Mise
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:18 pm
Believe me Mise, I have no "vested outside interests" in either Rugby or Soccer. When I said I liked to watch them, I actually meant on the TV, and only if it's free and I'm not doing something else. I've only ever been to Landsdowne Road 3 times in my life; once for one of those American Football College games (similar to one that graced the Croke Park pitch on another occasion) and twice for Ireland Soccer friendlies, and those were only because I got free tickets through work. I do like most sports as a spectator, but Gaelic Games are the only ones that I frequent and have any real passion for.
Having cleared that up (I hope), I note your own admission, on the subject of floodlighting, that you are "a resident". I presume you mean that you live near Croke Park. Does this mean that you might come under the category of "vested outside interests" yourself?
Anyway, I reckon that Croke Park has been in situ since before you lived where you do. You've always known it is a prime Sporting venue, and thus is always likely to become more utilized over time. Many of us have "neighbours" we might prefer to not be so close to. But we've chosen to live there. And we choose to stay living there.
I have posted many other arguments in favour of changing Rule 42 over the past few years, admittedly on other GAA forums. I've been part of the GAAboard.com community (and it's previous incarnations) for about 8 or 9 years now. Apologies if I resist posting many of them again. Suffice to say that Lone Shark has covered all of what I would like to say.
One final point - Just because I would like to see Rule 42 changed does not mean that I expect it to be changed. I can understand the views of the "no change" side. I admit that it would almost stick in my throat to do anything that helps the likes of the FAI in particular, as they must be the most incompetent Irish sports administration body in living memory. But we don't need another "state-of-the-art" sports stadium, paid for mainly by the Govt. We need Hospitals, Schools, Infrastructure, etc.
The GAA has an asset that is not fully utilized. I am satisfied that there is room in our schedules to fit in outside fixtures without compromising our own games. We have other good stadia of our own that are also under-utilized. It would be no harm to move some of our own Croke Park fixtures (thinking mainly of Qualifier games here) back to rural venues.
We have little to fear by giving those codes a bigger stage. They will never be more popular than our own games, because our own games are just plain better sports.
Croke Park will stay as the GAA's stadium. "We" own it, decide who can use it, and for how much. That's the bottom line.
Having cleared that up (I hope), I note your own admission, on the subject of floodlighting, that you are "a resident". I presume you mean that you live near Croke Park. Does this mean that you might come under the category of "vested outside interests" yourself?
Anyway, I reckon that Croke Park has been in situ since before you lived where you do. You've always known it is a prime Sporting venue, and thus is always likely to become more utilized over time. Many of us have "neighbours" we might prefer to not be so close to. But we've chosen to live there. And we choose to stay living there.
I have posted many other arguments in favour of changing Rule 42 over the past few years, admittedly on other GAA forums. I've been part of the GAAboard.com community (and it's previous incarnations) for about 8 or 9 years now. Apologies if I resist posting many of them again. Suffice to say that Lone Shark has covered all of what I would like to say.
One final point - Just because I would like to see Rule 42 changed does not mean that I expect it to be changed. I can understand the views of the "no change" side. I admit that it would almost stick in my throat to do anything that helps the likes of the FAI in particular, as they must be the most incompetent Irish sports administration body in living memory. But we don't need another "state-of-the-art" sports stadium, paid for mainly by the Govt. We need Hospitals, Schools, Infrastructure, etc.
The GAA has an asset that is not fully utilized. I am satisfied that there is room in our schedules to fit in outside fixtures without compromising our own games. We have other good stadia of our own that are also under-utilized. It would be no harm to move some of our own Croke Park fixtures (thinking mainly of Qualifier games here) back to rural venues.
We have little to fear by giving those codes a bigger stage. They will never be more popular than our own games, because our own games are just plain better sports.
Croke Park will stay as the GAA's stadium. "We" own it, decide who can use it, and for how much. That's the bottom line.