Replying To ThePowerhouse:  "An alarming drop in numbers considering the St. Brigids amalgamation reached the u13 final in 2024."

Replying To McGarty:  "I agree it's quite alarming. Almost unbelievable. There must a Gulf Sheikh behind this behemoth. This League of Nations even trumps Sheemore Gaels back in the day. The numbers quoted by Micki Mac are disingenuous. They had a sideline full of subs last night and even without their two first choice midfielders, and playing away, they still cruised to a 19 point win over the second best team in the competition. They say they have 23 players within the two year bracket. Rinn Gaels an amalgamation of two parishes have 10. A comparison of boys enrolled in the catchment areas also shows a 2.5 / 1 ratio in favour of the new conglomerate.

What went wrong with the amalgamation of MacDiarmada Gaels. They lost too many finals probably and not enough silverware to satisfy the club mandarins. What would be wrong with Ballinamore amalgamating with St Brigids? Why do they need Fenagh as well? Fenagh and Kiltubrid are a natural amalgamation. Ballinamore / St Brigids would easily compete with Rinn Gaels / Manor / Carrick / MacCumhails .

St. Joseph's and Rinn Gaels are two excellent examples of rural amalgamations run properly and building an identity. The Drumreilly boys would have been a very welcome addition to St. Joseph's. An interesting aside is all 5 clubs involved are busy applying for huge grants to develop grounds and infrastructure. This is counter indicative of any decline in their respective clubs ambitions for the future. Or if it's like what Micki Mac claims for whom are they building these facilities. If the raison d'etre is to keep their club alive then this is t the way to go about it.
As St Brigids will be able to field a team next year then I presume they will be pulling away from Naomh Eoun in 2026. They did after all contest the Div 1 final last season.
An amalgamation is always a thorny issue but should be at the very least viable and sustainable and most of all fair to other teams. By allowing this amalgamation to be sanctioned coiste na nOg have completely destroyed the integrity of the competition. It is elitist and short sighted. Is there any point even running a Feile competition next week? It's a complete farce. The only consolation is that at least the clubs are bordering each other and contiguous unlike Fenagh's previous alliances with Allen Gaels and Gortlettragh. Maybe Mohill & Melvin Gaels might amalgamate or Annaduff and Dromahaire, training alternating between St Osnets and Annaduff. Anything's possible it seems."

Replying To boxtyburgerbuns:  "The most alarming part is big rural parishes having to amalgamate at underage when our population overall has increased."