Paul Breen writes about the GAA facing some tough choices

Right now, this organisation is entrenched in controversy. Historically, it has seen itself as custodian of Ireland’s national games. But the state of the nation’s changing to something more secular and progressive.

Unfortunately, in Ireland’s hinterlands, there are still places that haven’t moved out of the past.

There, you’ll find ambiguity to abuse, especially when enacted by perpetrators who are community figureheads.

Back in the 1990s, when the Church scandals started to break, I had a conversation with a very pious lady in her 80s.

She was terribly shocked about the abuse of little boys, in particular, so she said quite brazenly: “You could understand if it had been wee girls.”

I don’t think anyone would say that so publicly today, but the same rot, the same disease, lies latent in certain places. And like a cold sore, it appears suddenly when the conditions are right.

Ironically, of all places, the sores of recent times appear to centre on Derry. This is a place that should know more about injustice than most, including the failures of legal systems to address grievances.

In the summer of 2023, Rory Gallagher, then manager of the county, stepped down from his position because of allegations of domestic abuse.

Later, another manager was appointed – Mickey Harte, a legendary figure within the GAA who tarnished his reputation by providing a character reference for a sex offender in court.

Now, with Mickey Harte gone, for sporting rather than moral reasons, Rory Gallagher’s allegedly in the frame for the managerial hot-seat again.

But in going back over such contentious ground, Derry’s County Board are playing to the very worst stereotypes of the GAA being seen as an organisation of backrooms and so-called ‘Bogball’.

That’s a derogatory term often used in urban circles to portray Gaelic games as belonging to a world of tribalism, violence and backwardness.

Roddy Doyle once suggested that Dubliners only follow the GAA to pass time between gaps in the soccer season.

And notably this was at a time when Dublin were picking up All-Ireland titles as easily as bags of turf in the bogs of the more rural counties beyond the metropolis.

But in recent years, in terms of profile, the GAA has fashioned a whole new image for itself, becoming mainstream on Sky Sports and the BBC.

Throughout the world, Gaelic games are played and watched.

The GAA as an organisation is up in the bright lights of public view, revered across continents.

There are Gaelic football clubs, both men’s and women’s, everywhere from Brookeborough to Buenos Aires.

This is now a world game, as recognisable across the planet as any that featured in the recent Olympic Games in Paris.

But the GAA is also a distinctively Irish organisation, styling its games as national sports.

Ireland though is changing, attitudinally and demographically. In such a nation, the GAA needs to behave like other sports’ bodies.

Look at how soccer, Australian Rules and Rugby Union handles any whiff of indecency, any behaviour that brings bad publicity.

Just a few weeks ago at Charlton Athletic FC, the club disassociated itself from a former sponsor tweeting support for Tommy Robinson.

Such things go against the values of equality, diversity and inclusivity that are now at the heart of sports, universally.

In the 21st Century, reputable sporting organisations cannot be seen to condone anything that paints their reputation in a negative light.

For the GAA, there’s a bigger issue at play too. For the Nationalist community, there’s another All-Ireland at stake here. That’s the fair, socially just, reunited Ireland that may emerge in the future.

Within Gaelic games, there are some great ambassadors and role models for such an Ireland.

One of those is Jarlath Burns, the current President of the GAA, a man who represents all that’s positive about the parishes of Ireland, at the same time as having progressive values.

One month ago, his native Armagh won the Men’s All-Ireland football final, the Sam Maguire Cup, Gaelic football’s holy grail.

The speech that he gave in the aftermath truly captured a sense of what it means to be Presidential, to be conscious of his role as an Irish ambassador.

Jarlath Burns shared the pitch of victory with everyone. And he has some fine form in reaching across fields of division.

Outside of football, he has spoken equally eloquently about political issues, including relations with the Orange Order.

In doing that, he has tried to move discussions on from the impasse of such issues as the Drumcree Orangemen trying to parade down the Garvaghy Road.

He has shifted conversations towards common ground in areas such as faith, values, traditions and community.

This is somebody who’s willing to do the hard yards and move outside his comfort zone in order to bring the people of this island together. That’s the kind of role model which the GAA needs nowadays.

It doesn’t need a win-at-all-costs mentality, even if sometimes in sport there’s a terrible physical truth.

The biggest thug, the nastiest bully, the sly puncher below the belt has the perfect skillset to be a winner.

But then isn’t that the very kind of bullying that Northern Nationalism fought so insistently against on the parading issue?

Would it be any worse to see the Drumcree Orangemen parading down the Garvaghy Road than it would be to see a GAA team without any moral compass climbing the steps of Croke Park next summer?

And what kind of speech could a GAA President make on such a day?

Personally, if I was him, I’d ‘chuck a sickie’, as they say in Australia. I couldn’t stomach the reputational damage.

Because there won’t be an All-Ireland of another kind unless we imagine something new, where we cherish all the children of our nation equally, regardless of creed, colour or gender.

We’ve heard enough dark whispers of the past. “Sure, if only it was wee girls”, “Ach, sure, she must have been wearing too short a skirt”, “Mickey’s a good lad, comes from a good family”, and more.

I wouldn’t like to see an Ireland of the future shaped around such values.

The GAA as an organisation representative of Irishness should leave such values off the pitch and not even on the sidelines.

It’s possible for this beautiful game, born in the parishes of Ireland, to be part of the universal spirit of justice characterising modern sports.

Paul Breen is @paulbreenauthor on X.