The Dominance of Dublin GAA *Mod warning post#1*

Unfortunately , this is also not true , Kerry are also unfairly advantaged over all other Counties, they have an enormous advantage playing out of a Hurling province for over a century, 84 ridiculous handy Munster titles and 38 All Ireland titles shows this , it never was a level playing field and so its with a heavy heart i say Kerry have to be split .

Kerry as has been discussed by plenty on here need to be split first , lets see how that goes for a few years and if needed ,other splits /amalgamations can be looked at .

What is a quicker, cleaner and fairer solution all round is to completely redo the Championship set up.

Make the O'Byrne Cup, Sigurdson etc - effectively the Provincial Championship. Have it as a season opener, let everyone get involved as normal, let the Ulster teams kill each other to be Ulster Champions and the pride in that. Let Kerry, Dublin claim 25th ttile in a row etc. Hold it in March etc.

Get rid of league - but instead after a little lull to allow Ulster lads fix themselves up - have the big Open Draw Championship a lot have been craving. 4 groups of 8 - 2 from each of the old Div 1,2,3 and 4 league set up. Then suddenly every team gets 7 matches, no-one gets walk in park, Top 4 of each group go into All Ireland last 16 straight knock out 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd. Similarly bottom 4 go into Tailteann - same draw set up.

How you finish each year, decides the pot you go into next year.

That get's rid of the easy run/hard run Leinster, Munster vs Ulster have.

In mean time again, share out resources better. Get the provincial councils to take back power and work on leveling up all their provincial teams, not letting certain teams get all the cream

But it wont be split. So thats not an option. Why - because quite simply Dublin wont do it, and the GAA cant make them do it even if they wanted to.

I think its more likely that Dublin just doesnt participate at all. Thats a far more viable option.

That's not quicker, it's not cleaner and it definitely isn't fairer! It does nothing to address Dublin's unique and unfair combination of advantages in population, funding and playing at home. Splitting Dublin does address this. You seem to be opposed to splitting Dublin for some reason, despite the clear benefits to all counties. But any reforms to the game that don't involve this crucial first step are doomed to failure as they don't address the main issue in Gaelic Games i.e. Dublin competing off of a platform of unfair advantages. So while splitting Dublin doesn't have to be the only or last reform, it certainly has to be the first one!

I don't agree with abolishing the league and think your proposal would have too many games and too many mismatches in quality of teams anyway. I agree with your proposal to share out resources- this would be an important reform, after Dublin are split.

The GAA cant force them to if they refuse to do it, which they would. The GAA isnt a Court of Law, cant send the Gardai in to force this. Its a sporting organisation.

Going back to an earlier point - Gaelic Games would far from wither away.

Hurling wont be affected, nor will club football, nor will camogie, nor will LGFA, nor will colleges, nor will underage games, nor will handball nor rounders.

There were probably 500 GAA games on in Dublin last weekend (Feile finals included). The Dublin - Offaly game was just one of them.

I think intra-Dublin rivalries would develop fairly quickly so it wouldn't be long before the supporters of each divisional side are not supporters of any of the others! But if, in the short term, we get even more interest in Dublin, as supporters from each divisional side follow and support the other ones, that would be a good outcome too.

Again without a Kerry split Gaelic games will slowly die , Kerry supporters only come up in big numbers for finals , attendances are down in Munster due to Kerry's advantages for over a century , Kerry dominance in Munster 84 ridiculous titles and 38 All Ireland titles is the biggest issue in the GAA .

sounds like what Kerry have been doing for a hundred years. I agree it’s not the best solution but how is it any different to the model in place now? You can’t argue it’s suddenly not ok because it’s Dublin rather than Kerry

Would the finals be less poorly attended than Kerry-Cork games?

It's because I focus on integrity and fairness that I hone in Dublin's unfair advantages- it's the biggest issue facing gaelic games. No comparable advantages exist for any other county, especially not when you take that Dublin have those unfair advantages in combination into account. So when it comes to unfair advantages, the only thing worth discussing is Dublin.

RoyalCelt can answer too, my post doesn't stop him from doing so. I look forward to the response actually as he is one of the posters who fully recognises Dublin's unfair advantages, which is important for progressing our discussion. And it's important too that you are educated on your partisan viewpoint and how it may differ from people who just want what is best for the game. It will help you better understand the need to split Dublin.

So a) it's because I see the see the wider problem b) care about Leinster (and all counties) and c) understand how Dublin alone are uniquely unfairly advantaged in the GAA that I want Dublin alone to be split

It is quicker - GAA has been rearranging Championship set up for years, what's one more change

It is cleaner- see above, no messing with boundaries

It is fairer - means more even spread of competitive games so thar counties like Kerry, Dublin don't get clean run at quarters. Also every team now guaranteed 7 games, against random opponents, so a Summer full of matches.

You repeatedly say 'clear advantages to all counties' without saying any of them except Dublin will be weakened, so bit more chance for Kerry, Mayo, Ulster winner to win. I can see minimal impact on 90% of teams. Your solution seems to be split Dublin and all will be good.

Yes, I think getting rid of league and replacing it with open draw might lead to some mismatches, but that's happening now anyway. Would the novelty of Kerry travelling to Louth, or Dublin away to Clare not bring interest. As well as mid teams fighting to stay in Championship bring excitement. More games for everyone, more interest and then a straight knock out. 16 games almost each weekend, some of them have to be crackers.

And I keep coming back to make Provincial councils more powerful, and get them to prioritise their province's well being rather than individual county's. Spread the wealth, and resources.

Again, how does a weaker Dublin benefit smaller counties? Ok the All Ireland quarter ffinals onwards become a bit more competitive, but that benefits the Sligos and Carlows how. Pride in being knocked out at the exact same stage but at least the Semi final was good?

And what happens to this idea if suddenly its Dublin v Dublin in a semi final or final - you think a split Dublin won't be able to attract in even more sponsorship.

And I love the way the split is just so simplified as 'divvying up population' - 'you can have Tallaght but we want Clondalkin', 'The Liffey cuts through Lucan so they'll have to be divided'. Are the Dublin Leagues to be 2 county now as well, who qualifies for which team, can players transfer? Is Parnell Park home for just 1 team, does a 'South' Dublin team get visitation rights to Croker? What divisions so they go into in league? All simply enforced?

Eh?? I didn't mention anything about Dublin being split. You're barking up the wrong there buddy. In fact, a few pages back (if I recall correctly), I think I mentioned that my opinion is that Dublin should not be split.

Oh yes, you did say you'd abolish the league tbf, so probably would break even in terms of games, apologies there. I wouldn't agree with that though, think the league is often better than the championship these days. Look, maybe your proposal has merit, maybe not- it can discussed and debated, just so long as Dublin are split first.