In view of the weekend that’s in it, now might be a good time to ask how well the GAA is performing as an organisation. Behind the scramble for tickets for tomorrow’s match, Ireland’s largest sporting and cultural body faces criticism over aspects of its policy and practice.
In fairness, criticism is part of the Irish DNA, but the GAA faces several challenges, ranging from its aims and objectives, through marketing and promotion, to its political philosophy.
As a lifelong member of the association, I see two GAAs. One has thousands of volunteers who provide excellent club facilities and community support. They are not just the backbone of the GAA, they are the heart and soul of this island.
The other GAA is reflected in the accountancy culture in Croke Park, towards which most criticism is aimed.
The association’s Official Guide states its basic aim is, “the strengthening of the National Identity.” (Yes, with capital letters). Our national identity needed strengthening in 1884 when the GAA was founded, but have we not progressed since then?
So, how good is the GAA at implementing this basic aim? It all looks a bit confusing. Internally, despite huge grassroots support, its games are suffering. The GAA is killing hurling and allowing football to kill itself.
Last year, Croke Park tried to exclude five counties from the National Hurling League. One of them, Fermanagh, recently won the Lory Meagher Cup. In 140 years, no county north of a line from Dublin to Galway has won an all-Ireland hurling title. (Half a national identity?)
Meanwhile, most Gaelic football raises boredom to new heights. Footballers have tried to turn an art into a science. Hence the boring spectacle of 30 would-be scientists running back and forward across a pitch. The game is now 90% jargon and 10% skill, often played before silent spectators.
The game is now 90% jargon and 10% skill, often played before silent spectators… To further damage its image, the association’s campaign for public money for Casement Park is based on promoting professional soccer (the opposite of everything the amateur GAA stands for)
Externally, the association is damaging its own profile. The hurling championship is condensed into 11 weekends, much of which is not free-to-air. After tomorrow, there will be no inter-county Gaelic games until next year. While the GAA hibernates, soccer and rugby will dominate the media.
In marketing and publicity terms, playing two all-Ireland semi-finals in one weekend is a massive own goal. Meanwhile, club players start training in January for championships which often do not start until autumn.
To further damage its image, the association’s campaign for public money for Casement Park is based on promoting professional soccer (the opposite of everything the amateur GAA stands for). Of course, the GAA is practising what is affectionately known as cute hoorism, but does that strengthen the national identity? (Maybe that is the national identity.)
Antrim needs a 10,000-seater county stadium, ideally at Casement Park. Ulster GAA needs a regional stadium. However, should that also be in west Belfast, or west of the Bann, in a central Ulster location like Ballygawley?
Finally there is the thorny issue of the GAA’s political leanings. The Good Friday Agreement claims there are two nations here. Does the GAA aim to strengthen the identity of only one?
If so, the nature of northern politics means it risks being seen as sectarian. This is unfair because, for example, if Armagh bring home the Sam Maguire (named to commemorate a Protestant), it will ultimately visit four clubs named after Protestants: Robert Emmet (Clonmore and Dorsey), Thomas Davis (Corrinshigo) and Wolfe Tone (Derrymacash).
Our GAA president, Jarlath Burns, recently said at an Ireland’s Future Conference that the GAA “has not adopted any formal position” on Irish unity. He said he was speaking as a GAA member and citizen.
He also said “it would be absolutely unforgiveable not to foster” conversations about Ireland’s constitutional future. Since those conversations aim at achieving Irish unity through winning a poll on a 50% plus one majority, where do Irish unionists fit into the GAA’s national identity?
Excluding them runs counter to 225 years of republican thinking and renders the tricolour obsolete. Is the GAA confusing national identity with nationalist identity?
Our president also criticised Brexit, which is a valid view. However, does this suggest GAA support for a political union, in which EU citizenship takes priority over Irish citizenship? If so, is the GAA undermining our national identity?
None of that, of course, will bother Armagh fans tomorrow. Good luck to them and if Armagh wins, it will shorten their winter. For the other 31 counties, however, the GAA’s inter-county winter will last from now until February.
That should be plenty of time to address some of the challenges facing our association.