Save Irish rugby

[cables]

Whilst I appreciate that the 'national interest' agenda has been set by Minister Ryan, I find aspects of the campaign against his views to be at best distasteful.

Having watched the IRFU campaign video I have to say that I am turned off by the contributions of Browne, O'Driscoll and Leamy. Their (spoken) references to 'national' and/or 'country' misrepresent who the IRFU International Rugby team are and who they represent.

As someone from NI (6 of the 9 counties of Ulster) I have great difficulty accepting the IRFU International Rugby team I support being so closely linked to being Irish (National).

Time for the IRFU and their paid spokespersons to stand up and clearly state that their teams do NOT represent Ireland.

Bitter pill to swallow for many but them's the facts.

[Rooster]

I think the Ulster Branch of IRFU should be getting vocal on this as being 6 out of 9 counties not under the jurisdiction of Ryan and his cronies they could be suffering a financial loss due to his action, would also think the goons on the hill should have a say due to cross border bodies etc

[pwrmoore]

it's the old problem. Many have difficulty in recognising that the IRFU is not the Republic of Ireland national team - (apologies Shan I know you're about to point out that the name of the state is officially Ireland and not the republic of Ireland) but it is hard to find language that clearly disambiguates the conundrum that the IRFU is actually bigger than "Ireland" and needs to accommodate the whole island not just the southern and north-western part when they speak officially.

[Shan]

You called for me to get involved Paul?

I see I have become a bit of a tiresome bore vis-a-vis the name of the state.

I'd agree with you that lots of people think of the Ireland rugby team as the Éire rugby team.

That said, and I haven't seen the video Cables is referring to, I'm not so sure this is an agenda by the IRFU to link Irish rugby with 26 county Ireland nationalism.

Ireland's Call


Come the day and come the hour
Come the power and the glory
We have come to answer
Our Country's call
From the four proud provinces of Ireland

Ireland, Ireland
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll answer Ireland's call

From the mighty Glens of Antrim
From the rugged hills of Galway
From the walls of Limerick
And Dublin Bay
From the four proud provinces of Ireland

Ireland, Ireland
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll answer Ireland's call

Hearts of steel
And heads unbowing
Vowing never to be broken
We will fight, until
We can fight no more
From the four proud provinces of Ireland

Ireland, Ireland
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll answer Ireland's call

Nobody seems to mind the words in this context.

[Shan]

I think the Ulster Branch of IRFU should be getting vocal on this as being 6 out of 9 counties not under the jurisdiction of Ryan and his cronies they could be suffering a financial loss due to his action, would also think the goons on the hill should have a say due to cross border bodies etc

Rooster you old ballbag, you are now forcing me to defend the actions of a Minster of a ruling Government I despise.

Here is a question and please try not to be offended as I don't mean offence. Do the Ulster Branch of the IRFU gain financially from the large amount of funding the IRFU get from the taxpayers of Éire?

I think we all need to step back a little here and try and look objectively at the overall picture. The IRFU need to come clean on the real finacial implications of the H Cup being available free to air because as far as I am concerned they only plucked figures out of the air the other day.

Also just for the record I am totally in favour of ensuring the 6 Nations games remain on free to air television. I take Ryan's point about the accessibility of rugby to the people who have funded the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road.

Now I have to go and get my carbolic soap and wash thorougly as I feel dirty. Either that or head onto Labour.ie to redeem myself.

[backawaygoonahead]

We might just be better off keeping the 6 county politics out of this. As a rugby man I am Irish to the core, as an everyday Ulsterman - thats between me and the ballot box.

Its is a political bawbag who threatens the future success of Irish rugby. The rest of us should look at it in how it effects Irish (including the beloved ) rugby and leave the politics to Ryan who claims to be a rugby supporter but obviously hasn't the first clue as to the repercussions should his nonsense be adopted. He is spouting populist waffle without having engaged his brain to check the downsides of his plan.

Not quite sure how the IRFU come up with their figures but one obvious conclusion is that anything that takes money out of their coffers will not improve life for the 4 proud provinces.

[Snipe Watson]

This one will run for ever.
The problem as I see it is that the IRFU do not look beyond their noses or the pale. The elephant in the room is systematically ignored, because they ‘don’t want to go there’. Another day when the two jurisdiction issue, along with all its baggage, doesn’t raise its head is a good day. The issue is too controversial to be easily addressed, so it will not be, as the IRFU will always take the easy way out.

[Rooster]

I think the Ulster Branch of IRFU should be getting vocal on this as being 6 out of 9 counties not under the jurisdiction of Ryan and his cronies they could be suffering a financial loss due to his action, would also think the goons on the hill should have a say due to cross border bodies etc

Rooster you old ballbag, you are now forcing me to defend the actions of a Minster of a ruling Government I despise.

Here is a question and please try not to be offended as I don't mean offence. Do the Ulster Branch of the IRFU gain financially from the large amount of funding the IRFU get from the taxpayers of Éire?

Think you got me wrong on this one Shan
What I was getting at is there is a possibility that the funding to UR is cut due to less cash from RTE than Sky, UR covers 9 counties 6 of which are in North, now as far as government funding goes cash for the building of new stands at Ravenhill will come from goons on the hill and will also cover which in a sense is also giving funds to 3 counties in ROI, there have been other fundings of schools coaches etc which also by the nature of Ulster Branch cross into ROI, but lets not get tied up with who's cash finishes up where as some goes both ways.
The difficulty UR will have if HEC rugby goes FTA will be that the deals will have to be done with IRFU and it would probably lead, if it went FTA, to Ulster matches finishing up in stuck in nomans land with Sky not covering and RTE not covering either and a reduction in the marketability of UR to sponsors being the final result.
On second thoughts though our eejits would probably back Ryan thinking they might get something for nothing

[bootlaced]

I must admit,I would love to see the actual breakdown of the funding,instead of various generic figures.By this I mean a clear and precise balance sheet of accurate figures .

Even watching this video,we are none clearer, http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1073204

Ultimately I would love to know the wages that the administrators receive,but this seems to be buried under marketing, a bit of transparency would be a good thing imho.

Its very difficult to put forward an arguement without knowing all the facts,but no doubt posters will give their opinions on what ' they think' without having all of the evidence in front of them.

good luck,

[bootlaced]

Is this the video you were talking about cables,

http://leinsterrugby.wavenex.ie/features

There does seem to be an over use of the word National,although this could backfire,in so many different ways

and it would seem to have spread to our own Ferris who reckons we should log onto ulsterrugby.ie LOL

BOD even compares the situation to Wales who ensure that rugby fans can watch games on free to air tv of the 6 nations, the Magners ,the principality and swalec competitions via BBC2 Wales and S4C,with a rugby programme showing the heinekin cup highlights in the evening.

[Shan]

but lets not get tied up with who's cash finishes up where as some goes both ways.

OK fair enough.However the Éire Government will feel they are justified in at least pushing forward this proposal because of the amount of funding provided to the IRFU. That said I don't agree with forcing the H Cup onto FTA but I do think the 6 Nations games should be protected.

The difficulty UR will have if HEC rugby goes FTA will be that the deals will have to be done with IRFU and it would probably lead, if it went FTA, to Ulster matches finishing up in stuck in nomans land with Sky not covering and RTE not covering either and a reduction in the marketability of UR to sponsors being the final result.
On second thoughts though our eejits would probably back Ryan thinking they might get something for nothing

Now I have to ask a question here. Is RTE freely available in Northern Ireland? Anytime I've been in Belfast I've seen it on in the pubs but I understand it is not available in homes? If not then the only way RTE could offer the coverage in NI is on its website. Perhaps RTE would show the games but BBC maybe could show the games in Northern Ireland.

[Shan]

Its very difficult to put forward an arguement without knowing all the facts,but no doubt posters will give their opinions on what ' they think' without having all of the evidence in front of them.

good luck,

Nothing wrong with voicing opinions as far as I can tell. We'll never be privy to all the facts anyway as this is the IRFU we are talking about.

[Shan]

and it would seem to have spread to our own Ferris who reckons we should log onto ulsterrugby.ie LOL

I didn't know they had their own Lodge

Maybe Ferris is just getting used to everything .ie before he comes down south in search of success.

[Rooster]

Now I have to ask a question here. Is RTE freely available in Northern Ireland? Anytime I've been in Belfast I've seen it on in the pubs but I understand it is not available in homes? If not then the only way RTE could offer the coverage in NI is on its website. Perhaps RTE would show the games but BBC maybe could show the games in Northern Ireland.

RTE is available on normal aerial in some areas, also available on Sky, website stuff can be available to some but others ip can exclude them as being outside Ireland. Ireland rugby matches are not blocked on Sky at present. HEC matches would be different though as what are the chances of them broadcasting Ulster matches, not very high I would have thought as they previously did not broadcast them.

[moondance]

Now I have to ask a question here. Is RTE freely available in Northern Ireland?

Available ? yes. Freely available? no.

RTE analogue signal is available in Northern Ireland but not everywhere can get the signal. And an additional aerial is needed to pick it up.

Friends in North Belfast have no problem getting RTE. I live across the lough in East Belfast, even with an RTE aerial mounted on a large pole on my roof, I would not be able to pick up RTE. I have recently move to Virgin Media and can now get RTE1 & 2 and TnaG via cable.

Maybe Ferris is just getting used to everything .ie before he comes down south in search of success.

Why, have you heard rumours he is going to Leinster?