Martin Breheny and the enemy within ...

I read this article in today's Indo from Martin Breheny. I have to say it mirrors a lot of concerns I have about the state of the gaa and is worth a read. And its a concern everyone should have.

GAA's biggest threat is from enemy withinTwenty years ago next month, I invited a solicitor friend of mine to attend an Ulster football championship game between Down and Tyrone in Castleblayney. Dubliner David Bergin had no link with either Down or Tyrone and was given just one brief – to interpret in a strictly legal sense how many incidents could be deemed as assaults if they occurred on the street.

Naturally, that did not embrace the permitted interaction which is part of all physical contact sports; nor did it include careless or accidental clashes, however bad they might appear. No, he was to look out solely for examples of where the line between acceptable aggression and assault was crossed in a deliberate manner.

He adjudged that there were more than 10 incidents which were borderline and at least four which were beyond reasonable doubt. As a former captain and centre for Palmerston rugby club, Bergin wasn’t exactly a stranger to thumping tackles so he came down instinctively on the players’ side, yet he reckoned that quite a few could have serious cases to answer in a court of law.

I undertook the exercise because Ulster was going through what might euphemistically be called a ‘frothy’ period, where clouds of red mist appeared to be attracted to its championship venues. It was happening far too often and was bringing the entire GAA into disrepute.

Twenty years on, what has changed? Ulster counties are much more successful, far higher numbers attend the games (imagine playing a football championship semi-final in Castleblayney nowadays) while, off-field, the province has become a model of developmental advancement.

Rotten

The games are less violent too, yet hardly a season goes by without at least one clash which festers into something rotten. However unacceptable it might have been, there was an honesty about the aggression of 20 years ago as opposed to the sneaky, spiteful cowardice which marred last Sunday’s Derry-Monaghan game.

Has there been an apology from either county for bringing the GAA into disrepute? Is that a pig I see flying past the window waving a banner exhorting us to “never apologise, never explain”.

Two years ago this week, Cork and Clare disgraced themselves in Thurles prior to a Munster championship hurling game. The players’ antics as they ran onto the Semple Stadium pitch demanded leadership from their county boards in the form of an apology which, if offered, should have ended the matter.

Instead, they adopted the silent routine which brought down the wrath of the disciplinary forces, leading to suspensions which may well have cost Cork the Munster title and weakened their All-Ireland prospects. Cork, in particular, fought their case all the way, becoming increasingly more isolated in their stubborn attempt to convince everybody else that black was white because they said so.

If the Derry and Monaghan county boards had the good grace to publicly acknowledge in a joint statement that what went on at Celtic Park last Sunday was unacceptable, it would offer some hope for the future but, as with Cork and Clare two years ago, apparently it was all a media invention.

Couple that with the nonsense that only Ulster people understand their championship and how it means more to them than other provinces. There was even a suggestion last year, from people who should have known better, that Ulster referees should ref Ulster games because they understood the culture.

They got their way last Sunday with Donegal’s Jimmy White but it didn’t make much difference because there certainly wasn’t much culture attached to what he was facing.

The general malaise extends beyond Ulster and is based on the most sickening form of hypocrisy and cowardice. Irrespective of how serious the offence, how low, cheating or sneaky the perpetrators, county boards will defend them as ‘the end justifies the means’.

Worryingly from a PR viewpoint, last Sunday’s game was being shown live on RTE at the same time as their online service was beaming images of rugby fans welcoming home the successful Leinster team to the RDS.

It all boils down to this – the GAA is facing enough challenges from global sports like rugby and soccer without creating their own. Carefully handled, it can comfortably cope with outside challenges but not if the enemy within continues on its destructive course.

Jayo - are we really facing threats from other sports -in the North Derry and Antrim would lose some guys to Soccer but apart from that i think the current economic climate is more of a threat.

As the article says this kind of stuff has been going on years and yet GAA in the North is now stonger than ever. Borderline incidents occur in every sport including rugby - O'Driscoll and O' Gara in recent years were taken out of games because of the threat they posed in a far more barbaric fashion than anything your likely to see on a GAA pitch

Realistically how many GAA players are going to quit because of what happened last Sunday between Derry and Monaghan - none, its just scare mongering. And furthermore somewhere along the line this sumer there is going to be a clinker of a match which will recruit more players to clubs all over the country or encourage those who stopped playing at a young age to go back to the sport.

I dont see what Co Boards or managers have to gain by apologising - surely if the discipline system was doing its job they would incur suspensions etc whether they apologise or not.