The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Rugby Pub

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to the virtual rugby pub - a place where you can come in for a sly beverage and discuss whatever's on your mind, or just eavesdrop on the regulars if you fancy a break from all the rugby chat.

The only rule in this pub is one of mutual respect for everyone in it, oh and no defacing the Tommy Bowe photo on the bar. That's a banning offence

So pull up a chair....what'll it be?

Just a wee reminder -

Scrum V Classic:
BBC2 WALES - Baa-Baas v New Zealand 1973 (1900-1930 BST)
Repeated on BBC1 Wales at 23:30

Rev, what are the perks of having a season ticket with the Dragons? Same question to STH’s of all clubs, what do you get apart from entry into games?

With the Leinster ticket you get a gift (usually a scarf) some vouchers for businesses that sponsor them, entry to all A games for free, first refusal at all away tickets / HC knock out tickets and a few other things like membership of the supporters club, entry to the supporters bar etc.

I see Connacht’s season ticket looks great, you get a free pint at every game!

DREAMER - I replied to an email via Facebook which I think you might've received in error, please disregard it if you have. I did it on my phone so it's all over the place

Munsty, stag, 100% agree about the flaws in the teaching.of the Irish language


My solution, which I've been saying for years, is to make every primary school a gael-scoil. Every primary school teacher needs honours Irish to teach anyway so skills are there to do this. This would give every child practically fluent Irish by the time they are 12 and moving onto secondary school, and would then have the choice to attend an English of Irish speaking secondary school.

Simples.

Stag, you know the poster you were talking with was called Guns… on old 606?

hughie1986 wrote:My solution, which I've been saying for years, is to make every primary school a gael-scoil.

Its not simples. There are a large number of people who don't have Irish here. Their kids are happy to learn it but they are unable to help their kids if they need help with homework. Its fine a parent who can't help their kid with Irish but parents play a role in education and making sure that many parents can't help with any homework isn't the way to go.

Mickado wrote:Stag, you know the poster you were talking with was called Guns… on old 606?

Ah was it him? Thats cool. He was always good craic.

Thanks, Penfro - I know half the commentary off by heart but any chance to watch that game has to be taken! Normally they just show Gareth Edwards's try but there was so much great play that didn't result in tries (as is so often the case). David Duckham was sublime that day - when you throw a dummy that fools the cameraman, you know you're on song!

No stag your wrong, I have family with hardly a word of Irish between them, who have sent thier children to gael-scoils and the children have had no problems in the slightest. So i cant agree with your criticisms

hughie1986 wrote:No stag your wrong, I have family with hardly a word of Irish between them, who have sent thier children to gael-scoils and the children have had no problems in the slightest. So i cant agree with your criticisms

Thats fair enough but certainly for me my parents would help me out with my homework if I was stuck. If my parents were foreign and couldn't help me when I was 5 and 6 years old I don't think I would have done that well.

Just have Irish taught better when it is being used. Making every school teach every single subject in Irish is not the answer.

My Serbian mate’s kid is as good as anyone in his class at Irish, but my mate hasn’t got the first notion how to help him. Come to think of it, my mother and father never made it to secondary school and couldn’t help me with my homework (other than with encouragement) so I’m not sure that argument stands up Stag.

Mickado wrote:Rev, what are the perks of having a season ticket with the Dragons? Same question to STH’s of all clubs, what do you get apart from entry into games?

With the Leinster ticket you get a gift (usually a scarf) some vouchers for businesses that sponsor them, entry to all A games for free, first refusal at all away tickets / HC knock out tickets and a few other things like membership of the supporters club, entry to the supporters bar etc.

I see Connacht’s season ticket looks great, you get a free pint at every game!

Ulster Season Ticket Holders get discount for renewal. This season I got first call on HC QF and ML SF tickets. Thats about all though. No free pint . Oh I think theres a ballot system for some International Tickets, or that might be the Supporters Club.

Thats fair enough guys I'm only basing it on my own experiences in school and a conversation I had this will with a Spanish lad I work with. Everyone in school should do Irish - not saying kids from Serbians guys should do Irish.

But they should do Irish as one subject and not for every subject. It should be a choice that is there.

If my parents were foreign and couldn't help me when I was 5 and 6 years old I don't think I would have done that well.

So like a lot of Eastern Europeans who moved over here with young children?

I like the idea of all schools being gael-scoils.

I've read back and I think he was more wummed against than wumming Stag.

:run1:

By the by - how epic would a HEC game in Galway be for a 606 meet up. We'd all be supporting the same team!

Risca Rev wrote:
Just renewed my season ticket for the Dragons. Going to miss some games because of Afghan, but I love the perks of saying I'm a season ticket holder somewhere and I think I'll probably do okay with games.

Ah yes, the perils of 'Who Dares Wins', eh Rev?!

Stomers leading the Rebels 16-3 5mins into the second half

MBTGOG wrote:

If my parents were foreign and couldn't help me when I was 5 and 6 years old I don't think I would have done that well.

So like a lot of Eastern Europeans who moved over here with young children?
I like the idea of all schools being gael-scoils.

Yes exactly. Their kids should learn Irish but they should not have to conduct every subject in Irish. There are Gael-Scoils out there already.

red_stag wrote:By the by - how epic would a HEC game in Galway be for a 606 meet up. We'd all be supporting the same team!

True Stag, and there shouldn't be any trouble getting tickets

red_stag wrote:By the by - how epic would a HEC game in Galway be for a 606 meet up. We'd all be supporting the same team!

Gloucester?!

Stag,

We need something radical to change the system. Small steps aren't helping at all.

I think Irish should be compulsory up until Junior Cert, then choice after that but considering most would be very comfortable with it, I say a lot would keep it on.

Staggy - Galway's a bit out of the way for some regs isn't it? Would be a good one for the Ireland-based regs to go to though.

I don't think that'd even be that hard to implement either munsty, say it was to begin next year, just start from baby infants and work up from there. It's all very easy


What I mean is ignore all the other years in primary school and get it implement in a staggered motion. So basically it would take 8 years to implement fully but once it was in itd be great

There are plenty of ways to make radical changes. A massive emphasis on oral Irish, doing projects through Irish etc. I see what you guys are saying but I feel making every single school in the country fully Irish would alienate a lot of parents from the education process which I don't agree with.

It would at first Stag but this is a long term thing. Things like Maths and English would still be subjects parents could help with.

Hughie,

It would not be that easy to implement it. I think it would cost a fortune.

Mickado wrote:Rev, what are the perks of having a season ticket with the Dragons? Same question to STH’s of all clubs, what do you get apart from entry into games?

With the Leinster ticket you get a gift (usually a scarf) some vouchers for businesses that sponsor them, entry to all A games for free, first refusal at all away tickets / HC knock out tickets and a few other things like membership of the supporters club, entry to the supporters bar etc.

I see Connacht’s season ticket looks great, you get a free pint at every game!

There are perks similar Kado, but not as much. A voucher book (with only 6 free pints), 3 bring a friend freebies (last year it was a choice of (1) The Scots, Ulster and Connacht, (2) The Italians and (3) an LV= Home game), discounts in the Club Shop and the local business deals like a Golf Club and Cinema. We already get in the supporters bar anyway without a ST. Another perk was when we had to move the Wasps home game to CCS, we could go in Hospitality should we wish. The first forty that renewed got a pair of tickets for either the Amlin or Heino final (but I'm not sure how they worked out the split for that). I don't think there's first refusal on tickets like Knock out games or away games yet, because of the relatively small demand for them.

As I say it isn't much, but the main deal breaker for me will always be that it's a 50% saving per game.

I never understood how we kept (?) our language despite all of the attempts of the state to wipe it out but failed to gain independence, but that Ireland and Scotland lost (?) their language but gained a far greater degree of independence.

Dr John Davies agrees with Hughie. He says that all Welsh schools should have been made Welsh schools in the '50's and that the fight should have been to set up English schools as separate entities rather than vice versa. They managed to revive Hebrew in Israel, I can't see why the Celtic languages can't survive with the appropriate support.

Dreamer is right though, it needs to be the language of the pub, football terrace, post office and play ground if it's to survive.

Give them their grounding early, they will learn English soon enough and if their Gaelic is strong it won't be swamped.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Ah yes, the perils of 'Who Dares Wins', eh Rev?! :

Saving A Sum, As

Fantastic try for the Stormers.

Glas a du wrote:I never understood how we kept (?) our language despite all of the attempts of the state to wipe it out but failed to gain independence, but that Ireland and Scotland lost (?) their language but gained a far greater degree of independence.

They don't use language to define their nation. This is the trouble with nationalism (and thus independence) you have to define your nation/nationality first which is something Wales hasn't been able to do for centuries. Some think it's the language, others disagree.

Your right rev with the saving cause it can be pricey Supporting A Side

Mickado wrote:Ah the beautiful Killanarden. They only place on the island they could find that looked like Belfast circa 1975. Not even Belfast looks like that anymore.

Mickado wrote:I has a reputation you could say. Is it rough? Nah, it’s grand. It’s just got a lot of people living there that think a 3 piece suit is a tracksuit with matching runners.

Sounds like a Belfast estate then. I'd like it if they made a movie set in that period that WASN'T about the IRA but oh well...

The best way to get kids to learn a language is to have them speaking it from a very young age, habitually, so I think Hughies suggestion has some merit. I hope to see the Irish Language Act implemented up here in the North as well to help protect the language. I have no Irish at all. I feel the next generation of kids in NI shouldn't have that denied to him, regardless of their background.

50% per game!? wow, that’s impressive!

The saving isn’t that much for us. My ticket costs 274 quid, which divided over 14 games works out as €19.57 per game. Most games are €20 quid a ticket but the interpro’s and HC one’s are probably €30. So that’s a saving of €60 odd quid a year. The main benefit I find I just not having to worry about tickets for a big game rather than the price, which I still think is very competitive. Wonder how much a Barcelona season ticket is…?

Glas a du wrote:I never understood how we kept (?) our language despite all of the attempts of the state to wipe it out but failed to gain independence, but that Ireland and Scotland lost (?) their language but gained a far greater degree of independence.

Glas, it's all in my name - says it all!!

Stormers running away with this one now - 28-3, TBP secured

Notch - could they do a film set in 1970s NI without referring to The Troubles at all?

Mickado - have a look on their website it must say somewhere?

MBTGOG wrote:

Hughie,

It would not be that easy to implement it. I think it would cost a fortune.

What are the problems munsty?? All primary school teachers have to have honours level Irish anyway, and while in do see a cost in implementing it in the first year, it would only be that initial rise in cost for that year, because when the change is made the cost would be relative to what it is now

Am I the only one who finds Vanessa Feltz, on the radio as on TV, intensely annoying?

I'd love it to be the case in Ireland where you'd walk down the street and hear Irish and English being spoken simultaneously and understand it.

To be honest, I wouldn't care if I could read it, would just like to speak it.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Am I the only one who finds Vanessa Feltz, on the radio as on TV, intensely annoying?

I find her more bearable on the radio, and she's better than that Matthew bloke who sits in for Jeremy sometimes.

Kado, there is that too. It was great not having to scramble round for tickets at the end of the year for the derbies, especially when our permissable capacity was halved.

Oh you do get priority for other tickets too. Last year I went through Gloucester for the LV semi, cos they do military discount.

"Guaranteed entry to at least 16 home matches:
11 Celtic League, three European Cup pool stage,
two LV Cup pool stage and pre-season friendlies
Preferential booking for knock-out stage cup matches
and priority booking for other event"

Hughie, good work

Schalk Burger actually has a very strong skill set which doesn't get the mention it deserves. I think that is wasted in the South African side and should be utilised more.

Cari wrote:Notch - what could they do a film about in 1970s NI without referring to The Troubles at all?

No, of course they would refer to the Troubles as that dominated society and peoples lives. I meant they don't need to make it about an IRA member. Everyone was affected by the conflict- every family has a story. I'd like to see films from the point of view of an ordinary person in the Troubles.

In Hunger (which is still a film about Bobby Sands and the IRA) they had a sub-plot about a Unionist prison officer in the Maze and they really illustrated the fear and paranoia holding that position meant- checking under the car for bombs every morning, always knowing that you were quite literally in the firing line- whilst showing the brutal system he was in and his doubts over what he was doing. The sequence climaxed with his eventual brutal assassination which was very shocking and moving.

Similarly, there's stories to be told about families who lose loved ones, young guys who get mixed up in paramilitaries and find it's easier to get in than out, young fellas in the British Army who come over and have to cope with a situation that they don't understand... friends from across the sectarian divide who are split apart by history. There's a lot more stories that can be told than the stories of people who were directly involved in the IRA.

hughie1986 wrote:

MBTGOG wrote:

Hughie,

It would not be that easy to implement it. I think it would cost a fortune.

What are the problems munsty?? All primary school teachers have to have honours level Irish anyway, and while in do see a cost in implementing it in the first year, it would only be that initial rise in cost for that year, because when the change is made the cost would be relative to what it is now

All the books would need to be reprinted. The current teachers would need refresher courses in Irish and there are teachers who simply wouldn't be able to conduct a full working day in Irish and many of whom would say its not what they signed up for. It would need a strong advertising campaign to win over people who would make the arguement I do. It could be done but at a great cost to the state.

Notch - that's Hollywood. Ordinary people's stories from such events are either not exciting enough to make films about, or are a legal minefield so they don't bother; or make something totally inaccurate.

I will rarely get upset about inaccuracies in a film. Its entertainment I'm looking for.

She's better than him, true Cari - but her tone of voice! She talks as if the listener is a child.

red_stag wrote:

hughie1986 wrote:

MBTGOG wrote:

Hughie,

It would not be that easy to implement it. I think it would cost a fortune.

What are the problems munsty?? All primary school teachers have to have honours level Irish anyway, and while in do see a cost in implementing it in the first year, it would only be that initial rise in cost for that year, because when the change is made the cost would be relative to what it is now

All the books would need to be reprinted. The current teachers would need refresher courses in Irish and there are teachers who simply wouldn't be able to conduct a full working day in Irish and many of whom would say its not what they signed up for. It would need a strong advertising campaign to win over people who would make the arguement I do. It could be done but at a great cost to the state.

Ok yeah ill accept that yes a cost would be involved, but can you in good faith put a cost on reviving the Irish language to such a level where the whole country would be competent in speaking the language?? That to me is priceless

Oh and by the way Staggy, I get the feeling that your just arguing for the sake of it

Yikes, just had a look at the cricket - England are 62 for 3 in the 17th over!

Lucky - that doesn't make sense to me at all. Are they winning or not?