Despite a loss to Kerry in the All Ireland Final, Dublin football is on the rise and especially strong in areas like Ballymun.
Following their defeat at the hands of the Kerrymen, the Dublin football team and their supporters may be down but not out. A resurgence in interest in the game among young people, and the emergence of new GAA clubs across the county bodes well for the future.
Reporter Éamonn Ó Muirí went to Dublin’s north side to gauge the county’s mood. One group of school boys in Ballymun who are firm Dubs supporters love the challenges that the game presents,
Tá sé níos deacaire peil Gaelach a imirt ná sacair...bíonn ort do chosaí a úsáid i sacair. Bíonn a lán skills agat nuair a imríonn tú peil Gaelach.
Dublin midfielder Brian Mullins doesn’t believe that this marks the end for the GAA football in the county. On the contrary, he believes that interest in the sport is growing,
Is dócha go mbeidh an cluiche chomh láidir sa chathair is sa contae is a bhí cúig nó sé bliain roimhe seo.
What about the team themselves? How are they dealing with this setback?
They haven’t had a lot of time to really analyse the match yet, says Mullins, but one thing they’re not going to do is to wallow in defeat,
Aon duine a bhí ag caint liomsa...bhí siad sásta a leanúint ar aghaidh ar feadh bliain eile.
Director General of the GAA Seán Ó Síocháin takes the long term view. Dubs supporters can take heart because, in his opinion, their recent performance is all part of a gradual upward curve. In addition, they now command respect from all other counties, which was not the case many years ago,
Tá rud bunaithe acu, ní amháin ar pháirc na h-imeartha, ach ar gach aicme i shaol Bhleá Cliath... nuair a bhíos ag imirt i mBleá Cliath, ins na daichidí agus sna tríochaidí, is beag meas a bhí orainn. Ní raibheamar mór le rá, mar a dearfá...Ach anois tá ard-mheas ar Bhleá Cliath.
This episode of Féach was broadcast on 26 September 1978. The reporter is Éamonn Ó Muirí.
