What the Deal with the GAA?

Bonus_Pack

Now, I have nothing against the GAA, I even played gaelic football at school and at a local club, but on reading their consititution, I had to come on here to get some gripes off my chest. Some of the stuff in there reads more like the 1916 proclamation rathar than a sports body's constitution.

Firstly they GAA as we all know popularly claim to be a sporting body and calim to be non-political. Then we see this little nugget on the FIRST PAGE of the document.

people’s preference for native ways as opposed to imported ones.
Since she has not control over all the national territory,
Ireland’s claim to nationhood is impaired. It would be still
more impaired if she were to lose her language, if she failed to
provide a decent livelihood for her people at home, or if she
were to forsake her own games and customs in favour of the
games and customs of another nation.........
.......
Today, the native games take on a
new significance when it is realised that they have been a part,
and still are a part, of the Nation’s desire to live her own life, to
govern her own affairs.

Christ, could it be any more political a statement to make. "Another nation"? They might as well just say "those bastard Brits"!!

The aim of the GAA is set out as follows.

"The Association is a National Organisation which has as
its basic aim the strengthening of the National Identity
in a 32 County Ireland through the preservation and
promotion of Gaelic Games and pastimes"

So it seems GAA sports are only a byproduct, a tool with wich to achieve national identity and a 32 county Ireland.

The cosy relationship they have with the Catholic church is also revealed with numerous reference to Parishes and the statement that says the basic unit or the organization is the Parish or an area administered by a Parish priest. Are COI or non-religious members expected to shoehorn themselves into this structure?

I really think the GAA need to revise these documents if they are to have any credibility in the non-nationalist communities. It’s no surprise that slogan like “GAA is the IRA at play” when they put these things in their documentation.
Would we think it acceptable if the IRFU or the FAI were to come out with things like this?I'd say there'd be some raised eyebrows if they did. I think statements like this should not be coming from sporting bodies. It's 2012 not 1912.

biko

Instead of talking about GAA in AH I think you should address them directly.
Thread moved to GAA forum.

Mountainlad

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

Now, I have nothing against the GAA, I even played gaelic football at school and at a local club, but on reading their consititution, I had to come on here to get some gripes off my chest. Some of the stuff in there reads more like the 1916 proclamation rathar than a sports body's constitution.

Firstly they GAA as we all know popularly claim to be a sporting body and calim to be non-political. Then we see this little nugget on the FIRST PAGE of the document.

people’s preference for native ways as opposed to imported ones.
Since she has not control over all the national territory,
Ireland’s claim to nationhood is impaired. It would be still
more impaired if she were to lose her language, if she failed to
provide a decent livelihood for her people at home, or if she
were to forsake her own games and customs in favour of the
games and customs of another nation.........
.......
Today, the native games take on a
new significance when it is realised that they have been a part,
and still are a part, of the Nation’s desire to live her own life, to
govern her own affairs.

Christ, could it be any more political a statement to make. "Another nation"? They might as well just say "those bastard Brits"!!

The aim of the GAA is set out as follows.

"The Association is a National Organisation which has as
its basic aim the strengthening of the National Identity
in a 32 County Ireland through the preservation and
promotion of Gaelic Games and pastimes"

So it seems GAA sports are only a byproduct, a tool with wich to achieve national identity and a 32 county Ireland.

The cosy relationship they have with the Catholic church is also revealed with numerous reference to Parishes and the statement that says the basic unit or the organization is the Parish or an area administered by a Parish priest. Are COI or non-religious members expected to shoehorn themselves into this structure?

I really think the GAA need to revise these documents if they are to have any credibility in the non-nationalist communities. It’s no surprise that slogan like “GAA is the IRA at play” when they put these things in their documentation.
Would we think it acceptable if the IRFU or the FAI were to come out with things like this?I'd say there'd be some raised eyebrows if they did. I think statements like this should not be coming from sporting bodies. It's 2012 not 1912.

Ridiculous conspiracy theory. The organization is in place since 1884. There is nothing in there about regaining governance over the 6 northern counties being an aim in the GAA.

The competition's involve 32 counties. Are you going to take offense to the All-Ireland championships next, as you feel it would be more appropriate to call it the Northern/Republic of Ireland Championships?

There's no agenda. It's a long established rule that clubs are divided by communities and parishes. Ever here of the parish rule that is in place to try and stop players from leaving there home club for more success?

National identity is important, it has absolutely nothing to do with political agendas.

The reason it's referred to as a 32 county Ireland is because that's how many teams are involved at inter-county level from Ireland. Do you also have a view that they are trying to make London and New York part of Ireland too?

GAA is promoted as a way of bringing everyone together, regardless of religion or political allegiance. And it's a far better organization than the FAI, and I would go as far as saying better than the IRFU as well, though that's for another thread.

Bonus_Pack

Hang on, what i'm getting at is that the statements and language used are wholely inappropriate for a modern day sports body to make.
Organising along the Catholic churches administrative areas definitley should be done away with. If the FAI or whoever decided in the moring to orgaise this way there'd be uproar.

Since she has not control over all the national territory,
Ireland’s claim to nationhood is impaired

What has the above got to do with sports? It's an entirely political statement to make.

National identity is important, it has absolutely nothing to do with political agendas.

Yes it is important. But to bring it up in the same paragraph as the above quoted statement absolutely reeks of Republicanism.

It's a long established rule that clubs are divided by communities and parishes

So your justification for organising according to Catholic parishes is "becasue it was ever thus"? Would it not come across as intimidating or off putting for a COI person to have to shoehorn themselves into this structure?

This notion is functionally equivalent to if Basketball Ireland decided in the morning to organise their clubs according to where the local Orange Order Lodge is located. Would that be acceptable to you?

This constitution may have been fine back in the days of the 'ra, but for a modern day organisation should be concious of such things.

Mountainlad

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

Hang on, what i'm getting at is that the statements and language used are wholely inappropriate for a modern day sports body to make.
Organising along the Catholic churches administrative areas definitley should be done away with. If the FAI or whoever decided in the moring to orgaise this way there'd be uproar.


What has the above got to do with sports? It's an entirely political statement to make.



Yes it is important. But to bring it up in the same paragraph as the above quoted statement absolutely reeks of Republicanism.


So your justification for organising according to Catholic parishes is "becasue it was ever thus"? Would it not come across as intimidating or off putting for a COI person to have to shoehorn themselves into this structure?

This notion is functionally equivalent to if Basketball Ireland decided in the morning to organise their clubs according to where the local Orange Order Lodge is located. Would that be acceptable to you?

This constitution may have been fine back in the days of the 'ra, but for a modern day organisation should be concious of such things.

Yeah but they never said that they want political Governance over the entire nation, the aim is to bring the Countries together as one entity and not have a divide which leads to events like the troubles in the North and mindless loss of life on account of differing religious and political views. It's actually the exact opposite of what you're suggesting.

Why would any member of COI take offense or be intimidated by that?

Logistically, how could the GAA tell clubs that they now have to merge, relocate or disband to remain within the organization and justify it by saying 'we live in different times'? Especially given there is no issue here. Maybe in the days of yore there were priests shoving religion on members of GAA clubs, but not anymore.

Frankly, I wouldn't care if it made sense in terms of locations, gave enough people the opportunity to play and they didn't try and use it as a medium to force their political views on me or anyone else.

aidan24326

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

This constitution may have been fine back in the days of the 'ra, but for a modern day organisation should be concious of such things.

Look, it probably is a bit outdated and was no doubt written a long time ago. Same goes for our national constitution, and our national anthem too while we're at it. If it bothers you then email the GAA and tell them what you think.

bruschi

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

Organising along the Catholic churches administrative areas definitley should be done away with. If the FAI or whoever decided in the moring to orgaise this way there'd be uproar.

So your justification for organising according to Catholic parishes is "becasue it was ever thus"? Would it not come across as intimidating or off putting for a COI person to have to shoehorn themselves into this structure?

This notion is functionally equivalent to if Basketball Ireland decided in the morning to organise their clubs according to where the local Orange Order Lodge is located. Would that be acceptable to you?

really couldnt be arsed with another GAA/Catholic church backwards Ireland thread, but the above is ridiculous. Ireland is divided into parishes. Its the way it has been and always has been. these parishes were then taken up for political voting regions. They were also then taken up by GAA regions. Its just the way it is/was. There is nothing inherintly Catholic about someone from a particular area playing for that area. The whole country was pretty much divided up along these lines, so saying it would be like Basketball in the morning doing this is very much not the same. If Basketball had their teams divided up for over 150 years based on Orange Order locations then so be it, even if that in itself is a ridiculous point you try to make.

Most COI locations are aligned in any case around my area in the same way, so it makes no odds, and to be honest, I hate this stupid mentality of that if you follow GAA you must be some sort of Catholic fianna fail loving nutjob. Things have moved on and people dont see any inference of religion in playing GAA. If you want to see a problem with it, fire away. no one involved in it does or cares about it. I play and coach GAA. I couldnt tell you what religion anyone is that I have coached or play against. Nor do I care. Actually, I do know religion of one chap I coach because he couldnt eat on the day of a tournament due to ramadan. he wasnt sitting there saying, ooh look at all those catholics from their parishes eating food. he ended up ringing his mam asking could he have something coz he was hungry.

Bonus_Pack

Why would any member of COI take offense or be intimidated by that?

I certainly would be.

Would you, as a catholic, be happy to be defined by where your nearest Orange Hall is?

Again, if it is not meant to be political, then why is it there? IRFU you name it, they seem to be doing OK on an all island basis without resorting to lements about an Sean Bhan Bocht.

If they genuinely wan to include all communities, then they would make the effort to change things like this.

I agree it certianly is totally outdated and should be revised.

We must also remember things like the rules of "The Ban" and the one excluding Police and Armed Forces members have not been written out - only "suspended".

All this amounts to a very sinister picture of the GAA's true character.

Syferus

Low post count, controversial topic. Hmm.

Bonus_Pack

Syferus wrote: »

Low post count, controversial topic. Hmm.

Hold on, I have nothing against the GAA. As said in my OP, I have played gaelic football for a local club. I just think they need to drastically reform their constitution to portray a more modern, inclusive image. And finally put to bed the anti unionist rules.

Mountainlad

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

Hold on, I have nothing against the GAA. As said in my OP, I have played gaelic football for a local club. I just think they need to drastically reform their constitution to portray a more modern, inclusive image. And finally put to bed the anti unionist rules.

I'm inclined to agree with Syferus, troll sense is tingling a bit at this stage. There are no anti-unionist rules. State one action in the past ten years that supports your theory.

I'm starting to wonder were your dropped by a priest for the club or by a Sinn Féin supporting teacher in school?

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

I certainly would be.

Would you, as a catholic, be happy to be defined by where your nearest Orange Hall is?

As I said, as long as it made sense and I wasn't being forced to joing the Orange order I wouldn't care. The parishes are used because they make sense, not because they promote religion (which they really don't in anyway).

hans aus dtschl

We might as well come out and admit it, the GAA is a conspiracy. Hurleys are substitutes for rifles, footballs for bombs...it's all a terrorist training program.

Bonus_Pack has rumbled the entire thing: we can give up the charade now.

Crooked Jack

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

Hold on, I have nothing against the GAA. As said in my OP, I have played gaelic football for a local club. I just think they need to drastically reform their constitution to portray a more modern, inclusive image. And finally put to bed the anti unionist rules.

There are no "anti-unionist rules," the GAA was set up to preserve and protect Irish culture.
It does not care what your religious or political views are, only that you have an interest in preserving your native culture.

bruschi

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

I certainly would be.

Would you, as a catholic, be happy to be defined by where your nearest Orange Hall is?

Again, if it is not meant to be political, then why is it there? IRFU you name it, they seem to be doing OK on an all island basis without resorting to lements about an Sean Bhan Bocht.

If they genuinely wan to include all communities, then they would make the effort to change things like this.

I agree it certianly is totally outdated and should be revised.

We must also remember things like the rules of "The Ban" and the one excluding Police and Armed Forces members have not been written out - only "suspended".

All this amounts to a very sinister picture of the GAA's true character.

why? you are talking on one hand that its 2012 and its time to move forward. and then you say we must remember things like the ban, which I'd wager near enough 100% of GAA members would say would be ridiculous to have now. I wasnt around when the ban was in place, I am around to see a developing organisation that is still trying to move forward with the times it lives in. why should I remember things like the ban when it has nothign to do with GAA now. It was something that was originally formed in the early years of it when our country was in a transitional period, and something that took far too long to be eradicated. but it is gone. thats the main thing. move on.

Bonus_Pack

Mountainlad wrote: »

There are no anti-unionist rules.

No, there's not in fairness, your right. But i think most people would agree that the consittution has a Nationalistic ethos.
While no explicit rules exist, the Nationalist ethos promoted by the constitution could be interpreted by some to, by defualt, to have an anti-Unionist "vibe" if you want to call it that.

All I'm saying is that I think the GAA should revise their constitution to a more modern and inclusive one. The religios/parish references should be written out and just called something else. Parishes normally correspond to townlands, so maybe they should just replace the word "Parish" with "Locality" or "Club Area". It's less controversial.

Crooked Jack

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

No, there's not in fairness, your right. But i think most people would agree that the consittution has a Nationalistic ethos.
While no explicit rules exist, the Nationalist ethos promoted by the constitution could be interpreted by some to, by defualt, to have an anti-Unionist "vibe" if you want to call it that.

All I'm saying is that I think the GAA should revise their constitution to a more modern and inclusive one. The religios/parish references should be written out and just called something else. Parishes normally correspond to townlands, so maybe they should just replace the word "Parish" with "Locality" or "Club Area". It's less controversial.

Anyone who finds an "anti unionist vibe" in the GAA constitution is probably looking for one and would find something to be offended about on the back of a snickers wrapper.
As for the parishes I dont believe many teams are drawn up along parish lines any more anyway. My parish is upper creggan and holds about a half dozen different teams, none of which are called creggan, let alone upper creggan.

J Cheever Loophole

I recall a similar discussion a number of years ago on GAABoard, when members of the Northern Ireland supporters site, Our Wee Country (OWC), signed up to discuss similar issues about the GAA, the GAA Constitution and the Nationalist ethos of the GAA that they claimed made it a cold house for Unionists.

There was an admirable defence of the GAA from a variety of sources, but this never satisfied our OWC colleagues, who were able to quote verbatim reams of sections and subsections from the GAA constitution, and use the finer details to fire pot shots. Ironically, most of the GAA members in the debate did not have the level of knowledge of our own constitution that those criticising it did.

From my experience, I have found that anyone who comes on to discussion forums to challenge the GAA, and to criticise it by quoting from the aforementioned constitution, rather than looking at the moves the GAA has made in recent years to open its doors to others, does so with their own agenda. Of course they are entitled to do that, and others can take up the challenge, but I will not waste my own time by trying to convince a mind that is already closed.

Bonus_Pack

Crooked Jack wrote: »

Anyone who finds an "anti unionist vibe" in the GAA constitution is probably looking for one and would find something to be offended about on the back of a snickers wrapper.
As for the parishes I dont believe many teams are drawn up along parish lines any more anyway. My parish is upper creggan and holds about a half dozen different teams, none of which are called creggan, let alone upper creggan.

So then the parish structure of the GAA is in practice, kind of defunct, in your area anyway. As such I think the constitution should be revised to reflect the situation on the ground rather than sticking to some out dated concept of the parish.

I fully agree, the GAA has moved on. However, surely as the organisation moves on, it’s constitution should move along with it and adopt less controversial language.

Most people would agree that it has a Nationalist ethos. The same can't be said for other sports bodies on the island. Can it? Sports should be indifferent to politics.


I just remembered there that the IEC was hosted at Croke Park. Now we did say that the GAA had broken with the RCC, but by co-incidence, out of all the other event centres in the country probably better suited to it, it just happened to drift into Croker?
Methinks there is still an unofficial cosiness between them, of which I disapprove. As well as being apolitical, sports bodies should be areligious.

I do acknowledge that it has come on in leaps and bounds since the DeValera days and the ludicrous spectable of the archbishop of cashel starting the finals games but I think there is still some mopping up to be done, the wording in the constitution being the perfect example.

rebel girl 15

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

No, there's not in fairness, your right. But i think most people would agree that the consittution has a Nationalistic ethos.
While no explicit rules exist, the Nationalist ethos promoted by the constitution could be interpreted by some to, by defualt, to have an anti-Unionist "vibe" if you want to call it that.

All I'm saying is that I think the GAA should revise their constitution to a more modern and inclusive one. The religios/parish references should be written out and just called something else. Parishes normally correspond to townlands, so maybe they should just replace the word "Parish" with "Locality" or "Club Area". It's less controversial.

Define locality, exactly how players would be eligible for clubs? Define club area. I'm heavily involved with ladies football, and we've recently changed the wording to club catchment area - but its not known as that, because it is still spoken about as the parish rule, which it is at the end of the day. This goes to show you can change the wording all you want, but it would still boil down to the same thing, and still be spoken about as the same thing. How many people actually read Part 1 of the constitution anyway - I'm surprised that many people read part 2 which is much more important to the regular supporter

despite posting in your OP that you have nothing against the GAA - it is clear from your posting that you do. Most of the Official Guide Part 1 has not been changed radically since the GAA formed - reading the letters around page 190 echos the statement you posted from. The GAA has moved on from its roots and has become a hugely inclusive organisation.

Crooked Jack

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

So then the parish structure of the GAA is in practice, kind of defunct, in your area anyway. As such I think the constitution should be revised to reflect the situation on the ground rather than sticking to some out dated concept of the parish.

I fully agree, the GAA has moved on. However, surely as the organisation moves on, it’s constitution should move along with it and adopt less controversial language.

Most people would agree that it has a Nationalist ethos. The same can't be said for other sports bodies on the island. Can it? Sports should be indifferent to politics.


I just remembered there that the IEC was hosted at Croke Park. Now we did say that the GAA had broken with the RCC, but by co-incidence, out of all the other event centres in the country probably better suited to it, it just happened to drift into Croker?
Methinks there is still an unofficial cosiness between them, of which I disapprove. As well as being apolitical, sports bodies should be areligious.

I do acknowledge that it has come on in leaps and bounds since the DeValera days and the ludicrous spectable of the archbishop of cashel starting the finals games but I think there is still some mopping up to be done, the wording in the constitution being the perfect example.

I dont think most people would agree with this. Why dont you stick up a poll and find out. There is a difference between political nationalism and wishing to preserve a country's culture. If there are people who cant see the difference in that then that is their issue, not the GAA's.
The GAA has plenty more (actual) problems than this.

Westlife played in Croke Park recently. Is there a special relationship between them and the GAA.

Bonus_Pack

There was an admirable defence of the GAA from a variety of sources, but this never satisfied our OWC colleagues, who were able to quote verbatim reams of sections and subsections from the GAA constitution, and use the finer details to fire pot shots. Ironically, most of the GAA members in the debate did not have the level of knowledge of our own constitution that those criticising it did.

I am not denying that the GAA has made practical moves to be more inclusive, but as you admit, they have yet to set them in writing.
All I am asking is that the GAA put pen to paper to eliminate the Nationalistic vibe and to put themselves on the same footing as other sporting bodies.
If they were serious about moving on, surely they would be willing to make this gesture. If they do not, they need to take a good look at themselves.

rebel girl 15

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

I just remembered there that the IEC was hosted at Croke Park. Now we did say that the GAA had broken with the RCC, but by co-incidence, out of all the other event centres in the country probably better suited to it, it just happened to drift into Croker?
Methinks there is still an unofficial cosiness between them, of which I disapprove. As well as being apolitical, sports bodies should be areligious.

I do acknowledge that it has come on in leaps and bounds since the DeValera days and the ludicrous spectable of the archbishop of cashel starting the finals games but I think there is still some mopping up to be done, the wording in the constitution being the perfect example.

One day of the IEC was held in Croke Park, the closing ceremony - everything else was held in the RDS

Crooked Jack

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

I am not denying that the GAA has made practical moves to be more inclusive, but as you admit, they have yet to set them in writing.
All I am asking is that the GAA put pen to paper to eliminate the Nationalistic vibe and to put themselves on the same footing as other sporting bodies.
If they were serious about moving on, surely they would be willing to make this gesture. If they do not, they need to take a good look at themselves.

Which sporting bodies? The partitionist FAI? The sectarian IFA? The IRFU who make out that the national anthem is something to be ashamed of?
No thank you. I think the GAA is doing just fine in this department.

rebel girl 15

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

I am not denying that the GAA has made practical moves to be more inclusive, but as you admit, they have yet to set them in writing.
All I am asking is that the GAA put pen to paper to eliminate the Nationalistic vibe and to put themselves on the same footing as other sporting bodies.
If they were serious about moving on, surely they would be willing to make this gesture. If they do not, they need to take a good look at themselves.

I think you need to take these concerns up with the GAA - you'll find all the contact details on their website. Let us know how you get on, and what reply you get. The GAA has much bigger issues that a few words in the constitution imo. Another way to do it is to become a member of your club, bring it up at your club AGM to rewrite that section, see if you get support for it, and send it to county convention and then onto Congress

I would not be in favour of changing anything in the current Official Guide (which is the correct name for it) or the ethos of it currently - the sporting body came from nationalistic roots and no words on paper can deny that fact.

J Cheever Loophole

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

despite posting in your OP that you have nothing against the GAA - it is clear from your posting that you do.

100% correct - indeed there are other aspects of the opening post too that I would question.

As I said before - a clear agenda.

bruschi

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

So then the parish structure of the GAA is in practice, kind of defunct, in your area anyway. As such I think the constitution should be revised to reflect the situation on the ground rather than sticking to some out dated concept of the parish.

I fully agree, the GAA has moved on. However, surely as the organisation moves on, it’s constitution should move along with it and adopt less controversial language.

Most people would agree that it has a Nationalist ethos. The same can't be said for other sports bodies on the island. Can it? Sports should be indifferent to politics.


I just remembered there that the IEC was hosted at Croke Park. Now we did say that the GAA had broken with the RCC, but by co-incidence, out of all the other event centres in the country probably better suited to it, it just happened to drift into Croker?
Methinks there is still an unofficial cosiness between them, of which I disapprove. As well as being apolitical, sports bodies should be areligious.

I do acknowledge that it has come on in leaps and bounds since the DeValera days and the ludicrous spectable of the archbishop of cashel starting the finals games but I think there is still some mopping up to be done, the wording in the constitution being the perfect example.

are you just going to keep rehashing same old points and coming up with new ones and ignoring everything else being said to you?

Croke Park hosted the IEC for one day. RDS, the main sporting ground of Leinster rugby, held it for a week. Any comments there? Or was it the fact that Croke Park was used as it is the biggest stadium in the country? But hey, keep on ranting, dont let any actual facts disrupt your agenda.

I'm disappointed in myself for getting dragged into a troll debate.:(

sid waddell

I've always found that some of the biggest bigots in Ireland are the anti-GAA ones. In fact bigotry doesn't even begin to explain the hostility of some people I've met. They generally have a total obsession with trying to denigrate anything, not only to do with Irish sports, but Irish culture such as the language and music, in fact a lot of them despise anything beyond Newlands Cross. You'll find quite a few of them in the media.

GAAman

I read this

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

Now, I have nothing against the GAA, I even played gaelic football at school and at a local club, but

It reminded me of this

Every Racist Knob EVER! wrote:

Now, I'm not a racist, I even know a few black people, but

So at that point stopped reading

deisedude

*bangs head off keyboard

This thread has been done a million times but at least so far this one has remained civil

ardmacha

The GAA is based on geographic coverage and since everyone lives somewhere, it is entirely inclusive. The only political structures it uses are counties, which were invented by the English, but then the IFA has the County Antrim shield. Parishes have existed in Ireland for 1000 years or more and were based on communities, so the concept provided a convenient complete coverage of the country that respected local identities. And as Crooked Jack said the best team in the country have only half a parish!

As for the recent Eucharistic Congress it was also in the RDS, does this mean that showjumping is run by the Pope?

rebel girl 15

deisedude wrote: »

*bangs head off keyboard

This thread has been done a million times but at least so far this one has remained civil

Surprisingly enough

*mod hat on - if it does get uncivil, necessary actions will be taken!

Hammer Archer

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

I just remembered there that the IEC was hosted at Croke Park. Now we did say that the GAA had broken with the RCC, but by co-incidence, out of all the other event centres in the country probably better suited to it, it just happened to drift into Croker?
Methinks there is still an unofficial cosiness between them, of which I disapprove. As well as being apolitical, sports bodies should be areligious.

There are a good few threads that pop up here criticising the GAA but unlike the majority of others, at least you are actually debating your point coherently so fair play to you on that.

But on the point above is a very poor one I have to say. As already pointed out, the IEC was mainly held in the RDS. Only the closing ceremony was held in Croke Park and it was packed to the rafters with 80000 or so people. Where else do you suggest would be better suited in Ireland to hold this many people? And I highly doubt it if Croke Park was simply given to them for the day free of charge. They had to rent it just like the FAI, IRFU, MCD and everyone else that requires the use of the stadium for whatever reason.

And finally, I'm an atheist and a member of the GAA. I don't find the parish system unwelcoming at all. To me it's just a collection of local boundaries.

theoneeyedman

If you have time to be reading and taking offence at the the likes of this OP, you really have too much time on your hands.

Bonus_Pack

I do find it offensive in fairness as I find it over nationalistic. Anyway , I dont' think there's much more that I can say about it as I have made all my points.
Now, as someone mentioned before, I do admit that the IEC in Croke Pk swipe was probably not the best arguement but I stand by my views on the GAAs relationship with the RCC.

TBH I am still not convinced that they are 100% non-political and making the genuine effort to welcome unionists into the organisation. It may be the case that they are merely grudingly "tolerant" of unionists rather than welcoming because they have to be seen to be PC nowadays.

If this were not the case, I don't know why they are refusing to change the Guide Part 1 to reflect this. I think they are using it to make their position known.
Thats all I can see from it anyway.

Crooked Jack

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

I do find it offensive in fairness as I find it over nationalistic. Anyway , I dont' think there's much more that I can say about it as I have made all my points.
Now, as someone mentioned before, I do admit that the IEC in Croke Pk swipe was probably not the best arguement but I stand by my views on the GAAs relationship with the RCC.

TBH I am still not convinced that they are 100% non-political and making the genuine effort to welcome unionists into the organisation. It may be the case that they are merely grudingly "tolerant" of unionists rather than welcoming because they have to be seen to be PC nowadays.

If this were not the case, I don't know why they are refusing to change the Guide Part 1 to reflect this. I think they are using it to make their position known.
Thats all I can see from it anyway.

Sounds like you're seeing what you want to see

paul71

The GAA simply took the simplist route in defining club boundaries, in fact the decisions taken were at a local level and in fact many club boundaries are not based on Parish. A good case in point would be the establishment of a recent club I was involved in. The GAA club in Prague was orginally set up to cater for the whole of the Czech republic, when discussing boundaries it was eventually decided to accept players living anywhere in Czech or Slovak Republic. That decision was in no way intended to offend Slovakians by disputing their independence :rolleyes:, but was designed to be as inclusive as possible for anyone in the region who wanted to join.

I am sure the original club founders just sought the easiest solution and used parish borders as we used and even transended international ones.