Lee Costello: Why a third-tier GAA Championship would work… players just want the chance to win a trophy

Like a lot of club footballers, I first played Gaelic at under-six level, and now, at the ripe old age of 31, I like to think I'm in my athletic prime. To be fair, I have set the bar pretty low so it could be possible.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Irish Examiner

2 hours ago

• Irish Examiner

Orange warning: Which counties aren't kicking enough two-pointers?

We look forward to their data on hurling but the GAA's new, much-welcome games intelligence unit told us last month that goals in Gaelic football are down under the new rules from two per game to 1.8. That is hardly breaking news when there is a third tier of scoring worth slightly less available from open quarters further out the field. Nor might it surprise people that of the four counties who qualified automatically for the All-Ireland quarter-finals, two of them are the highest two-point accumulators this year – Monaghan (53) and Meath (48). Monaghan's two-pointer figure exceeds Dublin and Kerry's combined total of orange flags. At the same time, Kerry's 28 goals in 2025 are more than what Cavan, Cork and Donegal have produced between them. Does the breakdown of where the scores have come among the 12 remaining counties give us some insight into how the next couple of weekends are going to go? Possibly but for sure some counties are too dependent on one part of the Gaelic football's scoring tricolour and there are those not getting enough from another: Over 25% of Kerry's total points have come from goals. File picture: Tom Beary/Sportsfile Too green: Having played 13 games, Kerry have amassed a combined 327 points. While, 52 points (less than 16%) have come by way of orange flags, 84 have been provided by goals (over 25%). Last Saturday's loss to Meath in Tullamore was the first time they didn't find the net this year. Notwithstanding the fact they have yet to face a Division 1 team in the championship, they have the meanest defence goals-wise for the season too with just seven conceded. Not enough green: Anybody who has watched Cork this year knows they create goal openings but their conversion rate has been dreadful. Five goals in 12 league and championship fixtures (one in their five SFC fixtures) is five times less than Kerry and half what Donegal have scored and the Ulster winners have the third worst goal return among the remaining 12 counties. Too white: Donegal have 34 two-pointers and 10 goals to their name in 14 matches. Nearly 70% of their amalgamated scores have come from the single-point scores. Cavan's statistics may also give Kerry some insight ahead of Saturday's game in Killarney. Of their 227 total points in 11 games, almost 62% have come from single-point scores. Not enough white: Down and only because like Cavan and Cork they are among the lowest scorers remaining in the championship with their overall 269 points total from 12 outings. They are among the best for long-range points. Monaghan have become masters of the two-pointer. File picture: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile Too orange: Step forward Monaghan, whose average total of points per game is hitting 28 points. A rash of two-pointers, 13 in total across their last three matches, have brought their total season figure to 106, which equates to 32% of their 330 aggregate. Nearly 16% of their total has come from goals. Not enough orange: Like Kerry, Dublin are averaging two 'arcs' a game, which represents less than 20% of their total scoring, while their goal rate of one a match is just above mid-table and constitutes less than 10%. Read More The problems and plusses on Cork football's balance sheet Just right: They have been flying by the seat of their pants in recent times but on several occasions thus year Galway have been shown a deep understanding of the rules. That is reflected in their even spread of scoring. They have gathered an aggregate of 301 points in 13 outings this year. Of that, 90 points (30%) have come from two-pointers and 60 from goals (20%). Louth are close to the top in both the green and orange flag counts, which comprise 18% and 28% of their aggregate scores for the year. Or is that the reigning champions Armagh have it all figured out? Nearly 70% of their scores are one-pointers, a little over 10% goals and close to 22% two-pointers. Are theirs the healthier proportions? The next 10 days might tell. Read More The problems and plusses on Cork football's balance sheet

Irish Independent

6 hours ago

• Irish Independent

Letters: Some of the most profound aspects of Irishness are found far away from home

I've lived and worked in many places, and nowhere has that belief been more strongly confirmed than among the diaspora. In California, I met Irish-Americans with a better command of the Irish language than I ever had, who could dance reels and jigs as if born to it and were much better at Gaelic football than me. In Hawaii it was the same – people fiercely proud of their roots, even if their connection was two or three generations removed. While teaching in a Catholic school in London, I was struck by how much more connected to this heritage my pupils were than I felt myself. They knew their family townlands, said grace instinctively and sang rebel songs their parents had passed down. My London-Irish wife, whom I met in San Francisco, once shocked me by berating a woman on the Tube who had muttered something about 'drunken Irish on the train'. She showed more courage in that moment than I had ever displayed. And I'll never forget sitting on a boulevard in Buenos Aires wearing an Irish jersey, waiting for my wife to return from a salsa class. A woman walked past, saw the shirt, smiled and blew me a kiss. Mary Kenny is right: Irishness isn't a passport stamp. It's a cultural imprint, sometimes stronger abroad than at home. We may be a small nation, but wherever we go, we leave a presence – proud, persistent and unmistakably our own. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh Explain all the arrests if Trump, Vance and Rubio are free-speech absolutists Ian O'Doherty ('Mam and Dad are arguing again, and we are the fearful child torn between the two', June 18) explores the different interpretations of 'free speech' in the EU and US and the possible economic implications for Ireland. He portrays Ireland and the EU as stuffy nanny states, duty-bound and hell-bent on protecting citizens from harmful or hateful speech. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, the US is depicted as some divine, freedom-loving cowboy who doesn't mince his words and loves to shoot from the hip. Indeed, O'Doherty brands Trump loyalists Marco Rubio and JD Vance as 'free-speech absolutists'. Lest we forget, Rubio once dubbed Trump a 'con-artist' while Vance compared Trump with Hitler. Both men recently supported the arrest and detention of Columbia University students protesting against the indiscriminate Israeli campaign carried out across Gaza in response to the horrific Hamas attack of October 7. These guys are free-speech absolutists all right – especially when they are talking out of both sides of their mouths. Paddy Sharkey, Hollywood, Co Wicklow Israel-US food aid centres are death traps for the civilians of Palestine The Israel-US Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was first registered last February, and its few food aid centres set up on May 26 in Gaza are described as death traps overseen by Israel's military and armed contractors. Last week, Jens Laerke, the UN spokesperson for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the GHF 'is not delivering supplies safely to those in need' and the GHF was a 'failure' from a humanitarian point of view. Exhausted Palestinians who walk off the correct route to the GHF aid centres or linger too long in despair after aid runs out are shot at and killed daily. Tanks are also used to fire at civilians. These are supposed to be warning shots. The banning of international media from Gaza by Israel since the war began in October 2023 is a key factor as to why the war is so extreme. If, for example, the UK's Channel 4 News or US CBS News were in Gaza reporting on the war, it would have had a quicker impact on governments calling on Israel to end the targeting of civilians in the most miserable war of the 21st century. Experienced aid agencies run by the UN, UK and others have been more restricted in Gaza since last March. There are requests for the UN to be allowed fully back in to deliver aid safely. Israel has as much a right as any country to ensure its security, but daily, casual killings by the IDF of civ­ilians in Gaza is truly reprehensible. I hope Hamas will release the remaining hostages they took into Gaza in October 2023. They, too, endure terrible conditions. Mary Sullivan, College Road, Co Cork If Kneecap member can be charged, why not those flying the UVF's flag? Hezbollah is a proscribed organisation, and Mo Chara of Kneecap was recently before Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with displaying a Hezbollah flag. The UVF is also an illegal organisation, but for years I have witnessed UVF flags in Armagh, fluttering on poles. UK law extends to the North of Ireland, and surely there is a ­contradiction in the application of the rules. Sheila Ward, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan Vandalism unacceptable, but Micheál Martin's point simply does not hold water Taoiseach Micheál Martin has referred to the smearing of his constituency office with red paint as 'undemocratic'. Wilful damage to any property is unacceptable. Those who carry out such acts of vandalism should remember repair costs will eventually be borne by the taxpayer. However, many might say the ­Taoiseach is not following the wishes of the people by until now failing/refusing to enact the Occupied Territories Bill as approved by the Oireachtas. Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Co Cork A strike on Iran's nuclear facility would be a disaster for everyone in the region US president Donald Trump may or may not join the Israeli military action in Iran by sending a 30,000- pound bomb to destroy Iran's nuclear facility under a mountain. Have any of the 'leaders' of the US or Israel considered the deadly eff­ects of a strike on the uranium stocks in Iran, including the US assets, and the millions of innocent people in the Middle East? James J Ryan, Co Limerick

Irish Independent

19 hours ago

• Irish Independent

Lee Costello: Why a third-tier GAA Championship would work… players just want the chance to win a trophy

Like a lot of club footballers, I first played Gaelic at under-six level, and now, at the ripe old age of 31, I like to think I'm in my athletic prime. To be fair, I have set the bar pretty low so it could be possible.