NOEL DUNNING, who managed the London footballers defeated by Sligo at the weekend, has hit out at criticism of his team's presence in the championship.
In recent weeks reservations have been expressed about the presence of the exiles New York and London in the Connacht championship. But Dunning, who has announced he is to step down after four years in charge, emphatically believes in the importance of London taking part in senior inter-county competition despite Sunday's 16-point defeat (2-17 to 0-7) by the provincial champions.
"Of course," he said. "All of this negative stuff really gets to me. We ran Roscommon to a point in my first year and last year lost by just four to Leitrim.
"It wouldn't say much for the GAA's promotional efforts if we were to be removed. There's a lot of strides being made here and having a senior team is an important element.
"There have been some scurrilous things written about us in the media. These guys have no idea of what goes on in London and the efforts being made to try and develop the games. Underage work is starting to bear fruit and maybe one day London will field an all-native team."
Looking back on his four years in charge, Dunning said he had never encountered negativity from opposing teams.
"The high point was obviously the first championship match against Roscommon, who were lucky to get out of Ruislip. We did ourselves justice that day.
"Other good memories are being able to meet other managers, like Mick O'Dwyer, Séamus McEnaney and Paul Bealin, who couldn't do enough for you. Not once did I hear any manager complain about having to play us."
London teams annually contest the Connacht championship in football and the Ulster hurling championship and since the mid-1990s have competed in the National Leagues.
The footballers haven't won a championship match since 1977 when beating Leitrim, and some of the defeats have been extremely heavy, but despite this Dunning believes participation in top-level football is an important promotional tool for players in London.
"Everyone wants to pit their wits against the top players," he said. "We've never had as many locally based players and I know it's a huge incentive for them, for instance, to play against the counties of their parents.
"Taking part in the National League and championship gives them a chance to be part of the top level of the GAA. Why not give them that chance?"
Although he believes the strength of the game in London will depend long-term on developmental work with local children, Dunning also notes that London's potential has been affected by the dramatic curtailing of recent immigration from Ireland and could benefit from any downturn in the Irish economy.
"Obviously if the tide of emigration turns with the way things are going the player base will get stronger."
In the meantime the perennial problem for Dunning and any London manager has been the constant turnover of players, as they come and go, which compromises any attempts to establish a settled team.
"It's tough. This year I've used over 50 players. It's a fact of life. Over the four years I've been here I've had about 170 players.
"It's very hard to get any kind of consistency. At the start of the year I thought I had two-thirds of last year's panel to build on. Within two weeks for various reasons the heart had been ripped out of it and I ended up with 10 to 12 players I hadn't worked with. It's difficult to get the sort of continuity you need."
He believes the holding of the Olympics in London in four years' time will be an opportunity for the GAA locally, not only with the expected arrival of Irish building contractors expanding the playing base but also, and more importantly in Dunning's eyes, for promotional reasons.
"London is the most active overseas unit in the GAA and the 2012 Olympics would be a great showcase to promote it. We should look at bringing the Railway Cup over here around the time of the Olympics. Féile is already coming over and I think the GAA should consider putting on an international rules Test in London."
