GAA Ulster Council must make sure brave men like Peadar Heffron are never ostracised, says DUP MP Paul Girvan

The DUP MP for South Antrim has called on the Ulster Council of the GAA to demonstrate that measures have been taken to ensure members who are in the PSNI are not ostracised in a similar manner to Peadar Heffron.

Paul Girvan spoke out last night following an interview that Mr Heffron gave to the Sunday Independent revealing that he was shunned by some of his team-mates at Creggan Kickhams Club in Randalstown when he joined the service in 2002.

Mr Heffron was badly injured and left in a wheelchair after dissidents put a bomb under his car in 2010.

“I’m a very bitter man. After the bomb, not even a letter from the club,” he said.

However, a former president of the GAA said while there may be individual cases of difficulties, there is currently no issue over PSNI officers playing Gaelic games.

Peter Quinn said: “I don’t think it’s an issue at the present time and I certainly don’t anticipate it being an issue in the future. I mean, there might be individual cases to do with personalities within a club or something like that, who would make people feel uncomfortable. I can’t say that won’t ever happen.”

Mr Girvan is now to write to Creggan Kickhams, the Antrim GAA and the Ulster GAA over the matter.

“Peadar Heffron has shown his immense personal bravery in speaking out and highlighting the prejudice, intolerance and hate which he endured,” the MP said.

“That any individual should face this level of intimidation within any sports club is unacceptable. 

“The account given by Peadar of his treatment at the hands of clubmates and club officials is deeply depressing.

“While many years have passed since these incidents, it is incumbent upon Creggan Kickhams GAC in Randalstown to make clear that they now embrace any member who wishes to join the PSNI, or indeed any of the Armed Forces.

“It is vital that the Ulster Council make clear that such behaviour is not welcome in their structure.”

Earlier Mr Quinn, the architect of the GAA’s scrapping of Rule 21 — which prohibited members of the British security forces from playing and participating in GAA activities — said times have moved on.

“It is not an issue in the GAA at the present time and I can’t see it becoming an issue again. The progress that has been made in terms of reconciliation in the north, while a lot of us believe that a lot more is possible and a lot more should be achieved, still enough has been achieved to make sure that the position that existed 20 years ago will not be adopted again in the future, either officially or unofficially.”

Outlining the historic context for the enforcement of Rule 21, the Fermanagh financial consultant explained: “The one thing I do know is that the GAA was right to get rid of the ban. I have no doubt about that. I have met police people in Croke Park at major games and they were always made feel very welcome, and I think that was right. I understand, and understood very well in the past, why the RUC were not welcome within the GAA fold. But that was a long time ago. I would hate to think that we would think we would go back to the status quo, and that members of the police who wanted to play Gaelic games would be made feel unwelcome. We wouldn’t want that to be the case. I supported the ban when it was there, and I supported its removal when it was being removed, and I wouldn’t want to see it back again.”

He recounted how the backing of Ulster counties was instrumental in Rule 21 being abolished. “If Ulster had have been adamantly opposed to it, it probably wouldn’t have gone through,” said Mr Quinn.

“Ulster mightn’t have had enough votes on its own to stop it, it would only have taken over one-third to prevent it going through. But the reality is that the Ulster influence counted. Cork, for example, would have taken their lead from Ulster. When Ulster decided to change, Cork were happy to change, and Cork wouldn’t have been the only county, but Cork were very supportive of the Ulster nationalist position.”

Nowadays, the Ulster Council carries full-page adverts for the PSNI within its Championship match day programmes.

Creggan Kickhams GAA club have so far declined to comment.

Statement in full from the GAA:

“In the last 15 years since GAA Congress removed Rule 21 that had been in place for more than a century, the GAA has worked closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland to promote a range of initiatives to benefit all of the community. In this time, many GAA members have joined the PSNI with advertisements for PSNI recruitment carried in GAA publications, including All-Ireland Finals match programmes.

The GAA has a long standing and publicly stated policy of opposition to violence. Peadar Heffron joined the PSNI shortly after it was formed and he suffered horrific injuries in an attack in 2010. It is difficult to understand how anybody could attack a fellow human being in this way.  

Through its Community Engagement and Outreach Programmes, the GAA has also worked with Peadar and other members of the PSNI in developing better relationships for all in our society.

In recent weeks an International Police Gaelic Football Tournament involving four Police teams, namely An Garda Siochana, London Metropolitan Police, New York Police Department, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland was held in Belfast.

This would not have been possible some years ago, which reflects the positive ongoing efforts of the GAA and PSNI.

Ulster GAA and the Police Service of Northern Ireland continue to work closely together for the benefit of the community.

This work includes awareness briefings to educate Officers on the vital role of the GAA in local communities, outreach programmes to engage all sections of the community, a range of health initiatives as well as Child Safeguarding policies and procedures.”

Belfast Telegraph