A United Ireland. Opening up the discussion.

[BennyCake]

"Outreaching" to moderate or apolitical Protestants or other pro union people should be encouraged.

Yes, but not at the expense of our own community.

Ní thuigim.
Please explain???

Well, time, money and effort spent pandering to unionists for little return. We should be focusing on improving structures, facilities, coaches etc already there for locals. The gaa is immersed in Irish culture, language, identity etc, so a lot of unionists don't relate to that and never will no matter what is done.

I'm not saying don't reach out to unionists, but our priority is our local kids, local schools etc. The people whose identity is an Irish one and who will be connectd to the gaa all their lives.

Local Catholic schools and local Catholic children only then?

I didn't say that.

Anyway, schools are only part of it.

[BennyCake]

there are huge swathes of nationalist kids in both Derry and Belfast not in the gaa fold, surely the aim should be get all our own first before licking the holes of any loyalist knackers to play GAA

I wouldn't have used those exact words, but yes, I'd agree with that.

[BennyCake]

With the ILA thing the way it is, the GAA will be affected too because it promotes Irish on jerseys, grounds, programs etc. And that will drive unionists further from having an association with the GAA. We have the DUP and SF to thank for that.

[GJL]

there are huge swathes of nationalist kids in both Derry and Belfast not in the gaa fold, surely the aim should be get all our own first before licking the holes of any loyalist knackers to play GAA

I wouldn't have used those exact words, but yes, I'd agree with that.

+1

[smelmoth]

Wonder how many clubs are actively supporting the Irish language or traditional music, song etc?
Time for the basic aim to be the promotion of the Gaelic games of football, hurling....etc.
Leave politics to the politicians,  Traditional music to Comhaltas, The language to Conradh and so on.

Agreed. No need for the GAA to act like it's the sporting equivilent of the Wolfe Tones (not a bad auld group, but not exactly agents of cross-community understanding). The one positive of the new age corporate GAA bean counters is that they will likely shy away from the jingoism over the next few decades and try to appeal to other ethnic groups in the country. Money tends to be a powerful motivation.

The club I'm from promotes all of the above. I would imagine they will continue to do so. If this puts people from a different background from joining our club then I'm sorry about that but this is what we are. Take it or leave it.

Fine. Don't make any effort to make Protestants feel welcome. Don't try to grow your club by recruiting from an under-represented demographic. Stick to your little clique and shun all outsiders, newcomers, and everyone who doesn't look like you. But don't come crying to me when unionists keep attacking Irish culture because they think it's alien or threatening to them.

So you think our club should stop the Irish language evening classes?  We should stop teaching kids how to play Irish music so they can enter Scor?

Where did I say anything remotely close to that? If I had my way there'd be a lot more protestants attending said Irish language evening classes, learning Irish music, and participating in Scór. But it's not going to happen in your club if it's named after an INLA man.

I'm sorry but I don't see why the club should have to change its name to suit a handful of Protestants? Kevin Lynch means more to the people of Dungiven and the rest of the North than what it would mean to have a few Protestants join the club. Leave the clubs as they are. If anyone new wants to join, then come ahead. If not, then stay away. You take away names, take away the anthem, take away the flag. Jesus men, have some pride in yourselves.

Lynch was a renegade, a bully and a thug. He means very little to the majority of the people in NI

[smelmoth]

A lot of Protestant want nothing to do with the gaa, Irish language etc, but how many northern Catholics are interested in playing hockey or cricket or wish to learn the Ulster Scots "language"? Should Protestant culture be doing more to recruit northern Catholics?

Parking Ulster Scots the other 2 do try.
Cricket is very regional though. A lot easier to get a catholic from NW Tyrone to play cricket than say Fermanagh or Newry

[smelmoth]

I think people here are far to eager to give up who we are in the hope of getting more people involved.

Perhaps our clubs should give up any and all signs of Irishness to attract others, we might as well go the whole way turn ourselves into Soccer clubs sure that way no-one would be offended by who we are, have a side team of Rugby so the more refined would want to join too, Bland FC could be the new name.

I can understand the thought behind it and of course I'm using hyperbole, and some measures to promote the inclusiveness of the GAA  but we could quickly go down the route of being everything to everyone and ending up being nothing. The word that is always used about the GAA is community, if you stop reflecting your community what are we left with.

But are you really being asked to give up that much?

[smelmoth]

"Outreaching" to moderate or apolitical Protestants or other pro union people should be encouraged.

Yes, but not at the expense of our own community.

Ní thuigim.
Please explain???

Well, time, money and effort spent pandering to unionists for little return. We should be focusing on improving structures, facilities, coaches etc already there for locals. The gaa is immersed in Irish culture, language, identity etc, so a lot of unionists don't relate to that and never will no matter what is done.

I'm not saying don't reach out to unionists, but our priority is our local kids, local schools etc. The people whose identity is an Irish one and who will be connectd to the gaa all their lives.

Some of those kids are unionists (or will grow up to be). Some go to local schools and are part of the local community

[smelmoth]

there are huge swathes of nationalist kids in both Derry and Belfast not in the gaa fold, surely the aim should be get all our own first before licking the holes of any loyalist knackers to play GAA

Fair play to you for setting out how you feel. I get the impression there are others who agree with you but are too embarrassed to admit to it.

By setting out that Catholic kids outside the GAA fold our "own" but Protestants living alongside them are not you are already setting out the organisation as a catholic one. An unhelpful starting position.

To dress up some minor changes you are being asked to make as "licking the holes of some loyalist knackers" probably means you are not going to be at the vanguard of moving this place forward

The GAA can't and won't be forced to make the necessary changes. But if it takes that intransigent stance then it will come at a price

We know that the UK civil service is looking at housing, schooling and public expenditure in NI to try to reduce the long term deficit. In that regard there is a realisation that funding segregated housing, segregated schooling and capital projects that maintain cultural separation is a bad use of public funds (as more funds have to be found to manage the ongoing impacts of the lack of social cohesion).

If you don't reach out to unionism you won't be able to reach out for the cheque. The choice is yours

[AQMP]

there are huge swathes of nationalist kids in both Derry and Belfast not in the gaa fold, surely the aim should be get all our own first before licking the holes of any loyalist knackers to play GAA

Fair play to you for setting out how you feel. I get the impression there are others who agree with you but are too embarrassed to admit to it.

By setting out that Catholic kids outside the GAA fold our "own" but Protestants living alongside them are not you are already setting out the organisation as a catholic one. An unhelpful starting position.

To dress up some minor changes you are being asked to make as "licking the holes of some loyalist knackers" probably means you are not going to be at the vanguard of moving this place forward

The GAA can't and won't be forced to make the necessary changes. But if it takes that intransigent stance then it will come at a price

We know that the UK civil service is looking at housing, schooling and public expenditure in NI to try to reduce the long term deficit. In that regard there is a realisation that funding segregated housing, segregated schooling and capital projects that maintain cultural separation is a bad use of public funds (as more funds have to be found to manage the ongoing impacts of the lack of social cohesion).

If you don't reach out to unionism you won't be able to reach out for the cheque. The choice is yours

Google "Cantrell Close"

[Orchard park]

there are huge swathes of nationalist kids in both Derry and Belfast not in the gaa fold, surely the aim should be get all our own first before licking the holes of any loyalist knackers to play GAA

Fair play to you for setting out how you feel. I get the impression there are others who agree with you but are too embarrassed to admit to it.

By setting out that Catholic kids outside the GAA fold our "own" but Protestants living alongside them are not you are already setting out the organisation as a catholic one. An unhelpful starting position.

To dress up some minor changes you are being asked to make as "licking the holes of some loyalist knackers" probably means you are not going to be at the vanguard of moving this place forward

The GAA can't and won't be forced to make the necessary changes. But if it takes that intransigent stance then it will come at a price

We know that the UK civil service is looking at housing, schooling and public expenditure in NI to try to reduce the long term deficit. In that regard there is a realisation that funding segregated housing, segregated schooling and capital projects that maintain cultural separation is a bad use of public funds (as more funds have to be found to manage the ongoing impacts of the lack of social cohesion).

If you don't reach out to unionism you won't be able to reach out for the cheque. The choice is yours

I never mentioned religions at all, you added that in.

my point is simple we have thousands upon thousands of nationalist kids in urban areas who arent yet active in GAA, Derry city being the biggest misnomer of all . They would be easier brought into the GAA than someone who is ideologically and multi generationally opposed to everything of an irish culture.
Its not sectarian, its merely common sense why should the GAA attempt the impossible for the sake of what maybe 10 kids joining when 1000s are available if Croke Park and HQ together with the respective county boards got their fingers out of their holes and invested in reclaiming the decay in urban nationalist areas

[Orchard park]

there are huge swathes of nationalist kids in both Derry and Belfast not in the gaa fold, surely the aim should be get all our own first before licking the holes of any loyalist knackers to play GAA

Fair play to you for setting out how you feel. I get the impression there are others who agree with you but are too embarrassed to admit to it.

By setting out that Catholic kids outside the GAA fold our "own" but Protestants living alongside them are not you are already setting out the organisation as a catholic one. An unhelpful starting position.

To dress up some minor changes you are being asked to make as "licking the holes of some loyalist knackers" probably means you are not going to be at the vanguard of moving this place forward

The GAA can't and won't be forced to make the necessary changes. But if it takes that intransigent stance then it will come at a price

We know that the UK civil service is looking at housing, schooling and public expenditure in NI to try to reduce the long term deficit. In that regard there is a realisation that funding segregated housing, segregated schooling and capital projects that maintain cultural separation is a bad use of public funds (as more funds have to be found to manage the ongoing impacts of the lack of social cohesion).

If you don't reach out to unionism you won't be able to reach out for the cheque. The choice is yours

Google "Cantrell Close"

But the UVF have gone away surely !!!

[Rossfan]

I know a chap who describes himself as "of planter stock", lives in a large  town where few Nationalists live.
He would be mildly pro Union but not wound up about it, probably votes Alliance.
His children are in a localish Comhaltas branch and love traditional Irish music.
As well as soccer oriented west Belfast and Derry City youngsters shouldn't the GAA  be reaching out to my acquaintances kids and what would be wrong with so doing?

This man does exist (unlike Enda Kenny's or Eugene McGee's people).
How many more like him?

In the longer  term it's people like him who will decide the "Border poll"

[Orchard park]

I know a chap who describes himself as "of planter stock", lives in a large  town where few Nationalists live.
He would be mildly pro Union but not wound up about it, probably votes Alliance.
His children are in a localish Comhaltas branch and love traditional Irish music.
As well as soccer oriented west Belfast and Derry City youngsters shouldn't the GAA  be reaching out to my acquaintances kids and what would be wrong with so doing?

This man does exist (unlike Enda Kenny's or Eugene McGee's people).
How many more like him?

In the longer  term it's people like him who will decide the "Border poll"

it may well be but the GAA remit is to promote and maximise participation in its own sports not decide the result of any border poll,

i've no issue with anyone of any ilk joining the GAA but i see it more strategic and feasible to sort of the areas i mentioned firstly

[Applesisapples]

The difficulty the GAA has in the north is that it is still very much parish based and that makes it hard in a segregated society to attract kids in, we have two clubs in our parish and kids will only play for the team at their end. So its difficult to reach out to kids from outside. In relation to Irishness why should the GAA as an Irish cultural organisation as well as sporting one not promote Irish language and culture. To many nationalists it is also still the only place our identity and ethnicity is officially recognised in a state dominated by the culture and symbolism of one side. It grates on me sometimes to hear SF use Irish badly (in many cases) but at least they are trying. If all of us my self included used a little day by day that would go some way towards keeping it a living language. I (in spite of my pledges) watched a little bit of Nolan last night...depressing and shocked at Chris McGimpsey. Had to laugh though at the boy from Shankill saying there'd be no Irish place names were he lived.