A Euros in England makes a lot of sense
WAS there something a little bit mischievous about it? Probably there was. A finger in the eye of the European Union by the recently departed United Kingdom. Look at us, it seemed to say, we have our stuff together, while you lot across the channel are left scrambling to catch up. The trouble with it is, as we know all too well, there’s more than a grain of truth to it. The British are market-leaders at the moment for getting jabs in shoulders, while the EU is left in the ha’penny place (or should that be the cent place?).
It’s hard not to look at it through the prism of Brexit, and there would be something about it that would stick in the craw of many Europeans. Seeming to be bailed out by old Blighty, giving the Conservative and Unionist Party and the wider Brexit movement a big win is the last thing a lot of people would like to see. God knows we’re no big fans of the Brexit project ourselves. That doesn’t, however, mean that the prospective proposal for the UK to host the European Championships this summer is without merit.
Before the pandemic the format for the 2020 championships was interesting, innovative even, if obviously a bit of a cash grab by national associations. All the same the idea of hosting a truly European championship on a pan-European basis was something to get excited about. In the midst of the pandemic, however, it makes a hell of a lot less sense. Yes, the championships are still quite a bit away – the first matches are scheduled for June 11 – but given the pace of vaccine roll-out across the continent it seems more than a little ambitious to think that things will be back close enough to normal for the championships to proceed anything like business as usual.
In that context does it make sense to have teams and supporters criss crossing the continent at a time when we’re trying to restrict international travel for fear of undermining vaccine roll-out efforts with the spread of new variants? Dublin is due to host Poland and Slovakia on June 14 and it hardly seems likely we’ll be in a position to host a meaningful number of fans in the stadium by then. Would it not be better, then, to let the UK host the championship?
The facilities are already in place. The UK should have a largely vaccinated and sports mad population, just dying to get out to see live sport. It could be a real festival of football. Full stadiums, passionate fans, football coming home. Even if all we could do is watch it on TV, that sounds a lot more appealing than a few thousand people spread out in Lansdowne Road. Boosting Boris would be an unfortunate side effect, but probably one worth paying.
THE Cork GAA-promoted Rebels Bounty fund raiser is currently high on the agenda for Duhallow clubs. A new model with an increased prize fund and, as previous with the former Cork GAA Clubs Draw, it remains risk free for clubs with 100% premium retention beyond agreed club thresholds.
In a new departure, clubs were given targets to reach or quotas to meet before they could begin to profit from the €100 each tickets. Senior clubs are asked to sell 100 tickets, intermediate 70 and junior 50, the ceiling did create a degree of concern in small rural clubs early on yet the Cork County Board are working in tandem with all clubs holding queries.
Chairman Marc Sheehan outlined the progress made with the opening three draws scheduled for March 24.
“We’ve been very active with clubs and are very pleased with ticket sales. It’s all very positive for clubs principally and for the county as well, Rebels Bounty is a very attractive draw with €500,000 in prizes over 12 months,” he said.
“The biggest post Covid challenge for clubs will be to finance their operations, particularly their units who have borrowings or infrastructural projects. Our clubs are very supportive of Rebels Bounty and it provides risk free finance with an attractive prize fund,” he added
One winner will collect €100,000 next December and each month will feature 30 recipients of between €100 and €20,000, which in April and December rises to €25,000.
The former Cork GAA Clubs Draw originated from 1992 where €45 of each €100 ticket went to clubs, while under the new system there is a minimum target for each club to reach. Once those goals are met, clubs retain the profit from each ticket sold.
Tickets for the Rebels’ Bounty are being distributed via GAA clubs in County Cork, they can also be bought online at gaa.cork.ie/rebelsbounty. Each club holds a co-ordinator and Duhallow contacts are Ballydesmond: Willis O’Connor (086-1414423); Banteer/Lyre: D J O’Sullivan (0876487831); Boherbue: Eileen Casey O’Connor (087-9800102), Castlemagner: Pat Gayer (087-7861919), Cullen: Diarmuid O’Connell (086-3515064), Dromtariffe: Frank Barry (0879838087); Freemount: Jim Guiney (087-2599462); Glenlara: Conor Fitzpatrick (087-2563271), Kanturk: Francis Kenneally (086-8332158); Kilbrin: Tom O’Reilly (087-2392442); Kiskeam: Donie Cronin (087-6773043); Knocknagree: John O’Halloran (0830024146); Lismire: Oliver Kearney (086-1552854); Meelin: Conor Murphy (086-3985168); Millstreet: Con Healy (086-2638320), Newmarket: Neilly McCarthy (087-6407123); Rockchapel: Mary Collins (087-6724719); St. Johns: John Twomey (087-2844630); Tullylease: Niall Collins (087-7557771).