The following was published in the Roscommon Herald in a column by a Mr T Kenoy, who is apparently the Roscommon rep on Central Council.
"WHAT'S THE SCORE
Anniversary of a Memorable Occasion
Attending Ireland's Six Nations game against Wales in Croke Park recently was disappointing from a sporting perspective. But it also brought back memories of a historic occasion exactly one year earlier when the 'Auld Enemy' ventured onto Croker's sacred sod and got kicked off the pitch by Eddie O'Sullivan's heroes.
How times can change in a short period. ...Some believed that there would be a riot on Jones' Road...
But the opposite happened. It was a day of peace, tranquility and triumph when Ireland declared her independence, when we all started singing from the same hymn sheet. It was a day when all creeds and classes united on a sporting occasion and showed dignified respect for each other, a quality that had previously been absent for hundreds of years.
And no the sky didn't fall. Indeed that day was the cornerstore of a new Ireland, an Ireland that has matured beyond recognition, has moved on to a new all-embracing and more tolerant mode.
A year later and there was hardly a word written or spoken anywhere about the fact that a foreign game was being played in Croke Park. There are still a few of the "no change brigade" around but then in any democracy they are fully entitled to their opinion, different though it may be from the vast majority.
Ireland's history, as my generation learned it, reflected generations of ideological bigotry. The new history is little over than a year old, written on a day when a new generation marched unshackled through the debris of centuries of racial and religious intolerance. It was a proud day for Ireland, a proud day also for the GAA as a historic moment was played out on the history laden sod of its headquarters.
A year later foreign games on Croker are no longer news worthy. How times move on.
"WHAT'S THE SCORE
Anniversary of a Memorable Occasion
Attending Ireland's Six Nations game against Wales in Croke Park recently was disappointing from a sporting perspective. But it also brought back memories of a historic occasion exactly one year earlier when the 'Auld Enemy' ventured onto Croker's sacred sod and got kicked off the pitch by Eddie O'Sullivan's heroes.
How times can change in a short period. ...Some believed that there would be a riot on Jones' Road...
But the opposite happened. It was a day of peace, tranquility and triumph when Ireland declared her independence, when we all started singing from the same hymn sheet. It was a day when all creeds and classes united on a sporting occasion and showed dignified respect for each other, a quality that had previously been absent for hundreds of years.
And no the sky didn't fall. Indeed that day was the cornerstore of a new Ireland, an Ireland that has matured beyond recognition, has moved on to a new all-embracing and more tolerant mode.
A year later and there was hardly a word written or spoken anywhere about the fact that a foreign game was being played in Croke Park. There are still a few of the "no change brigade" around but then in any democracy they are fully entitled to their opinion, different though it may be from the vast majority.
Ireland's history, as my generation learned it, reflected generations of ideological bigotry. The new history is little over than a year old, written on a day when a new generation marched unshackled through the debris of centuries of racial and religious intolerance. It was a proud day for Ireland, a proud day also for the GAA as a historic moment was played out on the history laden sod of its headquarters.
A year later foreign games on Croker are no longer news worthy. How times move on.