Bloody GAA

[Paddy Ramone]

Originally posted by republic
What's unusual about that??

I thought all FG'rs were unionists

God knows what teams the PD's support.......

The PD's hate football or soccer as they'd call it since they support Ireland joining the USA as the 51st state. Probably prefer American Football

You're a bit unfair on the "Blueshirts" only some of them are Unionists, they do trace their ancestory back to Michael Collins and Sinn Fein.

[Paddy Ramone]

Originally posted by gspain
I actually know an Alliance voting Blueman - I've staye din his house. I also used to know a Fine Gael voter who supported the Blues.

The GAA's official policy for the last 25 years has been to support "the sturggle for national liberation" In the absenc eof clarification I think we all know what that means. Tyrone players were allowed to be used in GAA kit on SF election material. Dungiven GAA chairman/Republican Movement MLA Francie Brolly stated "the gAA is synonymous with Republicanism".

There certainly is a link between the GAA and Republicanism. But aren't Alliance Party, Fine Gael and SDLP voters also involved in the GAA.

I'm no apologist for the GAA but haven't nearly all those from Catholic Nationalist backgrounds who've played for Northern Ireland played GAA. Pat Jennings, Martin O'Neill and Gerry Armstrong all came from GAA backgrounds before switching to association football.

Nearly all Nationalist Catholic families have links with the GAA and that's a fact and they see it as way of expressing their Irish identity whether we like it or not.

[gspain]

Originally posted by Paddy Ramone
There certainly is a link between the GAA and Replicanism. But aren't Alliance Party, Fine Gael and SDLP voters are also involved in the GAA.

I'm no apologist for the GAA but haven't nearly all those from Catholic Nationalist backgrounds who've played for Northern Ireland played GAA. Pat Jennings, Martin O'Neill and Gerry Armstrong all came from GAA backgrounds before switching to association football.

Nearly all Nationalist Catholic families have links with the GAA and that's a fact and they see it as way of expressing their Irish identity whether we like it or not.

Paddy my point is very simple.

The background of followers is not at issue. Of course there are thousands of decent GAA people.

However the GAA as an organisation is sectarian and anti British. furthermore as an organisation (or units of its organisation) it has shown support in many different ways for the Republican Movement which includes a private terorist army.

Given that it is so choosy who is allowed to use its premises eg Statoil can't hold the Junior Cup draw on GAA property this makes throwing its doors open to ex POWs (sic) of the "struggle for national liberation" all the worse.

Now the F.A.I. does not have a policy on the 2Struggle for national liberation" nor does Linfield opr Cobh Ramblers or Bective Rangers RFC.

2 different drug dealers in Limerick have supported us in the past - you can't help who your supporters are but you can help what your policies are.

[Paddy Ramone]

Originally posted by gspain
Paddy my point is very simple.
However the GAA as an organisation is sectarian and anti British.

The GAA is indeed an anti-British organisation but to say it is sectarian is debatable. They did elect a Protestant (but still a GAA bigot) as president. Sam Maguire was a Protestant and a friend of Michael Collins and fought on the pro-treaty side in the civil war. They could do a lot more though to encourage Ulster Protestants and Unionists to play their games.

[fromthenorthffs]

Furthermore Linfield never had any asscoiation with terorist organisations.

Does having you gate money pinched as the ground gets locked up count?

[gspain]

Originally posted by Paddy Ramone
The GAA is indeed an anti-British organisation but to say it is sectarian is debatable. They did elect a Protestant (but still a GAA bigot) as president. Sam Maguire was a Protestant and a friend of Michael Collins and fought on the pro-treaty side in the civil war. They could do a lot more though to encourage Ulster Protestants and Unionists to play their games.

Sam Maguire was also an IRA man and as you say Jack Boothman is a member of the CoI

While the GAA have no overtly sectarian rules and I genuinely believe if somebody turned up at a GAA club and said they were protestant and fancied a gam eof hurling they'd be made welcome the whole ethos of the oprganisation is RC - based on the parish and even Jack Boothman's first official function a spresident was to attend a Mass in his honour.

[Paddy Ramone]

The GAA do have a very "pure" vision of Irish identity though. I read about when IRA prisoners in Co Kerry were executed by De Valera ( a rugbyman of course!) during the "emergency", the IRA wanted the GAA to cancel their matches in protest. The GAA refused and one GAA member, a Catholic priest accused IRA members of playing "foreign games".

Interesting the IRA have never banned their members from playing "foreign games". Examples include de Valera, Kevin Barry, William Cosgrave, Sean Lemass, Brendan Behan, Martin McGuinness (brother played for Derry City) and Martin Ferris.

Although there was a ban in Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League) on members playing foreign games up until the 1940's.
Gaelic League founder Douglas Hyde was even a victim of the ban after he attended an international match in Dalymount!

[Lionel Ritchie]

Originally posted by Paddy Ramone
The GAA is indeed an anti-British organisation but to say it is sectarian is debatable.

Paddy ... in your very own statement you show their sectarianism is not debatable.
You're narrowing sectarian to a purely religious prejudice when sectarian actually covers any discrimination by one group of people on another based on the latters belonging to a different 'Sect' ...It need not be a religious sect. It can be a cultural, social, political, racial.

Therefore if the GAA are anti-British they are by definition sectarian. Wherther anyone likes it or not about a fifth of the population of Ireland consider themselves British to one degree or another.

Nice dodge incidently on whether it's appropriate for the GAA to make it's premises available for republican prisoners fundraisers which gspain raised.

Considering their geographical catchment area Linfield in all likelihood have supporters with loyalist tendencies ...who knows probably even with loyalist paramilitary links. That's no more Linfields fault than the muppets with different paramilitary initials on their knuckles who possibly follow Cliftonville, Limerick, Derry City, Cork City, Dundalk etc... are the fault of those clubs.

[Bring Back Mick]

Think back to World Cup 2002 / 94 /90 how much money was made by GAA clubs selling Ireland polo / t shirts etc for these competitons through the clubs througout the UK and Ireland...

I say send the bulldozers into croker and build some flats, offices and a shopping mall prime city centre spot, and start again with a stadia for all sports played in ireland !!!

[petef]

The government (well tax payer in the end, it always is isnt it) fell hook line and sinker into this one by handing them the cash to go ahead without any agreement regarding the opening of Croker to other sports in the first place.

[Bald Student]

The exact opposite is true. The government (or the national lottery in this case) handed them the money in order to prevent Croker from being opened.

[petef]

This gets even more confusing, the only thing then is thats its a complete contradiction in terms.

[Bring Back Mick]

Well they might as well bring Disney land to Ireland @ Croke Pk, run by a micky mouse organization anyways..............

[gspain]

Most of the initial funding for Croke Park came with no strings attached. With hindsight a mistake by the government.

The last batch (€38 million still unpaid) came the night before avote to open Croke Park because the "broken glass spreaders" were in danger of going bankrupt and Bertie wanted to keep Abbottstown alive.

The england rugby game last year was worth €90 million to the economy. It was impossible to get a hotel bed within a 50 mile radius of Dublin. Wales bring 15,000 rugby fans over for every game here (only about 5,000) get in. Many go to Limerick and don't go near Dublin. Scotland always bring a large travelling crowd too. Our football Internationals are also worth a considerable amount with significant home support travelling from the UK as well as some travelling fans. All this money will be lost to our economy for 2-3 years while Lansdowne is being redeveloped.