not to the same extent in Kerry lol. I knew nobody from my primary school who played gaa in Dublin , zero in a class of 30. Why aren’t India and china unreal at soccer? They both play , both have 1000s of leagues. China has pumped vast swathes of money. What’s the theory on it lol?
They play other sports outside the capital too, that's not unique to Dublin. A 4+ way split is indeed necessary now, Dublin's unfair advantages have just been allowed to persist for too long. It's not just population, it's also funding, playing at home etc. The combination of advantages Dublin enjoys are probably unique in sport. How do you propose dealing with Dublin's unfair advantages if not by splitting them?
you are off your rocker hahaha. A 4 way split. We play other sports here in the capital. It’s Bizzare how poor china and India are in soccer. They have the most insane population advantage.
Improvement from before the overfunding really started in earnest in the mid-2000s. Yes they always had a population advantage in Dublin but that was only grounds for a two way split. It's only since the funding blew up that a 4+ way split really became necessary. But as above, even a team doesn't win every year, it doesn't mean they aren't unfairly advantaged. For instance, Dublin were unfairly advantaged population wise in the late 1990s, even though they weren't winning much then.
improvement from when? I mean they were decent 10 years ago , been crap since, but yet dublins population is rising. Odd. What’s your theories on international football lol? China and India are shocking.
There has been a marked improvement in the Dublin hurlers, no doubt about it. But just because a team doesn't win every year doesn't mean they aren't unfairly advantaged (this holds true for the footballers as well). For instance if a team started in the Premier League with a 10-point advantage every year, but don't win, they are still unfairly advantaged. Similarly, Dublin start with insane advantages in population, funding and playing at home. Even when they don't win, they remain unfairly advantaged.
Dublin alone are uniquely unfairly advantaged, as discussed. No other county is. While there are discrepancies in say population and funding between other counties, these utterly pale in comparison with Dublin's differences- that's why Dublin alone should be split. The fact you have to reference a game from 9 years ago shows how utterly bereft of arguments you are. But losses, even hammerings, are not an issue as long as they come fairly. This is true for all counties except for Dublin. In Dublin's case, when they win currently, they've won unfairly. When they do occassionally lose, they were still unfairly advantaged, they just didn't take full advantage of it. This is one of the reasons why splitting Dublin will help Dublin- they can finally take some real pride in their wins, unlike at present.
Well Dublin divisional sides would still have to play some games at home. No, they shouldn't play essentially every single game at home, as Dublin do currently, including finals and semi-finals, but there would be some. I'd like things to be fair for all teams. And I love all counties, I want to see a level playing-field, and the best way to do this is by splitting Dublin. Your proposals that involve pointless tinkering with Provincial competitions, which should be abolished anyway and are only a part of inter-county competitions, do nothing to address Dublin's unfair advantages.
I'm focused on addressing the catastrophic unfairness that exists in Gaelic games that comes from Dublin's unfair advantages. Only a split of Dublin will do this. Yes, other reforms can and should be considered but everything else pales in comparison with the urgency of splitting Dublin to help the GAA. I'm glad you accept that population is a natural advantage. But unfortunately there is nothing that offsets the population advantage in Dublin's case- they just have additional unfair advantage after additional unfair advantage piled on top.
That solution has already been discussed here and rejected unfortunately- it does nothing to address Dublin's unfair advantages in population, funding and playing at home. The damage from these unfair advantages stretches far beyond Leinster (although the biggest impact is felt there). The issue is the scale, nature, combination and duration of these advantages. Yes, there are population differences between other counties but the gaps in absolute numbers for Dublin dwarf everyone else- For instance, the gap between Dublin and Cork is larger than the gap between Cork and Leitrim. So Dublin is such a statistical outlier, so many standard deviations away from the average that the GAA needs to take special measures for their unique circumstances. So the gaps between the counties you mentioned are negligible when compared with Dublin. Same for funding- there are differences between counties, but nothing on the scale of the differences that Dublin has. And Meath are absolutely short on resources when compared to Dublin, as all counties are. Even though the All-Ireland is more competitive than Leinster, it's still not a fair competition, the advantages for Dublin exist there too and harm all counties. It's not success that is the problem- it's success that comes from an unfairly advantaged position, as Dublin's has. Voluntary amalgamations can be offered but Dublin should be split on a mandatory basis- it's too dangerous for the future of Gaelic games not to do it.
why does it not help with hurling?
Why aren’t Dublin doing it with hurling?
so how would that make them competitive against say Kerry, with the long list of long standing unfair advantages Kerry benefit from
the back door gives us a glimpse of where these teams are at. Kerry putting 7 goals past Kildare a few years back seems to tell us Dublin might not be the problem
How’s that working out in hurling
Particularly dark humour when a particular poster in the early days of this thread was predicting a hurling Armageddon due to Dublin.
Stadiums can be shared? Isn’t a big part of your issue the sharing of one particular stadium at the behest of other teams in Leinster?
you really couldn’t make this tripe up….
And yet when a solution is offered that addresses the issues you don’t want to know because your beloved Kerry would also see their unfair advantages cut back
we can absolutely say that if we’re Kerry fans looking to protect our place on the roll of honour- the rest of us not so much
telling you’re focusing on populations again when you’re offered a solution that levels out everything else but does the same for your team. The one natural advantage that’s always existed for Dublin, the one that rarely made much difference. The one that is utterly offset by the issues Dublin faces that were so eloquently detailed by other posters and which you utterly failed to address and then tried to spoof your way through. Maybe you’d be up for restricting access time to pitches for other teams when you’re trying to fix football… will you hell
My solution would be to take Dublin out of Leinster.
As regards 'unfair advantages' - that exists throughout the game.
If you start targetting Dublin then where do you stop.
Should Leitrim population 35,000 have to compete with Galway population 260,000?
Should Fermanagh 53'000 have to compete with Derry 280,000?
Why does this only apply to Dublin.
The all-Ireland is competitive at the latter stages and has been throughout Dublins period of dominance. Of their all Ireland final wins, most of them were one score games and two were drawn.
If Kerry, Derry, Galway, Mayo or Tyrone come up against Dublin in a semi final or final, I'd expect it to be a decent contest.
I still dont buy for one minute that a split is going to be easy. For example, who are the coaching panels - if the clubs dont want it in the first place.
Why not join Meath and Kildare together - that would be just as 'easy' as what you are suggesting. Sure just pick the best of the two panels.
Because its those counties that have the problem here, not Dublin.
By all means, financially even things up - but being honest, I dont think the Meath county football team is short of resources.
Sure take Dublin out of Croke Park. Make them play in Navan. But Meath were offerred that and didnt take it.
Good. The GAA deserves to suffer for being so biased towards the most dominant team in Leinster. I hope the gap grows dramatically. Trying harder to just close the gap a little plays into their hands. I hope Dublin win 30 Leinster's in a row until they eventually move Dublin out or just cease the competition.
Galway don't compete in Connaught hurling so there is precedent.
Nobody is disputing that Dublin have some great players. We've said that they have repeatedly. Whether they have great players or not has no bearing on whether Dublin are unfairly advantaged over everyone else. In fact, some of the reasons Dublin can field such great players is because of their unique unfair advantages- for instance, Dublin's population advantage gives them with a higher absolute number of top-tier players within the county. The Games Development funding that Dublin alone were favoured in helped to improve those players as they grew up, in a way that would not have been possible in other counties. Their ongoing funding advantage that Dublin have over everyone else helps to maintain them at the top of their game. And so on.
Thing is, they are not complaining like you are. O'Rourke was on the tv after the game saying that players like McCarthy, Fenton, Kilkenny and O'Callaghan are the best to have played the game.
If you were picking an all-time greatest team now, those four along with Cluxton would be knocking the Kerry lads off the team. In a team of the last 50 years, only John O'Keefe, Jack O'Shea and Pat Spillane would make the team. The rest would be mostly Dublin.
"Leaving Dublin as a single team is far, far more dangerous for Gaelic games than splitting them. "
That's it. The rest is just detail.
Exactly. Maybe Meath can do more internally to develop footballers.
But taking away all hope does not help football in any county.
But it's not poor form for Meath to be complaining about unfair advantages. Their complaints have 100% merit. Dublin are indeed unfairly advantaged and have been for decades. It's perfectly natural that people would be annoyed about that. If we wanted Meath to become competitive again, the first thing we'd have to do is level the playing field so it's a fair competition. And the way to do that is by splitting Dublin.
Totally agree on the last sentence. One thing with people disputing the need for a split is they never have any proposals for how to deal with Dublin's unfair advantages. Just because it is the status quo does not mean it can in any way be justified. Leaving Dublin as a single team is far, far more dangerous for Gaelic games than splitting them.
It'd be logistically quite easy. We've established for instance that stadiums can be shared and no new facilities would be required- there are sufficient ones already in Dublin. It wouldn't undermine the club structure at all, it'd enhance it if anything. It's far too dangerous and unfair for Gaelic games for Dublin not to be split. How do you propose dealing with Dublin's unfair advantages in population, funding and playing at home then?
We can absolutely say that Dublin alone are not only uniquely advantaged but have a unique combination, scale and duration of advantages in population, funding, playing at home etc. No other county even comes close on any one of those metrics individually, never mind taking them all together. So the imbalance is Dublin alone. Minor discrepancies in population can be tolerated but not of the likes Dublin enjoy- the unfair status quo has gone on far too long now.
Meath can complain about unfair advantages when Meath do the best Meath can do and still come up short. Meath are miles off being the county they could be. And most worryingly, most of their famous traits are dead too. It's poor form when Meath are complaing about unfair advantages, they were the team who never made excuses, got on with it and got stuck in. Died on the field, run through walls and other teams for the cause, never lay down and overcame all odds with a cast iron will and belief.
Now they are running around with excuses and bowing down with a whimper every time. The attitde of their fans is worse. The whole thing has gone wrong in Meath, from structures, to the county board to players who are afraid. Theres a poison in Meath football, and no on seems able to address the root cause to even start putting it right. It's depressing to watch really
Nonsense. How would undermine any club, except that they would only play clubs in their new county? Some of the clubs should be split too.
the issue is people pretending that the solution is somehow a problem.
Meath haven't won an all Ireland since 1999. I'd no problem following them for years after that and would still do but when the organisation shows such ridiculous bias towards the most successful county there's really no point. My enjoyment levels of the Leinster championship were 10/10 even though Meath would win it maybe once a decade after 1999. Out of principle I won't go.
Qualify that, as a former die hard back in a time when Meath were winning…..
The likes of Monaghan, Derry, Tyrone, Mayo, Kerry have no shortage of football fans willing to come to games in Croke Park.
If Meath were back contending, you'd be back watching.
Meath have had a serious decline, irrespective of what Dublin are doing. Its 20 years since a Meath club has made a Leinster club final.
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