Nothing to gain from Dubs split - Duffy
January 23, 2018
Dublin's James McCarthy, John Small and Brian Howard celebrate after their side's All-Ireland SFC final victory over Mayo at Croke Park.
©INPHO/James Crombie.
Paraic Duffy says there would be nothing to gain from splitting Dublin in two.
The Monaghan man has released his eleventh and final report at Croke Park before stepping down as GAA director general at the end of March and he took the opportunity to shoot down the rather ridicuolous notion of dividing Dublin in two due to their current dominance:
"The history of our games, and of sport in general, tells us that Dublin won't win forever. Apart from that, there are a couple of observations to be made. First, the main reason for Dublin's current success is that they have an outstanding group of players and an exceptional management team," he writes.
"The county committee, too, must receive credit for the processes and structure they have adopted through which they identify talent, appoint the best personnel to prepare their teams and ensure that they get the best from their resources.
"One of the reasons why Dublin footballers generate support is that they give Dubliners a unique opportunity to celebrate their proud Dublin identity. While there may be a mild and humorous northside/southside divide in Dublin (which, of course, does not include the greater Dublin western suburbs), this geographical affiliation comes nowhere near matching the passionate identification of all Dubliners with their team.
"One is led to wonder if the 'divide Dublin' proponents have given any thought to what the GAA would lose if Dublin were to be split. Have they given any thought to what Dubliners would lose? And is the sight of Dublin supporters on Hill 16 not one of the great spectacles in Irish sport? And are we not all looking forward to seeing Dublin supporters in their thousands heading out of the city to follow their team, which the championship format from 2018 will allow?
"So, neither on competitiveness grounds, nor on account of the unfairness of depriving Dubliners of the pleasure of expressing their local and historical identity through the GAA (as every other GAA supporter is allowed to do), should we countenance the splitting up of Dublin. There is all to lose in doing so, and nothing to gain."
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