On another matter entirely, An Moltóir welcomes the decision of the FAI to jettison the madcap Eircom Park proposal...

The FAI appears to be an organisation so caught up in personality contests, empire building and faction fighting that it has been inclined to lose sight of its prime function - to promote the game at local level. However, the big problem has been that the success of the international soccer team - totally unrelated to the strength of the domestic game - has generated revenue streams and illusions of grandeur which the small-minded people who run the Association
have been unable to handle.

The fact is that the crazy plan for Eircom Park should have been nipped in the bud before millions of pounds were wasted (with many millions of pounds more jeopardised by possible legal liabilities).

In truth, the FAI does not deserve the massive payout offered by the government in order to bring them on board the Stadium Ireland concept. Whatever about its status as Bertie's pet project and its location, this is basically a good concept which will give both the international soccer and rugby teams a proper home and give Ireland real standing in terms of top-class sports facilities. And when the project is completed it will bring blessed relief for the GAA from the calls for making Croke Park available as a surrogate national stadium, a role for which it is simply not
suited (not least because it cannot accommodate an athletic running track).

At the same time, the GAA should not be absolved from its damaging attitude to forbidding other sports from being played on its grounds. Imagine the publicity
kudos (not to mention financial gain) the organisation would garner if, for example, the Munster rugby team were allowed to play at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick or in Thurles?

However, it appears that the upper echelons of the GAA remains populated by diehards whose motivations are as misplaced as their counterparts in the FAI.