligo rovers.

South is unstable politically is a bizarre and patently untrue statement.

Tolmi , the south currently reminds me of Italy some years back , where no one party was in a position to form a government without some form of coalition . So all policy in such a situation is a compromise between often disparate partners .

FF made a complete horlicks of their built in electoral supremacy , in football terms they had the ball at their feet ( in fact they more or less owned the ball ), but a succession of wrong moves cost them dearly .  As a parallel the Ulster unionists had complete control up here but refused to govern democratically and fairly , ultimately costing us 40 years worth of unstable life from 1966 through to present impasse . The politicians need to bite the sometimes unpleasant bullet , the big chance was missed in 1939 courtesy of the comely maidens dancing at the cross roads .

Britain and Ireland , south and north are all partners in Europe ( which is under pressure) , but both sovereign powers have failed to stabilise what should be a fairly simple exercise in reconciliation and getting on together .  The back woodsmen ( including some in GAA mirroring their fundamentalist type counterparts elsewhere ) have sometimes been able to pull the strings via flag waving etc , and churches have also not stepped up to the mark historically .

I repeat , we are in a very strong position  island wide to take advantage of various economic possibilities and a well educated work force , but we all need to pull together for the common good .  There are too many small but powerful groups out there pulling strings ( because history dictates they can ) for narrow ( sometimes sectarian in the broad meaning of the word ) self interest .

Ask not what your country can do for you , but what you can do for your country .  JFK had flaws , but he got that one right , and he would have been a "Berliner" but for Dallas .

More lies from you Kelly the south is unstable? The Grab all suits have to look at their rule book as in 2016 it is utterly pathetic behaviour from them. They are a very rich organisation who don't pay their players, they don't need the fine but the club probably does, from your ivory tower you may have not noticed that part of Ireland are badly struggling i am guessing there is only so many times a club can go to the local people at the moment to fund raise. Gant is another who let it slip it came from a very privileged background and came from the old political elite stock, he is another who makes jest of the working class people of Dromod on this thread.

More lies from you Kelly the south is unstable? The Grab all suits have to look at their rule book as in 2016 it is utterly pathetic behaviour from them. They are a very rich organisation who don't pay their players, they don't need the fine but the club probably does, from your ivory tower you may have not noticed that part of Ireland are badly struggling i am guessing there is only so many times a club can go to the local people at the moment to fund raise. Gant is another who let it slip it came from a very privileged background and came from the old political elite stock, he is another who makes jest of the working class people of Dromod on this thread.

In a Upotian world working together for the common good would be an ideal way forward but unfortunately it's far better in theory than in actuality.The pervasive interests of lobby groups from big business combined with the naked self preservation of public sector unions ensure that it won't happen especially as the decision makers in the civil service are more interested in ensuring their pampered existence continues than effecting significant change.

Combine this with far left wings parties mopping up disaffected votes with clearly unsustainable tax policies and you have a recipe for a volatile political situation.

This does not equate however to an Italian type situation.We are from coming from a situation where a government has lasted a full term and has to any reasonable judgement been more successful than could have been envisaged.

Obviously the next Government will be a coalition of some form which is not in itself a bad thing.Too much power in the hands of a large party over a long period breeds corruption and contempt for the public.

I would take our so called "unstable politically" situation anyday rather than the political climate in which you reside.

Do you reckon I am making jest of the working class people of Dromod , rocketfingers ?

Where the fcuk is Dromod?? To call it that once could almost be called a typo but twice just proves you're on the wind up and haven't a clue what you're talking about.

While I enjoy watching the sports, I'm not a fan of the association and this rule can and probably will be changed in time, but for now that's the rule and the people of Dromard knew it at the time. I think the main reason comes down to insurance,  these pitchs are covered for GAA sports and training, what would hace happened if someone got injuered?
Anyway why wasn't there an Irish player or even a LOI player running a skills programme?

One other point, if you're going slagging the GAA, attendances are the one thing you should avoid, ffs if any other sport in this country could get half of what the GAA get at matches they'd be over the moon.

Kelly gives an opinion,Rocketfingers twists this into " more lies from Kelly "

Kelly's original response was interesting erudite and debatable it contained no lies.

That was meant for Rocket, Kelly in fairness said he knew nothing about the place

Tolmi , my definition of political instability is when no one in government can get things done easily . FG  , whose cause I suspect you espouse , have struggled through these last few years , what happens in the next few weeks is open to surmise , but I don't expect a long term outlook on anything from whoever finishes up "in power" .

Most of us in the north of a non unionist outlook would prefer to be living in the south , south Armagh folk are the specific flag bearers in that regard .  I did live and work in the south , it was a breath of fresh air not to be having to live looking over your shoulder and minding your p's and q's . And being able to express your views and play your games without hassle .  But part of the reason we in the north experienced that type of pressure lies with our fellow countrymen in the south , sometimes you lads forget that .  Ulster is the most gaelic part of Ireland , gaelic with a small g , again you lads sometimes forget that . Ulster that is , not specifically Northern Ireland .

Wildman his original response was deleted, it was anti everything, i pulled him on it, saying that i did not see enough for it to be deleted but i can see why it was.

Wins got mixed up between Dromod and Dromard.

For starters I think the fine and rules are a joke. Locals are far from impressed

This thread has nothing to do with Kids, Sport or Dromad.........It's a rant at the GAA.

The Jamie Carragher soccer camp was organised by a large soccer club from Cavan and Dromad had the facilities to host it. Jamie even made an appearance. Some local kids did attend.

It's a sad state of affairs that no soccer facility fitted the bill as I believe die- hards did not want to use the GAA pitches.

My word starts off by saying that rules and fine are a joke and then can resist to turn it into a pop. Anyway i agree about the rules being bigoted, first time ever i think we have agreed on anything.

No room in sport for the word Bigot in my opinion. Jealousy maybe but we know your form.

i look forward to Sligo Rovers fortunes in the season to come, Rocket. wasnt a peep out of ya last season about them. more from u about the GAA in fact

Non party political Kelly.I can however see the benefit of the likes of the labour party providing a balance from a reasonable leftish perspective to the more centre right elements of Fine Gael.

As for your "part of the reason" statement I'm afraid you've lost me.

Part of the reason relates to the "arrangements" in 1922 , Tolmi . Approximately 35% of the northern 6 counties population with a desire to be part of a sovereign 32 county Republic were left out in the cold at the mercy of an intransigent unionist population with a track record started up by the Ulster Volunteers in 1912 .

Why there were no proper checks and balances put in place to ensure fair treatment for those 35% is a sad statement on the politicians of the time , south , north and on the other side of the Irish Sea .  Had that been done properly  might have seen an agreement in 1939 to re settle the matter in return for war efforts ( which occurred anyway despite the official neutrality ), but the south missed a trick and discrimination continued wholesale in the north until fairly recently . The cost of controlling the situation here in the north from 1966 ( the actual seed start of the ensuing 30 years plus "troubles" ) until present day has never been quantified ( including 600 million plus in one incident in  "mainland" London ) , but has been huge and undoubtedly would have been better spent constructively , a fact sometimes lost on some of our intransigent lot , a lot of whom are still buried in their study of fundamental faith .