Dublin county board secretary John Costello has rejected the notion that Dublin GAA should be financially hobbled in order to help equalise the championship.
Costello, whose reports tend to be entertainingly frank, said that he had no problem with the GAA 'offering additional financial support to help so-called weaker counties in their quest to keep pace with the stronger units - but let me be equally blunt: this should not come at a direct monetary cost to Dublin.'
He said he would oppose any attempt to curb the level of funding offered to the Dubs.
He mocked the narrative that grew up during the summer, that Dublin were an unstoppable juggernaut and it was imperative for the health of the GAA that they be stopped. He joked that the next stop for some commentators would have been to call for the execution of the first born male in every household in Dublin.
During the summer it was like a national focus group had been formed in order to, as it was termed on radio, ‘halt the Dublin juggernaut.
All sorts of measures to ‘hamstring’ Dublin were suggested with contributors just stopping short of suggesting the ‘King Herod Solution’ which would put a cap on the number of young males allowed in any household.
It's not the first time Costello's annual reports have dwelt on such talk.
In his annual report to last year's convention, he said anti-Dublin sentiment grew directly in the wake of Dublin's 2013 All-Ireland final victory.
No All-Ireland victory is greeted in all quarters with great enthusiasm but Dublin’s victory this year seems to bring the ‘Anyone But The Dubs’ out in greater numbers.
Perhaps the most pathetic commentary on the game was the suggestion by one columnist that Dublin’s games should be played late at night as it was wrong for juveniles to have to witness them. Such nonsense, but I suppose it earned the columnist a handy headline!
[Examiner]
