Hill and Heresam, you're both clearly blinded by your ignorance to understand the bigger picture.

I've given up trying to speak rationally to you both. Greengrass has highlighted the countries issues with abbotstown very well and again logic seems to have gone straight over your heads.

Uncle_Fester (Meath) - Posts: 217 - 20/04/2016 12:51:55    1847590

It's actually quite forward thinking of the GAA to site this facility in Dublin. I know that there has been a bit of banter on here about splitting Dublin in two but the day is coming when there will be as many as six or eight teams in Dublin. It seems to be Government policy, probably at the behest of companies themselves, to bring all jobs to the major cities. Indeed there was a piece in one of the papers at the weekend detailing where a company would only locate in the "posh" side of Dublin because they felt they needed all the facilities there to attract a better type of employee.(sic.) Rural Ireland is dying a slow death. Most rural clubs are struggling to field teams and amalgamations will become the norm. I have noticed, in my own area, that the trend of lads who are working or studying in cities coming home to play for the home club at the weekend is being reversed. The lack of a social life in the small towns means more and more of them are staying away at the weekends. On the national stage sparsely populated counties are struggling to compete at the moment and it's only a matter of time before more counties will struggle. We may well see the day when amalgamation of counties will be commonplace. Counties with cities such as Galway, Limerick and Cork will remain as they are as will the likes of Meath and Kildare, who benefit from their proximity to Dublin. Antrim, provided they have enough money pumped in at grassroots level could have two teams. Kerry, even with a population of 20,000 and an average age of 55 will still be competitive, but for the rest it's the dreaded amalgamation. Mayo, Roscommon (that will be fun) and maybe Longford. Sligo, Leitrim Donega land so on. With Dublin divided up and most other counties joined we will end up with twenty four teams. That will leave us with two leagues of twelve teams. Promotion and relegation, two up, two down, home and away. There will be no club matches to get in the way because there will only be one or two clubs left in each county. The league will be the main competition with the All Ireland being a secondary competition much like the FA Cup in England. The top four teams in the top division will play teams from Britain, Australia, US and Poland (don't ask) for a super cup. Each of the Dublin teams will have their own stadium, Croke Park being kept exclusively for rock concerts, MMA fights, the Rose of Tralee final and the annual Queens visit. All this won't happen in my lifetime but I can see young Wayno telling his grandchildren that he remembers a time when Dublin had only one GAA team. They will wet themselves laughing and run away to tell their mother that granddad is raving again. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 20/04/2016 13:38:23    1847611

Fair post lynn.I have proposed the amalgamation of counties on here on a few occassions.The one thing i can't see happening is Dublin being divided.Or any other county,but good post all the same.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 20/04/2016 13:49:35    1847617

Facilities and money and coaches are all just excuses it's having the players with ability or not

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts:10532

Surely facilities and coaches have an impact on a players ability?

If not then why bother with facilities or coaches in the first place?

if_in_doubt (Kildare) - Posts: 3691 - 20/04/2016 16:53:51    1847709

The one thing i can't see happening is Dublin being divided

If the current situation continues apace there will be no other solution, unless of course the GAA believe a scenario where up to half counties best players not competing is a viable situation

http://www.balls.ie/gaa/longford-dilemma-points-to-a-very-worrying-trend-in-gaelic-football/320782

KYTitletown (Kerry) - Posts: 816 - 20/04/2016 17:38:14    1847726

Some serious moaning on here.

Alan Brogan, Diarmuid Connolly, Bernard Brogan, Michael Darragh Mc, Cian O'Sullivan, James McCarthy, Philly McMahon etc........were never coached by a "Club Coach".

Imagine they had, they'd be decent players.

Volunteers coach players from an early age.....not games promotion officers.

The White Elephant in Abbotstown won't be used by Dublins Senior Teams. That's FACT.

GET COACHING KIDS IN YOUR LOCAL CLUBS, ITS NOT ONLY WAY YOUR COUNTY WILL SEE SUCCESS. GET SOME TRAINING, TAKE A COACHING BADGE. STOP MOANING THOUGH......ITS NOT HELPING

JayP (Dublin) - Posts: 1772 - 20/04/2016 18:19:57    1847740

I'm sure the same challenges exist in Clare and Waterford football in Munster for example. If players won't join county panels due to an historic lack of silverware then there must be many counties with this problem, no? Wexford, not Dublin, footballers slaughtered Kilkenny at the weekend. Will there be a queue of young fellas lined up to join the KK footballers? With regard to coaches, Dublin have over 50 full time coaches but bearing in mind population and numbers of clubs etc., proportionately, how many full time coaches would Kildare require? How much would this cost and surely it's not beyond the capabilities of the Kildare CB to put forward their case for funding of same.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 20/04/2016 18:26:54    1847743

I think it's great what Dublin GAA have done.

I think it's smart that they put their resources in to coaching and getting participation levels up.

It may have been wiser for other counties to do something similar rather than to spend their money on centres of excellence. I don't really understand what more you need than pitches and gym facilities.

Hats off to Dublin, they've been trail blazers and deserve all the success they've had in recent years.

No lets get back on point. Abbotstown is a waste of GAA resources that could've been better spent by the GAA in more productive ways.

I don't actually see why the GAA needs a presence at the NSC anyway. We don't have national teams bar the International rules and Shinty we don't need a central facility for our games.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4600 - 20/04/2016 19:30:30    1847760

Agree with all of that Whammo but the GAA ego trippers were never going to pass up this opp to flex their financial clout and install a state of the art facility at a national complex. As Duffy said, we are the national sport afterall. Questions have to be asked.

Good to see Jim talking sense once again here and interesting to note that other counties are already playing at the NSC. Also interesting to note Jim's comments re the current lack of a 'home' for Dublin GAA. Don't worry Jim they're going to come calling for somebody to occupy this monster!

http://hoganstand.com/dublin/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=253919

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 20/04/2016 19:42:37    1847764

The dubs on here whose defence mechanism is too call everybody whingers and begrudgers need to take there head of the sand.....Dublin's success over last few years isn't my main issue....the money they receive from central funding and the effect it'll have on the future of the game is mine.....this is going one way and one way only folks.....Dublin will win in Sam every year with little or no competition. And people that say its players that win cups not money.....how do ya think all these players got so good....its cause they were coached extremely well from a very young age by the best development coaches funded by the central council.....so don't be foolish to think this current panel were all just born and bread naturally gifted footballing freaks......its all linked and will continue to be. Put it this way...if your in financial trouble and u go to the banks and ask for help and they agree.....as soon as your back on your feet and thriving, do the banks keep giving u the money.....we all know th answer...... Dubs don't need it anymore is the.simple matter of fact.....all power to them whatever they make through marketing themselves and sponsorship but leave the central funding to the GAA as a whole as it is supposed to be and not a cash reserve for thedublin county board

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 1016 - 21/04/2016 09:29:41    1847835

I'm sure the same challenges exist in Clare and Waterford football in Munster for example

Huge difference Joxer as Clare + Waterford are both predominantly hurling counties (particularly in Waterford's case) whereas Longford and most Leinster counties are football dominated. Getting shellacked at all age grades by Dublin will eventually and already has demoralised and pushed away talented players as they see putting in the required commitment as a fruitless task and that is very damaging for the long-term future and viability of the inter-county football championships.

KYTitletown (Kerry) - Posts: 816 - 21/04/2016 10:14:37    1847848

southmeathgael.
What is worse, the odd year where Dublin are caught and don't win sam, the same guys will say 'see, it isn't all about money', as if that is a justification for it.
People are just going to have to stop viewing gaa in terms of their own county. Essentially we need to wake up, and frankly grow up to the realisation that in the grander scheme of things, there are more important things than your own county winning sam all the time. Look at the SPL without rangers in it - this is where we are heading. Then interest fades, and with it the money goes elsewhere to rugby or soccer. Dublin will then recede - like celtic have. The bottom line is the sport suffers.

The more competitive a sport is, the better it will be.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 21/04/2016 10:55:22    1847867

Well you see Master you can't have it both ways. You can't say that it's all about the great coaching and the amount of money put into Dublin and then turn a blind eye to counties like Kerry, Mayo and Donegal, all of whom can, and have, turned Dublin over at various stages. If it's all about the money and coaching as suggest then these counties must be rolling in it too. You can't have it both ways.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 21/04/2016 13:31:34    1847951

Exactly the same problem KYTitletown. If Longford footballers won't sign up because of Dublin's dominance in Leinster (have they ever been competitive with Dublin in the past really anyway?) then what must Clare, Waterford and Limerick footballers think of Cork and Kerry dominance in Munster? It's the same problem no? In fact historically it has been even worse in Munster. Would fellas have been lining up to join the Longford footballers in the 70s when the Dubs were dominating Leinster? Weaker counties will always struggle to attract players. Has it ever been easy for them?

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 21/04/2016 13:56:21    1847965

its laughable by the meath posters, laughable.
dublin is funded by dublin not by the central council.
Meath is funded by dublin
louth is funded by dublin
the whole lot of ye are funded by dublin thats the facts girls.

kilkeeny only have 100K + population and thye dominate hurling, keryr the same so dont come whinging to us. Look at roscommon the best team they have had in decades and they couldnt even build a decent stadium as thye squandered the monies paid to them. Look at meath in navan the same.

Kildare, they wouldnt even play kildare players they used imports, This killed of the internal supply of good players in the county.
Mayo could have won Sam 3 times in the last 6 but blew it bcause thye were mentally weak not becuase of monies.
Tryone won it becuase they put in proper structures in their clubs and youth policies not because of monies.

meath and loth people think they deserve the cup even though their structures at underage are appawling.

heresam (Dublin) - Posts: 156 - 21/04/2016 14:48:26    1847995

But Munster is a hurling province bar Kerry while Cork is essentially 50/50 just look at Tipperary who have lost a good few of last years side to hurling squad and they have suffered as a result (same with their minors who lost last night - they got to the final last year)

Those players are still partaking in intercounty - just hurling and not football. In the Leinster example those equivalent players are being lost completely they aren't going to hurling. Which means the overall quality of Leinster is decreasing massively and the huge chasm between Dublin and the rest widens even further.

Also the chasm is growing at between Dublin and rest underage in Leinster at an alarming rate, in Munster it's a lot more competitive bar Waterford (it's just that when Limerick Clare Tipp lads get past 21 they lose a lot more of their 'elite' players to hurling and other sports etc than Kerry does) . Kerry winning 2 of the last 17 Munster U21 titles in a hurling province illustates just how competitive the others are at the younger grades. We have even lost to Waterford twice in that timespan including a final with a team managed by JOC and Gooch Sheehan Donaghy Declan O'S.

http://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/0528/704342-travelling-dublin-struggle-to-beat-longford/

KYTitletown (Kerry) - Posts: 816 - 21/04/2016 14:59:40    1848002

"meath and loth people think they deserve the cup even though their structures at underage are appawling."

Much like your spelling.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 21/04/2016 14:59:41    1848003

Well you see Master you can't have it both ways. You can't say that it's all about the great coaching and the amount of money put into Dublin and then turn a blind eye to counties like Kerry, Mayo and Donegal, all of whom can, and have, turned Dublin over at various stages. If it's all about the money and coaching as suggest then these counties must be rolling in it too. You can't have it both ways.
Joxer (Dublin)

Im not having it both ways. My point is that a one off game here or there over the course of a 8-10 years where Dublin don't manage to win, is not justification for spending so much more resources on them. It is the equivalent of saying that because atletico Madrid can beat Barcelona the odd time, their getting a ridiculous share of tv money is not a problem. In other words, complete horse s***.

The reality is these things are very big factors in success. If you don't believe them to be, then why are you against giving them up?

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 21/04/2016 15:02:03    1848006

Mayo could have won Sam 3 times in the last 6 but blew it bcause thye were mentally weak not becuase of monies.
heresam

Has it not occurred to you that had we had those monies, we might have developed more players, not to mention kept a few guys away from aussie rules like a certain other county were able to, and therefore would have had a better team than those sides that were losing at the final hurdle?

i.e. exactly what happened in Dublin from the mid 2000s to now.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 21/04/2016 15:05:03    1848009

Can I just ask, the facilities Dublin currently use at DCU - who funded that or what are the terms of their use of the facilities? Only asking as I don't know and I 'm reading a lot of sure we don't need we've got DCU.

benched (Tyrone) - Posts: 534 - 21/04/2016 15:10:16    1848012