The late Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh said every generation is entitled to play the game they see fit.
Mr Breheny comes from an old school of Gaelic football purist snobs whose idea of a great final is a Kerry forward arriving at Croke Park on final day to give an exhibition in the silken skills of the game while opposing defenders and fans watch in admiration. Those days are over.
When the history books are written, Armagh are 2024 champions and nobody in that county will care how they did it. Why should inter-county players give up 40 hours a week of their time to be also-rans in a classic?
What good is it for the beaten Cork hurling team to walk away empty-handed after a classic? Had they been more cynical, they would now have silverware. I once heard a supporter of a beaten county team berate a player from the victorious side about the style of football played.
The player replied: “Wake up. Don’t you know we’re here to win and not to entertain? If you want to be entertained, go to the movies.”
Whether you like it or not, in all walks of life it’s winner takes all. To the victor the spoils. As Roy Keane says to the whingers: “Get over it.”
Joseph Kiely, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
If Government wants to stop far-right juggernaut it needs to help the poor
The media have spent much time on the fascist actions over the last week.
How the fascists use the poor conditions that a lot of decent people in Britain suffer from is rarely mentioned.
People are living on the scrapings of tin –with poverty everywhere.
If the Government wants to stop people drifting towards these far-right agitators, it needs to start investing and improving the living conditions of people – otherwise, decent people will become more and more marginalised.
That trend has been happening since the arrival of former UK prime minster Margaret Thatcher.
Paul Doran, Dublin
Shameless racism from Trump – the orange man knows no bounds, it seems
The recent appalling racist comments made by Donald Trump about Kamala Harris are deplorable on so many levels.
They come from a man whose face colour varies in shades of orange.
Enda Kilgallen, Dublin 18
Merci to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, a unifying event of such sporting greatness
Ian O’Doherty picks up on some negativity from the first week of the Paris Olympics in his piece this week (‘Sharks are circling after weird opening days of Olympics, and it’s easy to see why’, Irish Independent, July 31).
The not-so-clean River Seine, the not-so-clean parody on The Last Supper, but above all, holding the opening ceremony on the streets of Paris has turned France into a laughing stock, he says. He considers it failed spectacularly as thousands of spectators and athletes got wet and battered by torrential rain.
Each to one’s taste, but I thought the whole spectacle was very innovative and brilliant, but I wasn’t fortunate enough to get wet.
Who knows? It might even highlight to the world that we are in the midst of major climate change.
The athletes and those watching are only interested in the Olympic competition – the greatest show on earth. We are blessed to have these Games when the world is experiencing such appalling wars.
We have an opportunity to marvel at the achievements of the world’s finest Olympians.
What has really impressed, besides the achievement of Team Ireland, is the sportsmanship and friendship on display. The world is in a better place when we can look with such pride on such remarkable athletes who give their hearts and souls in representing the best of us and humanity. You can see it in their tears. Merci beaucoup, Paris and Team Ireland.
Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin
Last Supper depiction has divided opinion, but what was its aim ultimately?
The controversy over the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris essentially hinges on whether or not one feels that the painting, Le Festin des Dieux, painted around 1635-1640 by Dutch artist Jan van Bijlert, was intended at the time to be a bawdy parody of Leonardo Da Vinci’s mural, The Last Supper, painted around 1494-1498.
Only an art historian or, indeed, the artist himself could definitively answer this question. I’m not the former and am clearly not the latter, and therefore my opinion is of little or no consequence. As they say, “everyone has an opinion, but not everyone’s opinion is of equal value”.
Nonetheless, one can’t help but find oneself asking: was the infamous scene from the opening ceremony of the Games family-friendly? And did it even manage to or intend to showcase what unites the people?
Or was it just a lewd and bawdy mockery of Da Vinci’s Last Supper and, ultimately, by extension, of Christianity itself?
Denis Doyle, Bray, Co Wicklow
Participation is admirable in sport, but realistically, everyone loves a winner
R Connelley (Letters, July 31) praised Irish participants in the Olympics, whether they return with medals or not. Correct, but isn’t it fantastic when Ireland gets a medal irrespective of the colour?
At the time of writing, Fintan McCarthy and Paul O Donovan have just won Ireland’s second gold medal at the 2024 Olympics. The cream always rises to the top, and that is what they are, just like Daniel Wiffen a few days earlier. Participation is great, but everyone loves a winner.
Tommy Roddy, Ballybane, Co Galway
Release of Gershkovich is a timely reminder of the importance of a free press
Seeing the release of numerous prisoners, including Evan Gershkovich, reminds us how important our freedom is and the need to protect it.
The specific case of Gershkovich is a warning about press freedom too.
No matter what he was charged with, the reality was he was imprisoned for his journalism.
The world will be a better place when there is nothing to warn us about, but until then, we need the bravery of Gershkovich and many others, and to remember those who have lost their lives warning us.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia
