Originally posted by fattimmy:
While the statement quoted is patently incorrect and does qualify as propaganda I would have to question why you are bringing it up here. You quote 3 people who were at the function who dont agree with it. Give people some credit,anyone who knows what is happening on the ground knows we have a long way to go. This type of statement is made at functions   (club or county  )   every night of the week at this time of year. I doubt very much if it was made by any person actually involved in the coaching of a team, it was most likely a career officer.

Originally posted by philipguyerburgomeister:
The county board are trying to convince the Limerick GAA public that we are on the cusp of greatness here.
And the Limerick GAA public are absolutely clueless when it comes to hurling. They are fantastic supporters of the county team but really don`t know what`s happening on the ground.
The support for club games is at an alltime low.
The Ard Scoil thing is great but it is totally false as it`s a packed team. It offers absolutely no barometer as to the strength of underage hurling in Limerick.
If Cork or Tipp packed their best players into two schools how would they do ?
This is the reality and we should consider this before blowing up young lads on the back of the Leader

Originally posted by South Limerick Referee:
I dont accept that its your typical `pat on the back` function speech. I worry that its not even propaganda, I worry that its actually what these people genuinely believe. I am actually quite bewildered by this, its actually quite upsetting, and I genuinely believe that it will disturb my sleep tonight.

I quote three people but I spoke to at least 10-12 who were there.

Originally posted by fattimmy:


Were any of the 10-12 people taken in by this or are they smart enough to realise that winning a Shield competition is not proof of invincibility. Sleep away, there is an awful lot of work to do but at least the work has started and one lad shooting his mouth off wont derail that.

Originally posted by South Limerick Referee:
I dont accept that its your typical `pat on the back` function speech. I worry that its not even propaganda, I worry that its actually what these people genuinely believe. I am actually quite bewildered by this, its actually quite upsetting, and I genuinely believe that it will disturb my sleep tonight.

I quote three people but I spoke to at least 10-12 who were there.

Originally posted by lowballs:
They actually do believe it themselves. Read the article in the examiner today by Diarmuid O`Flynn. Our secretary has put it all down in black and white.

Originally posted by Tom Tom:
I am surprised that posters are suprised the CB are in denial regarding the state of hurling in the County. It was only 12 months ago theyh were telling us what a great job Justin was doing and indeed in Parnell Park the day Dublin beat us by over 10 goals officers of the Board were still blaming the players no blame to Justin. I know Ard Ris acted almost entirely without any input fro the CB but of course officers are now positioning themselves to get the credit. As regard packing teams this has been going on for decades ST Flannans St Colmans and other CBS schools. So give credit to Ard Ris where its due Principal and team management and not as our secretary told the Examiner .

Originally posted by Tom Tom:
I am surprised that posters are suprised the CB are in denial regarding the state of hurling in the County. It was only 12 months ago theyh were telling us what a great job Justin was doing and indeed in Parnell Park the day Dublin beat us by over 10 goals officers of the Board were still blaming the players no blame to Justin. I know Ard Ris acted almost entirely without any input fro the CB but of course officers are now positioning themselves to get the credit. As regard packing teams this has been going on for decades ST Flannans St Colmans and other CBS schools. So give credit to Ard Ris where its due Principal and team management and not as our secretary told the Examiner .

Originally posted by Larkin:
I can`t find the Examiner article so maybe someone else can? Would like to read it for sure.

Originally posted by lowballs:
If you log onto the examiner, select   archive and select   yesterday`s date it should show up under the sports section. The heading is something like "Treaty on the rise."

Originally posted by Larkin:


Thanks lowballs, here it is.

Signs of recovery after Shannonside storm
2010 marked something of a watershed for Limerick hurling, but as Diarmuid O’Flynn discovered, the county is in rude health at grassroots level and keen to re-establish itself amongst the top tier.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011

2010 was a year to forget for Limerick hurling, the county convulsed by the controversy that saw its senior hurling team drastically diminished by cuts and withdrawals.

Could it be though that 2011 will be the year that Limerick hurling makes a comeback?

Certainly the evidence of last weekend would suggest that whatever about the top level   (and under new manager Donal O’Grady, there are green shoots there also  )  , hurling at underage is in a very healthy state in the county.

County secretary Mike O’Riordan: "Even at the height of the controversy last year I was saying to people, look at our underage, the colleges, they are the future. In the Fitzgibbon Cup final last weekend we had nine players, seven with LIT and two with UL, Seamus Hickey starting and Thomas O’Brien coming on to score the crucial goal. in the semi-finals we had another six, Tommy Quaid with CIT and five with UCC.

"In the final of the Ryan Cup   (division two colleges  )   we had nine players with Tralee IT. Then you had the Harty Cup final, won by Árd Scoil Rís, 12 of those from Limerick. They beat Charleville CBS, who also had several Limerick players, those are great numbers."

It’s not been by accident either, says O’Riordan, but the result of good planning by Limerick County Board. "It started four years ago at U14 and progressed up through the age groups — that was at county level. The next step was to develop the clubs and we did this using Lifting The Treaty, a plan developed by and for the county.

"We were a few years before our time — Croke Park followed suit two years later with the Go Games policy but we had already implemented that. Then we looked at the infrastructure, and Rathkeale is now being further developed as a Centre of Excellence.

"There are three G-Synthetic pitches there, five new hurling fields, a new complex and stand being developed this year. Our coaching and & games department are moving out to UL’s new €40m development in September. all our coaching staff will be based there and they can avail of the expertise that’s been developed in UL, the dieticians, the sports psychologists, the core development trainers and so on."

Welcoming them with open arms to UL is Knockainey’s Ger Cunningham, All-Ireland winning coach with Newtownshandrum, involved this year with both the UL Fitzgibbon Cup team and with the Limerick minors. "I’m a member of staff here, Outdoor Sports Manager, and it’s about time Limerick GAA started using these facilities — Munster Rugby have been successful out of here for the past several years. You have everything you need here in one place, top-class facilities."

Progress then, in Limerick, all started just four years ago but already bearing fruit. "That’s right," says Ger: "Shane Fitzgibbon was the man who really started things rolling and he did tremendous work. He put a system in place, got a lot of ex-players involved, like Frankie Carroll, Mike Galligan, James Moran, Natal O’Grady. Then he got some coaches in to coach them — everything was done properly. We have a very good strength and & conditioning programme set out now for all the underage teams from 14s up, and that’s an important area as well."

Of course none of this would be worth a damn if it weren’t for the most crucial element of all, the players themselves, and here, says Mike O’Riordan, there’s been a quantum change in attitude since the days of the fast-fading All-Ireland Under-21 three-in-a-row success.

"Young people have changed dramatically over the last decade — the mentality, the psyche, is different. They want to be the best at what they’re doing and they will leave no stone unturned to get there.

"My own club, Kilmallock — we won the county last year and where before that would have meant a week on the drink, they celebrated for a couple of nights and that was it, back training again straight away."

Sentiments echoed by Ger Cunningham: "I’ve found also they’re a different breed. When I was growing up we weren’t as driven as the young people today. It’s a pleasure to work with them. they’re so determined, so driven, it’s almost frightening."

Limerick hurling, on the up.



Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2011/0302/sport/signs-of-recovery-after-shannonside-storm-146880.html#ixzz1FYDYmdcs

Originally posted by 34 years of hurt :
FFS, Can we not take some small modicum of praise when it`s going without resorting to pointless bitching and begrudgery that is totally counter-productive? I don`t give a flying f**k if some ego-obsessed county board mandarin or anyone else takes credit for   (anticipated future  )   success in Limerick hurling as long as that success comes along.

Originally posted by South Limerick Referee:
Limerick Hurling: Propaganda and Denial?

Originally posted by philipguyerburgomeister:
Some of these county board guys beggar belief.
You would excuse that stuff coming from Kilkenny or Galway, but for a Limerick county board official to be blowing about underage structures and we having nothing won at minor or U-21 is crazy stuff.
Remember we were lucky to beat Kerry last year in the minor championship and our U-21s with Thomas O Brien, Sean Tobin, Graemme Mulcahy and Declan Hannon in the forward line couldn`t see off Clare in our own back yard.
The most startling thing from a Limerick point of view is to hear the secretary blowing about our representation in the Ryan cup.
Fair play to the lads involved but it`s not the kind of stuff you should be hearing from a county secretary.
This board never cease to amaze