GAA need to step up

downcow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118020698#Comment_118020698

They did not do (b)

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118021461#Comment_118021461

They did, but not to your satisfaction, clearly.

Feisar

Can someone please teach those toolboxes how to properly shape a beret? Disgraceful looking chefs hats.

Feisar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118021525#Comment_118021525

Must look up that video again, Christ I got some laughs at that idiot on fire!

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118020538#Comment_118020538

No, just pointing out responsibility for what happens. Are you saying that if there is a neo-Nazi flag waving from your front garden that you somehow can claim someone else put it there, especially when you do nothing about it?

One man's assumptions are another man's reasonable conclusions from the evidence.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118023481#Comment_118023481

Yes you can claim somebody else did it, if it was somebody else.

You can also say it has nothing to do with you.

Is it 'reasonable' for you to insist it has something to do with me in that instance?

If, like a 'flag' those people remained in the carpark, I am sure the GAA would have taken measures to 'do something about it' and have them removed.

davidhills

Hi all. A view from the outside looking in... The GAA seems to do 95% of things well - popular, great facilities, community engagement etc and there is a huge amount that other sports could learn from GAA. There is a real blindspot however with all the political baggage, grounds/trophies named after violent republicans etc etc. If the same occured in NI football in this day and age it would be called out by everyone and rightly so! It is such a shame as a sport loving person from NI as I have always felt completely excluded from GAA. I have never been in a clubhouse and have never been invited to a game despite being mates with lots of GAA heads. I suspect this comes from the fact that GAA is so successful and there is no real need to reach out beyond the traditional base... There are some green shoots with the club in east Belfast etc but it would be really refreshing (and overdue...) if the GAA could ditch the politics and stick to the sport - it could then become an organisation that all of us who share this place could get involved in and feel proud of. Hurling looks like fun!

Thanks for reading.

downcow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118049936#Comment_118049936

Great post. I have many good friends and very decent people who love the GAA. You make a good point I hadn’t thought about about never being invited to a game.

I have been to a couple of county games. These were as part of a peace building programme. The first in Tyrone. Good game and decent atmosphere though very different from football. Unfortunately by the time of kick off I already felt like a fish out off water. First thing I met was a collection for 3 IRA members but in fairness I took no abuse for not donating to the organisation who were killing my people. Next was the anthem. This actually was more intimidating that the ira collection. The SS was played and the entire crowd turned around to face the Irish tricolour. I feel sure had I not partook in this little bit of republican jingoism things would have got a little difficult.

my other experience was in Casement park for a hurling match. No collection and very sparse crowd but same anthem nonsense.

another peace building programme I was involved in visited my local county ground. I took a sicky that day as I could not comprehend locals seeing me entering such a place. I suppose that says a lot in itself about how my local community perceive the GAA

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118049936#Comment_118049936

You should try it in the south, all kinds of everyone playing and watching the games, zero problems. Do NI Unionists/loyalists ever wonder that part of the non participation problem might be them?

downcow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050206#Comment_118050206

Haha. You can rely on francie 😂

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050226#Comment_118050226

Guy/gal loves the game and sport as they say but has never been to a club???? Come on, that is a conscious decision not to participate.

Like all the other problems he/she had at an actual game have equivalents in any sport...collecting for the British legion (encountered several of them at Ulster rugby games...big deal. Anthems...again...is this being claimed as a unique occurrence at GAA games? 😁😁

downcow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050315#Comment_118050315

For francie buying a poppy is equivalent to donating to the IRA.

I am opposed the the playing of either gstq or ss at sporting events in ni, but I did think the crowd turning to stare at the flag and (if I remember correctly) placing hand on heart. It felt like a regions right USA crowd

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050409#Comment_118050409

Sadly because of the mess made in NI, the British army were the terrorists to part of the community, so very much the equivalent, regardless of how you feel.

And please, looking down your nose at the playing of anthems???? 😁😁

davidhills

Hi Francie/Downcow. Thanks for your thoughts.

I fear if we start debating the NI troubles we will go down a fairly deep rabbit hole... But it sort of proves my point that sport and politics should be kept separate where possible.

Francie - I can assure you there was no conscious decision not to participate. I guess the realities of my background are that I was introduced to rugby, football, hockey, cricket, tennis etc etc but never once had a Gaelic football or hurl put in my hands. In latter years despite working with county players and coaches that I would socialise with, travel with and golf with regularly I have never had an invite to a GAA club or match. For the record I would be more than happy to go!

Just one of the many strange realities of this place that will hopefully change in time.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050200#Comment_118050200

I attend GAA games from club level to All Ireland and often don't bother doing the anthem protocols. It's great on the big days with the band out but during league or club games played over a shty speaker I could not care less. Like most things in life most people around you don't notice or care what you are up to.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050513#Comment_118050513

I simply don't believe you haven't been invited.

I live in a border county where the politics have been as extreme as anywhere. And I know many from your community happily playing GAA.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050736#Comment_118050736

Who ever actually gets "invited" to a sports event. I love cycling which is not "normal" in Ireland and it's not cause someone invited me. I've been to athletics too and tennis with no invite.

davidhills

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050736#Comment_118050736

Erm, not sure what to say to that. I guess if you don't believe me you don't believe me!

My point wasn't really about what I do or don't get invited to in any case. More that it's a shame that there a million (or so) potential fans and players out there and it would only take a little bit of normalisation to encourage them in to what otherwise looks a well run sport.

My niece has started hurling in Dublin so I'm sure ill break my duck sooner rather than later :)

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050795#Comment_118050795

As Breezy says, if you are waiting to be 'invited' it might be a while. I have been a member of the GAA all my life and never felt the need to invite anyone. It really isn't that formal.

davidhills

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050875#Comment_118050875

Again that wasn't the core of the point I was making however it's not that I am waiting for an invite, it's that there has never been any avenue for me to get involved in GAA in any shape or form. Of course I could rock up to my local club and knock the door, I'm sure it's a good spot and full of good people. I also suspect there might be more than a few political undertones about the place that would make me uncomfortable. ...I appreciate I make that comment without experience but perhaps consider going to your local glasgow rangers/linfield supporters club for an evening - I mean you wouldn't need to wait for an invite or anything, and most likely you would be made more than welcome. But there may be an (unnecessary) political vibe that doesn't float your boat?

Point isn't about invites, it's about politics in sport which I personally feel we could do without.

p.s. I do a bit of cycling too breezy, great fun. Chap from work invited me 😜🚴

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051010#Comment_118051010

Think what it is like for an Irish person going to play in England who doesn't want to 'observe the anthem', pay homage to the British army etc.

Lads and lassies doing it for years for the love of soccer, biting their tongues and getting on with it. It's only political if you make it so.

TCDStudent1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118050200#Comment_118050200

I am a regular at GAA matches all over the country and cannot understand why you feel "things would have got a little difficult" if you didnt face the flag during the anthem. Lots of people don't face the flag. I very much doubt anybody would care if you didnt face it. I often watch the players to study their body language during the anthem to see if I can identify any nervousness etc. So I am not facing it sometimes. Its not that big of a deal!

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118015653#Comment_118015653

Can I ask how did they let this happen in the first place?

Like if a bunch of Neo-Nazis rocked up to a Soccer club and held a meeting and a march then people would be asking about the ins and out of this. Clearly, there are people inside that GAA club who are affiliated with those extremists. Have they been kicked out of the club and barred for life?

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051118#Comment_118051118

When does this happen? At the FA Cup final only afaik.

English football teams are as multicultural as they come, but yea shoehorn it in there anyway to distract from the fact that the GAA has an image problem of being a cold house to those who don't want to pay homage to violent Irish Republicanism.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051292#Comment_118051292

What image problem Mark? In the eyes of Unionists who wouldn't go, invited or not? How many years do you think Unionist leaders have been refusing invites to the final of the province they claim is their own?

You are a partitionist with a penchant for claiming everyone has to repent and change but Unionists. Never ends. 🙄

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051317#Comment_118051317

I am talking about GAA clubs and their penchant for holding rallies and commemorations for terrorists and dissident groups. Clearly, you think its OK for Soaradh to hold such a rally on GAA grounds. Then again, you seem to be fond of the ol' Republican Dissidents yourself from time to time.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051335#Comment_118051335

I thought you were 'talking' about watering down jingoism in British football mark.

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051353#Comment_118051353

# Looks at thread title...

Nope, nothing to do with 'da Brits' your favourite hobby horse but A+ for taking yet another topic off-track. :)

ArnoldJRimmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051335#Comment_118051335

Do you have examples of rallies and commemorations other than this event, which should not have occurred on a GAA ground, but was not sanctioned by the GAA? Perhaps the club in question could have done more to prevent it, and I have no idea if this was the case, but the car park is so open on google maps, a 3 year old could break into it.

I have followed the GAA for the guts of 35 years, specifically the Ulster Championship, and the collections for An Phoblacht etc, were in the streets outside the ground rather than inside. The GAA even took a lot of criticism from the nationalist community during the Troubles for not doing enough to show support for the hunger strikers for instance, so generally stick to their goal to keep politics out of the sport.

I'd like to see more integration in all sports in the north, including the GAA, as sport is very much a unifying force. Going back as far as the days of Johnny Giles, there has been an appetite among players to have an all Irish football team, and is another thing I'd love to happen.

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051441#Comment_118051441

My opinion is that sports and politics should not mix. Your example of selling a SF/PIRA propaganda print outside of a GAA ground is proof that there is a certain element from within the GAA that holds quite unsavory and extreme views.

On this incident, the GAA club has appeared to just whitewash the incident as if it was nothing to do with them, but clearly, some of its members organised this and are mixed up with extremists.

The club should come out and ban all members that took part in the rally and the GAA should release a statement condemning the rally.

They have done neither.