Regarding the URC semi-final between Leinster and Munster, I was disappointed to learn there was a remarkable difference in ticket prices for both sets of supporters to attend the same match.
A premium level ticket for a Munster supporter was priced at €85 plus fees, whereas Leinster supporters were offered the same tickets for €68 plus fees.
Even more surprising than this is to learn that some early bird Leinster supporters could avail of €10 tickets or two premium level tickets for €100.
Neither of these specials were offered to Munster supporters.
Whilst this may come across as bemoaning Munster supporter complaining about a Leinster bias, objectively speaking charging away team fans more to attend a game than home team fans is not only unfair but also goes against the spirit of sportsmanship and that of rugby.
Inter provincial matches of this nature are supposed to bring people together and promote a sense of community, but such disparate pricing practices can create divisions and a hostile environment.
One of the primary reasons for charging away team fans more is to make up for the lost revenue from home team fans who may not attend the game. However, this approach penalises the very fans who are willing to travel to support their team and adds an unnecessary financial burden on them.
Moreover, the practice of charging away team fans more is discriminatory and can be perceived as a form of segregation. It creates a hierarchy among fans based on their loyalty to a particular team and reinforces the us-versus-them mentality, which can lead to unsportsmanlike behaviour within the supporters.
In addition, charging away team fans more goes against the fundamental principles of fairness and equality. All fans should be treated equally regardless of which team they support or where they come from. Such practices not only harm the reputation of the IRFU but also discourage fans from attending games and supporting their teams.
With this in mind, it does not surprise me in the slightest that Ireland’s premier inter provincial rugby match will now be played in a reduced capacity stadium.
DA O’Sullivan
Dublin 2
Many amateur sports aren’t ‘free to air’
There is much indignation among fans of GAA at the failure of RTÉ/GAAGO to ensure broadcast of many or all championship games ‘free to air’. There is of course no such thing as ‘free to air’ — the GAA is now a vast commercial entity in the sport/entertainment sector, and if it doesn’t raise money from streaming, then RTÉ has to fund the difference — in other words the licence-payer. I doubt there is any realisation that fans of many other sports in Ireland (mostly all amateur) look with envy at the coverage RTÉ provides to the three main ‘semi-state’ sports — GAA, soccer, and rugby — they themselves having already abandoned the network’s sports ‘mono-culture’.
The largest sporting event in Ireland is taking place this weekend at the North-West 100 motorcycle races, with many competitors from north and south taking part. RTÉ will not be covering any of it and never has (let alone Skerries races). At the end of this month, I will pay money to watch the Isle of Man TT races and will do so also for coverage of weightlifting in which an Irish team had a medal-winning show at the recent European championships.
Politicians of course have been to the fore in in the current debate, proudly flouting their great interest in sport. There will be no bike races in the south this year because of the insurance demands. There was no help provided by the said politicians when Motorcycling Ireland made representations for help … in other words — no votes there.
Ted Neville
Douglas
Cork
Tears streaming on faces of GAA fans
I don’t know who in the GAA decides what matches can be seen by the owners of every television set in Ireland or by restricted, fee-paying, computer-owning, good broad-band area dwellers.
Whosoever that person or persons is or are in the GAA, well it’s time for them to GO. It’s an absolute disgrace that some of our best, most attractive and traditional games are now being denied to hundreds of thousands of fans. I know, we all know, the GAA is a great organisation but now it seems that money matters more than anything. We are an amateur organisation — supposedly based on grass-roots volunteerism — yet the GAA now chooses to simply ignore loyal fans, suporters, and members who have no acess to it’s streaming service.
Tears are streaming down many faces — the faces of people who love their Gaelic games and are now being shamefully disregarded. Shame on the GAA.
John Arnold
Bartlemy
Fermoy
Co Cork
Dismantling the Anglican Church
Joan Baez sang an anti-war song called ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?’. The song’s punchline is: “When will they ever learn?” That question must be asked of Anglican archbishops, in the light of an expanding legacy of savage ill-treatment cases being uncovered, many after their cynical concealment for years or decades. Canon Mike Pilavachi, who has stepped back from his role with Soul Survivor over safeguarding concerns, is the latest charismatic evangelical celebrity to enter the spotlight and had been previously been marketed as a wonderful guru on youth work.
Charismatic evangelical celebrity scandals are so ever so commonplace now. The absence of independent safeguarding in Anglican dioceses is a blasphemous mockery and allows biblical principles of natural justice to be ignored. National law can easily be sidestepped by a cynical Bishop and their helpers, and fundamentalists can also ignore Anglican Church rules like Lambeth Statement 1:10, which were specifically designed to protect vulnerable minorities.
Clay-footed senior clerics have done a good job in helping dismantle the Anglican Church. If Joan Baez is recording a new version of the classic song for Church of Ireland Archbishops it might run: “Where have all the worshippers gone? They’ve been ill-treated and quietly left a long time ago.”
James Hardy
Martinez Ave
Belfast
Benefits of ending drug prohibition
Upon reading your editorial — ‘ Cost of cannabis decriminilsation unclear’ (Irish Examiner, May 8) — three points about prohibition and the costs to the public, came to mind that I felt compelled to relay, for the interests of public safety.
I am a teacher and school leader. I, like most people in Ireland, have direct and indirect experiences with the harmful effects of licit and illicit drugs, and alcohol, and so I am anti-prohibition, in favour of a real health-led model, and against the punitive prohibitive drug legislature we have today.
In the Irish Free State, cannabis and cannabis resin were first prohibited by the Dangerous Drugs Act 1934, which came into force on April 1, 1937. Prohibition has enabled myths to propogate reefer madness scaremongering amongst the citizenry which have been scientifically disproved; myths such as a rise in psychosis or a cause of schizophrenia which is untrue. People are either predisposed genetically to schizophrenia or they aren’t. I would discourage anyone with a family history of schizophrenia from taking any psychoactive drug. Furthermore, the effects of having legalised drug use for responsible adult consumption through state-controlled agencies has been closely monitored. One such effect has been a significant decrease in teen cannabis use, as per a recent article in Science Direct.
Prohibition marginalises, stigmatises, and condemns the drug user, teen and adult, to unsafe, dangerously secretive drug misuse. There were 2,017 drug related deaths recorded in 2019. One third of them were alcohol related, and 67% were due to licit drugs such a methadone, and benzodiazapines (diazepam and alozapram).
Drug misuse, deaths, overdoses, drug related crime, gang intimidations and organised crime will continue because of harmful prohibition. There is an urgent need to dispel the myths surrounding non-problematic, adult drug use, the positive consequences of legalising and regulating drugs, and the benefits of ending prohibition.
Richard Power
Portlaoise
Co Laois
Abuse conviction will cost Trump votes
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” Donald Trump remarked at a campaign stop in Sioux Center, Iowa, in 2016. “It’s, like, incredible.”
After a jury found Trump liable on Tuesday for sexual abuse and defamation, I’m sure he’ll lose votes and hopefully go to jail.
Kevin Devitte
Westport
Co Mayo
