Joe hits out at County Board

[Over The Black Spot]

This is just amazing.

I cannot believe that we have the same discussion again. This issue is cut and dried as far as im concerned. I am a lot of people have been saying for months the hurling games are in tullamore for one reason and one reason only to pay for OConnor Park.

There is no north south divide, there is no snobbery of south offaly people towards north offaly people when it comes to hurling. The north offaly people on this board have a huge chip on their shoulder about this. Where is this bias coming from?? Any talented hurlers from north offaly are where they belong on the county panel!!!

The issue is this and ive stated it in previous posts

Of the 12 Senior Grade Hurling sides in offaly, Coolderry, Birr, Shinrone, Drumcullen, Kinnity,Clareen, Kilcormac, Banagher,Lusmagh, Tullamore, Belmont & Shamrocks, 10 of the 12 would be within a 15-20 minute drive of birr and most a lot closer. The simple fact is

1/ The vast majority of the panel live closer to Birr than Tullamore. This means it is easier for them to travel to and from training.
2/ The vast majority of the panel would be more familar with Birr, most would have played on the pitch 40 - 50 times competitively and would have won the majority of their hurling medals there. There is an advantage to knowing the pitch.
3/ All the traditional hurling clubs are situated in the vicinity of Birr, This results in a larger support showing up at matches, Larger support in a smaller stadia results in better atmosphere, harder for the away team, possibly worth a point or two to Offaly any day they take the field.
4/The Birr pitch suits our style of play far better than Tullamore, forget people on here talking about new styles, the issue is the players are simply not up to the top standard at the moment. Playing the game on a pitch that suits our style gives them a fighting chance. The wider pitch suits the team that is on top, the team that is struggling is more likely to hit wayward balls into the forward line...why because they are under pressure. This has been a point that has been brought up time and time again on this forum. At least if there was a smaller pitch you would not see Cork for example being able to play their running game. As smaller pitch means its harder to get the 2 vs 1 situation that all running teams look to exploit.


Also there is another issue unrelated to the Birr Vs Tullamore Issue. The county board has been making decisions with its purse strings and not with their GAA hat on. This has resulted in poorer performance on the field. One such point I made was the granting of the home and away arrangement with Dublin hurlers. This was done for one reason, again so that the county board could benefit from a payday when offaly get the home venue. Now anyone with a thinking brain would tell you take dublin out of the city and they are at an instant disadvantage. I would be willing to wager that offaly supporters would outnumber dublin supporters at any neutral venue outside the capital...so it would be to the offaly hurlers advantage to insist on a neutral venue. Instead we got offaly to travel 3 hours to dublin, with a small 1000 support against a what 20-30,000 strong crowd...ridiculous.

The county board need to start forgetting about paying for O'Connor Park, because by the time they have paid for it, Offaly will be have gone back 20-30 years in both codes.

This is one of the best, most sensible comments I have read on this board. Agree wholeheartedly with backofthenet

[uibhfaillian]

All this stuff about playing in Birr should've been ironed out years ago. Certainly some games, maybe league games especially in Div 2, could be in Birr. But I don't see the long term advantage of Offaly playing home games at a ground that won't be able to accommodate big championship matches. And on a pitch that is smaller and different to other pitches the Offaly team will have to play on when they're away from home, which is most of the time.

In Galway the county board there took the decision to invest in Pearse stadium in Salthill, Galway City. The Galway county footballers traditional home is Tuam, but having spent the revenue on Pearse Stadium, they play big matches in Pearse Stadium and that's that. And why wouldn't they? Sure isn't Galway city the capital of Galway county, just like Tullamore is the capital of Offaly. Birr is only 20 minutes from Tullamore, big deal.

This argument about access to training etc. is a different matter, but if the only thing behind it all is - the Birr lads don't want to play in Tullamore - well people will generally start to lose interest completely. In the long run unless they sort it out the Offaly hurling team - which the whole county was proud of - will just end up being a hurling landscape that produces good club sides that doesn't translate to the county scene. Much like football in Carlow that has strong clubs and club players that don't even appear for the county team. Unless of course there's money to develop the ground in Birr, which I doubt is there.

I'm not questioning the commitment of Offaly hurlers by the way - that's there for all to see - but if this issue of playing in Birr v Tullamore continues, then it will eventually affect the county team's performances. Times have moved on and Offaly hurling needs to develop with it, new teams have come on the scene and Offaly hurling will be left behind if they harp back to the old ways of doing things.

[southoffaly]

hey waazaman , i only five a shite about hurling in offaly not a football field in tullamore ,if that makes me a muppet so be it , BUT THANK GOD IM NOT A GOBSH1TE FROM OVER THERE , , ger loughnan had a good piece in the star the other day and he hit the nail on the head regarding the attiude of the hurling v football . i listen to it every day working over there .i know lads training underage teams in what we call football areas and the obsitcales put in their way to keep them out of the way and make sure hurling doesnt grow too much

[faithfullad]

southoffaly, maybe you should stop posting idiotic comments and then people won't call you a gobshite.
''BUT THANK GOD IM NOT A GOBSH1TE FROM OVER THERE''. WHat kind of a statement is that? We don't need your kind in the county....

[backofthenet]

agree with offalyman08 100%.we are a county who should be united as one,theres hurling teams in edenderry under6,8,10,12,14,16 and the junior A team.gracefield,killeigh,raheens, all have hurling teams, they might not be senior or have county players but their all committed to playing hurling and to keeping it alive in the area.this bullshite attitude of theres only hurling one end sickens me,fair enough they might like playing in birr better than tullamore but the fact of the matter is as a hurler if you cant go out onto a pitch no matter where it is and play to your best then theres something wrong in the head.what will happen when they have to play cork in cork and if their defeated what will be to blame then,the pitch?i am from the so called football end of the county and i have no interested in football whatsoever,i am hurling to the core.attitude from players,manager,county board,supporters has to change.theres huge work needed to be done now at all age groups to get offaly hurling back to the top.i just hope to god that it rallys the hurlers and it might give them a bit of a boost and we might pull off a shock victory.training ,league games yes return to birr but it should be for the reason that its closer to the majority of players simple ,not for the fact that the pitch will win us all our games because that aint gonna happen.what is the crowd capacity of birr does anyone know?

There is not one side saying that there is only hurling down "one end" of the county. You for some reason feel that this is what the south offaly people are getting at.Please listen carefully. About 70 - 80% of the hurling clubs, hurlers, and hurling supporters are situated in or around birr. Does it make sense to move games from that area to another area approx 30 mins away?? The Pitch can and will win teams games. If you want proof of this look at Westmeath & Galway, the pitch in mullingar is particularly small and this enabled them to put it up to galway for 60 - 65 minutes.It would only be a guess but I would say that Birr would hold in the region of 4000 - 5000 but I couldnt be sure. On the issue of big championship games, most of the leinster championship games are held in croke park and it is only the qualifiers and league games that are held on a home and away basis generally and they rarely draw much more than that

[backofthenet]

All this stuff about playing in Birr should've been ironed out years ago. Certainly some games, maybe league games especially in Div 2, could be in Birr. But I don't see the long term advantage of Offaly playing home games at a ground that won't be able to accommodate big championship matches. And on a pitch that is smaller and different to other pitches the Offaly team will have to play on when they're away from home, which is most of the time.
In Galway the county board there took the decision to invest in Pearse stadium in Salthill, Galway City. The Galway county footballers traditional home is Tuam, but having spent the revenue on Pearse Stadium, they play big matches in Pearse Stadium and that's that. And why wouldn't they? Sure isn't Galway city the capital of Galway county, just like Tullamore is the capital of Offaly. Birr is only 20 minutes from Tullamore, big deal. I'm not questioning the commitment of Offaly hurlers by the way - that's there for all to see - but if this issue of playing in Birr v Tullamore continues, then it will eventually affect the county team's performances. Times have moved on and Offaly hurling needs to develop with it, new teams have come on the scene and Offaly hurling will be left behind if they harp back to the old ways of doing things.

You are making the assumption that Birr is not able to accomadate big championship matches. The reality is that Offaly havent been in a big championship match since they last graced a leinster final in 2004 and obviously that was staged in Croke Park. The biggest championship matches in Tullamore since the transfers have probably been against Cork and Limerick in the qualifiers and on both occasions id wager the crowd would easily have fitted into Birr. Also there is some weird opinion out there that Birr Pitch is drasticaly smaller than other pitches around the country. This is simply not the case and there are smaller pitches in Ireland that host championship games. On the Galway situation, there is an on going dispute within galway about this. Not knowing the exact ins and outs I cant comment directly but Id imagine its the same situation as offaly. I do know however that this is also happening in Tipperary where One parent whos son is on a juvenile football team has to travel 2-3 times from clonmel to thurles, about an hour drive

[townman]

All this stuff about playing in Birr should've been ironed out years ago. Certainly some games, maybe league games especially in Div 2, could be in Birr. But I don't see the long term advantage of Offaly playing home games at a ground that won't be able to accommodate big championship matches. And on a pitch that is smaller and different to other pitches the Offaly team will have to play on when they're away from home, which is most of the time.
In Galway the county board there took the decision to invest in Pearse stadium in Salthill, Galway City. The Galway county footballers traditional home is Tuam, but having spent the revenue on Pearse Stadium, they play big matches in Pearse Stadium and that's that. And why wouldn't they? Sure isn't Galway city the capital of Galway county, just like Tullamore is the capital of Offaly. Birr is only 20 minutes from Tullamore, big deal. I'm not questioning the commitment of Offaly hurlers by the way - that's there for all to see - but if this issue of playing in Birr v Tullamore continues, then it will eventually affect the county team's performances. Times have moved on and Offaly hurling needs to develop with it, new teams have come on the scene and Offaly hurling will be left behind if they harp back to the old ways of doing things.

You are making the assumption that Birr is not able to accomadate big championship matches. The reality is that Offaly havent been in a big championship match since they last graced a leinster final in 2004 and obviously that was staged in Croke Park. The biggest championship matches in Tullamore since the transfers have probably been against Cork and Limerick in the qualifiers and on both occasions id wager the crowd would easily have fitted into Birr. Also there is some weird opinion out there that Birr Pitch is drasticaly smaller than other pitches around the country. This is simply not the case and there are smaller pitches in Ireland that host championship games. On the Galway situation, there is an on going dispute within galway about this. Not knowing the exact ins and outs I cant comment directly but Id imagine its the same situation as offaly. I do know however that this is also happening in Tipperary where One parent whos son is on a juvenile football team has to travel 2-3 times from clonmel to thurles, about an hour drive

yes you are right about salthill the hurling people don't go to salthill its to hard to get to plus its not the hurling area. i was at the league game in salthill two years ago
and there wasn't a soul at it and it was a lovely saturday evening the same thing as tullamore big stand and no one at the matche's. as most of the hurling clubs are minutes
away from Birr they have to drive through Birr to go to tullamore to watch offaly hurl its crazy, now the hurlers have the chance to go back and train and play matches in st. brendans.

i have nothing again tullamore lovely field stand but its not like Birr for a hurling match i was brough up watching hurling in Birr or Banagher for that matter and its not the same
having the county final in tullamore there is something missing on county final day that you get when it is in Birr, you have to be from the hurling area to understand.

[townman]

''TOWNMAN'' YOUR A FUCKING CLOWN... WE ALL KNOW THAT YOU ARE ''SOUTHOFFALY'' ON THIS FORUM ASWELL... YOU LITTLE MUPPET

go way you muppet you are from laois or kildare or that area over there born in tullamore Birr all my life i wouldn't bother my arse talking hurling to you laoisman Prize PR.CK

[uibhfaillian]

You are making the assumption that Birr is not able to accomadate big championship matches. The reality is that Offaly havent been in a big championship match since they last graced a leinster final in 2004 and obviously that was staged in Croke Park. The biggest championship matches in Tullamore since the transfers have probably been against Cork and Limerick in the qualifiers and on both occasions id wager the crowd would easily have fitted into Birr. Also there is some weird opinion out there that Birr Pitch is drasticaly smaller than other pitches around the country. This is simply not the case and there are smaller pitches in Ireland that host championship games. On the Galway situation, there is an on going dispute within galway about this. Not knowing the exact ins and outs I cant comment directly but Id imagine its the same situation as offaly. I do know however that this is also happening in Tipperary where One parent whos son is on a juvenile football team has to travel 2-3 times from clonmel to thurles, about an hour drive

I think part of your comment above proves one of the points I was trying to make. That being that Offaly hurling - and football for that matter - tend to harp back to glory days in the past, are reluctant to move with the times, and ultimately get passed out by other counties and left behind. When Offaly hurlers were competitive in provincial and All Ireland championships in the recent past, nearly all the championship games were played in Croker, so the home ground debate of Tullamore v Birr didn't apply. Since then grounds like OCP and Portlaoise have been upgraded and these grounds get to stage championship matches now.

Why shouldn't the Offaly hurlers make use of OCP as a venue that they can play championship matches on, on Offaly soil? When it came to the Dublin/Offaly hurling arrangement I'd imagine that Dublin wanted an alternate home game as well, next time Offaly draws Dublin it will be in OCP. Are there people suggesting that there is no advantage for Offaly to play a championship match at OCP than at O'Moore Park for example? If that's the case then there's some really blinkered thinking going on here.

You site Tipperary where people have to travel an hour from one part of the county to another for training etc., well that doesn't even happen in Offaly. Birr is 20 to 30 minutes from Tullamore, it's no distance. The notion of a divide between south Offaly and north Offaly in the GAA is ridiculous.

It's true that Offaly hurling teams won All Irelands with the help of a small siege mentality, but I don't see that working in the future. Kilkenny under Cody has changed hurling and other counties have upped their game to try and compete. Offaly need to change their outlook if they want to compete too. Harping back to the way things were and the way things were done is the opposite of what Offaly hurling needs to be doing if they are to become competitive again.

[Plain of the Herbs]

It now seems that there was a series of incidents on Saturday at OCP that os best summed up by the bare biffo when he wrote

That said, whatever gobshite went about threatening to remove cars needs to have his sheriffs badge taken away.

KingLURK added the following which also seems accurate

Seems it wasn't quite as simple as that from what I've been told just now. They weren't tryign to gain access to play on the the pitch, they weren't even allowed cross the pitch to get to the video room. They got annoyed. Caretaker got more annoyed and threw a lot of abuse and it was a slippery slope from there.

The pity is that the series of incidences that occurred is badly described and articulated in the manager’s letter. If you are going to go public on an issue a bit of clarity for the reader is expected.

That it hasn't been replied to by the board causes difficulty (though I can see why), as has the lack of clarification from the management. The contribution(s) from Michael Duignan, particularly relating to the footballers, were off-the-wall.

I’d say the Board have as many issues with the groundsman too as the team have. If this is an ongoing scenario when the team are at OCP for a match or a training session then I can see why the team don’t want to use OCP any more.

At least the team and the management are at one with this, and if anything it could well have a bonding effect.

[kingscounty]

backofthenet so we are just saying for arguement sake that birr holds roughly 5000.so you reckon for the games offaly play in birr this would be near full and that 80% of supporters are in this one area around birr.so can you tell me where this 5000 were when we played dublin in croke park?you use cork as an example of a team that like to run and have space yet in portlaoise a tight pitch they scored 10-20! .offaly need new management,a new county board and a new mind set towards hurling as a whole in the county.we havent won a minor or under 21 leinster never mind an all ireland in ages.if we increase the interest and develop the game from underage up in the whole county we will have greater numbers to pick from,more support,i know this would take a big effort but we have to look to the future,we are a small county we should use as much of it as we can.you use westmeath as an example of a pitch winning games but they lost by 8 points,a game is 70 mins not 60mins.i agree that the birr pitch is where training should be and league games as it makes sense for the lads living in the area,if birr not available then a pitch near by.by the way im not having a direct go at you,i know you cant account for the 5000,i was in croke park and was not impressed with the poor showing our supporters put in.

[joe bloggs]

With regard to capacity at St. Brendan's Park, it will come in at around the 10,000 mark when finished. the stand has a capacity for 3000 seated, the terrace opposite is complete and will be able to hold 5-6000, and add in the town goal terrace under construction.
That will provide enough capacity for all league games, county finals, and most championship games (especially qualifiers). The pitch has finally been sorted and is every bit as good as Tullamore.

As for training, it should not be OCP or Birr (except before games) but instead at specially developed training facility owned by the county board. A central location in the county should be sourced, with proper floodlit pitches, dressing rooms and weights facility. There would need to be at least 3 full size pitches, one with astro turf, one with a sand based surface, and one with a more natural surface so as to cover training at all times of the year. Such a facility would not only be used by the county teams but they could also be used by the schools for matches in the winter when it can be difficult to get pitches.

Finally to the point about developing hurling all over the county, i would love to see this happen. However in reality it will always be difficult to do so in traditional football areas. After all, if the game did not flourish in these areas in the 1990's when young lads could look at their county team winning All ireland titles, it is hard to see it doing so now. I know there are some clubs and people trying their best ( somone mentioned Edenderry, fair play to them, i know it is logistically not easy for them as many of their away games involve lengthy trips, and some of the south offaly clubs don't travel to play them thus depriving the edenderry lads of good quality matches) and i am hopeful that it does bear fruit, but I feel that if we are going to return to former glories it will be led by a revival in the traditional areas, with the assistance of some players from the north of the county.

[backofthenet]

I think part of your comment above proves one of the points I was trying to make. That being that Offaly hurling - and football for that matter - tend to harp back to glory days in the past, are reluctant to move with the times, and ultimately get passed out by other counties and left behind. When Offaly hurlers were competitive in provincial and All Ireland championships in the recent past, nearly all the championship games were played in Croker, so the home ground debate of Tullamore v Birr didn't apply. Since then grounds like OCP and Portlaoise have been upgraded and these grounds get to stage championship matches now.

Why shouldn't the Offaly hurlers make use of OCP as a venue that they can play championship matches on, on Offaly soil? When it came to the Dublin/Offaly hurling arrangement I'd imagine that Dublin wanted an alternate home game as well, next time Offaly draws Dublin it will be in OCP. Are there people suggesting that there is no advantage for Offaly to play a championship match at OCP than at O'Moore Park for example? If that's the case then there's some really blinkered thinking going on here.

You site Tipperary where people have to travel an hour from one part of the county to another for training etc., well that doesn't even happen in Offaly. Birr is 20 to 30 minutes from Tullamore, it's no distance. The notion of a divide between south Offaly and north Offaly in the GAA is ridiculous.

It's true that Offaly hurling teams won All Irelands with the help of a small siege mentality, but I don't see that working in the future. Kilkenny under Cody has changed hurling and other counties have upped their game to try and compete. Offaly need to change their outlook if they want to compete too. Harping back to the way things were and the way things were done is the opposite of what Offaly hurling needs to be doing if they are to become competitive again.

Where do I harp back to past glories?? Where are we reluctant to move with the times?? We are looking at this from a purely practical point of view where is the best place for Offaly to play in 2011 and beyond, and that is undoubtedly Birr. I think there is no one under any illusions as to the state of hurling in Offaly. Yes I am suggesting that there would be as big a crowd in Portlaoise as would be in Tullamore for a championship game. We are constantly on about next time well have them in OConnor Park, There is no added benefit to this, Offaly are as at home in Port Laoise and Thurles as they are in OCP. Now if you had them in Birr that would be a different story.

People do travel nearly an hour. My own club Coolderry, if I was to get in my car in the morning to drive to Tullamore I would estimate 50 minutes to an hour as would quite a few of the clubs.

We love to think that Sheedy or Cody have went and re invented the wheel, this is not the case, players are fitter and faster now, the hurling ball is ligher. All this has contributed to making the game a lot faster than 30 years ago. The game in essence is still the same. Offaly are losing because the players are simply not as good as Kilkenny or Tipperary. Anyone who has turned up at a juvenile game can see the standard slipping year after year. There is no quick fix, no quick change in style and tactic that will result in a different result. I think Offaly need to get fitter and get a better juvenile set up. Until that happens we wont improve no matter if we play similar tactics to KK or Tipp, we dont have Henry Shefflins or Lar Corbets waiting in the wings to come in.

[backofthenet]

backofthenet so we are just saying for arguement sake that birr holds roughly 5000.so you reckon for the games offaly play in birr this would be near full and that 80% of supporters are in this one area around birr.so can you tell me where this 5000 were when we played dublin in croke park?you use cork as an example of a team that like to run and have space yet in portlaoise a tight pitch they scored 10-20! .offaly need new management,a new county board and a new mind set towards hurling as a whole in the county.we havent won a minor or under 21 leinster never mind an all ireland in ages.if we increase the interest and develop the game from underage up in the whole county we will have greater numbers to pick from,more support,i know this would take a big effort but we have to look to the future,we are a small county we should use as much of it as we can.you use westmeath as an example of a pitch winning games but they lost by 8 points,a game is 70 mins not 60mins.i agree that the birr pitch is where training should be and league games as it makes sense for the lads living in the area,if birr not available then a pitch near by.by the way im not having a direct go at you,i know you cant account for the 5000,i was in croke park and was not impressed with the poor showing our supporters put in.

Yes I would maintain that about 80% of the hurling support in Offaly comes from 10 of the 12 senior hurling clubs situated in Birr and its surrnoundings. Birr holds roughly 5000 but I would assume that the opposition might like to bring some supporters too!! The 5000 werent in Croke Park, they also dont show up in OCP as you may have noticed. I know youre going to make the usual argument that they are not real supporters but that is bollocks. Croke Park is up to 3 hours away, so maybe €50 on petrol, tickets for a family say approx €80, then to have some food in croke park approx €60, so thats nearly €200 for a day out along with the hassle of driving. Lets be realistic you cant force people to attend the games, you have to encourage them, you do that by putting the prices down, playing the games close by and getting the team to perform up to the standard they are capable of. Now we have 1 of those 3 elements neccessary, but in a recession youre having a laugh if you think many families can blow €200 to see Offaly play Dublin in a leinster qtr final.

Cork scored 10-20 against Laois, Are you trying to tell me that the tight pitch helped them score the ten goals?? No lets get it straight they are 20 - 30 points ahead of Laois.

Westmeath lost by 8 points, now that is a fantastic result against a division 1 team, to have been within a few points of Galway is a massive step forward in the right direction, It was only a year ago that Offaly were delighted to draw with Galway.

You say you want to increase the interest and underage in the county. You would be making a big leap forward by putting the training and games on in birr. On both counts, I would gurantee you now there would be bigger attendances, so bigger interest. The next step then has to be to get an underage co-ordinator from outside the county to run the set up correctly, No more former county greats getting the job because they scored a great goal 30 years ago.

[Lone Shark]

It's either very disappointing or else very enlightening that this thread has turned into another Birr vs Tullamore debate. After all, the issue here was the chain of events that occurred on this particular Saturday, none of which had anything to do with the location of O'Connor Park. If O'Connor Park was located in the middle of Shinrone, then the hurling squad would still have reason for grievance if many of the incidents happened as was suggested in the initial letter.

Whether they did or not is of course another matter.

However all this talk of how the debt on O'Connor Park shouldn't matter is all very well, but it doesn't make it go away. The simple facts of the matter, as far as I can see, are these:

(1) We are up to our oxters in debt, as a county, paying for OCP.
(2) There is no realistic prospect of any significant upturn in our fortunes in either code, meaning that sponsorship and gate receipts are going to go down in the foreseeable future, not up.
(3) Training and playing in any other county ground would require some form of rent payment to be made, for games at least. I'm unclear as to how much, but the point is that it's very indulgent to pay a rent when a free and suitable alternative is available.
(4) O'Connor Park, like any playing surface, has to be minded because it needs to cater for a lot of games, not to mention to be available for matches like Galway vs Dublin last Saturday, which help pay the bills.
(5) An inclusive training facility, while highly desirable, would be expensive. When the revenues from Croke Park being let out to soccer and rugby were sent down the line, clubs were given the option of doing this with the money and my understanding is that they chose otherwise. As such, it's not unreasonable to say that the clubs don't consider this a high priority. Of course individuals differ, but that, I believe, is the position. As such county teams will continue to train in facilities such as OCP for the foreseeable future, or some other alternative - not a customised training facility.


Perhaps some people can clear up a few things for me here:

If the hurling people of Offaly, which of course includes Birr, are so keen to get big hurling games back into St Brendan's Park, surely then they would be happy to do so in such a way as to ensure that the decision is revenue-neutral for the county board? One can understand the scepticism of some people, wondering that possibly the issue here is that Birr club spent a lot of money on their facility and that maybe they want a return on that?

Now I would just like to clarify here that an official from Birr GAA club rang me on foot of my piece in the Offaly Indo last week, keen to allay my concerns on the issue of the robust nature of the playing surface. I was assured that it was well able for any weather conditions and would stand up to at least anything that OCP could, and while I haven't seen it firsthand, I have no reason to doubt this as the individual made a very solid case. In the course of the discussion, that person also said that this facility was planned and projected without any assumptions about hurling coming back to Birr, which I was delighted to hear. Understandably, they could not speak for the whole club and I did not ask them to do so, but my thought was that perhaps the best way around this could be for Birr GAA to offer the ground on a basis that would be revenue-neutral to the county. That way the county finals and league games could be played there, but the county board debt on O'Connor Park could still be serviced.


As an aside....

i have nothing again tullamore lovely field stand but its not like Birr for a hurling match i was brough up watching hurling in Birr or Banagher for that matter and its not the same
having the county final in tullamore there is something missing on county final day that you get when it is in Birr, you have to be from the hurling area to understand.

Cut out this divisive crap. The Offaly hurlers and Offaly footballers each, and independently, represent every corner of this county, and that's as it should be. I've long been of the view that there should be some league games in Birr, but there should be just as many football ones there as hurling.

Let's not forget here either that there are 43 clubs in Offaly, of which two (Shamrocks and Tullamore) are senior in both codes, and 25 that are either football only or football dominated, and only sixteen that are either hurling only or hurling to the fore. When it comes to things like the county board draw, the football clubs between them have to sell nearly twice as many tickets as the hurling ones. Yet, due to simple things like the greater use of sliothars, hurls, etc, the hurling teams cost more to run than the football ones - and that's before issues like "managerial expenses" are taken into account.

If people are of this view, that footballing Offaly just doesn't "get it" and therefore should be quiet on these matters, then go ahead and form a separate hurling board and find ye're own funding. Otherwise accept that financial reality can't just be ignored and realise that while we all like hurling games in Birr (it's actually closer to me too, even starting from a "football" base and I love games in there) it's just not feasible right now.