Ireland’s call to clean up our parks

BY NOW, the egg-chasing is well under way; interminable weeks of mismatches and dead rubbers before any half-serious participant starts all over again in the quarters.

Perhaps the IRB consulted the Hurling Development Committee on the format.

We wish Drico and the goys well of course — they seem sound, if slightly misshapen lads — but at the same time we must wonder if the national interest might be best served by another no-show.

In truth, that TV ad in which Big Paul and a few more of our heroes subject youngsters to a “kickabout” on a good lawn hit a nerve. It’s not too long since that awful scenario would have been outlandish.

But that was before the relentless efforts of marketing men and the media coverage of the Ugly Game swelled out of all proportion to actual public interest.

And in recent times, the stomach-churning sight of heavy men, collars up, chucking ovals to toddlers has become an increasingly common affront across the country’s green spaces.

And it can’t be good for these little fellas. Why work on more taxing skills like pass and move or a nice wristy swing when rolling about on the ground and a perfunctory catch of a tossed egg will earn loud acclaim of “Gorgeous Hands” from big-boned dads?

Mark my words, if this keeps up, we’ll soon suffer a National Dexterity Crisis.

I’ve noted lately, however, the hint of a tipping point. The Golden Generation is past, the Munster bandwagon is buckling and Leinster’s success has scarcely made an impact beyond a two-mile radius of Donnybrook.

Could a horror show against the Yanks clean up our parks and return the sport to its rightful place — a last-chance saloon for enthusiastic fellows with no first touch?