We have become a nation of protestors

First things first. There was I last week, sounding off about the fun being gone out of football and the enjoyment gone out of sport and along comes Kobe McDonald and in a 20-minute substitute appearance in Clones made me eat my words. Kobe might well be described as a football prodigy and the hype that has built up around him could well have been a recipe for disaster but his display was a joy to behold and could hardly have gone better. His contribution of a goal and four points was outstanding but more important was the sense of fun and enjoyment that exuded from his teenage frame, the smile that lit up his face as he simply celebrated his goal (a thing of beauty) was just sheer delight.

I had been warned - if that’s the right word - by no less a football authority than John Maughan to be on the lookout for Kobe. John has been around the block and knows a good footballer when he sees one. He was a selector with Crossmolina Deel Rovers in last year’s club championship and had been witness to Kobe’s performances as a 17-year-old midfielder. Kobe was impressive and John was impressed, so much so that he did not hold back on what Kobe could achieve.

We all know now that Kobe is bound, like the wild colonial boy, for Australia where he has been signed up by the Aussie Rules club St Kilda’s. It’s a big move and all that can be said is that Mayo’s loss is Australia’s gain. A professional contract is not to be sneezed at, especially at a time when the GAA’s administrators are determined to root out any under-the-counter payments that could undermine the association’s amateur status. It is OK to pay administrators and managers and 'back-up' teams but the top brass has decided they must draw the line at any compensation to players. Of course.

As an aside, I feel obliged to say that Australian Rules Football is probably the most dire football game in the world. As a field sport it is nothing more than a constant drag and pull and maul with little or no skill that I can detect. The only other field game that could be compared to it was the negative defensive football that passed for Gaelic football over the past decade or two. Thank God for Jim Gavin (stick with the football Jim!) and his Football Rules Committee for saving Gaelic football as a spectacle worth watching. There is still a way to go to curb the reliance on the handpass before we can say the game is a manly, attack-minded game that is a joy to behold.

I can’t recall, offhand, who it was said that comparisons are odious (if it wasn’t Shakespeare, it was probably Wilde) but I suppose it was inevitable that David Clifford would be brought into the conversation with the arrival of Kobe. There’s nothing much to compare. Clifford has two All-Ireland minor medals, being captain in one and scoring 4-4 in the final. Kobe has none. Clifford has gone on to score big tallies to win Munster club and senior all-Ireland titles with Kerry. Kobe has yet to challenge in that area. Kobe has a professional contract, Clifford has none.

We may see more of Kobe McDonald before he goes Down Under. Mayo still has work to do in the League and then there’s the championship. If Kobe stays fit and if St Kilda don’t lay down the law to protect their asset, he could well appear in the Green and Red this summer. That’s a prospect to look forward to and to be welcomed. I’m waiting for the sun to get a bit higher in the sky before I venture out to a Mayo game and I wait in joyful expectation. The fun and enjoyment has not gone entirely out of sport. Hard to believe that, in the foregoing, there has not been a single mention of former Mayo football great Ciaran McDonald.

And so to a phenomenon that is beginning to annoy me. Has anyone noticed the number of protests that is happening on a daily basis in this country? We have become a nation of protestors. Give a bunch of people the least excuse and there is a protest outside Leinster House or outside a hospital or outside a courthouse, or indeed a football stadium. We even have party political leaders joining protests outside the Dáil. It seems to me that it would pay them better if they did the job they are paid to do inside the Dáil and seek to change, in that Chamber, whatever it is they wish to change.

It is not so long ago that there was a migrant inspired and far right led protest in Dublin that resulted in a mini riot in our capital city. Bus drivers and Gardaí were attacked, buses and Garda vehicles were set on fire and shops looted all in the name of the preservation of our 'Irish' identity. It would seem to me we are leaving ourselves open to another mini riot in Dublin on October 4th when the FAI insists on playing Israel in the Aviva Stadium. The sad thing about the FAI decision is that it is not based on any high moral ambition but rather on base self-preservation. The decision was based on the fear of what UEFA might do if Ireland did not fulfil their home fixture. Very courageous. Leave it to the poor Gardaí to police the event and then complain about Garda inefficiency when trouble breaks out.

I agree with the right of people to protest provided they do so in the right spirit. Provided they are not protesting for their own benefit. People protesting the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank and who protest peacefully are to be respected and, indeed, saluted. I expect people will protest against the Ireland/Israel game and the hope is that it will go off peacefully.

There’s pyrite protests every other day and believe it or not the pyrite infection has spread to Dublin, there’s SNA protests, there’s taxi drivers protesting against fixed fares (what’s the beef there?), there’s continuing migrant protests, there’s housing and rent protests (legitimate), there’s anti-EU protests. There’s Kenilworth Square protests against astro turf, there’s Dáil deputies protesting against their own anti astro turf Minister, there’s Irish language enthusiasts who protest nach bhfuil said inan teach a thógáil insan Gaeltacht, there’s people with ingrowing toenail issues out protesting. You name it and there will be a crowd to protest. Another thing, when are we going to stop apologising for things that happened fifty and seventy years ago and for which we have already apologised and compensated victims.

And of course where would we be without an IFA protest or sit-in? With apologies to my good friend, gentleman and former Mayo IFA chairman Sean Clarke, but the IFA can’t seem to go a week without staging some protest. At the drop of a cap these impecunious hard working sons/daughters of the land who never take a day off can launch multi-million pound tractor protests to disrupt Dublin and bring traffic to a halt. They did it recently to cow (no pun) the government into voting against the EU Mercosur Trade Agreement.

They did it more recently when they tried to bring down Larry Murrin, the chairman of An Bord Bia, who has done more to put money into farmers’ pockets than IFA President Francie Gorman will ever do. When it came to Murrin, the government found a bit of backbone and pushed back. It would appear that the IFA case for Murrin’s dismissal was without any foundation. Farmers have benefitted more than any other sector of Irish society because of EU membership but they are never happy and they probably never will be.

Thought for the day 

Mol an óige agus tiochaidh sí.