The man in the middle is a problem for the GAA
HAVING turned the Championship into a quasi-league, coupled with reduced attendances at the recent All-Ireland senior football semi-finals, if the GAA is to retain any credibility, surely the time has come to ruthlessly tackle the deplorable standard of officiating at matches.
Tyrone’s journey to the final has been dogged by controversial decisions, first against Meath in the qualifiers and again in the semi-final against Monaghan.
I counted (in my opinion) at least two very baffling frees, against Monaghan, resulting in Tyrone points. Then the Tyrone goal came directly from play generated by a line ball that (unless I need to go to Specsavers) should have gone Monaghan’s way.
Finally, can nothing be done about the commonplace tactical verbal abuse and off-the-ball incidents between players marring all too many matches? This, coupled with the brinkmanship that went unpunished in the lead-up to the Mayo kick-out in the dying seconds of last year’s All-Ireland final, has no place in sport.
There is far too much controversy surrounding extra time at the end of matches. Why can’t the men’s game adopt the stop-theclock system being used so effectively in the women’s game?
Indeed, the GAA doesn’t have to pay players and should be well able to invest in some goal-line and sideline technology to assist seemingly overburdened officials. The time has come to act. EUGENE CASSIDY, Co. Cavan.
Obscene Áras costs
AS the scramble by potential presidential candidates for nominations gathers pace, I now personally regret not throwing my hat in the ring for the gig. There is no doubt that the present hopefuls have had successful and enterprising careers in their own right up to now and have enjoyed much media coverage and publicity over the years.
With that in mind, if such individuals now feel the need to spend in the region of €600,000 each in an election campaign to tell us that they would make an ideal president, it is my opinion that they don’t deserve the position.
This obscene amount of money they intend to splurge on self-promotion in a four- or five-week campaign is far more than an ordinary, averagely paid worker could hope to accumulate in four or five lifetimes of work. This has to be seen as obscenity at its worst.
Surely these individuals with such obscene spending do not represent the majority of people in this country, most of whom are only making ends meet from week to week, with very many being only within a few pay packets of becoming homeless if they happen to lose their jobs.
There ought to be no reason why any ordinary interested person could not contest for this position on a level playing field with minimal expense, provided they could overcome the present undemocratic nomination process and provided they would also be given equal and unbiased media cover- age to challenge these other money-splurging contestants.
Surely the time has come for an ordinary well-grounded Joe or Mary soap with their finger on the pulse of the nation to occupy this position, who could easily do as good a job as anyone else. Why is a gigantic sum of money along with financial and political backers one of the main criteria required for one to go forward?
As I continue to dream about the impossible in contesting for the presidency, for starters my opening salvo would be to carry out the duties of the role for a quarter of the present salary, insist on no security, use public transport and seek to turn most of the massive 95-roomed Áras mansion into something meaningful to benefit marginalised sectors of the community. I believe the taxpayer could be spared very many millions, based on the estimated €30million it has cost over the present tenure of seven years.
The various costs associated with the presidency are utterly obscene, something this small country cannot afford. The office of president needs to be brought down to the level of the people it serves and become more meaningful and open in speaking out on policy of public importance, instead of being just a rubberstamp agency for Government, something for which we are presently paying a big price.
The behind-the-scenes workings of the presidency need to be drastically scaled down if the people are expected to have respect for the office and its occupant.
CHRISTY KELLY, Templeglantine, Co. Limerick.
Nolan is right
I FULLY agree with Philip Nolan (Mail, Friday) regarding the introduction of a ‘distance tax’.
While every taxpayer in this country contributed to the funding of the Luas and Dart along with subsidising Irish Rail and Bus Éireann, the first two systems are only available to the citizens of Dublin. Bus Éireann has recently altered its service from Limerick, bypassing many villages. The same has now happened in Galway.
Those people who have been allocated a free travel pass now find that they have to travel some distance to avail of such services. For most of rural Ireland a car is an essential, not a luxury.
These are the people who are crucified with expensive repairs to their vehicles due to sub-standard roads. TOM CARROLL, via email.