GAA Double Standards

Started by falay, September 21, 2015, 02:25:35 PM

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falay

GAA Double Standards
I have been watching with interest the developments in London in relation to the decision to allow the Irish Guards to form a GAA team; a decision which I assume was ratified by GAA Central Council in Croke Park. To those unfamiliar with British Military history, The Irish Guards regiment was formed on 1 April 1900 by order of Queen Victoria to commemorate the Irishmen who fought in the Second Boer War for the British Empire. It is in short a regiment of the British Army. Of course since the removal of 'Rule 21' in 2001 this is perfectly acceptable and as a democratic decision it is therefore one that all GAA members will have to stomach. However do those who sanctioned this see no irony in allowing the Irish Guards to take part in Gaelic games whilst at the same time not affording all Irish citizens the same right? I would like to draw the readers' attention to the irony I speak of. This is the fact that the GAA have sanctioned the playing of Gaelic games by members of the British Army but have outlawed the playing of the same games by Irish men over the age of 40. The GAA have for some years now refused to be associated with the Gaelic Masters competition which sees players aged 40 and over represent their county in an all-Ireland competition. A decision was made at congress to remove the masters from the GAA's official list of competitions.
After being cast aside by the GAA a number of dedicated master's players set up the Gaelic Master's Association to facilitate the playing of master's football at inter-county level. Master's football is well and truly alive but as a separate organisation not affiliated to the GAA. 2015 saw Galway win the All Ireland Gaelic Master's Cup and Tyrone win the Master's Shield. Therefore what we have now are players who have played club and county football for their whole lives paying their own insurance to play Gaelic football. The GAA therefore have effectively banned men who are currently players, officers of their clubs, committee members, team managers, coaches and referees. These men, the lifeblood of the organisation, instead of being cherished and lauded are being shown nothing but contempt. 
In my own County of Tyrone, players have been treated with derision by some members of the County Board. Two years ago a decision was made at executive level not to allow pictures or reports from Master's games to be posted on the Tyrone GAA official website. Material already on the site was removed before Tyrone appeared in the 2013 All Ireland Master's Final. One officer of the board laughed at a player and pointed out to him that he did not represent the county. Another board officer advised one Tyrone club not to allow a master's game to be played on their ground. Similar disrespect has been shown to many of the county teams including Mayo, Galway, Cavan and Monaghan. What the GAA has in effect done here is to exercise double standards in the interest of good politics. Those representing the Irish Guards stated in a recent interview in The Irish News that they were keen to take part in a 'strong, physical game that would suit them'. Gaelic football is indeed the type of game they speak of and I wish them luck in becoming exponents of these very necessary qualities of the game. However, again I am at a loss because one of the reasons given by the GAA to justify cutting its ties with master's football was the sometimes 'physical' nature of the games. I hope the Irish Guards Commander in Chief, British Royal, the Duke of Cambridge(Prince William), is not as shocked as our GAA 'commanders' by the 'strong physical game' he will surely be exposed to at some future date. It will also be interesting to see if any of the Irish Guards who line out are over 40.
What I appeal for from the GAA is not special treatment for master's players but the same equality that is extended to servants of the crown. The GAA in London has called this a step forward, but to me it represents many of the 'steps forward' in GAA history whereby the ordinary people are ignored and the more powerful indulged in the name of political expediency. Surely it is time for the GAA to realise it has made a grave error with the masters', to apologise for this error and to take steps to bring the masters' competition back into the official GAA calendar.

Gavan Mc Elroy
Masters' Player
Carrickmore
County Tyrone.

ludermor

What has this got to do with the Irish Guards? There are new clubs popping up all over the world every year so im not sure why you have to highlight The Irish Guard.

westbound

1) This has got nothing to do with the Irish Guards at all

2) wasn't the reason the 'masters' football was scrapped to do with insurance/health&safety?

johnneycool

Quote from: westbound on September 21, 2015, 03:13:06 PM
1) This has got nothing to do with the Irish Guards at all

2) wasn't the reason the 'masters' football was scrapped to do with insurance/health&safety?

Thats what I thought!

magpie seanie

He has a valid point - the GAA should be looking after and running Masters football and hurling.

AZOffaly

Yeah, it's a tenuous link, but I think what he's saying is that as well as looking to bring in these lads who want to play our games, they should be facilitating people who are already members and want to play our games.

Keyboard Warrior

Quote from: magpie seanie on September 21, 2015, 04:02:27 PM
He has a valid point - the GAA should be looking after and running Masters football and hurling.
+1

And not accepting professional killers into the association either.

orangeman

Carrickmore "masters" team  and the "Guards" to play in an exhibition match next year.

High ranking official ( insert your one choice ) to referee.

Boycey

Quote from: Keyboard Warrior on September 21, 2015, 04:11:16 PM
Quote from: magpie seanie on September 21, 2015, 04:02:27 PM
He has a valid point - the GAA should be looking after and running Masters football and hurling.
+1

And not accepting professional killers into the association either.

Your username suits you

T Fearon

Surely any man over 40 from Carrickmore,worth his salt,is an ex serviceman,if you know what I mean

foxcommander

If there is one thing the GAA do well it's forget about the people who've played the games and spent their time furthering the sport. The Teddy McCarthy incident is evidence of that - "Teddy who?"

Headline making announcements such as fast-tracking the SAS GAC seem to be more in line with their aims.

I'm sure lads would sign waivers if health/safety is a concern. I'm sure the likes of Beardsley/Rush/Barnes did the same when playing for the Liverpool masters soccer teams. Why should lads over 40 who love the game not have an opportunity to play under the GAA banner? I was hoping that I'd still have a shot at an inter-county career.


Every second of the day there's a Democrat telling a lie

falay

Thanks for all the replies.
my replies to the responses to date
Orangeman - my issue is the ease with which the Irish Guards were allowed to start a club and the irony of the fact that the masters have not been treated equally. I do have personal issues with the British Army having more rights within the GAA than I do but they are not part of this argument.

Westbound - you are correct in saying that the masters' was thrown aside do to insurance and health and safety. This is another point. The GAA could see no opportunity to make money from the masters' so therefore cast it aside. There were some claims against the GAA insurance but they were minimal compared to claims coming through the clubs. I have played Masters for 5 years now and have never seen any serious injury or bust up in that time. I played senior football for a considerable length and risks to health and safety were much higher in those games.

thanks to foxcommander, AZOffaly and magpie Seanie for your support on this issue. I had read about the issue raised by foxcommander in relation to Teddy Mc Carthy and was disgusted ! Its another case of where the GAA can loose sight of the core values it was set up to promote.

Keyboardwarrior Your point is valid but its another case of were grassroots members views were ignored in the changing of rule 21


westbound

Quote from: falay on September 22, 2015, 09:08:17 AM

Westbound - you are correct in saying that the masters' was thrown aside do to insurance and health and safety. This is another point. The GAA could see no opportunity to make money from the masters' so therefore cast it aside. There were some claims against the GAA insurance but they were minimal compared to claims coming through the clubs. I have played Masters for 5 years now and have never seen any serious injury or bust up in that time. I played senior football for a considerable length and risks to health and safety were much higher in those games.



I'm no expert on insurance (or health & safety for that matter!), but I think it seems logical to me that if you have 30 lads over 40 playing a game and 30 other lads aged 20-35ish playing a game, the lads over 40 are going to have more injuries.

And from an insurers point of view the lads over 40 would be much more likely to suffer hear attacks etc. (i..e the more expensive payouts).

I'm not against an over 40's competition (in fact I'd like to play in one!) but health and safety (and fellas not being out of pocket for medical bills) is most important.


NAG1

Falay

Whatever argument you had about the lack of recognition for the 'Masters' game is totally undermined by your attempt to link it to the Irish Guards. It is like comparing apple and oranges.

Why did you not explain the reasons behind why the GAA won't recognise the 'Masters'?

Then take each of their points for not recognising and counter argue them.

By bringing the Irish Guards into you have simply muddied the waters of your own argument.

StephenC

I would ask the OP to change the misleading title of this thread. You have a point to debate but in trying to link it to another decision, you're making a hames of it.