Sorry Ard Mhacha, I was , unavoidably, seperated from this old machine for a few days and didn't read you.
There have been localised scandal over funds throughout the GAA over the years , gate receipts misrepresented being one of the more frequent, and other misdemeanours that I know of in my own area but, I do not wish to drag them up again. The point I really want to make is that money corrupts, everywhere, eventually. The publicity and reportage given to any given incident is , very often, politically driven and not at all balanced over the various sporting bodies. I read in the national Press today, about how GAA people should be congratulated for their generosity in allowing the use of Croke Park (Their HQ ground in Dublin)by other codes. This appears to suggest that the GAA, FAI and IRFU "people" are all seperate and exclusively loyal followers of one or other sport. This is manifestly untrue and , again speaking locally, in just my own area I know of only two or three such people.
Declan (Patron Saint of my locality btw) I wonder how much credit is due to the many migrants from the provinces whose descendants make up your "Dubs" footballers ?
The GAA have got wonderful facilities , unquestionably, all over this country but, they have had a free run at fund raising in nearly all of rural Ireland for many years , until long after the "ban on foreign games" was lifted. However it is also a fact that many junior Association Football clubs now have facilities, often including floodlights, that even surpass those of their local counterparts. All these developments have been possible because of the more widespread interest in codes other than GAA hurling and football. This is a fact that I have never seen reported, shows you the kind of lacklustre management and publicity organisation the FAI have.
I weep for the past glories of Northern Ireland and the Republic in Association Football. I can well remember the old masters , such as Con Martin, Jackie Carey, Danny Blanchflower, Bertie Peacock, Wilbur Cush, Pat Jennings, George Best, Charlie Hurley, Noel Cantwell, Paddy Coad,Johnny Giles, and Eamon Dunphy and so many others. But the good days will return and I'll bet that many of the "fanatical" followers of Rugby and Hurling and Football will be clamouring, once again, for tickets to the International Soccer matches in Dublin.