I would imagine Offaly & Laois would amgamate if it ever came to pass.Neighbouring counties with same same political constituency.Not sure about Meath & Kildare.Wicklow & Kildare and Meath & Louth maybe.How to evenly divide up the country into 16 new counties/teams is an argument for another day - maybe couple hundred years down the road.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 12:25:28    1819671

Come on browncow,that 1 milliom population argument doesn't hold up.We've gone over this so many times.I dont know the figures but i would guess that GAA participation per head of population is probably lower in Dublin than any other county.Maybe in Kerry 70% of young lads play GAA.In Dublin it could be 20%.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts:3225 - 27/01/2016 12:09:30 1819663


Respectfully you're pulling those figure out of your backside.

Antrim is mainly protestant, protestants culturally will not compete in Gaelic games. Have a think about that.

realman2 (Kildare) - Posts: 464 - 27/01/2016 12:28:10    1819672

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts:3225 - 27/01/2016 11:39:52 1819650

Winning is not a right , its not an entitlement , I could mention 100s of players that never lifted Liam or Sam did they have any a lesser career , Who should Dublin merge with Wexford possibly just so that we can win a Liam McCarty because the way I see it theres a very few select amount of players picking up Liam medals .
The arguments would stand if it was backed by players thankfully its not , name me 5 players that have openly called or supported this , have the GPA been forced into a stand by players no .
Thankfully the majority see playing at county level for what it is an honour , not to be confused with your god given right to take to the field in September .
PS Where a club for numbers sake has amalgamated fine , but should only happen as a last resort .
The Master is the only other person who has this idea that everything in sport should be FAIR , time to get out of kindergarten and into the real world , there are major issues with our game the boundaries aren't one high on anyone agenda , and as for O Shea not the first time he chewed his ankle before speaking

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 27/01/2016 12:28:22    1819673

I would imagine Offaly & Laois would amgamate if it ever came to pass.Neighbouring counties with same same political constituency.Not sure about Meath & Kildare.Wicklow & Kildare and Meath & Louth maybe.How to evenly divide up the country into 16 new counties/teams is an argument for another day - maybe couple hundred years down the road.

you will need to amalgamate more than kildare and wicklow for there to be any chance of competing with Dublin and their millions. Wicklow should be amalgating with at least 2 other counties.

realman2 (Kildare) - Posts: 464 - 27/01/2016 12:29:41    1819674

What does Aidan O'Shea know about playing for weaker counties, I don't think its right at all that he should be speaking on behalf of lower counties at all. You cannot compare the amalgamation of neighbouring parishes in a club team to entire counties.

2 small parishes beside each other proabably share the same schools and nightclubs that lads would be know each other well from, laying for the same team then wouldn't be such a jump as they've basically grown up with lads from the neighbouring parish as much as their own.

What does a lad from enniscorthy have in common with a lad from tullow, throw them into the same team, they've no idea who they are, the whole point of county football for me was getting to play with the best players in your county that you'd be battling against during the year in club championship and league.

The GAA and GPA should be going to the likes of Paddy Keenan, Gary Brennan, James Stafford for ideas about creating a more equal playing field for counties that continuously find themselves in division 3 and 4

Victorious87 (Wicklow) - Posts: 603 - 27/01/2016 12:34:18    1819675

Lets not forget Damo,i am supporting this proposal to give every player a fair chance of success.Who said it was a birthright to win an All Ireland?I think it should be a right to at least have a chance of success.As it stands,at least half the counties have 0% chance of winning anything.I am not selfishly looking after my own.So i cannot be accused of not giving a crap about other counties.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 12:48:46    1819677

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts:3225 - 27/01/2016 11:39:52 1819650

Winning is not a right , its not an entitlement , I could mention 100s of players that never lifted Liam or Sam did they have any a lesser career , Who should Dublin merge with Wexford possibly just so that we can win a Liam McCarty because the way I see it theres a very few select amount of players picking up Liam medals .
The arguments would stand if it was backed by players thankfully its not , name me 5 players that have openly called or supported this , have the GPA been forced into a stand by players no .
Thankfully the majority see playing at county level for what it is an honour , not to be confused with your god given right to take to the field in September .
PS Where a club for numbers sake has amalgamated fine , but should only happen as a last resort .
The Master is the only other person who has this idea that everything in sport should be FAIR , time to get out of kindergarten and into the real world , there are major issues with our game the boundaries aren't one high on anyone agenda , and as for O Shea not the first time he chewed his ankle before speaking

Easy to say that as a Dub isn't it, Dublin supporters were spitting vitirol at their manager when they went a couple of years without a Leinster.

realman2 (Kildare) - Posts: 464 - 27/01/2016 12:52:21    1819678

Fair point re Protestants realman but my point stands ; large swathes of Dublin,and hundreds of thousands of people here in the capital couldnt tell you one end of a hurley from another and have zero interest in our games.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 12:53:49    1819680

Realman,i hear what your saying regards amalgamation of Wicklow & Kildare still not being string enough to compare with Dublin/Kerry etc.It was just a proposal.As i said already,how to divide up the country would be a difficult job.But not insurmountable.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 13:00:28    1819683

Fair point re Protestants realman but my point stands ; large swathes of Dublin,and hundreds of thousands of people here in the capital couldnt tell you one end of a hurley from another and have zero interest in our games.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts:3229 - 27/01/2016 12:53:49 1819680

An argument so unoriginal I don't know why you bother making it.

But sure if no one cares about GAA in Dublin then what's the point of ye winning it. Surely it should be setup to advantage the counties that are deeply emotionally invested in the game.

Not just the ones with the money and the population.

realman2 (Kildare) - Posts: 464 - 27/01/2016 13:07:15    1819685

Victorious,i understand where your coming from but remember O Shea is just thinking of ideas to even up the playing field.Like myself,im sure he knows there is no perfect fit and that this proposal is a very,very long shot.
I don't think he should be abused for thinking of ideas to improve the lot of the weaker counties.There are many who couldn't give a crap about any other counties but their own.I have nothing but respect for every county and would love to see some of the weaker counties have their day in the sun.As it stands,they have no chance.Is it enough for Leitrim to win 1 Connacht title every 100 years?Or Wicklow,Fermanagh to have never won a Provincial title?

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 13:09:25    1819686

realman dont be putting words in my mouth.Of course we have an interest in winning up here in the capital.There are many GAA fanatics that live and breath Dublin GAA.I love my county as much as the next man.But what i said is true.Original or not,they are the facts

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 13:20:08    1819690

realman dont be putting words in my mouth.Of course we have an interest in winning up here in the capital.There are many GAA fanatics that live and breath Dublin GAA.I love my county as much as the next man.But what i said is true.Original or not,they are the facts

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts:3231 - 27/01/2016 13:20:08 181969

but Dublin are less interested per head of population than most or all of the counties in ireland so does it seem fair to you that they win the most?

Or do you want to row back on what you said?

realman2 (Kildare) - Posts: 464 - 27/01/2016 13:24:58    1819691

One idea I like is an Ulster and Connaught hurling team obviously Galway players and Antrim players stay with their county but for the rest to make up an Ulster and Connaught team to compete for Liam sounds like a great idea to me.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 27/01/2016 13:25:19    1819692

Easy to say that as a Dub isn't it, Dublin supporters were spitting vitirol at their manager when they went a couple of years without a Leinster.

realman2 (Kildare) - Posts:231 - 27/01/2016 12:52:21 1819678

Stupid comment easy to say as a Dub, like the alternative is I say it as a Sligo man !!!!!!
I travel and follow Dublin hurling as much as I follow the footballers and that's not down to success , as for going a couple of years without a Leinster ??? It was more than a couple and we were no more angry than any other county that under performs .

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 27/01/2016 13:26:32    1819693

Bit unfair to say that O'Shea called for counties to amalgimate, he simply suggested it and acknowledged that it's unlikely to happen.

Anyway the Gaa must love the wide variety of diverse opinions on how to improve the games, as long as everybody is arguing instead of agreeing it means that they don't have to do anything. Now if there was a bit of consensus knocking around then they could be in real trouble.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 27/01/2016 13:36:01    1819698

cuederocket- For your information every county has a large population with no interest in Gaelic games, probably more than 70% for most counties (and that excludes grandmothers and grandfathers). My point stands and I think that Dublin at present should have two teams competing and they could put out two very good teams and give more Dublin footballers senior inter county football- maybe you might even get a 'run'. It is not that long ago since ye had one club with 10 players on the All-Ireland winning team with nobody from the Southside! On O'Shea I think he would be better concentrating on playing with his own county and he may then in a better position to bridge that 60 year gap.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 27/01/2016 13:50:25    1819705

We're certainly enjoying a rich period of success in recent years realman.But lets not forget that between 1978 & 2010 we won two All Irelands.Two All Irelands in 30 years.And very few minor All Irelands.
Also,our hurling team was - bar 1991 when we lost a Leinster final -very poor.So up until recent years we had very little to shout about.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 13:51:19    1819706

'So i cannot be accused of not giving a crap about other counties.' I don't think that Cued. But amalgamated teams would give up the right to be GAA counties which is a massive part of their identity. If Leitrim wanted to merge with another county it should be because they propose it not because Central Council tell them they have to or because Aidan O'Shea, in his infinite wisdom, thinks it's a great plan. Sure while there are at it why don't the GAA get McStay and Parkinson and their 'let them eat cake' atitude back peddling the B championship. Give the so-called lesser counties the mushroom treatment, keep them in the dark and keep feeding them bullshit. The top brass want to keep the strong counties stong and have no interest in improving standards in lower divisions.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8170 - 27/01/2016 13:56:01    1819709

Browncow,does every county have as diverse a popoulation as Dublin?Does every county have practically 1/5 of the county totally dedicated to Rugby?We have a big city centre with one small local club on Seville Place on the North inner city(O Connells) and none on the South inner city until you reach Ringsend.That is a very densely populated area with hardly any GAA participation.Soccer is represented with numerous clubs in the inner city.You could walk around the city some days and find it hard to spot an Irish person.Reaching Croke Park in Seltember is the furthest thing from a lot of peoples minds.It simply is an irrelevance.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 27/01/2016 14:02:13    1819717