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Showing posts with label GAA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GAA. Show all posts
Daithi Hopkins ⚽ I should start with a bit of a disclaimer. I'm no sports writer or GAA tactician. 

After a couple of creamy pints of Guinness I occasionally suffer from what can only be described as post-pint Dunning–Kruger syndrome, convincing myself I could give Joe Brolly and Pat Spillane a run for their money. Like many of my articles, my mind has a habit of wandering through history, folklore, politics, music and family before eventually finding its way back to some kind of ending.

Some sporting occasions are remembered for the score. Others for a last-minute point or save. Then there are the rare days that become much bigger than the game itself. Mayo's 2026 All-Ireland victory
was one of those days.

The Sam Maguire Cup is named after Sam Maguire, an Irish republican from Dunmanway, County
Cork, whose life was cut short by tuberculosis while still young. Coincidentally, my own great
grandfather also died from tuberculosis at a similar age. Thankfully, within a generation, Ireland had
begun to overcome one of its deadliest diseases, thanks in no small part to Dr Noel Browne and
mass tuberculosis treatment. His autobiography, Against the Tide, remains one of my favourite
political memoirs. As I noted in a recent piece for The Pensive Quill on the play We Have Him Back,
Noel Browne spent his early life in Hollymount—the very same parish Frank Stagg came from. My
mind has a habit of wandering down these little side roads, and somehow the links nearly always
find each other in the end.

We're also a nation of storytellers.

Every parish has its legends. Every family has stories. Sometimes fact and folklore sit comfortably
side by side.

Which brings us to the Mayo curse.

According to legend, after Mayo won the All-Ireland in 1951, a priest cursed the county after the team
allegedly disturbed a funeral near Foxford, declaring they would not win another title until every
member of that team had passed away.

Whether it actually happened or not is almost beside the point. Every heartbreaking defeat—eleven
lost finals, two drawn finals and countless near-miss semi-finals—just seemed to breathe new life
into the story. Eventually every member of that 1951 team had passed away. May they rest in eternal
peace.

Whether there ever was a curse is for every reader to decide. There was certainly a story, and it
followed Mayo back into Croke Park once again, seventy-five years in the making.

I happened to be at Forest Fest and wandered into Ryan's Bar in Portlaoise with a friend to watch the
final. A creamy pint of Guinness sat in front of me as the teams came out. For a brief moment I
fancied myself as Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh—not because he analysed football better than anyone
else, but because he could weave history, folklore, geography and humour into a game without ever
losing sight of the match.

The mood before throw-in was interesting. A few Laois locals had backed Kerry months earlier when
the odds were more generous. Most of the pub, though, were quietly hoping Mayo would finally end
the apparent poxy curse.

If I'm honest, I would have been happy enough if Mayo just avoided a hiding. Instead, they were
brilliant.

From the throw-in they played with belief, weathered Kerry's purple patches and never looked overawed. By half-time only a point separated the sides (Kerry 1-08, Mayo 0-10), but there was already a feeling around the pub that this Mayo team actually believed.

Players like Ryan O'Donoghue and Kobe McDonald led from the front. Belmullet always has a way of
creeping into these moments. Growing up around family steeped in Belmullet GAA, with family links
to Crossmolina Deel Rovers as well, football was never just seventy minutes on a Sunday. Watching
Ryan O'Donoghue become one of the faces of Mayo's greatest day carried that extra bit of meaning.

There was another lovely twist too. Seeing Kobe McDonald lift Sam Maguire when his father, Ciarán,
is remembered as one of Mayo's greatest footballers never to win an All-Ireland felt like football
quietly finishing a story another generation had started.

When the final whistle went, I was delighted. Mayo had won 1-20 to Kerry 1-17. The final minutes
were absolutely thrilling for anyone lucky enough to witness them.

Within minutes I was on the phone to my mother, who was outside O'D's in Belmullet. She was close
to tears. Videos started coming through of my youngish nephews and cousins celebrating like buck
eejits. My Facebook filled up with delighted family and friends and, in a lovely touch, plenty of
congratulations from Kerry supporters as well.

If you ever want to understand what football means beyond trophies, track down the Mid West Radio
commentary after the final whistle—it's easy enough to find. You're hearing generations of hope,
heartbreak and relief all at once.

The soundtrack almost wrote itself. The Green and Red of Mayo was everywhere. Long ago it
stopped being merely a song.

I've always smiled at the irony that one of the greatest songs about Mayo came from a Galway band.
But it's another Saw Doctors song that always sticks with me: To Win Just Once. It never even mentions the county, but it captures that stubborn hope that someday your turn will come.

Later that evening at Forest Fest, Qween played Queen's We Are the Champions, dedicating it to
Mayo. Whether they planned it or not, it felt spot on.

Maybe that's why this victory felt different.
It wasn't just another All-Ireland.
It was history meeting folklore.
It was music meeting memory.
It was family meeting football.
Long after I am gone, the team of '26 will live on.
History should always be precise. It deserves that respect.
Storytelling gives history permission to breathe.
And on one remarkable Sunday in July 2026, Mayo finally added a full circle to a remarkable story.

⏩Daithi Hopkins is a republican socialist activist.

More Than a Match ⚽ Reflections On Mayo's 2026 All-Ireland Victory

Ronan McSherry ⚽ "...and then all Heaven broke loose" was a phrase sports writer colossus Con Houlihan used.

Although a proud Castleisland man, he too would have watched in awe the outpouring of emotion when the hooter sounded at Croke Park on Sunday, ending a 75 year Mayo drought and years of final heartbreak.

I didn't go to the final as it was obvious Mayo would capitulate, and watching their supporters crying in Croke Park again was not an attractive proposition.

There was a flood of tears, this time however, from a well of sheer joy and memories of years of pain with thoughts of loved ones who yearned to see this day but departed, their dream unfulfilled. The country cried with them.

While it wasn't Mayo's first All Ireland win, 75 years is a long time and twelve intervening final defeats was, as a priest from the West said to me walking up Jones Road about 5pm on the afternoon of such a loss (there were so many I can't remember the year) "that's our purgatory here on earth".

It was wonderful. The scenes on the screen of supporters sobbing, embracing, praying, dropping to their knees in thanksgiving brought back special memories of 28th September 2003, when Tyrone reached the Holy Grail for the first time.

It's not that long ago but in two years they will be the aul lads being wheeled out as the 25 year Jubilee Team.

They used to say, whoever they are, that you hadn't won an All Ireland if you didn’t beat Kerry along the way. Tyrone did just that in the semi-final. They took it badly.

Of all things, the current Mayo coach, Paddy Tally from Galbally, had them tackling in swarms. These days it's called tactical genius or a high press.

Yearning

In the final, Tyrone met the neighbours Armagh, who had won their first All Ireland title a year earlier, amid similar scenes of unbounded rejoicing.

Current GAA President Jarlath Burns captured the mood in the pundits' studio when he spoke of the great poets and singers and footballers from the Orchard County but until then, there was a void, something missing, before giving a rendition of The Boys of the County Armagh. (Jarlath! Where did it all go wrong?).

We too had that yearning, and while it was not a plethora of All Ireland defeats, losing from a seven point lead to Kerry in '86 and by one point after a dubious refereeing decision gave Dublin victory in 1995, had taken its toll.

Watching Donegal then Derry and of all things Armagh winning their first titles added to that sense of loss and yearning. Ache.

In his first edition of the History of Tyrone GAA penned in 1984 (The GAA Centenary Year) the late Joseph Martin wrote of the great Gaels and visionaries down the years, the concluding sentence of the last chapter titled, 'The Cherished Dream' read:

Tyrone GAA, proud of its past and inspired by an awareness of its present potential and a total belief in itself, can aspire to and attain the ultimate success - the winning of the Sam Maguire Cup.


At Last

The final whistle sounded and Brian Dooher held the ball and ran off like he was going to eat it. Grown men and women openly wept in the stands as the Croke Park pitch turned into a sea of red and white.



I left my seat in the Cusack Stand and galloped across the hallowed turf, the electricity coursing through me. The stewards made little to no effort to stop the jubilant invasion. I recall about a dozen clamouring over Cormac McAnallen. Of all things, I planted a kiss on his cheek!

Armagh supporters knew the feeling. They held out an open hand and said 'enjoy it'. They really did! It was the Tyrone community as one. Even the Mammy was there.

Tears flowed and hard men and the reserved were hugging their neighbours. It was finally done.

I thought of my father who departed in 1994. He'd have loved this. He dreamt of this day, as he told me stories of going to headquarters in 1947 when Tyrone won their first All Ireland minor title and the great men of 1956 who came so close to reaching an All Ireland final, only to be denied by Jack Mangan of Galway who turned in mid-air to miraculously claw away the ball that was goal bound from Iggy Jones, and 1960 with bonfires across the North when Sam came over the border for the first time. The great men of Down.

Then he took us to those Ulster finals in Clones and for a while thought the day had arrived in 1986 but it was not to be. Afterwards you discover many were having similar emotions on the Croke Park field, remembering those who went before.

On Sunday a Mayo woman, tears streaming down her cheeks, told RTÉ that her father signed her jersey before he died, and told her he'd be with her on the journey to bring home the Sam Maguire Cup. No doubt he was.

It was an incredible afternoon that brought back so many memories of that day in 2003.

Sam has been here three times since, including a fantastic day I spent with my daughters five years ago and our clubman Paudie the captain.

However, there will never be another first time.

For that day I will be eternally grateful. It is a privilege not everyone gets to experience.

Enjoy the win, people of Mayo!

* After the second All Ireland win in 2005, pI interviewed Joseph Martin who wrote that inspiring paragraph. Indeed he signed it in my book. 

I asked him how it felt when Tyrone finally won the Sam Maguire Cup... he paused and reflected and finally tears welled up in his eyes... No words were needed.

⏩Ronan McSherry from Tyrone is a life-time GAA member and former newspaper columnist.

The Cherished Dream

Gaels Against Genocide     with a statement regarding the instruction of the GAA Executive to have Palestinian flags confiscated at Croke Park yesterday.


Confiscation Of Palestinian Flags

Pádraic Mac Coitir ✒ It's great to see some Irish journalists like Colin Sheridan speak out about the despicable stance the hierarchy of the GAA led by that liberal Jarlath Burns.


For months many GAA members, including current and former players take to the streets and standing shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people. Gaels against Genocide regularly take part in marches and rallies as well as writing to newspapers calling on the GAA to stop using Allianz insurance. This article explains why they could, and should, stop.

I'm a member of the GAA for years and as I got older and understood the recent politics of it I stopped supporting the hierarchy. They welcomed with open arms the British queen to Croke Park, they allowed rugby to be played there and they advertise jobs for the PSNI in their greedy pursuit for more money.

I read the watery statement from Burns about why they are going to continue their link with Allianz. Look how long it took the hierarchy to issue a statement on Gaza whereas they couldn't get statements out about the nazi regime in Ukraine quickly enough. They had Ukrainian children bringing trophies on to the pitch before All Ireland finals but wouldn't dream of letting Palestinian kids do the same.

For years many critics of the GAA referred to them as the Grab All Association and it's very apt in this situation. Shame on Burns and the rest of them.
 
Padraic Mac Coitir is a former republican
prisoner and current political activist.

Grab All Association

Cam Ogie ✍ The core issue raised by the GAA’s continued relationship with Allianz is not contractual complexity, administrative inconvenience, or hypothetical sponsor anxiety. 

It is whether an organisation that claims ethical leadership can justify maintaining financial ties—direct or indirect—to structures implicated in mass human suffering. On that question, no economic argument can outweigh the moral gravity of genocide.

Genocide is not a matter of political interpretation or corporate inconvenience. It is an absolute moral wrong. To invoke insurance logistics, asset inventories, or sponsorship markets as mitigating factors is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of ethical responsibility. History does not judge institutions by how smoothly they maintained operations during atrocities; it judges whether they acted when action carried cost.

The argument that the GAA only deals with “Allianz Ireland” rather than the wider Allianz group is not a moral firewall—it is a legal abstraction. Corporate subsidiaries exist precisely to allow parent companies to benefit from global legitimacy while dispersing accountability. When a parent company is identified by a UN Special Rapporteur as complicit in violations of international law, claiming ethical innocence through organisational compartmentalisation is not prudence; it is moral evasion.

To say “everyone is entangled somewhere” is not a defence—it is an admission of a broken ethical framework. If moral action is abandoned the moment, it becomes inconvenient, then ethics cease to have meaning. The suggestion that disengagement would make the GAA “toxic” to sponsors implies that moral consistency is itself a liability. That should alarm, not reassure, the membership.

Equally troubling is the attempt to reframe the consequences of ethical action as harm to clubs. This reverses responsibility. Clubs are not endangered by moral leadership; they are endangered by decisions that prioritise financial continuity over human life. To suggest that standing against genocide would burden grassroots volunteers is to weaponise the very communities whose values the GAA claims to represent.

Statements of solidarity, humanitarian donations, and expressions of concern are not substitutes for ethical alignment. Condemning suffering while maintaining business-as-usual relationships with entities implicated in that suffering creates a moral contradiction. One cannot oppose injustice rhetorically while materially enabling the systems that sustain it.

The GAA has previously demonstrated that it can draw ethical red lines—on gambling, alcohol, and other forms of sponsorship. That proves capacity, not constraint. The refusal to apply the same standard here is therefore a choice, not an inevitability.

The question is not whether disengagement would be difficult. The question is whether an organisation rooted in community, history, and collective values is willing to accept discomfort in defence of human dignity. If genocide is not the point at which financial risk becomes acceptable, then the language of ethics has been reduced to branding.

Moral leadership is not measured by how carefully risk is mitigated, but by whether institutions are willing to act when mitigation is impossible. On this issue, neutrality is not caution. It is complicity.

⏩ Cam Ogie is a Gaelic games enthusiast. 

Not A Moral Firewall

Muiris Ó Súilleabháin ⚽ I am Gael, always have been and always will be. 

Football of the Gaelic variety was my primary hobby as I grew up in a war-torn Belfast. Being a Gael was dangerous back then, gun, bomb and arson attacks on GAA Clubs were commonplace but the craic on the pitch was always mighty as was the innate desire not to bend the knee.

I had a mediocre playing career that was cut short by a medical condition that meant I couldn’t catch a ball, kick a ball or run. The condition was diagnosed by my under 16 coach as “I didn’t think they could pile shit that high”. The transition from participant to spectator had many bonuses not least the sneaky underage pints at Casement which accompanied many an Antrim match and which eased the pain of the inevitable defeat.

Antrim football matches were not well attended during the eighties and nineties, and it wasn’t unusual for there to be more people on the pitch than there were supporters in the ageing Casement stand. The victory over Down in the early nineties gave us a glimmer of better days to come, but as the old adage goes “ it is the hope that kills you”.

The premature closure of Casement in 2013 by those with an eye to the King’s Shilling rather than the needs of Antrim GAA, sucked the life out of the limited joy I had experienced as an Antrim supporter for 40 odd years. The thoughts of standing on an embankment at Corrigan Park getting soaked or travelling up to the Glens to watch Antrim be on the receiving end of another 10-point drubbing just did not appeal to me.

At that stage in my life, I had nothing more than a passing interest in Cromwellian Ground Ball though I always had a fondness for the mighty reds from Merseyside. An impromptu trip to Anfield to watch Liverpool thump a potent Stoke 1-0 , converted me to a full blown fan that has graced Anfield numerous times since. Klopp led us to the holy grail of the premiership before hanging up his boots last year. The unheard-of Slot inherited a team, that had developed a habit of running out of steam at the business end of the season.

How Slot has brought this group of players to the verge of winning the Premier League in his first season has been nothing short of a miracle, one that eclipses Istanbul. The woeful display that merited an early exit from the Champions League is an indicator that Slot needs to buy to rebuild. Liverpool are top of the League and in what appears to be an unassailable position, but this should be viewed in the context of the Man City meltdown and Arsenal doing what Arsenal do.

Financial Fair Play rules means that Slot will have to sell to augment his squad for the 25/26 season. The limited FSG transfer kitty and the exit from the Champions League will impose a prudence the transfer committees plans.

The arrival of Mamardashvili, will surely spell the exit of Kelleher, who would be a starter for any other PL Club. Defensively, VVD is at an age, where even if he does sign another contract Slot will need some succession planning. The young lad from Dungannon will be an adequate replacement for Trent when he goes to sunny Spain, but we also will need back up at both right and left back. Tsimikas and unfortunately Gomez (who has been blighted by injury) will move on looking for first team football. Robertson has lost his command of the pitch, and it looks like he may be charged with preparing his replacement for first team football.

MacAllister, who is a worldie, Gravenberch, who has been the player of the season and Szoboszlai make up a formidable midfield, but it is unrealistic to expect them to produce 100% every match over what has become a gruelling fixture list. They need players who can step in to give them a rest and deliver in the “easier” fixtures. Despite the sentimentality surrounding Elliott and Jones, they just do not cut the mustard, they are not good enough to be Liverpool players but too good to be bench warmers. Endo deserves credit for upping his game and becoming a sub who can close games down and we should have no difficulty recouping his transfer fee and then some.

Up front Salah is the same position as big Virg, even if he signs an extension to his contract, it would be sensible to sign his replacement this summer to allow for acclimatisation to the demands of English football. Diaz it would appear has his mind made up and will do a Suarez to Barcelona. Gakpo has the makings of a good goal scorer but needs a run of matches in his preferred position to establish himself. Jota, excuse the crudity, but he does not look like he could score in a brothel with a pocket full of fifties and has an injury record that means he should be offloaded. Nunez is the enigma, pockets of world class brilliance, interspersed with periods of absolute rubbish. I was fond of him and thought he had potential, but the penalty against PSG heralds his departure from LFC.

25/26 will be the season to judge Liverpool’s progress under FSG and Slots prowess as a manger. While winning our 20th League title makes me warm inside, I would like us to win our 21st title at least before Casement is completed. The hope though, will not get to me.

⏩Muiris Ó Súilleabháin was a member of the Republican Movement until he retired in 2006 after 20 years of service. Fiche bhliain ag fás.

The Mighty Reds

Anthony McIntyre ⚽ My friend of more than four decades, from back in the H Blocks, is in Santa Ponsa at the minute with his family. 

Nevertheless, Alex still took the time out to watch the All-Ireland football final between Armagh and Galway, posting Armagh Abú on social media this afternoon ahead of the game. The Nordies are sticking together on this one!

He had been looking a well air conditioned bar to watch it in and was considering the Celt's Well. I have happy memories of getting juiced in that pub with big Sav from the Murph. We went out for one and, as it happens, stayed the day. 

The weather here throughout the day was nothing comparable to that being experienced by Alex, but like him I don't do the heat very well so can't complain. In Santa Ponsa back in 2000 I spent most of the remaining four days of a two week holiday in the apartment, reading and watching television with my wife who was about four months into her pregnancy.  The sun at the end of August was simply too sweltering for me. 

Still, today wasn't a bad day, dry and comfortably warm. So after I walked the dog for about two hours I plonked myself down on the settee to watch the game. My constant companion on the couch for sporting events, my son, was off in Blanchardstown doing some last minute shopping ahead of his trip in a party of nineteen to Greece tomorrow. Go easy on the Ouzo and stay in the shade is about as much advice as he got from me. He has been abroad before, at school on one occasion in Arizona for five months, so travelling is no great challenge to him. And he did follow the match . . . on his phone. It is where teenagers live their lives in this age, prompting the old adage that youth is wasted on the young!! 

Today's final was a to and fro battle for supremacy which Armagh won by the narrowest of margins - a single point. A few weeks ago Dublin brimmed on Euro final day with Galway supporters who had just won a semi final against Tipperary, guaranteeing their place in today's Croker clash. Noisy and in jubilant form their colours bedecked the capital. The mood in the city this evening as the same fans depart for home will be a much more subdued affair, drinks, mournful rather than celebratory. A friend who lives in the county and and was in the stands today will be the recipient of a commiseration call from me tomorrow morning. 

For the Armagh fans, whose journey home is much shorter, they will not experience the glumness that comes with cup final defeat. When the champions return to their native city it will be one of those rare occasions where Armagh nationalists will welcome a tsunami of Orange.

While an avid soccer fan, and not very knowledgeable about GAA sports, I make a point of watching All Ireland finals. There is a frenetic pace to the football that is so often lacking in soccer. The Armagh hand passing was exquisite, the interchange as they moved through the zones strategic. It left me confident from an early stage that they would win. Yet Galway ran them close, hitting the post in the dying seconds.

For part of the play a wounded seagull scampered around the pitch. For the superstitious, an omen that one of the contesting sides was not going to soar. The bird was grounded in the Galway half.  A close fought contest with the sides level on at least five occasions, it was never going to be a high scoring encounter.  An Armagh goal really made the difference to the final tally with Galway up against it from that point on. But they nearly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and would certainly have won the game had it not been for the wayward frees from both feet of Shane Walsh. Twice he failed to put the ball over the bar, under hitting it, allowing it to drop harmlessly into the gathering arms of Armagh. Other frees he put wide. One such wasted effort would prove even more of a pivotal moment than the Armagh goal. The Orange County once in possession from the squandered free, never relinquished the ball until they bagged a point of their own just off the inside of the upright.  That's sport and its vagaries. A torrid time for Walsh but off days come to the best of players. Galway, with an estimated twelve shots more than their opponents, simply failed to convert. 

It was only the second time in their history that the Orchard County won the Sam Maguire. And on the day that was in it my thoughts drifted to my old jail buddy big Sid McManus, an Armagh man to the core. Probably because the last time I met him he had boarded a bus in Armagh . . . en route to Galway. Life and its quirks.

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Armagh Abú

Robert Emmet 1916 Society Lisnaskea ✊Born out of genocide and oppression, it now plays an integral role in many parishes, towns, and cities throughout Ireland and continues to be instrumental in connecting the Irish diaspora and Irish immigrants abroad.



After centuries of Irish culture, language, indigenous sports, and pastimes had been deliberately eroded by English, later British colonialism, it was no coincidence that many of its founding members had links to political organisations namely the Land League and Republican movements such as the Young Irelanders Movement later the IRB (Fenians) whom for their time were progressive and revolutionary.

At the turn of the 20th century and pre revolutionary Ireland, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was growing at a considerable rate throughout the country with clubs also being established in America by former members and sympathisers to Clan na Gael (who were a sister organisation to the Fenians). The influence of Republicans was pivotal in its rapid growth and development. Historically, the GAA and Republicans shared a common goal of a free and Sovereign Ireland. Aspirations that are still visible today, although mostly in name only with clubs and stadiums named after revolutionaries and Republicans from the United Irishmen, IRB, Cuman nh Ban, and Hunger Strikers.

Not only was the newly founded Gaelic Athletic Association gaining the attention of British forces, but also from more localised influences like that of the Catholic Church who in turn tried to kill the association when in its infancy because of the level of IRB members involvement and influence within its ranks. This was not surprising considering the churches hostility towards the Fenian movement, who not only wanted an end to the British occupation of Ireland but also a complete separation from church and state. A demand that didn't sit well with Catholic bishops who in turn stated: "Hell was not good enough for the Fenians."

The purpose of this article is not a history lesson, but to fully acknowledge its content, I feel it necessary to briefly allude to the politics behind the formation of the Gaelic Athletic Association as today, there are many in positions on county boards and others on club committees who ignore our history, are ignorant to it, and even try to rewrite history to suit their own narrative. 

What was once a grassroots and anti-colonial association is now governed by elites who strive to protect their own interests, both political and economic, but like all groups, the GAA is not homogenous and never was homogenous in its makeup with some of Ireland's most right wing and reactionary forces being members.

With the establishment of the Counter Revolutionary Irish Free State, the GAA became fully co-opted into the ultra conservative ways of the state in which it existed. Illustrated during All-Ireland match day formalities when a Catholic hymn would be sung before team captains knelt before a bishop to kiss his ring in what was supposedly a mark of respect and obedience to the church. Conservative Ireland at its ugliest worst. The official naming in 1950 of O'Duffy Terrace at St. Tiarnach's Park Clones, after leading member of the Blue Shirts Eoin O'Duffy, is certainly not the GAAs most memorable achievement. Today, the terrace is still named after the disgraced Irish fascist.

It is natural for an organisation like the GAA that is embedded in the community to be influenced by the hegemony of the state, as was the case in the Irish Free State. In the North of Ireland, particularly during the lastest 30-year war, when the nationalist and republican community bore the full brunt of state oppression for many, the GAA acted as a nucleus in keeping communities together. To be a member of the GAA alone was enough to be harassed, intimidated, and worse by British security forces and their loyalist proxy paramilitaries who were controlled and directed by British state intelligence thus having impunity to murder.

In 2001, (Rule 21) a rule that had existed for over a century banning members of the British security forces from GAA membership had been dropped from the GAA constitution after a vote in which all counties in the 26 counties supported along with Co. Down in the British occupied 6 counties. Rule 21 was abolished under the pretence of there being major changes in policing in the North. Unsurprisingly, given their lived experience of British security forces, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry, and Antrim voted to retain Rule 21.

Four years prior to Rule 21, being abolished, there was the horrific murder of GAA member Seàn Brown. Seàn was abducted as he locked the gates of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club before being tortured and killed by loyalist paramilitaries. Loyalist paramilitaries who were largely made up of state agents, as was the case with Seán's killers, who today are being protected by the PSNI. A clear indication that the PSNI are no different than their predecessors, the sectarian RUC. As Seàn Brown's family and many other familes are still being denied justice and their murderers protected by the PSNI the GAA sees it as acceptable to be recruiting sergeants for the PSNI when they advertise for recruitment in All-Ireland match day programmes for a police force who is controlled and directed by the head of British intelligence which is contrary to the GAA constitution.

The GAA constitution states: 

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 Nations desire to live her own life, to govern her own affairs. 

Words that clearly state the association aspire to a 32 county Ireland free from foreign rule while also acknowledging to have played a part and are part of the nation's desire for a sovereign Ireland but to recruit for a police force whose sole purpose is to serve and protect British imperial interests in Ireland is antithetical to the fundamental objectives of the association.

A recent article in the Irish News newspaper by Connla Young 27/04/2024 once again emphasizes the sheer hypocrisy of the GAA's top table when a traditional music band were forced to withdraw from playing at the recent Ulster championship game between Derry and Donegal because of the bands support for Palestine. The band had become a regular feature at Derry's home fixtures, but before the crunch championship match, Ulster Council chief executive Brian McAvoy insisted the band could not play under their name, Saoirse don Phalaistín (Freedom for Palestine). The band was also told they could not display a Palestine flag or make any references to Palestine.


After the outbreak of the Russian US proxy war in Ukraine, the GAA openly supported Ukrainian victims of the conflict with Ukrainian children bringing the Liam McCarthy cup onto the field on All-Ireland final day. Colin Regan, the GAA's Community Manager, stating:

Whatever we do in terms of that visibility - making sure that they appreciate that the Irish communities are 100% behind them, that the association is doing whatever we can. 

Many clubs also held fundraisers for Ukrainian refugees, but when it comes to genocide in Palestine, the GAA (quoting their own words) are apolitical. Totally ignoring the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has seen close to 35,000 deaths over 15,000 of whom are children. For the GAA, is it a case of some lives matter more than others?

It is understandable that many within the GAA today have been heavily influenced by the hegemony of today's status quo, as was the case in the past. What we are seeing today is the outworkings of a 25-year pacification process as the higher echelons of the Gaelic Athletic Association are doing all in their power to abandon the proud anti-colonial and anti-imperialist roots of Irelands, most socially valuable organisation but thankfully not all Gaels have abandoned their roots.

The GAA belongs to the people and that it must remain.

GAA Abandons Its Radical Origins

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