Thanks Gerry for stating the bleeding obvious. I think I seen some bears heading for the Woods with toilet rolls under their arms. It isn't rocket science, fans outside Dublin ARE losing interest as Croke Park's fixation with Dublin becomes more blatant by the day.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9822 - 18/04/2016 18:52:07    1846982

Lads this article has nothing to do with Meath, stop fixating on that just because McEntee is from Meath.

He is pointing out that the majority of the country won't be able to avail of the facilities because they wouldn't have the funding to send their teams there. Cases can be made for the majority of leinster teams being able to use it but further out?

I think Gerry's points are very valid, some counties have spent fortunes to get their own centres of excellence up and running and it seems their efforts were all pointless now because Dublin just got a facility that bates every other counties hard earned facilities 10 fold.

Uncle_Fester (Meath) - Posts: 217 - 18/04/2016 19:49:19    1846995

Have to say, in the greater scheme of things, I actually find myself agreeing with McEntee and I do think it will favour Dublin more then other counties and I do agree that it is indeed unfair and not in the spirit of equality.
I am not being sarcastic, I genuinely do believe that.
The only thing I would say is, maybe if they spent less on Abbotstown and split the money into 4 along with pulling back from other areas where possible and build 4 smaller versions of Abbotstown, one in each province. It does seem inequitable that these things are always built in Dublin
Altho, anyone who has been to UL lately will tell you the set up they have, which Limerick GAA are free to use, is second to none.

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts:6580 - 18/04/2016 14:28:25 1846840


Refreshing honest post.

The_Fridge (Tyrone) - Posts: 2100 - 18/04/2016 21:35:24    1847032

Liamwalkinstown

Proper post that.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/04/2016 08:22:01    1847047

The article is spot on and what many have been saying for a long time now.

But again i stress this is not the fault of Dublin. They didnt demand everything thats given to them and why should they turn it down.

The issue is with the GAA hierarchy who continue to feed the rich and abandon the poor, the same GAA who are feeding an expanding th e gap between the have and the have nots. To be fair to Dublin they wanted to develop their own centre of excellence and should have been allowed to. Then the money spent in Abbotstown could have been used to help other counties. This centre is National in name only, everyone knows it.

But dont blame the Dubs, blame the GAA and the power that be.

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1526 - 19/04/2016 08:43:46    1847055

It is a good article and probably long overdue. If we ignore the interests of our own teams etc from the equation and just consider the scenario for a minute in a purely analytical manner, it begs the question, where is the sport headed?

You would think it is common sense that the trend would need to change, but then it was probably common sense that it shouldn't have gone this way in the first place.

As has been said already, the money could have been infinitely better spent, and the same goes for the new stadium in Cork. You look at a county like Roscommon, who are doing the hard yards and getting results, yet cant play a game at home in April, and they are just ignored. I suppose the interest is there in those counties so the logic is they can take them for granted and chase the hearts and minds (and money) of those who aren't interested at present. In a perverse way, the new stadium in cork probably came about because they don't follow their team very much.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 19/04/2016 09:52:42    1847070

tearintom

Most people blame the GAA 100% although there are SOME arrogant Dubs who are blind to what is going on.Most on this forum are fine I might add.
Some are saying why is Gerry pointing this out etc we already know.But how many people in the media have actually questioned it? You wouldn't hear Spillane say it in the fear he might annoy a few dubs.But again the GAA is the problem 100%.Dublin have more than enough funds to have built one for themselves and the 12mill could have went elsewhere,but the GAA(sadly) are not interested in this..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/04/2016 10:13:39    1847081

By Gerry highlighting this,maybe more people in the media will follow the lead,because up to now they have been too scared to mention anything..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/04/2016 10:15:44    1847084

I wonder is every other sport that using this facilite whinging its in dublin?
remember the GAA didnt locate the place
the government and the irish sports council did!
they either took their share of it or they got nothing.
talk about this suiting dublin to make them stronger makes no sense really
as dublin havent ever had a centre of excellence
where as has been pointed out most of the other leinster counties have
has it made them stronger?
dublin senior footballers train in st clares and innisfails
and the hurlers use dcu, neither are state of the art but who needs that
its what you do when you train that counts.
going back the last 20 years,Ive been around the country and in places that only had a church and post office
you would see state of the art club grounds(some with actual seated stands)
while most clubs in dublin were(and some still are) using corporation run public parks.
so im sorry but dublin is one of the last places on the club scene to get actual facilites of their own.
but you have to have the players with ability and dedication regardless of facilites
thats what makes teams better

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 19/04/2016 15:10:52    1847234

Hill16, it's a €12 million state of the art centre of excellence. It's coming free of charge. The only expense incumbent on Dublin is the cost of equipping the gym to Brian Cullen's specifications . That is a massive financial boost to Dublin . Had this not been put in place a Dublin would eventually have had to develop one of their own. Most county boards have gone to the expense of developing and paying for a centre of excellence. That prevents them from investing in coaches . Dublin play most of their matches in Croker. Since 2005 they have received 47% of al development grants disbursed and now they have a centre of excellence provided almost free of charge . All of this enables them to finance 60 full time coaches . Wise up Hill . Of course it's a huge advantage .

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6181 - 19/04/2016 15:40:36    1847250

So Hill the 16 million Euros Dublin have received from Croke Park over the past decade for coaching has nothing to do with it? Are you for real? I have said before Dublin are starting to adapt the Rangers/Man Utd/Linfield superiority/entitlement mindset where they believe it is their birthright to Lord it over everyone else and that's just the way it is. Well when they have no one left to play after all the kids in other counties have drifted away to soccer and rugby will they still feel the same? Probably, that's how the supremacist mindset works.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9822 - 19/04/2016 15:46:18    1847254

This is the same person that said hurleys in Meath should be burned .

Dellboypolecat (Tyrone) - Posts: 15069 - 19/04/2016 16:16:01    1847272

lets get real here, dublin can choose many clubs to practice in with great facilities, abbotstown is just a collection of fields beside meath.
the reason why dublin are so far ahead of meath is their board and their players.
how come kerry can produce such great players year after year and meath with a biigger population cant even gather a u12 s team.

meath can train in abbotstown all year long and theyll still be a d3 team.

suck it up boyz and stop the jealousy

dublin know when they are good when the tractor boyz come out of the shed and cry

heresam (Dublin) - Posts: 156 - 19/04/2016 16:41:59    1847294

that comment was in jest about the hurleys...

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/04/2016 16:58:07    1847303

how come kerry can produce such great players year after year and meath with a biigger population cant even gather a u12 s team.
heresam

The same question could be aimed at Dublin in fairness. Why do you need 10 times Kerry's population to compete with them?

You cant have it every way...

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 19/04/2016 16:58:09    1847304

heresam

Why are you bringing Meath into it??? You are hiding behind the real points here,perfectly explained by Greengrass..

Oh and Meath are a dv 2 team..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/04/2016 17:01:53    1847306

Eh heresam, Abbotstown is a €12 million state of the art centre of excellence presented free of charge bar the outfitting of a gym. There isn't a county in the country that would refuse it and well you know that. A free centre of excellence means Dublin can continue to fund 60 full time coaches. Other counties have gone to the trouble of developing and financing their own centres of excellence. That means money diverted from investment in coaching and games development . That is where the primary advantage accrues to Dublin. Counties also have to fund and develop their primary county grounds. Dublin footballers play all of their league and championship home games in Croke Park.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6181 - 19/04/2016 17:05:29    1847310

Tin foil hats brigade are out in force as usual.

I think the post saying "suck it up" sums it all up nicely.

Dublin county board are doing a great job, other county boards are not. The reason teams win or lose is players. And Dublin happen to have a pretty decent bunch at present. We didnt always, and everybody and their mother let us know about it. Now everybody is moaning about things that have little effect on outcomes.

If Donegal can come from nowhere, produce a decent 21's team with an astute manager, who goes on to manage their seniors.........and ultimately guides their seniors to two All Ireland Finals in three years.......winning one! How can other counties just blame finances and population?

Its the ultimate in copping out!

Mayo: Have had their best talent for a generation and fell short at the final hurdle how many times? Probably their biggest challenge is a mental one.
Cork: Have the playing numbers, a talented group, but can be jekyll and hyde.
Tyrone: Rebuilding nicely
Donegal: Not the old Donegal....but theres is life in the old dog yet
Kerry: Playing the cute hoors again saying theyve no chance.
Monaghan; Another forward short of beating more than one of the top three in a champo season.

All this talk from the likes of Gerry McEntee is nonsense. Theres only ever 4/5 teams who genuinely can win an All Ireland. Its always been like that. Dublin drew with Mayo in a semi last year and could have lost. They are hardly unbeatable. Any of the above mentioned teams are capable of beating Dublin. The way the provincial championships work we will see Cork/Kerry, Dublin, Mayo and Monaghan/Tyrone/Donegal all in the quarters. Dublin and Mayo are not likely to be tested. The others will have one match in all likelihood, that isnt a foregone conclusion!

Then the real championship starts.

Its up to the rest of the pack to breaking into that top five or six. But Ill tell you what, theyll need decent players! Where are they gonna magic them from?

So the real issue is county boards, how they run, long term planning etc. DEVELOPING GOOD PLAYERS.

JayP (Dublin) - Posts: 1772 - 19/04/2016 17:10:23    1847312

dublin have no plans to use abbotstown. Why would they. just 10 minues away from parnell park is parenlls, or we can go to brigids which have 4 great pitches when mcentee was getting genorus expenses may i add, one super all weather or we can ramble across the southside to the two biggest clubs in ireland to have a training session there.

state of the art gym, we already have that ladies

why dont all you moaners bring your county up to train in abbotstown and when well beat you youll say thank you sir, come again sir

meath a d2 team, by the luck of the gods dude

at least kerry dont moan.

why arnt you posting on kilkenny football team who are an embarressment to their club to their county and to sport.

heresam (Dublin) - Posts: 156 - 19/04/2016 17:26:23    1847334

if dublin played in abllygobackwards do you think it would make a difference, othewr than to the local publicans and musgrave stores

heresam (Dublin) - Posts: 156 - 19/04/2016 17:29:00    1847336