20 Teams, 2 Divisions, 1 National League

[sbgawa]

Model career[edit (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adrienn_Bende&action=edit&section=2)]
Adrien Bende was born in Budapest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest) and was the winner of the Miss Universe Hungary (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Universe_Hungary) contest in 2006,[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienn_Bende?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-2) and one of the 20 semi-finalists of the Miss Universe 2006 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Universe_2006) contest from Los Angeles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles).
Racing career[edit (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adrienn_Bende&action=edit&section=3)]
She is since 2011 race driver at the Lotus Ladies Cup (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lotus_Ladies_Cup&action=edit&redlink=1) in Lotus Elise (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Elise).[3] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienn_Bende?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-3) Bende's first racing team was ProexSport Kft (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ProexSport_Kft&action=edit&redlink=1),[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienn_Bende?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-4) since 2014, she is a driver for Czollner Motorsport (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Czollner_Motorsport&action=edit&redlink=1).[5] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienn_Bende?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-5)


Looks good for Newbridge Town ;):D

[EalingGreen]

But to the broader point, having an LSL team prepares you for senior football in the same way that entering Miss World prepares you for the Indy 500And playing Youth football prepares you better?

Anyhow, why not have both?

[BigEars]

And playing Youth football prepares you better?

Anyhow, why not have both?

I was going to reply saying, LSL doesn't really prepare eyou for playing LOI 1st division, particularly if you're not playing top level LSL, and then I remembered what these thread is about and it reminded me why the 3rd tier is so badly needed.

The jump between LSL (I'm not counting MSL as a proper Senior League as it's just a Cork League) or any of our Junior Leagues is massive.
However the 3rd tier will likely be a significant step down below LSL, while still being above that standard.
It will bridge the gap perfectly and allow us to create a proper pyramid and structure as a result.

[Shearer]

There's something I don't understand about this. Fair play to them, they appear to have a very good Youth set-up etc, but then they say:
"McNally believes it is important that Klub Kildare has a senior side as it will give their young players a pathway to senior football."
(By "senior" football may I assume he means adult football i.e. age rather than level?)

Anyhow, what has been stopping them from establishing their own adult team(s), entering the local Kildare & District League (or whatever), then working their way up to be able to compete in the LSL?

For such a process would surely provide a much stronger platform from which to jump up to a 3rd tier and beyond.
One drawback is they wouldn't be able to call upon players from their loi underage teams to play for the Senior team without a transfer, while other clubs can draw from their U18 sides seamlessly.

[nr637]

Looking at the potential list of teams that have been mentioned through various social media outlets and are now part of the FAI's process to accept 20 teams.

I have created a possible location of these teams,

Leinster
Dublin - 6 Clubs
Kildare - 1 Club
Carlow/Kilkenny - 1 Club
Kildare - 1 Club

Munster
Cork - 2 Clubs
Limerick - 2 Clubs
Tipperary - 2 Clubs
Waterford - 1 Club

Connaught
Galway - 2 Clubs
Mayo - 1 Club

Ulster
Donegal - 1 Club

[Buckett]

I thought there were two Kildare clubs interested.
In Ulster, are Monaghan not interested?

[EalingGreen]

Looking at the potential list of teams that have been mentioned through various social media outlets and are now part of the FAI's process to accept 20 teams.

I have created a possible location of these teams,

Leinster
Dublin - 6 Clubs
Kildare - 1 Club
Carlow/Kilkenny - 1 Club
Kildare - 1 Club

Munster
Cork - 2 Clubs
Limerick - 2 Clubs
Tipperary - 2 Clubs
Waterford - 1 Club

Connaught
Galway - 2 Clubs
Mayo - 1 Club

Ulster
Donegal - 1 ClubAssuming your suggestions are close to the mark, where might they draw the line between a 10 x team Northern Division and a 10 x team Southern Division?

P.S. Your second reference to Kildare - assume you meant some other county?

[EatYerGreens]

Assuming your suggestions are close to the mark, where might they draw the line between a 10 x team Northern Division and a 10 x team Southern Division?

P.S. Your second reference to Kildare - assume you meant some other county?

From that list it would presumably be Dublin, Kildare, Donegal and Mayo in the North. Though the list does have Kildare down twice, so preumably that's in error?

[EalingGreen]

In Ulster, are Monaghan not interested?Assuming you mean United, according to this (February) they were interested:
https://www.northernsound.ie/sport/monaghan-united-set-for-new-fai-national-league-254245

However seemingly not selected (May):
https://www.northernsound.ie/sport/monaghan-united-out-of-national-league-running-258552

[culloty82]

Assuming your suggestions are close to the mark, where might they draw the line between a 10 x team Northern Division and a 10 x team Southern Division?

P.S. Your second reference to Kildare - assume you meant some other county?

Traditionally, based on the A Championship and Academy leagues, the FAI tend to draw a line between Dublin and Galway when allocating teams to divisions, moving more in Dublin when necessary to achieve an even split.

[Elfman]

There's something I don't understand about this. Fair play to them, they appear to have a very good Youth set-up etc, but then they say:
"McNally believes it is important that Klub Kildare has a senior side as it will give their young players a pathway to senior football."
(By "senior" football may I assume he means adult football i.e. age rather than level?)

Anyhow, what has been stopping them from establishing their own adult team(s), entering the local Kildare & District League (or whatever), then working their way up to be able to compete in the LSL?

Good question and I agree it's confusing but no, I believe he's reffering to both adult and senior level i.e. a nationwide team.

From my view, and I'm happy to defer to Burnsie's more extensive knowledge on this, what is stopping them is the underage structure. Klub Kildare are one of the "created county" clubs that gave a pathway to the national level for underage players.

If their senior men's team was to play anywhere other than the LOI, I'm sure they'd be a lot of junior and intermediate clubs questioning why their underage age teams can't play at a national level too.

[Elfman]

One drawback is they wouldn't be able to call upon players from their loi underage teams to play for the Senior team without a transfer, while other clubs can draw from their U18 sides seamlessly.
Interesting admin quirk, I wasn't aware of this myself. Where did you come across this Shearer - did it affect a Limerick team?

[Shearer]

Interesting admin quirk, I wasn't aware of this myself. Where did you come across this Shearer - did it affect a Limerick team?
If you had an underage loi team and a Leinster Senior League team they would be under two different leagues with different windows.

Open to correction.

[culloty82]

That was part of the reason why the Kerry Academy sides had to incorporate themselves separately from the KDL even before the Kerry FC adult team was formed, the more pressing element being the legal necessity of keeping the boards of both entities separate, even when some individuals would still serve on both.

[nr637]

Assuming your suggestions are close to the mark, where might they draw the line between a 10 x team Northern Division and a 10 x team Southern Division?

P.S. Your second reference to Kildare - assume you meant some other county?

Looking at the potential list of teams that have been mentioned through various social media outlets and are now part of the FAI's process to accept 20 teams.

I have created a possible location of these teams,

Leinster
Dublin - 6 Clubs
Kildare - 1 Club
Carlow/Kilkenny - 1 Club
Meath - 1 Club

Munster
Cork - 2 Clubs
Limerick - 2 Clubs
Tipperary - 2 Clubs
Waterford - 1 Club

Connaught
Galway - 2 Clubs
Mayo - 1 Club

Ulster
Donegal - 1 Club

Nice 1 m8.

[Elfman]

That was part of the reason why the Kerry Academy sides had to incorporate themselves separately from the KDL even before the Kerry FC adult team was formed, the more pressing element being the legal necessity of keeping the boards of both entities separate, even when some individuals would still serve on both.


If you had an underage loi team and a Leinster Senior League team they would be under two different leagues with different windows.

Open to correction.

Makes perfect sense now, thanks for the education lads.👍

[Hacker]

Looking at the potential list of teams that have been mentioned through various social media outlets and are now part of the FAI's process to accept 20 teams.

I have created a possible location of these teams,

Leinster
Dublin - 6 Clubs
Kildare - 1 Club
Carlow/Kilkenny - 1 Club
Meath - 1 Club

Munster
Cork - 2 Clubs
Limerick - 2 Clubs
Tipperary - 2 Clubs
Waterford - 1 Club

Connaught
Galway - 2 Clubs
Mayo - 1 Club

Ulster
Donegal - 1 Club

Nice 1 m8.


Any idea on who the two cork clubs are ?

[nr637]

Any idea on who the two cork clubs are ?

From social media outlets, College Corinthians & UCC. while Ringmahon Rangers also made enquiries.

[timothydec77]

From social media outlets, College Corinthians & UCC. while Ringmahon Rangers also made enquiries.

College Corinthians have strong links with UCC. Corinthians was founded by UCC graduates. UCC is the College reffered to.

[Mr A]

Mad to think there'd be a university in Cork

[EatYerGreens]

From social media outlets, College Corinthians & UCC. while Ringmahon Rangers also made enquiries.

UCC should be in senior football for their shirts/logo alone

[Martinho II]

UCC should be in senior football for their shirts/logo alone

Any picts of their jersey EYG?

[EatYerGreens]

Any picts of their jersey EYG?

Their logo is a skull and cross bones, and they put it on the front of all their sports kit.

This is the GAA shirt = UCC GAA Jersey Red | O'Neills (https://www.oneills.com/ucc-gaa-club-gaa-3s-jersey-v1-red-black.html)

I think it looks cool. Though if I was Bank of Ireland, I'd want a bit more space between the company name and the skull/crossbones. Otherwise it makes the bank look like pirates :D

[LTFC]

Their logo is a skull and cross bones, and they put it on the front of all their sports kit.

This is the GAA shirt = UCC GAA Jersey Red | O'Neills (https://www.oneills.com/ucc-gaa-club-gaa-3s-jersey-v1-red-black.html)

I think it looks cool. Though if I was Bank of Ireland, I'd want a bit more space between the company name and the skull/crossbones. Otherwise it makes the bank look like pirates :D

I am with you there, pirates are kind of romantic thieves. Bankers arent romantic.

[EalingGreen]

I am with you there, pirates are kind of romantic thieves. Bankers arent romantic.Hmmm.

"Romance" is it?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-pTQxE1sDWT71POpY0vcsCDD5SjI4yvSvTA&s

(I assume their Ladies team has the same badge)

Meanwhile, UCC are rather more refined:

https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/staffwebsites/uccufc/10.TeamPhotovSouthwestern.png

[EatYerGreens]

Hmmm.

"Romance" is it?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-pTQxE1sDWT71POpY0vcsCDD5SjI4yvSvTA&s



That just makes them look like a loyalist paramilitary group to be honest :eek:

[EalingGreen]

That just makes them look like a loyalist paramilitary group to be honest :eek:Well they're in a somewhat Loyalist area, but tbf, they've players and managers etc from both communities. Overall a smashing set-up - Youth, Women, Community etc - with excellent facilities. Great fund-raisers, too. And they're certainly ambitious, currently in the PIL (3rd tier) and looking to progress further under new manager Gary Hamilton (bit of a coup to secure him after Glenavon). Could bring Senior football to Lisburn in a way that Distillery aren't really managing.

As for the badge, I was once going into an away game with NI, when the group of lads ahead of me were stopped by security. They had a regular NI banner, but it also had two v.small Skull/Crossbone logos in the top corners, to denote they were from Ballymacash NI Supporters Club. The Stewards were concerned that this was some sort of White Supremacist symbol (or something) and they only got in after the UEFA Representative was contacted to come down and approve it!

[CraftyToePoke]

Nice 1 m8

What is this ?
I know what this is, but what is it doing here ?

It is clearly there in the FAQ / Rules of the site that this isn't a mobile phone and no text speak is allowed, go have a read : https://foot.ie/faq.php

Posters on here mostly come to get away from that carry on and read well written content. I know you are here out of interest in one subject only but try to play along.

Are there no Mods still alive in the LOI section lads ?
Standards are all the separate this place from the rest of the feral illiterate free for all shambles the online world has become.

[John83]

Nice 1 m8.
Just to let you know, text speak is against the rules here. https://foot.ie/faq.php?faq=rules#faq_txtcaps

[joey B]

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BVR7DcgaG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Trim Celtic have applied to join the new 3rd tier.

[nr637]

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BVR7DcgaG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Trim Celtic have applied to join the new 3rd tier.

Great news, the FAI must be delighted with the interest in this new venture.

[Elfman]

Good to see a public declaration from a club in Meath but mildly surprised it's Trim Celtic as they don't seem to have any spectator facilities (bar maybe the clubhouse?).

And speaking of spectator facilities, has anyone heard if Arklow Town applied? They seem to check a lot of boxes, especially for facilities and fielding competitive teams.

[EatYerGreens]

Good to see a public declaration from a club in Meath but mildly surprised it's Trim Celtic as they don't seem to have any spectator facilities (bar maybe the clubhouse?).


I share your surprise re Trim. Their facility is pretty basic and quite a bit out of town as well, so they're not exactly in the heart of the community there.

If anyone has a chance of establihsing a county-wide support base in Meath, it would really have to be a Navan club. Trim is less than a third the size of Navan, so I donlt think has the ingredients to become and remain a senior/LOI team.

[EalingGreen]

To save my diverting or polluting this thread (again!), I've opened a new thread in the Irish League section, covering the latest proposed IFA reorganisation of the pyramid in NI. This may be of some relevance towards the changes which the FAI are introducing for the LOI:
https://foot.ie/threads/299428-Irish-League-Re-organsiation-from-2026-27?p=2225136#post2225136

[Nesta99]

I share your surprise re Trim. Their facility is pretty basic and quite a bit out of town as well, so they're not exactly in the heart of the community there.

If anyone has a chance of establihsing a county-wide support base in Meath, it would really have to be a Navan club. Trim is less than a third the size of Navan, so I donlt think has the ingredients to become and remain a senior/LOI team.

What would help a Trim club in LoI would be a Navan club joining also and visa versa, if they could resist a costly arms race with each other in the first few years. Drogheda and maybe Dundalk would become derby rivals in due course, throw in a Mullingar side also. Parochial rivalry is the bedrock of football supporters' motivation until national titles are on the card.

[nr637]

Good to see a public declaration from a club in Meath but mildly surprised it's Trim Celtic as they don't seem to have any spectator facilities (bar maybe the clubhouse?).

And speaking of spectator facilities, has anyone heard if Arklow Town applied? They seem to check a lot of boxes, especially for facilities and fielding competitive teams.

https://www.facebook.com/ArklowTownFC/posts/travers-insurances-park-looking-fantastic-today-24032021-in-the-sunshine-looking/3786056281449878/

The ground and facilities look great, way ahead of Trim Celtic.

[Elfman]

What would help a Trim club in LoI would be a Navan club joining also and visa versa, if they could resist a costly arms race with each other in the first few years. Drogheda and maybe Dundalk would become derby rivals in due course, throw in a Mullingar side also. Parochial rivalry is the bedrock of football supporters' motivation until national titles are on the card.
Very true EYG, I can't see any team outside of Navan making a real go of it. Any suggestions on teams? Parkvilla playing out of Claremont Stadium maybe - no seats but room to add temporary ones.

I agree with the rivalry slant although surely there'd be a bigger rivalry between Navan and Drogheda than Navan and Trim no?? 😉

[Elfman]

https://www.facebook.com/ArklowTownFC/posts/travers-insurances-park-looking-fantastic-today-24032021-in-the-sunshine-looking/3786056281449878/

The ground and facilities look great, way ahead of Trim Celtic.
Yeah definitely a ground I'd like to visit one day - now I just need a reason to!

[2 Year Contract]

Posting this here because I know there was a mention of them joining the third tier potentially which I guess is dead now. Limerick FC have pulled the rug from under all of their academy players by pulling out all sides from their leagues with immediate effect. Madness that any club involving Pat O'Sullivan was allowed into the academy fold anyways but you have to feel for the kids left high and dry by this mid season

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/...-41658776.html (https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-41658776.html)

[EatYerGreens]

What would help a Trim club in LoI would be a Navan club joining also and visa versa, if they could resist a costly arms race with each other in the first few years. Drogheda and maybe Dundalk would become derby rivals in due course, throw in a Mullingar side also. Parochial rivalry is the bedrock of football supporters' motivation until national titles are on the card.

I couldn't disagree more. Yeah - rivarly is great in football. But clubs only play each other a few times a season The rest of the year they need to be able to attract sufficient numbers along as well.

Meath as a county has a population of 220,000, but Drogheda and some of the Dublin clubs already eat in to that (I'd guess that anywhere betwen a third and a half of Meath residents aren't from the county). I'm not convinced there'd be enough support across the county for a senior club in Trim - it's just too small, and the rest of Meath doesn't exactly look to or defer to Trim. Given where their ground is, and the experience of clubs like Longford on the edge of similar-sized towns, I'm not even concinved that Trim would draw much support in their own town to be brutally honest. If you then chuck another senior club in 15kms away in a town that's 3 times bigger and really does serve as the county capital, then Trim would become even less viable IMO.

So talk of having multiple LOI clubs in Meath 'For rivalry craic' is very fanciful in my view.

[Nesta99]

I couldn't disagree more. Yeah - rivarly is great in football. But clubs only play each other a few times a season The rest of the year they need to be able to attract sufficient numbers along as well.

Meath as a county has a population of 220,000, but Drogheda and some of the Dublin clubs already eat in to that (I'd guess that anywhere betwen a third and a half of Meath residents aren't from the county). I'm not convinced there'd be enough support across the county for a senior club in Trim - it's just too small, and the rest of Meath doesn't exactly look to or defer to Trim. Given where their ground is, and the experience of clubs like Longford on the edge of similar-sized towns, I'm not even concinved that Trim would draw much support in their own town to be brutally honest. If you then chuck another senior club in 15kms away in a town that's 3 times bigger and really does serve as the county capital, then Trim would become even less viable IMO.

So talk of having multiple LOI clubs in Meath 'For rivalry craic' is very fanciful in my view.

Well look how Drogheda thrived in the end due to their obsession with trying to emulate Dundalk. At the time populations were relative to today and Lourdes Stadium was on the outskirts of the town.

Its about creating an identity imo, a connect between the team and the town and rivalries do that. Trim people feel eclipsed and excluded by Navan even on an administrative level, as Drogheda people did and do. This cant be manufactured, or all encompassing like a county club. Now rivalries develop with success and sustaine competition between clubs anwhere in the country but getting there needs community buy in or someone just willing to foot the bill.

There is a combination of things that will help the success and growth of a new club or one that steps up to the senior game, a slow and steady sustainable effort with obvious improvement, but I also think an early seige mentalty that gets the locals bit between the teeth is part of it and local rivalry does that. Especially for the smaller community like Trim. Its a spring board rather than an isolated couple of games a season and there is an element of trying to out do the other competatively, attendances, merchandise, sponsorsip, facilities, community development, womens game, academy et al. This increases even the level of volunteerism and effort by wider members of the community rather than just those with a partcular interest, niche LoI types like most of us here on foot.ie. Well at least there should be when not trimming the fat or doing the silk purse stuff.

[EalingGreen]

I couldn't disagree more. Yeah - rivarly is great in football. But clubs only play each other a few times a season The rest of the year they need to be able to attract sufficient numbers along as well.

Meath as a county has a population of 220,000, but Drogheda and some of the Dublin clubs already eat in to that (I'd guess that anywhere betwen a third and a half of Meath residents aren't from the county). I'm not convinced there'd be enough support across the county for a senior club in Trim - it's just too small, and the rest of Meath doesn't exactly look to or defer to Trim. Given where their ground is, and the experience of clubs like Longford on the edge of similar-sized towns, I'm not even concinved that Trim would draw much support in their own town to be brutally honest. If you then chuck another senior club in 15kms away in a town that's 3 times bigger and really does serve as the county capital, then Trim would become even less viable IMO.

So talk of having multiple LOI clubs in Meath 'For rivalry craic' is very fanciful in my view.No offence, but all this talk of choosing new NL members according to where they come from (county, population, rivals etc) is putting the cart before the horse.

For the essential difference between a potential Senior (i.e. pro- or semi-pro) side and a Junior, even Intermediate one, is support. And when I say "support", of course the most important element is those punters who buy the match tickets, for whom a degree of competitiveness on the field, plus facilities and comfort off it, are key, if they are to be attracted and retained. But it's not just paying public, it's also essential to be attracting volunteers, sponsors, local businesses and corporate etc.

And to attract all these, a club needs to be well established in its local community/town/catchment etc. Of course it helps if they are located in an area with a large population and/or no immediate competition locally etc. But in the end, it is the club itself which counts most, as evidenced eg by Sligo Rovers, in a small town in a rather sparsely populated area, versus eg Cork City, from a big city, with a huge, populous catchment area.

Or look eg at Co. Louth. If Dundalk were already established and Drogheda not (or vice versa), by the above reckoning you wouldn't expect to look for a second Senior club in a small(ish) county like Louth. Yet it is at least as capable of supporting two Senior clubs as eg Cork, Kerry, Galway or Kildare (random examples).

Meaning the LOI should be looking for the next Sligo, rather than the next Cork, whether or not there are already established clubs reasonably close by. And to get back to the club in question here, with (I think) just a football pitch and a clubhouse, I cannot see what the likes of Trim Celtic can show to indicate they're a nascent Sligo. Meaning that if there is no other club in Meath with genuine potential (unsure personally), then imo you should be looking elsewhere for entrants to this new league.

[Nesta99]

I think with this new third tier, what should be has passed and we have what is and work around that. Its not ideal and never was, opinions on what will or wont work will be determined as right or wrong in time only. Im not necessarily putting a time frame on the bedding in of a senior club new or 'promoted'. I do think that rivalry expidites the things mentioned like the various support. I agree on facilities but its a much bigger issue even with established senior clubs, there will have to be some hit and hope on new senior entrants eg a plan at the least. Navan or Trim or both, it'd be a fail to try the one size fits all in say Navan as Meath FC, its would just be a Navan club called Meath - Trim and others are not going to rush to loI 3 games because they play in green in Paírc Tailteann if they could.

[Martinho II]

Well look how Drogheda thrived in the end due to their obsession with trying to emulate Dundalk. At the time populations were relative to today and Lourdes Stadium was on the outskirts of the town.

Its about creating an identity imo, a connect between the team and the town and rivalries do that. Trim people feel eclipsed and excluded by Navan even on an administrative level, as Drogheda people did and do. This cant be manufactured, or all encompassing like a county club. Now rivalries develop with success and sustaine competition between clubs anwhere in the country but getting there needs community buy in or someone just willing to foot the bill.

There is a combination of things that will help the success and growth of a new club or one that steps up to the senior game, a slow and steady sustainable effort with obvious improvement, but I also think an early seige mentalty that gets the locals bit between the teeth is part of it and local rivalry does that. Especially for the smaller community like Trim. Its a spring board rather than an isolated couple of games a season and there is an element of trying to out do the other competatively, attendances, merchandise, sponsorsip, facilities, community development, womens game, academy et al. This increases even the level of volunteerism and effort by wider members of the community rather than just those with a partcular interest, niche LoI types like most of us here on foot.ie. Well at least there should be when not trimming the fat or doing the silk purse stuff.

Speaking of Lourdes Stadium is that ground still being used and when did Drogheda move out of there?

[culloty82]

It seems Drogheda have been in United Park since 1979:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Park

[Nesta99]

Speaking of Lourdes Stadium is that ground still being used and when did Drogheda move out of there?

Its still in use for athletcs alebit it daftly only was refurbed with 4 lanes.

[KianD]

Ballymun United interest in joining mentioned in this article about a rare algae holding up pitch plans: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ballymun-a-rare-plant-complicates-a-football-clubs-ambitions/

[EatYerGreens]

Ballymun United interest in joining mentioned in this article about a rare algae holding up pitch plans: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ballymun-a-rare-plant-complicates-a-football-clubs-ambitions/

Jaysus - the Club Secretary openly saying multiple times that he'd just get rid of the rare plant/pull it up and throw it away, because "we just want to go grow grass" shows everything that is wrong with people these days. And why Ireland's habitats have been so badly degraded. Doubly embarassing when you think that there is a cluster of excellent environmental projects and facilities near the club (e.g. the Recovery Centre in the old boiler facility for the estate).

They should make the presence of this rare plant a virtue - not seek to kill anything that gets in their way.

This has left me with a very negative impression of Ballymun United. Fair play to the club member who photographed it and ignored the request to get rid of the plant.

[Eminence Grise]

Jeez, that kind of club secretary doesn't fill you with confidence that any compliance procedures would be followed. Child protection, budgets, H&S - ah, just tick the boxes. It'll be grand...

Still, what a lucky club to have a rare algae and a prize f***ing tulip for secretary!

[Nesta99]

Oh that gave me a laugh, especially the annoyance of the club secretary just oozing out of the piece. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall listening in to some of those conversations with the photographer and committee. You might think pull up and throw the endangered plant away but saying to a journalist? Rare biodiversity in Ballymun indeed! Its the luckiest find ever....