PROGRAMME PLUS – VOL. 2, NUMBER 5, NOVEMBER 14 th , 2017 Welcome readers to the latest edition of Programme Plus which arrives at a time when collectors are counting down the days to the annual fair in the Thurles Sarsfields clubhouse. It seems hard to credit that it’s almost twelve months since we last made the annual pilgrimage to the mid-Tipperary venue, but the time has flown in 2017. This is generally regarded as the ‘big one’ in terms of programme fairs, our own little All-Ireland, so I hope as many of you as possible can circle Sunday, November 26th, in your diaries and travel to Thurles from 12 noon to 4 p.m. In particular, it would be wonderful to see some of our new readers, or those of you only setting out on programme collecting as a hobby. To borrow an extremely well-worn cliché, there really will be something for everyone. Plentiful bargains will be available, and you never know what you might find while sifting through the boxes, as one collector’s most sought-after item might be a worthless swap for someone else. On the subject of fairs, Liam Rabbitte’s first venture in Turloughmore in early June was a resounding success. I feared that the crowd might be low after a few unavoidable false starts, but I was delighted with the attendance in a spacious hall where the hours flew by given the volume of collectors present. The north Galway location catered for another strand of enthusiasts, some of whom wouldn’t have ventured to Thurles yet. I am hopeful that Turloughmore will become an established venue in the fair calendar just like Thurles, and the timing of it was also just about right. On the one hand, it was long enough removed from Thurles to make it an attractive trip for collectors, and equally it took place shortly before the really serious onfield business began in the provincial and All-Ireland series. Well done to Liam, and I’m looking forward to returning to Turloughmore in 2018. PROGRAMME REVIEWS: Regular readers will be aware that past issues have taken a close look at newly-released programmes and reviewed them in some detail. I’ve decided not to go down that route for the provincial and All-Ireland championships, though, purely because the majority of serious collectors will have seen everything there is to see at this stage. I would like to get feedback from readers on what they thought of the programme input for the inter-county championship series. What did you like and what could have been improved? There’s a ‘same-ness’ to a lot of programmes so what do you think: is that a good or bad thing? I’ll throw in a few personal observations for what it’s worth. Firstly, it has never been easier for collectors to obtain a full set of Senior championship programmes, and that’s clearly a good thing. That situation was improved considerably when the Leinster Council made the decision to farm out their programmes to DBA. With DBA already looking after Connacht, that squared off two provinces, with the exception of the games played in New York and Ruislip as part of the western series. Munster will never be a problem either because Ed Donnelly is such a tremendous help to collectors in every way, while I always wait until after the conclusion of the Ulster games and then contact Stephen Donnelly in their Armagh offices to purchase the full set. That’s a big plus, but the question must be asked too: are some of these programmes really worth obtaining any more? I pose this in relation to the DBA output in particular, more so than Munster and Ulster where I think by and large their output is excellent. However, after nearly 30 years with the national franchise, my own view is that DBA’s publications need a shake-up. They also have the franchise for the international soccer programmes, and I’m a big fan of the current style deployed, especially the non-glossy paper and a brilliant new feature where they pick one club and then list all of their international appearance-makers and goalscorers. Shamrock Rovers and Leeds United got the treatment recently in two-page spreads, and it made me think: imagine if the same was done in hurling and/or football. Leo McGough would be perfect for the job. Let’s say, for example, a Galway v. Waterford programme with two pages apiece on the Sarsfields and Mount Sion men who represented their respective counties down through the years. It would be a mine of information, and it’s something I’d love to see in 2018. Speaking of Leo, I was disappointed to see his contributions to the Leinster programmes have been significantly limited since the DBA take-over. Most of the really interesting information beforehand came from our Carlow friend with the Clare roots, and he showed his capabilities with two brilliant one-page infographics in the ‘Irish Examiner’ on the mornings after both All-Ireland Senior finals. Seeing his copy less and less in the summer programmes was an undoubted negative. What’s your opinion on another relatively new trend, that of the three-in-one programme such as for the Leinster hurling quarter-finals when the three games were included in one publication? It’s also the done thing now with the All-Ireland qualifiers, and I think it has a plus and a minus. The advantage is that, if you’re trying to collect every programme from a particular competition, there’s less to seek and accumulate. On the other hand, it stands to reason that a 48-page programme covering three games will have less information on each one than a similar-sized effort for just one match. If enough feedback was supplied, perhaps we could pass on our assembled thoughts to the programme compilers, or to the G.A.A. officials they have to answer to. So it’s over to you, because I’d love to know what the general view is on the modern programme. WHAT’S IN A NAME? I have a question for our Galway readers in particular after their well- deserved All-Ireland Senior hurling triumph, one that only a programme collector would probably ask: is their corner-back from Beagh named Adrian Tuohy, or Adrian Tuohey? The issue first cropped up in the Leinster final programme when he was listed as Tuohey, while his fellow corner-back’s name was printed as John ‘Hansbury’. This prompted a small but deserved note of criticism from Paul Keane in his match report in the following day’s ‘Irish Examiner’. He made the simple point that it wasn’t good enough to have two names spelled incorrectly in a programme for a game of such importance. The ‘s’ has been left out of Hanbury ever since, but I note with interest that Tuohey continued to appear, and that’s what prompted the question in the first place. If your name is John Murphy or Jim Doyle, you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about and why is it such a big deal? It’s unlikely that a common name, such as the examples given, has ever been mis-spelled. However, if you’ve a name like mine, errors are common place. There’s four ways to spell my surname: Aherne, Ahearne, Ahern and Ahearn. And I’d be a rich man indeed if I got even a penny for every time somebody made a mistake. It happens regularly in work when somebody cannot understand why an e-mail to my address bounces back; it’s always because they’ve added an ‘a’ or subtracted an ‘e’ from Aherne. As a reporter, I always try to be as accurate as possible with names. I’ll never forget a proud Mammy nearly 20 years ago telling me that her county Minor’s name was Páraic, not Pádraig as per the programme, and I made sure to get it right from that point on. I never rely on names submitted for a programme by a club, as they’re so often wrong. The examples are hundred-fold, and more and more I find myself doing a Facebook name search for clarification. It’s worth having an account I rarely use for other purposes just to be able to check players’ names, such as Wexford Under-21 footballer Dillon Redmond who represented Starlights in their recent county final win and subsequent Leinster Club appearance. His case is even more interesting as, when he’s playing hurling with Rapparees his name is listed correctly, but whoever looks after submissions for the football side of the club insists on calling him ‘Dylan’. The problem is widespread. Look back through programmes from the late-’70s to the mid-’80s and you will see the Offaly hurling centre-forward referred to constantly as Brendan ‘Bermingham’. Collector Patrick Donegan, a Lusmagh clubmate, assures me that Brendan spelled his name exactly like the U.K. city, Birmingham. Wexford’s greatest living footballer is Matty Forde, not Mattie. And G.A.A. officials from the top down need to wake up to the fact that it’s Nickey Rackard, not Nicky: that one really annoys me given that his name is so prominent now whenever the lower-level hurling championships are mentioned. I could go on and on with examples, but I’m sure you get my drift. There is an epidemic of incorrect spelling on team line-outs in match programmes, but it’s not a new or recent phenomenon.