I can hack drunken idiots at football matches, we see drunken idiots all the time, we live in Ireland!!

What I can't hack are people who are late for games and then do the whole looking for their seat, blocking peoples view, standing in front of people and then looking for people to move. Is it so hard to be in your seat at the right time?? I know a lot of people will assume that these people are drunk coming in from the pub but its usually the opposite, just lazy people arriving late. As for the people who sit in the wrong seats, god almighty, is it so hard to read the ticket and match the letter and number to the seat???

NavyNBlue (Dublin) - Posts: 1357 - 26/08/2013 14:33:57    1468489

It's good to see some sensible debate on this topic with the exception of Horse who has completely missed the point. Opening your mouth to pour alcohol in is hardly a skilled talent.

I have no problem with fans having a pint before or during a match but anyone acting out of order sober or drunk should be dealt with the way the Sligo poster described. We love this image of the drunken Paddys but when another country ridicules us for it we get very sensitive.

That idiot TD who was drunk in the middle of the abortion debate should be sacked. If I went into work drunk and groped a female colleague I would be sacked on the spot.

As for alcohol sponsorship in sport, I am completely against it as it goes against the spirit of sport which should be done for health and well being reasons. Too alcohol is bad for your health and that is fact so it completely contradicts the whole point of sport. This excuse of giving time to find new sponsors is complete bull, you'd have a queue from Croke park to O'Connell of potential new sponsors in the morning if alcohol sponsorship was banned.

Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 26/08/2013 14:35:15    1468491

26/08/2013 14:02:07
Donegalman
A good course of action could be a name and shame policy where the offenders are filmed or photographed and publically humiliated in either a national paper or on the gaa website. It would expose the idiots for what they are. I dont agree with bans on alcohol, it is a minority that cause the trouble. No a name and shame is not the way to go. Where would you name and shame them. Who is the moral authority who can say what is and whats not correct behaviour.
26/08/2013 14:09:57
hill16no1man
ormond, you say its a place for tds to unwind and is a private members club ,then why do the tax payers have to foot the bill for these tds to enjoy themselves after work!!!!
no other job in the world would you get away with that.
if they want to crack down on alcohol it must come from the top and they are the top not sports people.
its like the gardai wanting to crack down on mobile phone use while driving yet how many garda cars do you pass with one using the mobile while driving.
if you dont lead by example nobody will respect your rules
It is a place for td's and their guests to meet and mingle.
The Dail bar and restaurant provides a service to the members, member's staff, and staff of the House of the Oireachtas Service, which amounts to about 1,200 people. The Dail restaurant, self-service restaurant, coffee dock, and visitor's bar would also be accessible to a large number of visitors to Leinster House, which in any given year amounts to approximately 100,000 people,"
The tds also pay for the bar and its upkeep.
Stop going onto totally different issues. Gardaí and the use of mobile phones is totally off topic and is not the issue being discussed

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 26/08/2013 15:09:10    1468539

26/08/2013 14:14:18
Horse
nothing wrong with lads havin a feed a drink and some lively banter with the opposition fans, sure all this anti-drink nonsense is just the usual oul pc health n safety claptrap.
lads goin on about the continent and how sensible foreigners are with drink. sure most of the foreigners ive ever drank with wouldn't drink their way out of a paper bag.
the irish have a long and proud tradition of bein able to stomach a feed of pints and stand our round like a man - a couple of attributes you wont find in too many of these continental characters. as a rule the slavs are solid enough but the western continetals wouldn't be worth a fiddlers when it comes to drink. you only have to look at the record of the likes of the Italians and especially the French in the world wars to see how delicate their fibre is. if that's level we are lookin to attain then good luck to us.
Surprise surprise hoganstand yet again turns a thread into people going on about pc health and safety.
Horse you are either a child or wumming. you haven't a clue what you are on about

26/08/2013 14:33:57
NavyNBlue
I can hack drunken idiots at football matches, we see drunken idiots all the time, we live in Ireland!!
What I can't hack are people who are late for games and then do the whole looking for their seat, blocking peoples view, standing in front of people and then looking for people to move. Is it so hard to be in your seat at the right time?? I know a lot of people will assume that these people are drunk coming in from the pub but its usually the opposite, just lazy people arriving late. As for the people who sit in the wrong seats, god almighty, is it so hard to read the ticket and match the letter and number to the seat???
some people are late. nothing wrong with that. how do you know why theyre late?
and people who sit in wrong seats its stewards role to make sure that doesn't happen

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 26/08/2013 15:12:12    1468545

26/08/2013 14:35:15
Killarney.87
It's good to see some sensible debate on this topic with the exception of Horse who has completely missed the point. Opening your mouth to pour alcohol in is hardly a skilled talent.
I have no problem with fans having a pint before or during a match but anyone acting out of order sober or drunk should be dealt with the way the Sligo poster described. We love this image of the drunken Paddys but when another country ridicules us for it we get very sensitive.
That idiot TD who was drunk in the middle of the abortion debate should be sacked. If I went into work drunk and groped a female colleague I would be sacked on the spot.
As for alcohol sponsorship in sport, I am completely against it as it goes against the spirit of sport which should be done for health and well being reasons. Too alcohol is bad for your health and that is fact so it completely contradicts the whole point of sport. This excuse of giving time to find new sponsors is complete bull, you'd have a queue from Croke park to O'Connell of potential new sponsors in the morning if alcohol sponsorship was banned. Alcohol sponsorship is fine within reason. No competition for people under age of 18 should be sponsored by alcohol companies but adult competitions are fine. How do you define the "spirit of sport"?
Alcohol is fine for your health in moderation and only too much drink is bad for you.
How do you define "the whole point of sport"?
How do you know you would have a large queue of potential new sponsors if alcohol sponsorship was banned? You don't and down the years alcohol companies have always been up as one of the biggest sectors sponsoring sporting events and teams

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 26/08/2013 15:16:52    1468546

26/08/2013 15:12:12
ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 5512

and people who sit in wrong seats its stewards role to make sure that doesn't happen
---------------

Even on an airplane - It is assumed people will correlate a ticketnumber to a
seat once they are pointed in the right direction
Maybe if we had 82,000 stewards they could occupy the seats until a valid tciket holder presented proof

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 26/08/2013 15:19:30    1468548

Even if Croker stops selling alcohol it won't stop people bringing in their own alcohol. Alcohol shouldn't be banned completely from Croker but if drunk people are being abusive and people are complaining about them then the stewards should definetly do something.

Meath1999 (Meath) - Posts: 24 - 26/08/2013 15:30:46    1468562

Just out of interest Ormondbannerman, are you employed in the drinks' industry in some way? Because you seem to be going a very long way towards defending 'drinkers' rights', so to speak.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 26/08/2013 15:44:59    1468586

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 5513

Horse you are either a child or wumming. you haven't a clue what you are on about[/I]

In fact Ormond I know exactly what im talking about, having either drank with, or drank on the same premises as lots of people from many different places.
the brits are generally the only other Europeans who would really know how to conduct themselves in a civilised fashion in a pub - in terms of pace of drinking and also in returning the round. that said, ive drank with Czechs and poles also who "got it".
in my experience, the absolute worst are the French, they will sit there for an hour behind an empty glass making small talk. often you would see male French drinking half-pints of beer - pretty unacceptable in our culture I would say.
the likes of your Iberians and Italians wouldn't generally be much better either - one or 2 drinks with food seems to be par for the course for these characters. in fairness to the krauts they would be well able to skull the beer but their legendary tightfistedness means you would not want to get caught in a round with them.
I hope I have been able to warn you a little about the perils of drinking with our continental chums - forewarned is forearmed so hopefully you wont get stung! best of luck on your travels!

GreenandRed
If there was an incident with a drunken supporter falling and injuring himself/herself or someone getting hurt in a row involing drunken supporter(s) Croker Park would be very quick to put security on every entrance to see who's under the influence.

no they wouldn't. they would change how the bars inside the ground are run and they wouldn't put security on the entrances. the cost would be enormous and would lead to ticket price increases

These intoxicated people are 'outside' the ground trying to gain entrance. How do you fathom that changing the bars 'inside' the ground will have any bearing on this situation.

How would the costs be 'enormous'? They're not gonna be hiring Navy Seals !

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8059 - 26/08/2013 16:41:53    1468660

In fact Ormond I know exactly what im talking about, having either drank with, or drank on the same premises as lots of people from many different places.
the brits are generally the only other Europeans who would really know how to conduct themselves in a civilised fashion in a pub - in terms of pace of drinking and also in returning the round. that said, ive drank with Czechs and poles also who "got it".
in my experience, the absolute worst are the French, they will sit there for an hour behind an empty glass making small talk. often you would see male French drinking half-pints of beer - pretty unacceptable in our culture I would say.
the likes of your Iberians and Italians wouldn't generally be much better either - one or 2 drinks with food seems to be par for the course for these characters. in fairness to the krauts they would be well able to skull the beer but their legendary tightfistedness means you would not want to get caught in a round with them.
I hope I have been able to warn you a little about the perils of drinking with our continental chums - forewarned is forearmed so hopefully you wont get stung! best of luck on your travels!

There are a couple of possible explanations for the alleged lack of drinking gusto on the part of our continental cousins:

1. Beer is often a lot stronger on the oontinent than it is in Ireland or Britain. Go for a night's drinking in Belgium, and you might appreciate why the locals aren't so keen on throwing drink down their necks at lightning speed. Anyone can drink Heineken quickly; it's a different ball game altogether when the brew is 8-10%.

2. Maybe some of these nations don't feel the need to get pissed at the drop of a hat? Only ourselves and the Brits could see getting morto drunk and all that comes with it as being 'civilised'.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 26/08/2013 17:32:18    1468711

26/08/2013 15:44:59
Gleebo
Just out of interest Ormondbannerman, are you employed in the drinks' industry in some way? Because you seem to be going a very long way towards defending 'drinkers' rights', so to speak.
No I am a student. Going back to study journalism having studied marketing for a few years.

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 26/08/2013 18:50:18    1468772

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

fortyfive (Tyrone) - Posts: 5929 - 26/08/2013 19:10:54    1468788

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 5521


25/08/2013 21:53:18
07_LK_1973
Cherno Samba will you go way and play a game of CM 01/02 for yourself.
I think the problem lies with letting these embiciles into the ground in the first place. People who are clearly hammered should be arrested on route to the ground if they are being a nuisance. This type of carry out would not be tolerated in most civilised countries. I'd enjoy 2 or 3 pints of Bulmers before a Championship game on route to the stadium and like to take in the atmosphere but these idiots who are getting hammered clearly have no interest in our games. Difficult one but I think a zero tolerance approach should be taken and these type of fellows should be escorted to the exit if they gain entry and picked up by the gardai nd get to spend a night in the cell. Until we as a country start getting serious about this we will forever be known as a country of clowns who cannot handle there alcohol. I type this as I enjoy a nice glass of Chianti :) you don't know If those who are getting "hammered" have no interest in the games. In many cases they do. For all big tipp hurling games in cork/Dublin you will always see big groups of youngsters from nenagh and surrounding areas(where im based) heading to the game and stocking the bus of drink. They will all be members of their local clubs and play senior club hurling/quite a few will have played inter county at various levels.

I'm sorry bannerman but if people are hammered heading into games I would suggest they have more interest in drinking than the matches themselves. Any lads I know who have played the games to intercounty at various levels would not be carrying on like this. Thank you for correcting me though. Cheers lad. All the best in the hurling final bannerman I hope your experience is not ruined by people who can't handle there drink.

07_LK_1973 (Limerick) - Posts: 115 - 26/08/2013 19:15:31    1468793

Ormondbannerman I think the reason why people play sport is to build your strength physically and mentally. "healthy body, healthy mind"

Its scientifically proven that alcohol is bad for your physical and mental health which goes against what I think sport stands for above.

Well, when Guinness and RTE pulled out of the hurling sponsorship Ethihad and Centra stepped in. You wouldn't immediately think of a middle eastern airline as a natural fit for hurling sponsorship. Also why are Liberty insurance who are new to the Irish market sponsoring hurling? So to me whoever is advising Ethihad and Liberty from a marketing point of view are telling them that a very quick way to gain market penetration and brand awareness is through sponsorship of the hurling championship.

Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 26/08/2013 19:49:17    1468821

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 5521

Ye think its the stewards fault if people sit in the wrong seat, its their job to show them the row alright that's it, if they cant read a number on a seat then that's there ignorance or laziness.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 26/08/2013 20:14:12    1468837

26/08/2013 19:15:31
07_LK_1973
I'm sorry bannerman but if people are hammered heading into games I would suggest they have more interest in drinking than the matches themselves. Any lads I know who have played the games to intercounty at various levels would not be carrying on like this. Thank you for correcting me though. Cheers lad. All the best in the hurling final bannerman I hope your experience is not ruined by people who can't handle there drink.
You cannot prove that. Ive went to loads of tipp games(and some other games like international rules etc and Im just talking GAA) since I was 15/16 where people who really follow tipp etc and are die hard supporters as well as players and they go up on the bus and have a good bit to drink and are very interested in the game. They are interested in the day out as much as the hurling
26/08/2013 19:49:17
Killarney.87
Ormondbannerman I think the reason why people play sport is to build your strength physically and mentally. "healthy body, healthy mind"
Its scientifically proven that alcohol is bad for your physical and mental health which goes against what I think sport stands for above.
Well, when Guinness and RTE pulled out of the hurling sponsorship Ethihad and Centra stepped in. You wouldn't immediately think of a middle eastern airline as a natural fit for hurling sponsorship. Also why are Liberty insurance who are new to the Irish market sponsoring hurling? So to me whoever is advising Ethihad and Liberty from a marketing point of view are telling them that a very quick way to gain market penetration and brand awareness is through sponsorship of the hurling championship. that's why you think
people play sport but many others play sport for a multitude of reasons and the social aspect is another very valid reason why people get involved in sport and alcohol is for many people a large part of any social occasion and they are perfectly healthy both physically and mentally.
I know all about mental health and alcohol and suffer from a form of anxiety and from talking to specialists they say there is nothing wrong with alcohol as like everything it is fine in moderation

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 26/08/2013 20:35:04    1468853

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
from talking to specialists they say there is nothing wrong with alcohol as like everything it is fine in moderation

That's the issue right there, moderation. Young fellas stocking buses full of drink (like you mentioned before), drinking for hours before the match, sometimes from early in the morning, thats not moderation (if it is, its moderation in moderation). I've seen plenty of it myself with Tipp lads down the years, it seemed to get worse from the mid to late 90's onward. Lads (young lads) turning up at the train station on the morning of the match already half cut, and are in pretty abusive form by the time they actually get to the match. At its best it just gets old, at its worst it gets pretty dangerous. There's nothing wrong with having a pint before the match and having abit of craic, but we've gone way beyond that.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 26/08/2013 21:04:36    1468892

I'm not against alcohol, I'm against alcohol sponsorship because it glamourises drinking and worse still links it to sport. I'm not comfortable with the two being interlinked just like subway or McDonalds want to target this area. I enjoy a drink but I've enjoyed plenty of matches without needing a pint. I think hurling is too fast moving to enjoy half cut or drunk.

Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 26/08/2013 21:08:31    1468901

Ormond of course you are right when you say that the social side of sport is a huge and important part of why we watch and play it. There is nothing wrong with having a drink while watching it, but getting blind drunk and being abusive to opposing fans is not proper behaviour.

Is it an inerrant shyness in Irish people that drives us to binge drinking? Whatever the reason is I'd love to know cos most Irish people I know are good fun and good company sober.

Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 26/08/2013 21:23:34    1468915