Lets hope its HONEST and IMPARTIAL!

If it is NOT it will only postpone further the idea of a genuine "Ireland" football team. ie. a team which represents all the people and all the traditions on this island.

and all the traditions on this island
--------------------------------------------
Houghton will be surprised there is more than 1 tradition on the Island ,in fact he will probably be surprised to find out its actually an Island

Ah the paranoid Nordies! I presume the programme will the great players who have come from all traditions on this Island! Former NIreland legends like Jennings and Best are as loved down here as they are in Belfast! Same goes for the late great Alex Higgins !

Meant to type will feature!

Thanks for the heads up Houghton, i'll deffo watch it.I hope it's impartial too, but as to other sports.Twill be interesting to see if the easy ride given to the G.A.A. from primary schools up, and the cosy relationship of the holy trinity[ Church/ politicians/ G.A.A. ] is alluded to, seeing as it will help put the development of football in context.
Damn politicians , up until Euro 88 would cosy up to the bishops/priests in Croke Park at the drop of a hat, but nahry an appearance at Dalymount. Of course, then again, our sport isn't really Irish is it ? The likes of us were never really Irish either.
Every time i see that slimeball Linehan on the open top bus after Italia 90, i'm hoping that big Jack will nudge him over the side.Great post Houghton, 5 stars from me

Good points. But not sure if its actually true but I heard once that Brian Lenihan snr was actually a goalkeeper for Shelbourne in his youth! On another point Eamon De Velara was actually more of a Rugby man than a Gaa man!

Houghton, it was a generalisation, there were a few exceptions, e.g. David Andrews T.D. . Also, that was a little harsh on the Roscommon man, a little.Yep , Dev was a rugger player from his Blackrock days, a sport hopelessly and probably terminably riddled with class snobbery in this neck of the woods. But,,, credit where it's due, they opened their doors to Shamrock Rovers vs. Brazil at the heighth of the Troubles, and a couple of years later to our football team, when Dalymount didn't have the required capacity, albeit trousering a handy few bob for their troubles.

How are things down Galway, way ?

Dearie me and I thought the gers fans were paranoid

Whats your gripe against Gaelic Football??

U11421 yeah I know where your coming from with commeng about the Politicians attaching themselves to the bandwagon and I agree with your comments! GTB i've no problem with Gaelic Football! My bogball comment was tongue in cheek!

Politicians will always align themselves with any band wagon that will get them votes thats why they are all c unts

GTB, my comments are in the context of the development of football over the years , down Mexico way that is.Gers fans can speak for themselves, in fact their long running unofficial selection policy mirrored an official G,A,A, policy, so they've more in common than they'd like to admit.Shame on the pair of them.
Aaaannnnyyywaaayyys....
My gripe against Gaelic football ? . My paranoia ?
When th' independence come for the free state,the politicians handed over ownership/ management of the primary school system to the churches, for free.They subsidized Church run secondary schools in many ways.So, so far we have the politicians and Church in bed together.Where does the G.A.A. come into the leaba ?Well, in my experience, the unofficial promotion of G.A.A. in the taxpayer funded, but not taxpayer owned primary schools was pervasive.In the taxpayer subsidised secondary schools, the policy was more official , and structured.I'll give you but one high profile example.
Once upon a time there was a young Dublin fella, who , for his sins, attended a Christian Brothers secondary school.His great footballing skills didn't go unnoticed,
he was selected, and played for the Ireland underage team.Unfortunately, he also had been picked to play for his school G.a.a. team. He chose to represent his country. and was expelled from his taxpayer subsidized school .His name ?, Liam Brady.
Just an isolated case you say. O.k., when Ireland were to play an eastern bloc country in Dalymount, the then Archbishop of Dublin warned his flock not to go,lest they be contaminated by godless commies. The match was packed out, but the now thoroughly discredited " pastor's " flock of sheep weren't at a loose end. They could always trot along to Croker to watch , real uncontaminated, Irish sports.
So there you have it. In the context of the o.p. 's post re the development of football here, no paranoia, just disappointment and resignation at the shameful behaviour of a lot of Irish people.

Thank God we have moved on then........

All I can say is how being part of the GAA community helped me through dark days,

Have things been done wrong in the past?

Yes

Has the Association moved on

Yes

And thank fook the Church control of state has been crushed, next get them to feck out of the schools

Couldn't agree with you more GTB. Hope things are going well for you now, all the best and take care of yourself.

You too bud

Good debate lads! I myself was forced to play hurling as a 10 year old in school. One of the Gaa mad teachers used to call the "soccer" following lads in the class "West Brits" and "Black and Tans"!

Houghton, my gaelic football mad uncles from the "football" end of Galway called the hurling mad folks from , the hurling end, a lot worse, when they'd be divvying up the few bob from Croke Park.