Croke Park, Dublin

[Jeffles]

All sports should be allowed on Croke Park but all the competitors, officials and trainers have to be Catholic. Protestants are welcome to watch from the stands but they should pay a premium on their ticket.

[hot_dogma]

This raises another question, do Irish Protestants from the north partake in GAA games?

[Simmo79]

nup - they like foccer and rugga

[Simmo79]

That is what I read the picture as...
Isn't soccer by many in Ireland tainted in the view of being ambushed onto them by the English and the English influence during the battle of independence?

By a few misguided fools but soccer is the number 1 sport in Ireland with Rugby Closely behind. Like AFl the GAA is only popular in certain pockets of the country.

Speaking of misguided fools, I can't let this latest piece of CarlosA misinformation go by uncorrected. GAAA is easily the most popular in the Republic - not just a few certain pockets.

Furthermore, soccer's popularity has declined in Ireland since its team failed to reach the last World Cup. No doubt, this will fluctuate in future depending on the success (or otherwise) of the Irish national team. But when it comes to attendances in Ireland, GAAA easily outdoes both soccer and rugby combined.

And in regards to Croke Park being just another 'multi purpose' venue, perhaps refer back to the article (previous page) about it being 'sacred ground', built from the rubble of the 1916 Easter uprising against British rule as a home to the formerly banned Irish GAAA sports, and the site of the Bloody Sunday massacre. For many in Ireland, Croke Park is more than just a sports stadium, but a still potent symbol of Irish independence and nationalism.

Soccer's popularity doesn't really wax or wane. It's pretty constant, it's just that people are following the big English clubs and the Old Firm rather than local teams. It definitely comes to the fore during WCs etc, but it hardly becomes less popular at other times, it's only less evident. The idea that soccer and rugby are somehow un-Irish is about 100 years out of date.

It was only Hill 16 (the uncovered terrace at the northern end) that was built on rubble from the Easter uprising.

There're only two As in GAA.

The popularity of GAA sports is localised. Gaelic Football is popular in some counties but not in others, while hurling is big in some and not in others. Some counties (like Limerick) aren't all that into native sports at all. In Ireland, all sport is local. If you combine hurling and football then they are more popular than soccer or rugby, but not that far ahead of soccer. Rugby's heartland is Limerick and the middle-class southern suburbs of Dublin.

The overall impression is that the Irish will support many sports at the one time and though code-envy exists, it is not nearly as virulent as it is in Australia.

[Football/GAA Bhoy]

This raises another question, do Irish Protestants from the north partake in GAA games?

yeah, the ruc have their own team apparently.

i think you mean the irish protestants that call themselves brits, nah not to my knowledge, only the ruc have a team.

[Football/GAA Bhoy]

that prat is wearing a football shirt whilst protesting about "foreign" sports.

That is what I read the picture as...

Isn't soccer by many in Ireland tainted in the view of being ambushed onto them by the English and the English influence during the battle of independence?

By a few misguided fools but soccer is the number 1 sport in Ireland with Rugby Closely behind. Like AFl the GAA is only popular in certain pockets of the country.

naw

the fai were founded by west brits with irish grannies.
the fai are shite anyway, complete circus, with the biggest clowns in ireland on stage.

GAA is popular all over the country in all four counties and provinces.