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[Former GAA chief rebukes "stale and tired" Unionist leader]

From HoganStand

Former GAA chief rebukes "stale and tired" Unionist leader
Former GAA President Nicky Brennan
08 October 2010

Nickey Brennan, the former President of the GAA, has declared that the improvement in cross-community relations over the past decade cannot be allowed to be undermined by comments from recently elected Ulster Unionist Party leader Tom Elliott.

Speaking last week, Elliott insisted he had no intention of ever attending a GAA match.

His comments prompted a stern response from his UUP colleague and former Ireland rugby international Trevor Ringland, who promised Elliott two tickets for next year's All-Ireland football final if an Ulster side was involved.



And Brennan, who engaged in productive meetings with Unionist members of the Northern Assembly during his time as GAA President between 2006 and 2009, believes the comments of the new UUP chief do not belong to the new mindset of togetherness north of the border.

In his Kilkenny People column, Brennan wrote, "Ringland, a noted campaigner against sectarianism and [defeated leadership candidate Basil] McCrea have developed a strong rapport with GAA officials in Ulster and recognise the need to develop good relations with the Association.

"I have no doubt that Tom Elliott is a decent man who holds his Unionist beliefs very dearly. Nevertheless, he has a duty to foster and support the good work of organisations who clearly work hard at building improved relations across communities throughout Northern Ireland. The tremendous progress made over the past decade or more cannot or will not be reversed.

"Tom Elliott has a challenge on his hands to regain ground for the UUP from the stronger element of Unionism, the DUP. Ranting on about not attending GAA matches is a stale and tired tactic that deserved the reaction it received from Trevor Ringland."

Amen, brother.

Why are people being so dismissive of the idea of a stadium in West Belfast having non-sports use in addition to hosting games? Are they aware that there are hotels and conference centres in Belfast? Are they aware that Belfast has a bustling retail trade? Are they aware that West Belfast could use a bit of commercial development like this? (Psst! They have museums and a university in Belfast too!) And to answer someone's question, yes, I have been to Casement. Many times.

The argument about access seems to be that putting 35,000 people into a single location is going to make it hard for them all to get in and out, therefore Casement is a bad choice. Well how, pray tell, is that different from any other location for a stadium?  It doesn't matter where you put the thing, access is always going to be tricky.  Even if you put it out in the middle of nowhere at the atmosphere-free Maze site you'd have the same problem. No matter how many access/egress points you put in, it's going to take a while to get back onto the road.

One more thing. What's the big rush? Does anyone here ever go to a major match and expect to be able to jump in the car and speed off without any delays? Is it really such a big deal that you have to wait a while?

Personally, anytime I go to an AI final I park in that college nearby.  After the match we take a walk down O'Connell St and have a bite to eat in the Kylemore Cafe.  By the time we saunter back up to the college most of the rest of the match traffic is long gone.

Personally I've always liked the atmosphere at Clones, but anyway...

Rather than fill the country with Croke Parks that are seldom going to be filled, the emphasis should be on smaller but better stadiums.  That means better safety (i.e. all-seater with modern design) better comfort (i.e. plastic seats and a roof) and better access.  40,000 sounds like a perfectly reasonable capacity for high profile Ulster championship matches.  If it's Armagh and Tyrone and you're expecting 60,000 then throw the game into Croke Park.

This argument that the stadium will spend most of its time unused could be applied to any stadium no matter how much it costs to develop.  The only way to overcome that is to be clever in how you design the thing. Make it multi-use. The Reebok Stadium in Bolton is a 'hotel shaped like a football stadium', its cash registers keep on ringing whether there's a game on or not. Old Trafford has a big merchandise store and visitors' centre built in. Croke Park has all sorts of conference and wedding facilities built in to keep the income flowing.

If a leading politician stands up in public and denounces the GAA in any shape or form, including refusing to go to its games or claiming ignorance about highly publicised upcoming games, then he is feeding into the same mentality that leads the bottom-feeders in society to go out and burn down GAA halls. If such knuckle-dragging neanderthals see their leaders attacking the GAA, then they're going to feel quite justified in their actions.

It may seem like an empty gesture to a southerner, but if you're a northerner who has put a lot of work into a GAA club and gets up in the morning wondering if his club has been attacked in the night, it's a very real concern.

This anti-GAA attitude takes many forms, ranging from active indifference to outright violence. For a leading politician to encourage the attitude rather than to try and overcome it is a major cause for concern. "Going out of your way to be offended" has nothing to do with it. It's a very real safety issue.

The Irish Times - Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Ringland quits UUP over stance on GAA

GERRY MORIARTY

FORMER IRELAND rugby international Trevor Ringland, who stood against Peter Robinson in East Belfast in this year's Westminster elections, has resigned from the Ulster Unionist Party.

He confirmed yesterday that he has stood down from the UUP over new party leader Tom Elliott's refusal to take up his offer to bring him to next year's All-Ireland GAA football final if an Ulster team qualified.

Mr Ringland told The Irish Times it was not beyond the bounds of possibility that he would rejoin the UUP if Mr Elliott moderated his position on the GAA. "But whatever happens I will not be standing for the Ulster Unionist Party in next May's Assembly elections," he said.

Mr Ringland, who is heavily involved in cross-community work, said Mr Elliott's refusal to be more open to the GAA was the "tipping point" in his decision to resign from the party.

Mr Ringland, a solicitor who stood in East Belfast in the recent Westminster election, which Naomi Long won for the Alliance Party, said that in terms of community relations, the public was ahead of the politicians. He believed that Mr Elliott as new UUP leader should have demonstrated that the UUP would take the lead on tackling sectarianism.

"We are a deeply divided society, yet politicians are pressing the old buttons and that needs to be challenged," he said.

"I wanted a leader who was confident in himself, who would say if he was invited to a GAA match, that he would have the confidence to go there.

"The GAA has changed over the years, as have many people, and it is important that we recognise and reciprocate that change," said Mr Ringland.

Mr Elliott said he was disappointed by Mr Ringland's decision. "I have the utmost respect for Trevor and recognise that we are broadly in agreement on the vast majority of issues," he said.

"My feeling is that Trevor found himself cornered on an issue – an issue which I do not believe necessitated his resignation."

Maith an fear, Trevor. You're ahead of your time.

Why on earth would we want a load of American tourists at the club finals?

Because Gaelic games are the most under-exploited tourist attraction Ireland has.

Because it's good for the GAA if more people pay money to come in through the gates.

Because hurling and gaelic football are the greatest sports on Earth but most of the people on said Earth have never heard of them.

Because the only aspect of our national culture that gets any decent amount of recognition is our ability to drink ourselves silly until the contents of our guts are spilling across the footpath.

Because gaelic games are a far more positive and genuine expression of our culture than a pint of Guinness.

Because we want people from around the world to watch and play our games.

Because we need to get out of this mentality that only Irish people are interested in Irish sports. That's a hangover from an inferiority complex that has got to go. The Brits invented soccer, rugby, cricket, tennis, snooker, and god knows how many other sports and weren't one bit shy about getting the rest of the world to play them, so why can't we show a bit of pride in our sports and get other people roped into them?

Because it's a known fact that as soon as you show a video of hurling or Gaelic football to someone who has never seen the games before, there's a 90% chance that they're going to become interested.

For a few reactions, see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiuzYvScbnY

I don't think this sort of thing comes from Congress, isn't it an executive decision to try experimental rules?

Just went for a walk and something came to me.

Ever notice how sometimes it's hard to tell if a hurler is throwing the ball or making the striking action of a handpass?  Maybe not, but I've seen it.  Can be hard to tell from a distance.

Well anyway.  What say we change the rule so that a player has to bounce the ball off the hurley before making the handpass?  So instead of popping the sliothar into the air and slapping it, he bounces it off the stick and then slaps it. Might make it clearer.  Might also inhibit the use of the handpass by making it less convenient.

Thoughts?

Oh please! Don't confuse me with that man! That was below the belt!

Are you bored?

A little bit.

Sorry if it's been done to death but...

Will professional Gaelic games ever exist?

Discuss.

Youtube comments stand as a line in the sand to anyone who believes in human progress.

Excellent!

On my youtube movie in the last few days I've had at least three idiots commenting claiming "it's not called a stick, it's called a hurl" or "it's called a hurley, calling it a stick in Ireland would get you a slap around the mouth."

In the south some people call it a hurl and never a hurley, in the north most people call it a stick, sometimes a hurley, and never a hurl. We always just called it a stick, or the fuller title of 'hurling stick'. I never heard it called a 'hurl' until we had a visitor from Galway in our house one evening. 

What the hell is it with people?  Are people really so parochial that they've never been outside of their own province? Or am I just getting wound up about young fellas who have learned to use the internet before having travelled anywhere?

Sheesh! 

Got both in Italian, football in Chinese. Thanks Muzz.

[I don't accept this argument that we have to wait for a Hillsborough scale catastrophe in Croke Park before we take any action]

A factor in the Heysel incident was the crumbling state of the stadium that was soon due for demolition anyway, so it's not a 100% comparison with the modern Croke Park. 

But I think it's okay to mention that and the Hillsborough disaster because it illustrates an important point. People sometimes underestimate the sheer physical force that can be applied by a large enough number of people.  On a seated terrace the people can't get close enough to each other to apply any force. On a standing terrace they can, but barriers at regular intervals can limit the number of people coming into contact and limit the amount of force applied. But put them on the field where there's no seats or barriers, and there's no limit to the amount of pressure that could end up being applied to the boys at the front, maybe the pressure of a hundred people or more.  Even if each one is applying a gentle force with no malice, it can add up to a lot of pressure at the front, which can be deadly. At Heysel it was enough to topple a concrete wall.

I don't accept this argument that we have to wait for a Hillsborough scale catastrophe in Croke Park before we take any action, it's okay to put preventive measures in place if we think there's a liklihood of something going wrong. If there ever were a crowd control problem and someone did get killed or seriously hurt, this website would be flooded with complaints blaming Christy Cooney and the "suits" for it.

BTW, I was banned from An Fear Rua for making a harmless comment about his draconian policy of banning ALL mention of the Heysel incident. I'm glad to see the moderators here having a more sensible policy than that cranky old t**ker.

You were doing reasonably well up to this point.

Care to expand on that?