New Fish in the Bowl

25th Jun 2013

We got a new goldfish for the PROC’s fish tank last week and we’re calling him ‘Seamus Harnedy’ after the St. Ita’s brilliant man of the match performance on Sunday against Clare in Limerick.

The way he carved open Clare’s supposedly teak tough half back line time and time again was astounding and the constant refrain that the Rebels have no ball winning half-forwards has finally been subdued.

So far Seamo is getting on well with our other fish Hoggie, Ringy, Seán Óg, JBM and The Rock – some of the most exotic fish you’ll ever see have really earned their stripes to get into this tank. Ask any of the fish in the bowls of Cork’s pet shops and they’ll all tell you that this tank is the one to be in.

Seamus’s youthful energy has invigorated the whole tank - excitedly zipping around the tight spaces full of the joys of life.  
 

man of the Match Seamus Harnedy

The older fish are delighted with his enthusiasm and technique but occasionally if you watch closely they put a fin around him and offer some sage advice.  It’s not easy being in the top tank. There’s a lot of pressure in there, especially with so many big fish looking for nice water to suck through their gills and as soon as you think you’ve settled in, there’ll be some other fella nipping at your tail.

The pep in the step of hurling fans on Leeside is noticeable this week with a “cmere I assume you’re gonna go up to the final?” tagged on to many Pana stop-and-chats. Slight disappointment followed the realisation that the match will be in Limerick again and not Thurles but at least the Rebels played their semi in the Gaelic Grounds too and they’ll be well used to Limerick’s summer sod when they step out on July 14th.
 

We'll be keeping a close eye on Seamus now that he's made the big tank

We’ve noticed Seán Óg is staying at the opposite side of the fish tank a lot this week - keeping a low profile - possibly reflecting the type of week the man we named him after is having.

Some of the reaction to (the real) Seán Óg Ó hAilpín’s newspaper interview before last Sunday’s match is curious. In it, the former All-Ireland winning captain, said he found Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s decision to leave club mate John Gardiner out of the current Cork hurling squad “ridiculous”.

Granted, Ógie’s timing in the media is not as sharp as his pitch perfect tackling was in a Cork jersey but the unprecedented and irrational chorus from a small but sizeable minority of people demanding some unique form of censorship on GAA players going against the grain is really strange.
 

Whether you agree or disagree Seán Óg has walked the walk

Would he ever keep his mouth shut!

Why should he? The view that if you don’t agree with a consensus then you should keep your mouth shut is a very dangerous place for us to be. By all means, offer your own two cents and deconstruct Seán Óg’s argument – call it ‘ridiculous’ if you like - but being too lazy (or possibly thick) to say why one disagrees with a particular view and attacking the man instead of the strong opinion he has pucked into the public domain is as cowardly as a Davey Fitz post-match interview.

Demanding that anyone who dares to question a consensus be censored is frighteningly reminiscent of an older Ireland dominated by pious edicts from corrupt politicians and dominating arrogant bishops and celebrity priests.
 

As it happens we don’t particularly agree with Seán Óg’s view (although there’s certainly a strong argument that Gah should at least have got a run out in the league) but Ógie is the one with three senior All-Ireland medals on his mantelpiece and over a decade of experience inside an inter-county training camp. Likewise bainisteoir JBM has an array of accolades on his.

The best our mantelpiece has to offer is an empty can of Murphy’s acting as a flower pot, a framed photo of Christy Ring, most of last Thursday’s Echo and a ticket stub from last year’s quarterfinal with a tea cup stain on it. How about yours?
 

Oh dear

Either way it doesn’t matter. We’re all entitled to express a view regardless of who we are. Cork is the Rebel county and going against grains, norms and status quos is part of our make-up  and tradition. If Roy Keane didn’t pipe up in Saipan the FAI would still be a travelling circus and people would still be taking it’s chief executive John Delaney seriously.  

Our motto is that ‘every langer has an opinion’ and the more views and angles we have on any issue from hurling squads to city development plans makes for a better Cork: whether you’re an opinionated mullet that prefers the muddy shallows or a big fish that likes to throw his weight around in the depths there is plenty of space in Cork waters for everyone.