The 42 Reports from Croke Park
THE COST OF staging a GAA Special Congress in person, with delegates flying in from America and Britain, is estimated at over six figures.
It could, as Director-General Tom Ryan pointed out, have been done over Zoom, but there are optics to consider when you are making the most radical alterations to your most popular game.
Hosting an in-person Special Congress, one that voted in practically every one of the 61 Motions relating to the drastic change to Gaelic football as designed by the Football Review Committee, had to be given the respect it deserved.
“We can hold a congress remotely,” said GAA President Jarlath Burns after the event.
“We just felt that because it was to do with a very, very intimate part of our operation, which is the rules of one of our games, that we decided it was better to have everybody here and the
“FRC (the Football Review Committee) were very keen that everybody would be here as well.”
And with that, he extended his gratitude to the group, headed up by Presidential hopeful Jim Gavin, and the work which they had put in over the previous 20 months.
“They achieved every one of the goals that they set out to. They began with this vision that they wanted to make Gaelic football the best field sport to play and watch and participate in.
“I think, based on what we have seen this year, they have done that, and the club championships that we have seen so far have really cemented that, so we pay tribute to all of them.”
If the business of the day was passed off with a brisk nature, the business of the GAA itself is rarely smooth.
The cost of doing business for the biggest sporting body in the country means commerce, and lots of it. By and large, this has always been largely manageable.
GAA commercial deals from top to bottom were always with trusted, local companies. In the event of being out of step with the GAA public, such as allowing gambling companies to sponsor clubs, they eventually would rule it out.
But the world is changing.
Right now, the GAA are concerned about streaming. TG4 have reported that they are experiencing difficulties in securing county finals, with county boards recently deciding to go with some streaming services.
“We’re not anti-streaming; the more people can watch our games, the better. We’re not luddites. We’re in the streaming market ourselves with GAA+,” explained Burns.
“But it’s just we want to make sure that our counties are getting best value for money. We want to make sure that the contract is commensurate with something that gives them the advantage, that allows them to keep the footage, that the footage belongs to them.
“And also then that there isn’t any ambush marketing, that any company that comes in along with a county is respectful of the fact that the GAA has sponsors, and that we have to be very careful about how we go about that business.”
The biggest sponsor of Gaelic games is Allianz’s Irish division, a fact which has been hugely problematic for the GAA since the UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese published a report on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Allianz’s parent company, through its subsidiary PIMCO, was listed among the companies and corporations Ms Albanese reported to hold Israeli war bonds.
david-hickeyDr Dave Hickey, former Dublin player and selector and member of Gaels Against Genocide. Tom Maher / INPHOTom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
A pressure group, Gaels Against Genocide, has petitioned the GAA to drop the sponsorship deal with Allianz, who sponsor the National Leagues as well as the All-Ireland championships.
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At the last Central Council meeting, the matter was referred to the GAA’s Ethics Committee.
Asked if they have reported back, Burns replied, “They are doing quite a lot of research into it. They‘re not just going to, you know… we have to understand the concept of critical theory, that we don’t just take everything at face value.
“At that meeting where we decided to refer it to the ethics and integrity commission, we also made our second sizeable financial donation to Gaza and to the stricken people there.
“We’ve also, for the first time ever, the GAA has never before in our history issued a statement on a geopolitical issue outside of Ireland. We broke that when we made the statement in Gaza last year.
“And we have met Gaels for Gaza, and we are quite happy to be associated with them, but I can’t really comment on that until the ethics and integrity commission does its work, and we’re going to give them time and space to do that.”
While he was talking, the work going on to change Croke Park back from an NFL stadium was taking place, with seats being removed from Hill 16. The arrival of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings also brought with it some global scrutiny.
Various commentators expressed their revulsion that the GAA would host an NFL game, citing, among other examples, the overt displays of devotion to the American military and the way in which Colin Kaepernick was frozen out of the NFL after expressing his opposition to police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.
a-general-view-of-the-actionThe NFL game played at Croke Park. Laszlo Geczo / INPHOLaszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation, was scathing when appearing in a panel hosted by Sport Against Racism Ireland, in saying, “The NFL is not a bystander to what’s happening in the U.S., they are actually an aggravator of it.”
Asked by The 42 if there were further plans to host NFL games in Croke Park, Burns had a lengthy response.
“I do know that there was somebody who came over and he had disparaging marks to make about the NFL, the same way as that if we go up north there are people who make very disparaging marks about the GAA if you choose to look at the GAA through a particular lens.
“We chose to look at it through a different lens. We went over to Pittsburgh last year, spent a week with the Rooney family, and they are rooted in their Irish roots, very, very proud to be Irish. In fact, one of the events we were at was an Ireland Funds dinner that they hosted and paid for in their stadium.
“And they come back to Ireland; one of the things that they did, they went back to Newry, they gave £10,000 to two schools, secondary schools in Newry, to children who would experience different barriers to education, to help them. ‘No Mind Left Behind’ was what it was called.
“So the Rooney family, in particular, are a family that came from Ireland, that have made it really big in Pittsburgh, but are still very proud of their Irish roots.
“I saw more people of colour in this stadium than I’ve ever seen it, on the field and off the field at that match. In fact, it had the words ‘end racism’ written on the pitch, the first time ever.”
He added, “So we have a really good relationship. They were proud to be in Croke Park, they know that when they play in Croke Park it’s not like playing in any other stadium in the world, and they accepted that and they understood that; that’s why they were so honoured to play here.
“And they are very keen to come back, and for us being a responsible party in Irish society, we also have our part to play in trying to improve society in Ireland, and one of the things that we have noticed is there has been a 12% uplift in takings in Dublin over that weekend.
“There was a fantastic atmosphere with all of the USA people over. The government worked with us, the government worked with the NFL, and it is the responsibility of the GAA to be part of that, to try and do our best to improve people’s lives, and we feel that we did that really well through having the NFL here.”
Earlier in the day, Burns gave an indication that there will be proposals brought to Annual Congress in Croke Park in February that he teased, “They are going to be a bit radical.
“There’s a lot of varied views on what the amateur status means to players and to counties and to everybody else. Essentially what we’re trying to achieve is to make it easier for our county players to play the game and live their lives, and to make it easier for our counties to pay for playing the game at the highest level. That’s the two biggest things that our Amateur Status Committee is trying to achieve.”
On a day when business was meant to be cleared up quick smart, there is no end to the business of the GAA.
Written by Declan Bogue and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.