Six-time All-Ireland winner Diarmuid Connolly has blasted the coverage surrounding Dublin’s semi-final victory over Cavan as they remained on course to lift the Sam Maguire Cup for a sixth consecutive year.
The Boys in Blue dished out another heavy beating at Croke Park last weekend with the result sparking further debate over the advantages afforded to Dublin
However, Connolly feels credit is unfairly being taken away from Dublin players in the conversation around money and population size.
Speaking to BoyleSports’ Leon Blanche, Connolly rubbished accusations of financial doping as well as suggestions that the county could even be split up, insisting the focus should instead be on the performance of the players.
“There’s a lot of rhetoric going around, but it’s a misperception,” he said.
“It’s harsh on the players and the hard work that’s gone into this Championship.
“After the game they couldn’t even talk about how good Dublin’s performance was, they were just talking about how to stop them.
“I switched it off in the end because it quite annoyed me.
“You’re going to get the begrudgers, but when Kilkenny were going for five in a row they weren’t talking about splitting them up, or the great Kerry sides of the 1970s and 80s.
“James Horan has serious guys in the background in Mayo and it was similar when Pat Gilroy came in and under Jim Gavin; they were getting advice from top professionals in sport.
“They have built a high-performance culture, so it’s not about the money.
“The players don’t get paid, they go training because they love the game.
“Dublin may get more money, but it’s going back into the schools, the grass roots and building the GAA in the county.
“It’s not going into players’ pockets or even the managers’ pockets.
“So it was disappointing the talk wasn’t about the performance.
“Nobody was having the conversation about Mayo when they were 16 points ahead in an All-Ireland semi-final at half-time, so I think it’s a little bit weighted against Dublin.”