125 years later, is the GAA a relevant force in modern Irish life?

[Lar Naparka]

Few will begrudge the GAA and its membership the right to celebrate the 125th anniversary of its foundation. Obviously, there will be some who do so but no one can deny that it has played a major part in the formation of Irish society as we know it today.
It has always had a strong Nationalist ethos and indeed one of the reasons for its foundation and continuing existence has been its links with Irish Nationalist culture.
But is this sufficient in the Ireland of today and more importantly of tomorrow?
Many in the association talk of extending the hand of friendship to members of the Unionist community in Northern Ireland.
A few short years ago, the mere mention of 'reaching out' without a stout ashplant or similar held firmly in one's hand, would have been unthinkable!
The fact that the idea is even being considered marks progress of a sort to many but there may be others who want the GAA to maintain its strong Nationalist ethos and who discourage contact of any sort with those they regard as their ancient adversaries.
Do you think the GAA is mentally resilient enough and has sufficient self-confidence to go looking for possible recruits from a community that was once regarded with distaste and suspicion?
Talking of 'reaching out' is all very well but it takes two to shake hands; will people on the other side of the social and historical divide welcome the open arms approach of the GAA?
What changes will need to be made within the structures of the association if the overtures are to bear fruit?
I think the question of recruiting members from across the community divide will be discussed and debated at length at all levels of the association in the near to mid-term future. Would an influx of non-nationalist players be good or bad for the GAA?
We might have an interesting discussion on these and other matters that need to be considered if the GAA does pursue the 'reaching out' proposals.
But there are many other matters that engage our attention as we mark the association's 125th year in existence and I would not presume that  I am able to name them all; the payment of players' expenses is certainly one to express opinions about as is the opening of Croke Park for foreign games.
Does any one out there have views to air on these and related matters?
What about the status of the Irish language in the GAA of tomorrow? Is it merely used on formal occasion to pay lip service to the ideals and aspirations of its founding members or is it an essential part of the GAA's unique character?
Possibly there are even more questions than answers!
I am posting this thread to give members the chance to sound off about everything and anything that is somehow relevant to the celebrations that are about to get underway.

[lynchbhoy]

I dont agree/believe that we, the GAA are a 'nationalist' organisation in the manner you portray, we (GAA) are a SPORTING organisation.
imo

as for extending the hand out to unionsts/loyalists etc (not to mention Poles other euro nations, african nationalities, asians, aussies, yanks etc etc) thats what we do - but in the context of our 'own' dissenting 'Irish' in the six counties, we can keep this open until the mindset changes (will take a couple of generations at most imo) and they dont exclude themselves from participation 'on principle' as is currently the case.
imo

[thejuice]

While getting Unionists involved might take a bit longer and with time it will happen i believe. However I think a bit more could be done in getting people other nationalities involved in the game. I think using a multi-lingual (beyond Gaelige and English, smart-arses) approach would help. Sport has a very important role for getting people involved in their local comunity and the GAA must actively seek out and try encourage these people involved. Hoping they wander in of the street is not good enough.

Ireland whether we like it or not isnt doing so well with intergrating with people who have moved here recently. YOu only have to ask yourself how many 'non-Irish' do you know well and talk to/interact with sociably on a regular basis. As a lot of Irish immigrants found over the last 2 centuries it was hard to fit in, in England and America. It seems to me that African, Polish or wherever they may have come from stay amoungst their own people and having these isolated communities can lead to very serious social problems in the future.

The GAA has mentioned it in its Plan that was announced a few weeks back and the sooner it can move ahead with this the better. It is however that the GAA must prepare itself properly and safeguard itself with rules so that any incidents of racism or discrimination will be dealt with swiftly and forcefully be it from players abusing opponents or racist chants from crowds. I cant help but feel that these incidents are inevitable as I have witnessed the pathetic, disgusting and bourish attitude of some people in GAA circles that I've been in towards people of other ethnic backgrounds.

So my adivce to the GAA is move forward, be prepared and tread carefully.

[Zulu]

While getting Unionists involved might take a bit longer and with time it will happen i believe. However I think a bit more could be done in getting people other nationalities involved in the game. I think using a multi-lingual (beyond Gaelige and English, smart-arses) approach would help. Sport has a very important role for getting people involved in their local comunity and the GAA must actively seek out and try encourage these people involved. Hoping they wander in of the street is not good enough.

Ireland whether we like it or not isnt doing so well with intergrating with people who have moved here recently. YOu only have to ask yourself how many 'non-Irish' do you know well and talk to/interact with sociably on a regular basis. As a lot of Irish immigrants found over the last 2 centuries it was hard to fit in, in England and America. It seems to me that African, Polish or wherever they may have come from stay amoungst their own people and having these isolated communities can lead to very serious social problems in the future.

The GAA has mentioned it in its Plan that was announced a few weeks back and the sooner it can move ahead with this the better. It is however that the GAA must prepare itself properly and safeguard itself with rules so that any incidents of racism or discrimination will be dealt with swiftly and forcefully be it from players abusing opponents or racist chants from crowds. I cant help but feel that these incidents are inevitable as I have witnessed the pathetic, disgusting and bourish attitude of some people in GAA circles that I've been in towards people of other ethnic backgrounds.

So my adivce to the GAA is move forward, be prepared and tread carefully.

I agree 100% Juice but it's a bit late now so I'll post on it tomorrow in some detail, suffice to say that we need to take the lead on this front.

[J70]

This all depends on where you're from - the GAA has nothing to do with nationalism for me. Its all about the parish and the county, end of story. Can't see its popularity waning, personally. Leaving aside the excitement of the game itself, given the poor standard and the patchy distribution of senior soccer, there isn't much else out there in terms of wearing your county colours proudly.

[tyrone86]

I dont agree/believe that we, the GAA are a 'nationalist' organisation in the manner you portray, we (GAA) are a SPORTING organisation.
imo

as for extending the hand out to unionsts/loyalists etc (not to mention Poles other euro nations, african nationalities, asians, aussies, yanks etc etc) thats what we do - but in the context of our 'own' dissenting 'Irish' in the six counties, we can keep this open until the mindset changes (will take a couple of generations at most imo) and they dont exclude themselves from participation 'on principle' as is currently the case.
imo

Personally, I think in attempting to reach out specifically to 'unionists/loyalists' then the GAA is on a hiding to nothing. The fact that the GAA is a 32 county organisation promoting Gaelic culture, language and games makes it the very antithesis for the raison d'etre of Unionism and Loyalism. To borrow an oft coined phrase, it's the 'garden centre' Protestants, the ones who have little interest in orangeism and/or politics that need to be persuaded and reached out to in the short term. A gradual evolution and creeping acceptance is the key - interest (and indeed tolerance) certainly has increased post the removal of Rules 21 and 42 - who's to say what 10 or 20 years will bring.

As for the 'non Irish National' element, then that has to be targeted from schools up, which will subsequently get the parents through the door. Again this is going to be something that evolves over time rather than a overnight revolution. With respect to the current crop of immigrants in the country, earning money seems to be their primary goal, it's not about integrating into the community - the ideals and the psychology of the GAA will be completely alien to them . If they decide to settle and raise the kids in Ireland then it's about selling the positives of the Association, what we offer and why they should get involved. It might be a simple concept, but clubs all over the country have been doing it for generations, sell yourself to the kids firstly and then get the parents involved.

[deaconblue]

the GAA is still relevant for sure, great games and super pastime and plenty still love it. i know this is mainly a northern populated site and its interesting to read the different views on various treads  here , from my own (and indeed all my others kerry pals) the whole nationalism thing has never been a factor in the 40 years i have followed GAA/ not sure if thats good or bad but its just fact,it has always been a case of playing/supporting my club, and having a few days out with kerry .
friendship,crack,meeting new pals, shedding a odd tear in both victory/defeat,many a wild weekend, and god knows how many pints of porter, has been the story of most of the lads/lassies i know who follow our games. long may we run with it.

[The GAA]

Unfortunately politics has become more relevent within a lot of clubs in the north in recent "peace" times.
it has been mentioned in the general discussion section but sinn fein have implemented a policy of infiltrating club committees as part of their overall strategy of getting control of all local community organisations as a means of directing local policy.

there are more and more examples, certainly in armagh, of longstanding workers within clubs being replaced by shinners by a well organised "new" attendance at agms.
i understand that silverbridge are the most recent example.

[his holiness nb]

There was a survery a year or so back by newstalk and they concluded that the no1 factor (by quite a bit) which helps people who move home within Ireland to integrate into their new community was the GAA.
I couldnt help agree as when I moved the first thing I did was join the local club. Many of my neighbours (mostly from outside the area) keep to themselves, or only mix amongst themselves, but joining the club gained me many good freinds. Add the banter of being a Dub amongst "enemies" and you get some great craic both at training and in the local.

So my answer to the title question would be a simple yes.

Re the Unionists, unfortunately I dont see them wanting to join the GAA full stop.
The fact that its a 32 county organisation, and promotes the Irish language and culture is enough to repel most unionists, even before you get into the tired old argument of nationalist ideals.

I honestly think we should remain 100% as we are in that regards. All are welcome, if people want to excluded themselves for any reason they can think of, then fair enough.

We should promote our good points, which have kept us in healty standing for 125 years, rather than change things left right and centre to satisfy the whims of people who dislike the association deeply and shout about us needing change with one intention and one intention only, to damage the association.

I also think we should put this topic aside, as despite the many other challenges we have ahead of us, every time a debate about the GAA moving forward comes up, the old "appeal to unionists" line is thrown out.

Let be honest, we have kids all around the country sitting in front of playstations instead of playing. We have huge amounts of foreign nationalists with no idealistic opposition to the GAA, who simply arent involved. We should be looking in this direction as our main challenge for the future, not towards the Unionists.

The few Unionists who might possibly enclined to play should we make these changes are only a minute percentage of the future players we are currently losing to laziness and lack of integration of immigrants.

Its a wonderful wonderful organisation, despite what outsides might tell you, and I for one am proud to be part of the 125th anniversary celebrations.

[lynchbhoy]

well said HH.

def GAA is more relevant more than ever now, with fat fighting part of the focus for kids

with ladies football and camogie and handball making a resurgence, plus the supposed attempt to inject new life (and money) into the dev o hurling in the non strong counties, there is a bigger and more lively GAA scene than ever before.
At least 4 of the top GAA clubs in dublin have 50 + teams from kids to adults.
thats some membership!
I think the GAA scene is getting a PR boost more than before and its now somewhat cool to play Gaelic games.
Looking forward to another 125 years! (I'll prob last 25 of them)

[Rossfan]

Re the Unionists, unfortunately I dont see them wanting to join the GAA full stop.
The fact that its a 32 county organisation, and promotes the Irish language and culture is enough to repel most unionists, even before you get into the tired old argument of nationalist ideals.

I

Exactly HH. If they were into Irish culture/games and language they wouldnt be Unionists.
However the GAA should ensure that Northern Protestants who wouldnt be unionists or political are made welcome.
The GAA is central to an awful lot of Irish life but it does need to try harder to make inroads in places like Derry City,Limerick City Galway City large tracts of Dublin City and County  and garrison towns like Sligo and Athlone.
125 not out and long may she continue.
Go n-eiri an bóthar leat a Ch L C G.