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Showing posts with label Wexford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wexford. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Speech by Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny TD at the Party's 2008 National Conference in Wexford, on Saturday 22nd November 2008
"Tonight I want to talk to you about why Ireland now needs new leadership to take the country in a new direction. We meet at the best of times and at the worst of times.
Best of times for Fine Gael because we know what we stand for and we know where we're going. But worst of times because out there, joining us in their sitting rooms and their kitchens, are people who can't share the buzz and the excitement that are making the rafters of this place vibrate.
People watching us against a background of misery and fear. Yes. Misery. And fear.
Because that's what happens, when you've got a good degree, when you've had a good job, when you've given your all - and suddenly, through no fault of your own, you're let go. When you become one of the first highly educated generation in Irish history to be "Let go."
- Let go before Christmas.- Let go when the mortgage you're paying is bigger than the value of the house it covers.- Let go when the jobs market is awash with good, talented, experienced people all fighting for fewer and fewer posts.
Spun loose and lost, they are, the first young casualties of the downturn. Spun loose and lost. And fearful. That's the worst of it. That's the most damning indictment of the current Government. They have done what no Government should ever do. They have created a fear of the future in the people of this country.
Older people, who see promises made to them tossed in the air like ash blowing in a wind. Who see a Government that treats them like statistics and ignores human reality. Not just older people, though. This fear is all-pervasive.
Younger people are seeing their bosses cutting jobs. Pulling back. Circling the wagons. Sending the message: Postpone your ambitions. Put your life on hold. And you know something? You can't do that. You can't put lives on hold. Ambition and promise, unexpressed, wither into frustration and bitter disappointment.
While the Government blame international factors, the reality is that we are suffering a far more severe downturn than other countries. This is a direct result of the Government's failure to plan for the future - a direct result of weak and indecisive leadership and a direct result of a government in office too long and too out of touch.Fianna Fáil has governed deliberately in the interests of their friends, particularly property speculators, rather than in the best interests of the Irish people. The result was an unsustainable property bubble, the victims of which are the many thousands of young couples who are now paying huge mortgages on over-priced homes, living with the anxiety of failing jobs and negative equity.
If we don't act now to arrest the slide in good governance and economic management, the situation will just get worse. And worse. And worse.
Unemployment will continue upwards. Our borrowings will continue upwards. The quality of our front line public services will continue downwards. It's time for someone to stand out front and tell the painful truth.
The country cannot afford the national pay deal. It is as simple as that. This deal must be suspended for 12 months and reviewed after that. It was negotiated in a different context with different expectations.
I am calling on Government and public service unions to implement a complete pay freeze for 12 months.
I am calling on private sector employers and their staff to review the terms of the wage agreement and ensure that no pay increases are at the expense of jobs. Wage restraint in the short term is preferable to job losses in the long term.
If we want to be masters of our own destiny, we have to control our spending and ensure that we regain our competitiveness. Let's be clear on this: if we manage our finances prudently there should be no need for damaging tax increases that undermine our future growth.
The money saved by this initiative should be invested directly in key infrastructures like school buildings and public transport, and in retraining and upskilling our workforce. The time to start fixing the economic mess created by Fianna Fail and Brian Cowen, is now. We simply must get the country back on track.
Nowhere is this more urgent than in the horror that is our health system. Was there ever a greater betrayal than a Cabinet sitting down and deliberately targeting our elderly people to pay for their own mistakes by removing their medical cards?
Year after year, they refused to address the horrors of our healthcare system. Remember that Yeats ballad, where the old priest Peter Gilligan "is weary, night and day, for half his flock were in their beds or under greensod lay." "I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace," he cries out. "For people die and die." This Government deserves no rest, nor joy, nor peace. For people die needlessly on their watch.
And - when it comes to misdiagnosis - so many of those people are women. Women in the prime of their lives, leaving children and families to grieve in baffled disbelief. Is it too much to ask - as we asked long before the economic downturn - is it too much to ask that Ireland treat its women with respect? Is it? No it's not.
Is it too much to ask that when we take our parents to a hospital, that they are not endangered by hospital bugs or misdiagnosis? Is it?
Is it too much to ask that vaccinations are not withheld from our twelve year old daughters so that their very lives are threatened? Is it?
Is it too much to ask that a stale, arrogant, contemptuous Government be swept out of office and urgently replaced by a Fine Gael government of passion, professionalism, experience and enthusiasm? Is it?
When this Government is replaced by Fine Gael, we will deliver the universal healthcare plan being finalised by the Policy Commission chaired by Alan Dukes. We will create the change, the old, the young and the sick need so badly; a change to a health system where the patient is at the centre and the money follows that patient. A health system where service is delivered because you need it, not because you can pay for it. Fine Gael will drive that change in approach and ensure that fairness is at the core of Irish society.
We will banish the notion that Education is a cost. It is not. It is a need. It is an investment in our nation's future and an investment in our children's future. As Churchill said "the empires of the future will be the empires of the mind". Fine Gael will invest now to build those empires.
We will stop waste, and return to the basics that made this economy a success; low-costs, high exports, targeted spending, and a constant focus on competitiveness.
A focus on competitiveness that will make Ireland the best. That will make Ireland a global leader, and that inside a decade, will make this country a net exporter of energy. Within ten years, we will sell more energy than we buy in.
Tax relief on bicycles and banning light bulbs won't build the Green Economy. Our approach must be based on innovation and creativity. It will draw investment from around the world. Give farming a new lease of life.Renew and refresh our tourism offering. It will radically change and strengthen our industrial base.
That requires investment in wave, wind, biofuels, pumped storage and gas. An investment that will pay dividends and create jobs. An investment that requires radical change. That radical change that will see government acting to prevent problems. A government with the courage to act. And act Fast. And act fast we would have done to prevent the meltdown of the banking system.
Fine Gael would not be paralysed by this current banking crisis. We would re-capitalise banks. Now.
It's too late to give a transfusion when the patient is already dead. Too many jobs in small businesses all over this country are threatened by the lack of access to credit. My fear is that bad banks and delinquent developers are having too much say in guiding Government policy in this area. The recipe drawn up by Government appears to rely on international venture capitalists. What interest do they have in the long term viability of our economy? None.
So why are we inviting venture capitalists to do a job that we can handle ourselves? The Government should take preference shares in Irish banks so the taxpayer gets a dividend from the investment, not foreign investors. Once that's done, they must be told that neither they, nor their regulators, will walk away unscathed from this. Our nation has been damaged by their reckless behaviour. They must be held accountable. Under Fine Gael, they will be held accountable.
We are the only party who will hold people to account for failure. Who will hold people to account for irresponsibility. Who will hold people to account for criminality.
Not so long ago, we were told gangland killings were the last sting of a dying wasp. That dying wasp is very much alive and part of a threatening swarm infesting our cities and communities.
The last time our communities and the State were so threatened, was when an innocent woman Veronica Guerin was murdered for telling the truth about the gangs. Back then a Fine Gael government acted. My cabinet colleagues and I set up the Criminal Assets Bureau. We moved fast with new powers for the Gardaí and the Revenue Commissioners. We captured and convicted criminals. We changed the realities. We did the business.
When we went out of office, things were let slide. A stop will be put to that slide when Fine Gael returns to Government. The new breed of ruthless criminals require a new and tougher response. They need to know that there will be real consequences for their actions. No longer can they expect short sentences during which they can continue to organise crimes from their prison cells. Our response will see 25 year mandatory sentences for murder and new powers to control the movements and activities of gang members. We did it before and we will do it again.
We have always been the party of law and order...we still are. Because, on all fronts, Fine Gael knows that circumstances are not excuses. They are opportunities. Opportunities for what is fundamental to the Irish spirit - a wilful determination to break through barriers to greatness.
Look at Northern Ireland; centuries of conflict calmed by a mutual belief in the possible. This week, power sharing resumed in Northern Ireland. What was once thought to be impossible has been made real. Made real by hope. Made real by optimism. Made real by refusing to let the future be constrained by circumstance. Down all the days, this nation refused to be constrained by circumstance. We became - against all the odds - a beacon of light. In great poverty, the world looked to us as leaders in the arts, in music, in literature. Whatever the challenge, the Irish spirit has been one of courage and optimism and a desire to be the best.
That great spirit of courage and optimism must be reawakened by a new kind of leadership, a new kind of politics. A politics of vision and openness and direction and optimism. Because if there is fear out there, there is something more important out there too: the yearning for greatness, the need to express the best of ourselves, the desire for change.
We stand amid catastrophe. But we stand on the verge of massive change. Ten years from now, we will, once again, be a beacon of light and of pride. To get there, Ireland must be restored as a central and influential member of the European Union. I am committed to playing my part in ensuring that the current uncertainties about Ireland's relationship with Europe is ended.
The Fine Gael team here today are practical professionals and driven idealists who are expert, eager and committed. The Fine Gael team are the brightest and the best.
And simply put...The Fine Gael team are going to be the next Government.
In government, we will draw a line in the sand. On this side of the line is chronic waste; On the other is strict controls and targeted spending where every penny of taxpayers' money is accounted for. On this side of the line is caving in, compromise and throwing money at every vested interest; On the other is decisive leadership, straight talking and principled politics. On this side of the line in the sand is bloated, lazy and directionless economic management; On the other is lean, focused and smart economic plans and policies.
We promise an end to all that. I want an Ireland where people count. Where families matter. Where the economy serves the nation, not the other way around. An Ireland where we set out to succeed, not just survive.
Easy? No. Who said anything worth achieving was easy? Good government is not about calculator cuts. It's about direction. Determination. Ireland will be the best. The number one. The world leader. And I know what it will take to get us there.
I know what it's like to rebuild a political party. I know what people wanted, I know what they said. I've been there and I know the hard work, energy and commitment that's needed. Now I want to do the same for our country.
Soon - maybe sooner than people think - the people of Ireland will give us the opportunity to change this country for the better. The Ireland Fine Gael is determined to build is an Ireland defined by merit, not money. An Ireland of pride, passion and potential. A nation where the best in the Irish character finds full expression in positive action, not in crippling cynicism.
My message to a whole generation of young people who have never lived in recessionary times is very clear. I want you to know that we are in your corner. I want you to know that we will fight for your future. I want you to know that I understand your right to live your dreams and to achieve your ambitions in this country, if that is your wish.
I invite you to work with me, as together we change politics and build your future. Politics does matter and I give you just one guarantee - our work will not be easy, our choices will not be simple, but together we will succeed in our task.
Let me promise you this. The men and women of Fine Gael will bring new life, new excitement, new drive to Irish politics.
My team are Expert. Eager. Enthusiastic. They represent all that is good in Ireland - and they will respond to all that is best in Ireland. We - each and every one of us - carry from this conference the capacity to guide our country through recession and point it to a brighter future.
We will take radical and brave action to get this country moving again. We will make this State secure, prosperous and confident. We will lead this nation to a place of hope and achievement. We will lift this country off its knees and turn its face to the sun. It will therefore be my honour to make this country proud again."
Best of times for Fine Gael because we know what we stand for and we know where we're going. But worst of times because out there, joining us in their sitting rooms and their kitchens, are people who can't share the buzz and the excitement that are making the rafters of this place vibrate.
People watching us against a background of misery and fear. Yes. Misery. And fear.
Because that's what happens, when you've got a good degree, when you've had a good job, when you've given your all - and suddenly, through no fault of your own, you're let go. When you become one of the first highly educated generation in Irish history to be "Let go."
- Let go before Christmas.- Let go when the mortgage you're paying is bigger than the value of the house it covers.- Let go when the jobs market is awash with good, talented, experienced people all fighting for fewer and fewer posts.
Spun loose and lost, they are, the first young casualties of the downturn. Spun loose and lost. And fearful. That's the worst of it. That's the most damning indictment of the current Government. They have done what no Government should ever do. They have created a fear of the future in the people of this country.
Older people, who see promises made to them tossed in the air like ash blowing in a wind. Who see a Government that treats them like statistics and ignores human reality. Not just older people, though. This fear is all-pervasive.
Younger people are seeing their bosses cutting jobs. Pulling back. Circling the wagons. Sending the message: Postpone your ambitions. Put your life on hold. And you know something? You can't do that. You can't put lives on hold. Ambition and promise, unexpressed, wither into frustration and bitter disappointment.
While the Government blame international factors, the reality is that we are suffering a far more severe downturn than other countries. This is a direct result of the Government's failure to plan for the future - a direct result of weak and indecisive leadership and a direct result of a government in office too long and too out of touch.Fianna Fáil has governed deliberately in the interests of their friends, particularly property speculators, rather than in the best interests of the Irish people. The result was an unsustainable property bubble, the victims of which are the many thousands of young couples who are now paying huge mortgages on over-priced homes, living with the anxiety of failing jobs and negative equity.
If we don't act now to arrest the slide in good governance and economic management, the situation will just get worse. And worse. And worse.
Unemployment will continue upwards. Our borrowings will continue upwards. The quality of our front line public services will continue downwards. It's time for someone to stand out front and tell the painful truth.
The country cannot afford the national pay deal. It is as simple as that. This deal must be suspended for 12 months and reviewed after that. It was negotiated in a different context with different expectations.
I am calling on Government and public service unions to implement a complete pay freeze for 12 months.
I am calling on private sector employers and their staff to review the terms of the wage agreement and ensure that no pay increases are at the expense of jobs. Wage restraint in the short term is preferable to job losses in the long term.
If we want to be masters of our own destiny, we have to control our spending and ensure that we regain our competitiveness. Let's be clear on this: if we manage our finances prudently there should be no need for damaging tax increases that undermine our future growth.
The money saved by this initiative should be invested directly in key infrastructures like school buildings and public transport, and in retraining and upskilling our workforce. The time to start fixing the economic mess created by Fianna Fail and Brian Cowen, is now. We simply must get the country back on track.
Nowhere is this more urgent than in the horror that is our health system. Was there ever a greater betrayal than a Cabinet sitting down and deliberately targeting our elderly people to pay for their own mistakes by removing their medical cards?
Year after year, they refused to address the horrors of our healthcare system. Remember that Yeats ballad, where the old priest Peter Gilligan "is weary, night and day, for half his flock were in their beds or under greensod lay." "I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace," he cries out. "For people die and die." This Government deserves no rest, nor joy, nor peace. For people die needlessly on their watch.
And - when it comes to misdiagnosis - so many of those people are women. Women in the prime of their lives, leaving children and families to grieve in baffled disbelief. Is it too much to ask - as we asked long before the economic downturn - is it too much to ask that Ireland treat its women with respect? Is it? No it's not.
Is it too much to ask that when we take our parents to a hospital, that they are not endangered by hospital bugs or misdiagnosis? Is it?
Is it too much to ask that vaccinations are not withheld from our twelve year old daughters so that their very lives are threatened? Is it?
Is it too much to ask that a stale, arrogant, contemptuous Government be swept out of office and urgently replaced by a Fine Gael government of passion, professionalism, experience and enthusiasm? Is it?
When this Government is replaced by Fine Gael, we will deliver the universal healthcare plan being finalised by the Policy Commission chaired by Alan Dukes. We will create the change, the old, the young and the sick need so badly; a change to a health system where the patient is at the centre and the money follows that patient. A health system where service is delivered because you need it, not because you can pay for it. Fine Gael will drive that change in approach and ensure that fairness is at the core of Irish society.
We will banish the notion that Education is a cost. It is not. It is a need. It is an investment in our nation's future and an investment in our children's future. As Churchill said "the empires of the future will be the empires of the mind". Fine Gael will invest now to build those empires.
We will stop waste, and return to the basics that made this economy a success; low-costs, high exports, targeted spending, and a constant focus on competitiveness.
A focus on competitiveness that will make Ireland the best. That will make Ireland a global leader, and that inside a decade, will make this country a net exporter of energy. Within ten years, we will sell more energy than we buy in.
Tax relief on bicycles and banning light bulbs won't build the Green Economy. Our approach must be based on innovation and creativity. It will draw investment from around the world. Give farming a new lease of life.Renew and refresh our tourism offering. It will radically change and strengthen our industrial base.
That requires investment in wave, wind, biofuels, pumped storage and gas. An investment that will pay dividends and create jobs. An investment that requires radical change. That radical change that will see government acting to prevent problems. A government with the courage to act. And act Fast. And act fast we would have done to prevent the meltdown of the banking system.
Fine Gael would not be paralysed by this current banking crisis. We would re-capitalise banks. Now.
It's too late to give a transfusion when the patient is already dead. Too many jobs in small businesses all over this country are threatened by the lack of access to credit. My fear is that bad banks and delinquent developers are having too much say in guiding Government policy in this area. The recipe drawn up by Government appears to rely on international venture capitalists. What interest do they have in the long term viability of our economy? None.
So why are we inviting venture capitalists to do a job that we can handle ourselves? The Government should take preference shares in Irish banks so the taxpayer gets a dividend from the investment, not foreign investors. Once that's done, they must be told that neither they, nor their regulators, will walk away unscathed from this. Our nation has been damaged by their reckless behaviour. They must be held accountable. Under Fine Gael, they will be held accountable.
We are the only party who will hold people to account for failure. Who will hold people to account for irresponsibility. Who will hold people to account for criminality.
Not so long ago, we were told gangland killings were the last sting of a dying wasp. That dying wasp is very much alive and part of a threatening swarm infesting our cities and communities.
The last time our communities and the State were so threatened, was when an innocent woman Veronica Guerin was murdered for telling the truth about the gangs. Back then a Fine Gael government acted. My cabinet colleagues and I set up the Criminal Assets Bureau. We moved fast with new powers for the Gardaí and the Revenue Commissioners. We captured and convicted criminals. We changed the realities. We did the business.
When we went out of office, things were let slide. A stop will be put to that slide when Fine Gael returns to Government. The new breed of ruthless criminals require a new and tougher response. They need to know that there will be real consequences for their actions. No longer can they expect short sentences during which they can continue to organise crimes from their prison cells. Our response will see 25 year mandatory sentences for murder and new powers to control the movements and activities of gang members. We did it before and we will do it again.
We have always been the party of law and order...we still are. Because, on all fronts, Fine Gael knows that circumstances are not excuses. They are opportunities. Opportunities for what is fundamental to the Irish spirit - a wilful determination to break through barriers to greatness.
Look at Northern Ireland; centuries of conflict calmed by a mutual belief in the possible. This week, power sharing resumed in Northern Ireland. What was once thought to be impossible has been made real. Made real by hope. Made real by optimism. Made real by refusing to let the future be constrained by circumstance. Down all the days, this nation refused to be constrained by circumstance. We became - against all the odds - a beacon of light. In great poverty, the world looked to us as leaders in the arts, in music, in literature. Whatever the challenge, the Irish spirit has been one of courage and optimism and a desire to be the best.
That great spirit of courage and optimism must be reawakened by a new kind of leadership, a new kind of politics. A politics of vision and openness and direction and optimism. Because if there is fear out there, there is something more important out there too: the yearning for greatness, the need to express the best of ourselves, the desire for change.
We stand amid catastrophe. But we stand on the verge of massive change. Ten years from now, we will, once again, be a beacon of light and of pride. To get there, Ireland must be restored as a central and influential member of the European Union. I am committed to playing my part in ensuring that the current uncertainties about Ireland's relationship with Europe is ended.
The Fine Gael team here today are practical professionals and driven idealists who are expert, eager and committed. The Fine Gael team are the brightest and the best.
And simply put...The Fine Gael team are going to be the next Government.
In government, we will draw a line in the sand. On this side of the line is chronic waste; On the other is strict controls and targeted spending where every penny of taxpayers' money is accounted for. On this side of the line is caving in, compromise and throwing money at every vested interest; On the other is decisive leadership, straight talking and principled politics. On this side of the line in the sand is bloated, lazy and directionless economic management; On the other is lean, focused and smart economic plans and policies.
We promise an end to all that. I want an Ireland where people count. Where families matter. Where the economy serves the nation, not the other way around. An Ireland where we set out to succeed, not just survive.
Easy? No. Who said anything worth achieving was easy? Good government is not about calculator cuts. It's about direction. Determination. Ireland will be the best. The number one. The world leader. And I know what it will take to get us there.
I know what it's like to rebuild a political party. I know what people wanted, I know what they said. I've been there and I know the hard work, energy and commitment that's needed. Now I want to do the same for our country.
Soon - maybe sooner than people think - the people of Ireland will give us the opportunity to change this country for the better. The Ireland Fine Gael is determined to build is an Ireland defined by merit, not money. An Ireland of pride, passion and potential. A nation where the best in the Irish character finds full expression in positive action, not in crippling cynicism.
My message to a whole generation of young people who have never lived in recessionary times is very clear. I want you to know that we are in your corner. I want you to know that we will fight for your future. I want you to know that I understand your right to live your dreams and to achieve your ambitions in this country, if that is your wish.
I invite you to work with me, as together we change politics and build your future. Politics does matter and I give you just one guarantee - our work will not be easy, our choices will not be simple, but together we will succeed in our task.
Let me promise you this. The men and women of Fine Gael will bring new life, new excitement, new drive to Irish politics.
My team are Expert. Eager. Enthusiastic. They represent all that is good in Ireland - and they will respond to all that is best in Ireland. We - each and every one of us - carry from this conference the capacity to guide our country through recession and point it to a brighter future.
We will take radical and brave action to get this country moving again. We will make this State secure, prosperous and confident. We will lead this nation to a place of hope and achievement. We will lift this country off its knees and turn its face to the sun. It will therefore be my honour to make this country proud again."
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Kate Corrigan sings Take Me Home-composer Darryl Way (1:23)
Kate Corrigan has a beautiful voice. This clip lasts just (1:23). The music is exceptional and the video is very special. The song is now available to download on I-Tunes for just 79p!
28 year old Kate Corrigan is a mezzo soprano singer who was born in Co. Wexford, Ireland and was adopted when she was young by a family in Devon. Read the article titled "Why Take Me Home means so much to Kate"
Monday, July 28, 2008
Waterford V Wexford All Ireland Senior Hurling Quarter Final-Reflections
Waterford defeated Wexford in this exciting game played at Semple Stadium today by 2-19 to 3-15.
The game had some excellent passages of hurling and in fairness Wexford probably deserved a draw.
Once more Eoin Kelly, Eoin McGrath and John Mullane were Waterfords outstanding forwards. Today we saw small glimpses of the Dan Shanahan of old. He scored 1-1 and was far more involved in the play. However he is not at full throttle yet.
The Waterford forward line is not functioning fully as a unit.
More combined play, ground hurling and diagonal balls are an essential prerequisite for the Semi Final against Tipperary. In addition the half forwards must continuously harry the Tipperary defenders who are clearing ball. This involves 70 minutes of concentration. As a Waterford forward carries the ball towards the Tipperary goal others must run off the ball and be prepared to take a pass a la Ben O’Connor, Gerry O’Connor or Cathal Naughton for Cork
Brick Walsh struck a lot of good ball at centre field. Jamie Nagle is improving from game to game and struck a beautiful point.
Unfortunately Waterford has major defensive problems. Ideally Ken McGrath is a centre back. However I think that Davy Fitzgerald has no option but to play Ken at full back.
The Waterford defence plays too much loose hurling. Backs are too prone to ball watching. They must man mark. It was noticeable today that Wexford forwards continuously roamed the field without being picked up. Each back is responsible for the man he is marking. His function is to prevent the forward from scoring.
Today the Waterford backs were caught flat-footed by diagonal balls. Loose Wexford forwards picked up soft scores. Each defender must pick up an opposing forward and mark tightly. Once more this demands concentration.
Players such as Rory Jacob and Stephen Doyle got too much room today and nearly snatched the game for Wexford.
The looseness was not confined to the full back line. It also extended to the half back line.
This problem has dogged Waterford for the last five years and has probably cost the county an All Ireland.
Failure of the backs to tighten up will result in a hammering by Tipperary. Tipperary forwards play with blinding speed and skill. Backs should not be afraid to use the shoulder once it is not into the opponent’s chest. Each back must continuously ask himself the question: Where is the player I am supposed to be marking?
Tipperary followers-after Waterford’s performance today- are now speaking in terms of their opponents in the All Ireland final. They fancy themselves against either Cork or Kilkenny.
Davy Fitzgerald and his backroom staff have done well to revive this Waterford team which had a poor National League campaign and which performed very poorly against Clare in the Munster Championship.
Notwithstanding Waterford’s sluggishness the team is now in the semi-finals. After the debacle against Clare few supporters could have hoped for as much.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The GAA must reorganise the Senior Hurling Championship structure
Quite frankly it is time for the GAA to reorganise the Senior Hurling Championship structure. Over the last two weeks Antrim has been at the receiving end of thrashings by Galway and Waterford.
In today’s game at Walsh Park, Waterford defeated Antrim by 6-18 to 0-15. This game benefited neither Antrim nor Waterford. Waterford experimented with Ken McGrath at full back and Shane O’Sullivan at wing back. I strongly agree with the decision to try Ken McGrath at full back. Waterford could not continue to leak goals at the back. Ken needs time to settle in this position. No worthwhile assessment can be made of Waterford’s performance. Waterford needed a very hard game today. It did not get it. The Deise players may now find it more difficult to raise their performances against stronger opposition. (Below Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh reports on the game for RTE. Included also is an interview with Davy Fitzgerald- Waterford's Manager)
The Munster Senior Hurling championship is the only provincial championship that is competitive. The Leinster Senior Hurling Championship is in urgent need of reform. Antrim and Galway must play in Leinster.
The Leinster Senior Hurling Championship could be seeded. The participating teams would be divided into two groups:
Group A would consist of:Kilkenny, Wexford and Laois. Group B would consist of: Galway, Offaly and Dublin. Both groups would be run on a league basis. The winner of each group would contest the Leinster Final. The second team in each group would go into the qualifiers. The third team in each group would play in the Christy Ring Cup.
Dominic McKinley and Terence 'Sambo' McNaughton have an impossible task at present. Both men live for the game of hurling. Antrim and Down suffer because of their isolated location far removed from the hurling strongholds of the south. Derry is another county, which could make greater progress at hurling. However Gaelic Football is a major obstacle. Each of the remaining six counties in Ulster has a small dedicated band of hurling men who work tirelessly to promote the game.
GAA headquarters must take the bull by the horns. The Ulster Council must be split into the Ulster Hurling Council and the Ulster Football Council. The new Ulster Hurling Council would be provided with funding of €2 million annually to develop hurling in each of the nine counties. Prominent inter county hurlers from the south could be employed by the new Ulster Hurling Council to help develop the game.
Its time to end the lip service. The Ulster Council is a football Council. It has little interest in hurling.
Ulster Hurling enthusiasts must go their own way. Otherwise hurling will die in the Glens and the Ards peninsula.
Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh reports on the game
Davy Fitzgerald interview
Sunday, February 10, 2008
National Hurling League: Wexford 2-12 Waterford 3-8 (A Waterford perspective)
The Waterford versus Wexford national league game played at Walsh Park was quite entertaining. Both teams were short regulars.Waterford fielded without Ken and Eoin McGrath, Tony Browne, Paul Flynn Stephen Molumphy and John Mullane (introduced in second half)
Looking at this game from a Waterford perspective the negatives outweigh the positives.It is arguable that a porous full back line has cost Waterford an All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Today Justin McCarthy introduced newcomer Ritchie Foley (Abbeyside) at full back. Foley tried hard. However it is clear that he is not a full back. He is more suited to the half back line. Waterford's problems in defence persist. Shane Casey (Dunhill) another newcomer saw little ball but scored 1-1. His goal was superb. He has potential to develop into an accomplished inter county senior forward.
Of the regulars Eoin Kelly( Passage) was prominent throughout the game. He roamed the field and even acted as a sweeper. Quite frankly I cannot understand why. He shot numerous wides. On some occasions he shot from too far out. He worked himself to the point of exhaustion but would be better employed shooting from closer range or passing to a better placed forward if positioned too far out field. It is glaringly obvious that players lack full fitness.
In the second half the Waterford forward line lost its pattern. The full forward line and half forwards drifted too far outfield. This made scoring very difficult. This must not happen again.
Looking at this game from a Waterford perspective the negatives outweigh the positives.It is arguable that a porous full back line has cost Waterford an All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Today Justin McCarthy introduced newcomer Ritchie Foley (Abbeyside) at full back. Foley tried hard. However it is clear that he is not a full back. He is more suited to the half back line. Waterford's problems in defence persist. Shane Casey (Dunhill) another newcomer saw little ball but scored 1-1. His goal was superb. He has potential to develop into an accomplished inter county senior forward.
Of the regulars Eoin Kelly( Passage) was prominent throughout the game. He roamed the field and even acted as a sweeper. Quite frankly I cannot understand why. He shot numerous wides. On some occasions he shot from too far out. He worked himself to the point of exhaustion but would be better employed shooting from closer range or passing to a better placed forward if positioned too far out field. It is glaringly obvious that players lack full fitness.
In the second half the Waterford forward line lost its pattern. The full forward line and half forwards drifted too far outfield. This made scoring very difficult. This must not happen again.
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