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 The World Cup 2010 in South Africa is up and running and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s the visceral kaleidoscopic international spectacle we all expected it to be and then some.
All 32 teams have now completed their first stint of games and while what’s happening on the pitch is looking good, what’s happening in the stands isn’t.
One can’t help but notice the lacklustre attendances at some of the group matches so far, a sight that genuinely takes away from the passion and pride of the beautiful game on South Africa’s hallowed World Cup pitches. Yes the sound of the Vuvuzela implies there’s a full house at every game, but there isn’t.
There were almost 11,000 empty seats at Saturday’s game between South Korea and Greece in Port Elizabeth and the official attendance at the Algeria-Slovenia clash in Polokwane was 30,325, almost 11,000 below the capacity. Yes these events do not have the glamour ties with the Brazil’s, England’s and Portugal’s of this world, but this empty seat dilemma does more than just cast a shadow over FIFA’s pricing policy. It makes we Irish, a country that should be at this tournament, feel even worse about our absence.
If Ireland were at the World Cup you could guarantee that every game we would be involved in would be a sellout, glamour team involved or no glamour team involved. Our passion for the beautiful game coupled with our dedication to cheering on the boys in green and singing Amhrán na bhFiann loud and proud means that the Irish would be the solution to FIFA’s seating dilemma.
The Irish would have flocked to South Africa, in their multitudes, to support Trap’s Army if they would have qualified. The French cheated their way to the tournament and FIFA, although acknowledging this injustice, refused to do anything about it. It’s ok to cheat apparently.
It’s ironic really, FIFA wouldn’t let us go to the 2010 World Cup and now it appears we are exactly what the tournament needs, impassioned fans in their thousands, putting bums on seats and bringing passion to the pitch, from currently desolate stands.
 Waterford GAA chiefs have revealed that they sought “a substantial five-figure sum” to allow their potential Munster Senior Hurling Championship final opponents have home advantage in the decider.
Waterford officials said the move was made due to the “precarious state” of their finances in these recessionary times and claimed they had received agreement on the plan from their counterparts in Cork and Tipperary, who were on the other side of the draw.
Sources close to the negotiations claim the proposed agreement was worth €50,000 to Waterford’s coffers.
The arrangement sparked an angry response from the Munster Council who insisted the deal was undertaken without their backing.
The proposal, revealed exclusively in the Irish Examiner Newspaper last week, also provoked a massive backlash from Waterford players, management and supporters.
Last night Waterford County Board issued a lengthy statement outlining their actions and expressed regret for any embarrassment and inconvenience caused to the Munster Council and its officers and to the boards and officers of Cork and Tipperary.
However, the board insisted that they were acting in the best interest of the GAA in Waterford.
For full story visit – http://irishexaminer.com/sport/deise-chiefs-sought-50000-for-switch-122168.html
 Mary Hanifin T.D. Thurles born Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sports, Mary Hanafin T.D.has announced the Irish Sports Council’s funding package for the National Network of Sports Partnerships.
The 32 Partnerships have been allocated almost €6.3 million in funding in 2010 and this will be matched by revenues from other sources bringing the total invested in local participation initiatives through these Partnerships, to more than €12.5 million in the current year.
At a meeting of the Sports Partnerships in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Minister Hanafin also launched the 2009 SPEAK (Strategic Planning, Evaluation and Knowledge) Report, the evaluation mechanism that tracks the activities of the Partnerships year on year. Among the many highlights were that 112,000 people participated in 744 directly delivered participation programmes and 3,500 clubs were supported in the delivery of their sports activity targets.
Under this announced funding, in 2010 North Tipperary will receive €178,264, while South Tipperary will receive €146,671. Women’s sports projects will further benefit by €6.500 overall for the county as a whole.
For those of our readers who would like to read the full text of the SPEAK Report, click here.
Note: This report is based on the information provided for the year 2009 by 33 Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) using the SPEAK self-evaluation system.
This year’s Bord Gais Energy All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship finals are likely to be held at Semple Stadium in Thurles for the first time since 2006.
GAA Director General Mr Paraic Duffy confirmed this afternoon that Semple Stadium has been mooted as the possible venue for the U-21 Championship decider over the weekend of September 11th and 12th.
Speaking at today’s launch at Croke Park, Mr Duffy said:
 Semple Stadium “It probably won’t be played here. It all depends on who is in the final. It is more than likely to be played in Thurles. The reason for that, is we want to play both the U-21 ‘A’ final and the U-21 ‘B’ final together. The problem for the last number of years is that the ‘B’ final ends up being played in front of two men and a dog in some places and that’s not fair on the teams at that level. I assume it will be Thurles because normally it’s the natural venue for the teams that will be involved.“
 Thurles Chamber Golf Classic Organisers Officers of Thurles Chamber pictured here at the launch of their Annual Perpetual Golf Classic, are Kate Molony (PRO), P.J. Shanahan (Treasurer), Anne Fitzpatrick (Secretary) and Pat Hayes (President) (Photo /Graphics: G.Willoughby (Tel: 0504-21133).
Thurles Chamber once again swing into action for their annual perpetual golf classic, which will be held at Thurles Golf Club on May 28th 2010. This outing, as always promises to be a great event, and will be followed by an evening of food and entertainment.
Prizes to be won this year include a round of golf at the Old Head Golf Club Kinsale, a signed Munster Rugby Jersey together with many more. They will also have prizes for the ‘Longest Drive’ and nearest to the ‘Pin’.
Teams of four cost just €200, while funds raised will go directly towards the CCTV installation in Thurles, a venture which is nearing conclusion and likely to be fully commissioned before the end of this year.
Please support what is now acclaimed as one of the main events of the local golfing calendar.
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