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Leinster Rugby hit back at claims of 'subliminal exploitation' of Dublin GAA fans

Heineken Cup champions charged with stealing the All-Ireland champions’ colours by county GAA chiefs.

LEINSTER RUGBY HAVE been charged with ”subliminal exploitation” of Dublin’s famous blue jerseys.

But Donnybrook chiefs have moved quickly to deny the claims.

In a wide-ranging, six-year strategy document (PDF link), called Unleashing the Blue Wave launched last night, the county officials  say they are aware of “flourishing professional franchise” encroaching on their brand.

Part of the document reads: ”The Blue Jersey is a unique, inclusive brand, uniting Dublin’s dense expanse, blurring the difference in class and possession which became so pointedly manifest during the delusional days of the Celtic Tiger.

“Dublin’s county teams are of monumental cultural and social importance to the city but, with over a fifth of the country’s population resident here, they are also of enormous strategic importance to the future well being of the GAA.

“While blue must become the colour of success, this is no cheap marketing gimmick. Blue is the colour of our Dublin heritage, of our Irish, Gaelic identity in the capital city, the colour that helped separate the capital from its colonial past. It is the colour of the ideal… of Heffernan and Foley, of Mullins and Doherty, of Boland and McMahon, of Barr and Curran, of Brogan and Whelan, of Rushe and Keaney… of Hill 16.

“It is an extraordinarily effective promotional tool, enshrined in the anthem of the county’s often maligned but fiercely loyal supporters. Blue is also the colour of a commercial phenomenon, of capacity crowds, of broadcasting schedules and of ambitious sponsorship. But it is a success harnessed by the centre which can serve to sustain the peripheries.

“The blue jersey is a unique, inclusive brand, uniting Dublin’s dense expanse, blurring the difference in class and possession which became so pointedly manifest during the delusional days of the Celtic Tiger.

“We can’t copyright a colour but the subliminal exploitation of Dublin’s unique sporting hue by our competitors has not gone unnoticed. Mutual respect is essential in Irish sport yet the appeal of a flourishing professional franchise is still a real challenge in the struggle for hearts and minds in Dublin while the demographic shift continues to distort traditional values and interests.

“Our Blue affords Dublin GAA the greatest potential to evolve as the flagship brand of commercial sport in Ireland. Successful implementation of our strategy will also reinforce the fact that Dublin is GAA Country.

Leinster, for their part, reject the claims. Speaking to TheScore, a spokesmen for the Heineken Cup champions said the contents of the GAA document ‘came as a complete surprise’.

“The simple fact is that in no way, shape or form have we tried to affect any other team or organisation. A lot of our players come from GAA backgrounds – Rob Kearney would have played for Louth minors, Shane Horgan the Meath minors. And they bring that skillset to the rugby pitch which is something we value.

“The one thing that is unique amongst Irish sporting organisations is that we all promote each other. You say it with the success of the cricket team, everyone was happy to get behind them. And with ourselves, we’re very much a 12-county organisation – not just Dublin city – and were delighted to see the success of Dublin’s footballers and the Kilkenny hurlers this season.

“And the fact is Leinster have always played in blue,” he added.

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    Mute Ronan Walsh
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    Nov 15th 2011, 11:58 AM

    Leinster first played in blue in 1875.
    Slight 136 year delayed reaction from Dublin GAA.
    Wait until Cork GAA lay into Munster Rugby for the use of the colour red.

    Civil War 2012

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    Mute Rob McDonagh
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:04 PM

    Siege of Limerick part 2 perhaps?

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    Mute Colin O'Hara
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    Nov 16th 2011, 10:44 AM

    Not to mention the fact that the first inter-provincial Rugby matches actually predate the formation of the GAA by almost a decade…

    Astonishing degree of gobshitery on display here from Dublin GAA. Complete ignorance of the large amount of crossover there is between supporters of both codes. I wouldn’t mind but its not even the same “hue” of blue.
    If you wanted to make a ridiculous argument, Longford’s colors are actually far closed to Leinster’s than Dublin.

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    Mute Jason Mc Ginn
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:04 PM

    The Smurfs are exploiting the Dubs and Leinsters success too in that case. It’s no coincidence that as soon as the Dubs win the All-Ireland and Leinster win the Heineken Cup, the Smurfs movie is released in the cinemas… :-)

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    Mute Calvin Galvin
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:05 PM

    You can tell the GAA is run by amateurs …

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    Mute Dan O'Neill
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    Nov 15th 2011, 3:17 PM

    …and lunatics. In this case.

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    Mute Phil Mc Donald
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    Nov 15th 2011, 11:47 AM

    Hilarious

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    Mute Eoin Ó Nialláin
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:01 PM

    As a proud GAA man who has played our national sports in 4 different countries at a variety of levels from underage, colleges, intervarsity and senior levels, I can honestly say that this is one of the greatest lumps of sh*** I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading. What absolute crowd of apes allowed this to be published, let alone written in the first place. I assume that they’ll be onto Waterford and Laois County Boards next for “subliminal exploitation of Dublin’s unique sporting hue”. I mean the audacity of it all would be hilarious if it wasn’t tragic. It confirms what I’ve been saying for a long long time. The GAA’s greatest enemy is itself. Rather than move with the times and modernize, it’ll lash out at anyone else and point the finger as long as “the lads” all keep “their” post on the county board. Joke!
    If the Dubs question why other counties don’t have much time for ‘em……re-read the above quotes again.

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    Mute Louise Bermingham
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:06 PM

    People in glass houses… The 3 stripes on lots of GAA gear is veerry similar to another international sports brand, maybe they should think before they go accusing others of infringement

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    Mute Gavin O'Connor
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:57 PM

    One All Ireland in sixteen years and they’ve lost the plot, Jesus wept.

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    Mute Faceless Man
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:15 PM

    It’s gone straight to their head!

    29
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    Mute Brian Reilly
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:15 PM

    Dopes.. they going to say every club that wears blue is robbing their jearsy to?? Makes them look like a laughing stock..

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    Mute Cormac Flanagan
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:12 PM

    News just in. Dublin GAA are to sue the UN for blatant use of the sky blue color and are considering sueing god for have the color of the atmosphere sky blue.

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    Mute Benvolio Guy Saunders
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:52 PM

    It seems that while the GAA were trying to instill some passion and pride in their Dublin audience they have instead come across as a petulant self-important organisation bitter over Leinster Rugbys success. Attacking a source of regional and National pride…not exactly covering themselves in glory there. Their PR person should be shot…or at least fired!

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    Mute Oskar Fritsche
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:03 PM

    Let the bigotry begin again will the GAA let it ever go. whats next Cork GAA accuse Munster Rugby of stealing the colours also.

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    Mute Noel Cuddy
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:14 PM

    Wow, catchy (not) ‘Unleashing the Blue Wave’. Did the idea for that tagline come from ‘Blue Magic’ ? Maybe the French rugby team should not call themselves ‘Les Bleu’.
    Are they sore that one of the great Dublin players has gone to work for Leinster rugby as a fitness coach?

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    Mute Mark Murphy
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:06 PM

    Ridiculous………does this mean Munster need to come out and deny encroaching on and exploiting the Red of the Cork Jersey!!!!!…..Daft

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    Mute Daniel O Keeffe
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:55 PM

    cavan,laois,wicklow,waterford,and monaghan are upset over this as well,

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    Mute Nevan McCartin
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:40 PM

    Sure the colour blue is patented and registered by the Dublin GAA county board. How dare Leinster, how very dare they…! Uh oh, how dare I! *Takes off Jeans

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    Mute Shane O Leary
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:35 PM

    Another excerpt from “Unleashing the Blue Wave” mentions the “county’s often maligned but fiercely loyal supporters” and “blurring the difference in class and possession which became so pointedly manifest during the delusional days of the Celtic Tiger.”

    Whoever wrote this crap probably got a bomb from the county board!

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    Mute Shane O Leary
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:32 PM

    What an utter load of crap. Dublin County Board should be ashamed of that tripe.
    Pure bitterness and inferiority is what it sounds like.
    But it’s alright though, they’ll be winning a Liam every 5 years, and a Sam every three!

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    Mute Paddy Looney
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:47 PM

    Leinster RFC play in dark blue.

    It’s a completely different colour.

    They must have been referring to Man City ? :)

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    Mute Faceless Man
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:15 PM

    Leinster use a lighter blue in the Heineken Cup. This lighter blue is actually the colour that Leinster traditionally played in before the professional era. The darker blue jersey is only a relatively recent thing as the colour used became progressively darker in the last 7 – 8 yrs

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    Mute Faceless Man
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:19 PM

    Leinster use a lighter blue jersey in the Heineken cup. This is similar to the original blue they traditionally played in before the professional era, the darker jersey has only come into being incrementally in the last 7-8 yrs.

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    Mute JL Pagano
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    Nov 15th 2011, 2:04 PM

    Why stop there? Not only do the UCD soccer team also play in blue, they’re flagrantly ripping off the name “Dublin” in their title, so they should be sued for twice as much as Leinster Rugby.

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    Mute Emmet Ryan
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    Nov 15th 2011, 3:23 PM

    Well then UCD would have to switch back to the football club’s original title of Catholic University Medical School but apparently the acronym doesn’t look too good.

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    Mute Curtis Dean Moran
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    Nov 15th 2011, 5:03 PM

    Try take that jersey of Sean O’Brein, dare ya

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    Mute Antaine Ó Cáthain
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:02 PM

    this is all very lovely and funny to watch from a western perspective. or a northern or southern for that matter!

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    Mute Donal McCarthy
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    Nov 15th 2011, 4:17 PM

    Scarlet for the Dubs.

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    Mute Bryan Kiel
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:08 PM

    two words…jackeen jackasses.

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    Mute Jack Dermody
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:03 PM

    But what explains Cork robbing Munster colours?

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    Mute Dylan Dublin
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    Nov 15th 2011, 2:23 PM

    GAA are a sad organisation !
    !

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    Mute Kildare
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:10 PM

    Unbelievable. Small people with small minds. How about we say that Leinster plays in navy and not blue? Whoever wrote that doc should cop themselves on and grow up.

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    Mute Rory Gibbons
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:03 PM

    I thought Munster’s (as in the actual province) official colours were blue and white, that’s why the Munster Railway Cup teams wear blue and white. Where did the rugby crew get the red? Genuinely interested if anyone knows?

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    Mute robert purfield
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:45 PM

    unbelievable much as i like all sports im a gaa man first and foremost and this is the stupidest thing ive ever heard.theyll be copyrighting come on you boys in blue and molly malone next

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    Mute random
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    Nov 15th 2011, 5:08 PM

    “uniting Dublin’s dense expanse”

    That about sums it up I think.

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    Mute Chris Mcdonnell
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    Nov 15th 2011, 3:48 PM

    Gaa showing it’s true colours. Someone needs to be sacked for writing this tripe.
    Dublin gaa 1 step forward, 2 Backwards

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    Mute Mark Gaffney
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    Nov 15th 2011, 12:42 PM

    Ha, shobgites……and yet another example of shobgitedness can be found in Section 3.2 – Social Challenges….and I quote:

    The educational sectors capacity to provide games and physical activity has been negatively affected by factors such as:
     > The lower number of males entering primary school teaching.
     > The reduced involvement of the Religious Orders in the management of schools.
     > Greater emphasis on academic results in schools.
     > Greater obligations on schools in terms of health, safety and child protection.

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    Mute Declan Crowe
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    Nov 15th 2011, 4:36 PM

    ye dubs, the laughing stock of the nation lol

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    Mute Francis Mahon
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    Nov 15th 2011, 2:49 PM

    haha hilarious! stuff.

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    Mute emmomac
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:19 PM

    but has the leinster jersey changed colour in the last few years or what?

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    Mute Adrian Russell
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    Nov 15th 2011, 2:33 PM

    no they’re in blue for as long as the GAA are around. they played in another colour (green?) at one stage but not for over 125+ years. open to correction.

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    Mute Hugh Curran
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    Nov 15th 2011, 4:23 PM

    Pretty sure you’re right Adrian they did play in Green in the early years. Not sure how long for but the Blue has been the colour of Leinster for many many years.

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    Mute emmomac
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    Nov 15th 2011, 4:55 PM

    blue or navy? or were they not navy and yellow for a while? if they have changed to navy and sky blue (which is most definitely the dublin colours) then they might have a point but didn’t Dublin GAA used to play in blue and white until the 1930′s? It is slightly surprising that Leinter do not wear green as per the Leinster colours and of course the Leinster GAA teams colours (railway cup) but I suppose it is all fairly meaningless at the end of the day.

    As an aside, the language used in the statement suggests a few pints were had while drafting/ writing it. It is almost aggressive in nature

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    Mute padraiggrey
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    Nov 15th 2011, 1:17 PM

    Munster teamare followed by ord people Leinster by d4 mostly

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    Mute Colin Hunt
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    Nov 15th 2011, 6:33 PM

    Would you like to base this on any facts or figures? I didn’t think so? Roughly half the the fans in the AVIVA last week (20,000) were Leinster fans. Are these all “D4″? Generalization is just ignorance.

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    Mute Brian Gallagher
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    Nov 15th 2011, 6:40 PM

    And their gonna sue the FAI because come on you boys in green is too like come on you boys in blue.

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    Mute Elrat
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    Nov 15th 2011, 6:36 PM

    Rory youre right Blue is the official colour of Munster – don’t know origin though. Think Leinster have “robbed” the light blue of Garryowen FC!!

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    Mute Dermot Sheehan
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    Nov 15th 2011, 7:58 PM

    What do Dublin GAA and Dyno Rod have in common?

    Other than both being shit stirrers, they have both attempted to trademark a colour.

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    Mute Joseph Thornton
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    Nov 15th 2011, 5:40 PM

    With the number of different jerseys Leinster release yearly I’m surprised they’re not being accused by more teams of plagiarism.

    / I have 7 different jerseys released in the last 3 years.

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    Mute john Rowley
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    Nov 15th 2011, 7:35 PM

    You must have money to burn son.

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    Mute Tommy Coleman
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    Nov 15th 2011, 6:59 PM

    leinster rugby have 3 jerseys…a.dark blue navy type is the first team jersey….they also wear the sky blue jersey as in pic above for heineken cup matches at home and wore the away version white montpellier on Saturday …
    stupidity by Dublin gaa ….
    as for the d4.comment above an outdated ignorant comment by someone who has never set foot in rds , donnybrook or lansdowne for a leinster match….as a meathman going to leinster for years..there are plenty travelling from dundalk drogheda kildare naas wicklow etc everyweek .

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    Mute fitszpatrick
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    Nov 16th 2011, 10:08 AM

    As a dubliner I find this deeply offensive. These teams don’t even attract support from the same groups.

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    Mute Colin O'Hara
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    Nov 16th 2011, 10:50 AM

    I doubt the reference to a “flourishing professional franchise” in the city was referring to Kerry to be honest.

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    Mute Brid McMahon
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    Nov 15th 2011, 8:32 PM

    Was it directed at Leinster Rugby or is that a media spin? Could be linked to Kerry coming out in blue away jerseys against Mayo last year. Not surprised to see the majority jump on the “slag off the dubs” bandwagon all the same

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Nov 15th 2011, 8:36 PM

    considered that Brid. Leinster accept it’s aimed at them and there’s no other organisation that fits the bill.

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    Mute Brid McMahon
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    Nov 15th 2011, 9:43 PM

    Have the Dublin County Board said it was aimed at Leinster Rugby though? If they have, granted its pretty ridiculous. But it’s the county board who wrote it, not the team, management or dubs supporters, still it turns into a trending topic with the usual jibes. Gets a bit old tbh!

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    Mute Mike O' Brien
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    Nov 15th 2011, 7:15 PM

    Is this a pissyake?!

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