Kevin Corrigan please shut up.

[black and red exile]

As I read the Tullamore Tribune this evening I nearly choked on my tea and fig roll biscuits when Offaly's NO 1 sports journalist Kevin Corrigan wrote a very sarcastic and totally unfair piece[ in his man behind the wire column] about normally loyal football followers, as he puts it ''deserting the sinking ship'' and travelling to Ennis for the hurling match.Let me just make a few points concerning his childish little dig.
1. There are very very few of us totally dedicated Offaly supporters who live, breath and eat Offaly football and hurling teams, where we travel to every corner of this island to support our 2 senior teams over many years.
2. It is not our fault that both matches were played on the same day at the same time in different parts of the country.
3. The reason why this supporter ''choose'', as Mr Corrigan puts it, Ennis was because as little as support as the footballers had in Tullamore the hurlers had virtually nobody shouting for them in Clare, and surely the hurlers deserve our support just as much as the footballers,. Anyway it was very difficult to concentrate fully on the hurling, what with ringing friends back in Tullamore finding out how the footballers were getting on.
4. It was not easy travelling 120 miles to Ennis from my home instead of 40 miles to Tullamore, so how that can be classed as[disloyal] to this one supporter is down right insulting.
5. If Mr Corrigan wants to compare attended matches, and that includes championship, league and challenge matches in both codes over the last decade alone with this ''disloyal'' supporter, I would only be too happy to oblige.
As ye all can see I'm a bit peeved off over a stupid and hurtful comment made by a journalist who I had the highest regard for as a very knowledgeable GAA man and not someone who uses his newspaper column to insult 4 [thats right I said 4 supporters] who were with the Offaly crowd in Ennis last Sunday who travel to every part of Ireland for the love of our county, and finally who found it heartbreaking to have to choose one code over the other through no fault of our own.
One final point before I sign off, on Sunday week, we hear this evening, we are going to have to choose again with the Waterford and Fermanagh games and I suppose, bar we split ourselves in two, whichever game we go to we will probably be classed as ''disloyal'' again by a fellow Offaly man who should have the cop on to just shut up insulting the few of us that are left.

[far from croghan hill]

...............emmm.........kevin corrigan,where do i start?well unlike the black and red exile, i didnt see the tullamore tribune, in which the noble esteemed journalist, one of ballinagars finest started spouting off about the loyalty of offaly supporters. perhaps it should be that we question Mr Corrigan loyalties..time plays funny tricks on the memory, but im just trying to jog mine.this is the same reporter who single handly through his newspaper reports orchaestrated the downfall of the offaly senior football manager paul o kelly in 2003, then took a stance back and rejected these claims, and praised o kelly, who, despite his downfalls won more matches in charge than the shambles that is kilmuuray. in 2004, fresh from his loyalty to the county board, corrigan was appointed team secretary, a position he held while still writing articles for the express critisicng the very players he was meant to be involved with. As to his journalistic contribution, dribble in my eyes. but if theres a photo oppurtunity, kevin is always at hand.ever wonder why the bog that is ballingar gets so many championship games- wonder no more. there finished my rant could say more but i wont!

[Lone Shark]

I'm really beginning to believe that the reason for this guy jumping ship from the Express to the Tribune is because he was given license to rant away to his heart's content, because some of his recent work I'd say wouldn't have been let near the Express. To be honest he's lost the run of himself in recent weeks, between picking on comments on Hogan Stand which were clearly written by children, to oscillating wildly between blaming Kilmurray and then saying lay off, and now this.

A lot of people in Offaly are football fans, a lot are hurling fans, and remarkably a lot of people are both. Amazing though this may seem in a county where five clubs have senior status in both codes , nonetheless it's true. And as Black and Red exile has said, the issue is that all too often we are asked to make choices between the codes, a choice that we would rather not make.

Corrigan is clearly a clown - and if he wants to talk about loyalty, I'd be interested to see how he'd compare with a lot of people on this site. I'd be interested to know how many games he'd go to of a similar standard to the Div 2 hurling games last year - discounting games where he's being paid to go of course. I've been at several Offaly games where I could count individually every Offaly fan in attendance - specifically I'm thinking about places like Ballinasloe, Carrickcruppen, Kilmallock, Cashel, in each of which I've seen Offaly games in recent years. I don't remember seeing him at any of those.

On a final note - some supporters chose to watch our county hurlers last sunday. Corrigan has made it a mission of his to make needless and unwarranted digs at Ciarán McManus at regular intervals, culminating in the point where he suggested either of two 20 year olds would have been a better selection than him after watching a few club games last year. This kind of treatment of probably our most dedicated player and our only international representative is reprehensible in itself, but of those two acts, I wonder which do more harm to our footballers?

[Treasurer]

I try not to read him - he always seems determined to add another insult to the list, including totally uncalled for jibes at club officers, not to mention labelling ANY questions that are asked at county board meetings as "negative", which is ironic considering the tone of his own column most weeks!

It sounds like he's surpassed himself this week though - how dare he question anybody's choice of one code over the other when games clash.

[Barracuda]

Corrigan is clearly a clown

Ah ha, See therein lies the facts.
That's why I dont read the clowns articles. I mean think about it- how could you read a chaps view who knows so little about the game- come on now lads - lets not get into a tizzy here.
Best is just ignore and nod yeah yeah yeah whatever.

As mentioned previously he WAS the football secretary 2 years ago- some schambles that was.

Lads leave it- tis not worth it, honestly its not worth it - its like giving credence to another Eamon Dunphy (except that Eammo knows a bit more)


Talk about the ploughing championship - anything, but not this clown.

[turk]

i think saying don't read him cos he's a clown masks the issue that we are entitled to better standards of journalism at both national and regional level.

you'ld be better fixed using your right to write to the paper in question -
dem's my thoughts

[Lone Shark]

Would it be possible for anyone to post up the article here? I'd probably be able to get a response article run, but obviously it would help if I knew what I responding to .....

[Bogman]

I've retyped it word for word, I've tried to make sure that the language, spelling and punctuation are faithfully reproduced - I've resisted the urge to play sub-editor and change it (by the way my take on the last few lines of the item is that Kevin Corrigan was just teasing some acquaintance(s) who opted for Ennis - not to be taken too seriously):


Faithful Departed

The Man Behind The Wire has long asserted that Offaly's reputation as the Faithful County is a myth and that was brought home to bear with a disappointingly meagre attendance at Sunday's crunch National Football League game against Monaghan in Tullamore.

The bad weather conditions played a factor but it was most disappointing to note that Monaghan had nearly as many supporters as Offaly in the small attendance - They were certainly more vocal.

A lot of people opted to stay at home, citing the weather and disillusionment with the way the team was performing - That is not an acceptable reason as it is in a time of need that the team most needs support and backing.

Interestingly other normally loyal football supporters choose to "desert the sinking ship" and travel to Ennis for the National Hurling League clash against Clare, and their absence from O'Connor Park was also noted.

[Lone Shark]

(by the way my take on the last few lines of the item is that Kevin Corrigan was just teasing some acquaintance(s) who opted for Ennis - not to be taken too seriously)

Chances are you're probably right. But what that means is that one of our flagship journalists is using his position for his own personal amusement and having injokes with his friends in his column. It's hard enough find decent writing on Offaly GAA without this kind of messing going on. It might be less offensive, but it's no less professional in my view.

[As Such Ger]

Have to disagree with you there LS. Can't see the harm in a bit of fun mixed up in a sports column of a paper from time to time... I had read the article before reading this site, and could only see it as a bit of a pisstake really...

The article the week before about Joe Hughes in London was great... worth the price of the paper alone.

BTW, I thought some of the criticism of Kevin Corrigan below was very harsh indeed...

[Lone Shark]

Can't see the harm in a bit of fun mixed up in a sports column of a paper from time to time... I had read the article before reading this site, and could only see it as a bit of a pisstake really...

Fair enough - except that it's for the benefit of about five people and nobody else has a clue what he's on about! By all means write tongue in cheek if you want, but at least make it so that you don't need to know all his feckin mates in order to get the benefit.

[Bord na Mona man]

Overall I think the column is a good idea.
My feeling is that the local papers focus very well on the microscopic issues in Offaly. Club match scores, reports, notes and events etc.

Traditionally there was very little analysis of the overall Offaly GAA scene. You want someone to stand back and join the dots. At least someone who is well informed can offer opinions of what's going on.

I suppose if you give one person a full broadsheet page to fill, it can become a monument to their ego.

[Treasurer]

In fairness, having read the comment in question, it does appear to be tongue in cheek more than a serious allegation, so I'm half way down off my high horse

[black and red exile]

Thanks for the comments lads. The only way I will know what Mr Corrigan was playing at is by confronting him and asking him in Enniskillen next Sunday.