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Why it is time for the GAA to start playing on a wider field

Ed Curran Expand

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Ed Curran

Ed Curran

Ed Curran

How do you view the GAA today? Not so long ago, such a question might have filled the letters column of the Belfast Telegraph or led to jammed switchboards at the BBC or UTV, if they dared broadcast a match.





The success of Tyrone and Armagh in recent All-Ireland finals has raised the profile of the GAA in Northern Ireland to new heights. It has also led to more people beyond the nationalist community taking an interest. Watching the recent celebrations in my native Co Tyrone, I couldn't help but think how far we had come from the days of my youth.

As a boy educated in the intensely rugby environment of the Royal School, Dungannon, the world of GAA seemed light years away, even if its games were played over the hedge by the adjoining St Patrick's Academy.

At home, I listened to what my father called the Free State radio, mainly for its excellent news service. On a September Sunday once a year, I would tune in to the All-Ireland final, not out of any great interest in the game but simply to hear the wonderful voice of Michael O'Hehir, who could have made even a funeral sound exciting.

On the outskirts of town stood O'Neill Park, the local GAA ground. I recall my father pointing out to me one Sunday afternoon that it flew a Tricolour when matches were being played. This being a no-go area for a school pal and me on our Sunday walk, we determined to get inside and see for ourselves what went on.

It was a big game, Tyrone against Down, with several thousand spectators. There we were, feeling isolated and edgy, watching a game we knew nothing about. We hoped no one would recognise us, or report back to our families, friends or school, that we had been seen, standing under the Tricolour, listening, may the Lord forgive us, to the Soldier's Song, sung with frightening fervour. This, then, was my GAA baptism. Now I fast forward to Croke Park a few years ago. I was the guest of a couple of big-hitting Belfast businessmen. The windswept terrace of O'Neill Park seemed a far cry from the comforts of Croke Park's hospitality suites, with their pre-match drinks and executive lunches, and outside seating in the vast grandstands for 82,000 spectators.

The media have played a significant role in changing attitudes. The BBC and UTV barely covered gaelic games until the 1980s. Now they vie with one another, along with satellite stations, for the rights to broadcast matches. Where once they might have run a mile from any association, banks and businesses queue up to sponsor the GAA to the tune of millions.

Gaelic football is a great spectator sport. The continuity of the game, with few stoppages, end-to-end style play and ferocious man-to-man marking, makes it just as exciting, if not more so, than rugby or soccer. It is little wonder, therefore, that it draws larger attendances than any other sport on this island.

A downside is that it has limited international appeal beyond the Irish diaspora of places like Australia and USA. The concentration on gaelic games in Ireland may also mean that other sports lose out. We know that some international soccer and rugby players have a GAA upbringing but we will never know how many talented sportsmen and women this island could truly boast in international competition because their abilities were not displayed beyond a gaelic ground.

The way to counter that is to allow every youngster to develop skills at whatever sport he or she wishes. There is more choice today in schools yet the focus continues in many on one principal sport, be it soccer, rugby, hockey, netball or gaelic games.

GAA has benefited also from the removal of its out-dated rules on playing ‘foreign games’, such as rugby and soccer, and the ban on ‘British forces’ participation. Thankfully, we have moved to a point where even a DUP minister can attend an All-Ireland final or the opening recently of a ground in south Belfast.

As one of those lucky enough to be in Croke Park for the Ireland versus England rugby international, I can vouch for how much that meant to those of us who did not come from a GAA background. It was only a game but that day should go down in Irish history books as a watershed occasion.

The obvious challenge for the GAA is to take itself beyond the narrow ground of old-fashioned nationalism. To truly cross the religious and political divide, especially in the aftermath of the signing of the Good Friday agreement. That pact recognises two states within one island but the All-Ireland dimension is central to the GAA's tradition as is its association with the Catholic church.

The question I ask is whether it will ever prove possible to embrace fully the wider population. To reach a point where the First Minister of Northern Ireland does not engage in the petty politics of not joining with his Deputy to recognise Tyrone's success.

Some people may feel these are naïve thoughts but Ireland, north and south, is not what it was when the GAA was founded. The state of Northern Ireland, shared by two communities, is recognised now in a way that it wasn't before. The island, too, has become more secular and inter-denominational than ever before.

The Tyrone manager, Mickey Harte, must be an incredibly inspirational leader to win three All-Ireland finals in six years. Whatever he has should be bottled and sold for export. Indeed, I would go further and propose the unthinkable! Is he not as deserving of an appearance in the forthcoming Queen's New Year's Honours list as many of the sports figures who will be listed there?

I look forward to a day when everyone feels comfortable to come out on the streets, and recognise sporting excellence for what it is without any sense of rancour. We have all travelled a long way in our lifetimes. Unfortunately, even in our sporting interests, we still have a long way to go.

Belfast Telegraph

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