GAA must 'reach out' to unionism

[Dire Ear]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Why give unionism a stick to beat you with?

but they will continue to beat us down,  doesn't matter what we do.

[Baile Brigín 2]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Why give unionism a stick to beat you with?

but they will continue to beat us down,  doesn't matter what we do.

So don't make it this easy for them.

[Knock Yer Mucker In]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Up to the club but should exclude them from Stormont funding.

If you are of this opinion, surely the fact that they honour the "Irish Republican terrorist" M.J O'Rahilly every single day of their existence should exclude them from such funding anyway?

I mean, I would have thought it more acceptable to commemorate members of their own club & community than a man with no attachment to the area at all.

Perhaps, however, there is some Old IRA mental gymnastics at play here.

Don't you just love people who have an opinion and are totally ignorant of any facts.

[Snapchap]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Up to the club but should exclude them from Stormont funding.

Soccer clubs /teams in the north, including the north's own soccer team, wear poppy armbands and hold minutes silences for British war dead. This in spite of Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy etc. Should they too be stripped of Stormont funding, or is it the considered view from the good people of Balbriggan, that it's only wrong for Republicans to commemorate their dead in this way?

[clarshack]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Up to the club but should exclude them from Stormont funding.

Soccer clubs /teams in the north, including the north's own soccer team, wear poppy armbands and hold minutes silences for British war dead. This in spite of Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy etc. Should they too be stripped of Stormont funding, or is it the considered view from the good people of Balbriggan, that it's only wrong for Republicans to commemorate their dead in this way?

good post!

[screenexile]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Why give unionism a stick to beat you with?

but they will continue to beat us down,  doesn't matter what we do.

So don't make it this easy for them.

I agree with above. Why did the commemoration have to be tied to the GAA club could it not just have been a community commemoration??

[tiempo]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Why give unionism a stick to beat you with?

but they will continue to beat us down,  doesn't matter what we do.

So don't make it this easy for them.

I agree with above. Why did the commemoration have to be tied to the GAA club could it not just have been a community commemoration??

Because the GAA club were commemorating their fallen members.

[Snapchap]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Why give unionism a stick to beat you with?

but they will continue to beat us down,  doesn't matter what we do.

So don't make it this easy for them.

I agree with above. Why did the commemoration have to be tied to the GAA club could it not just have been a community commemoration??

Because the GAA club were commemorating their fallen members.

Yeah I thought it was obvious why. The club were remembering their own members. Other Volunteers from the area who died on active service were not included because it was a memorial from the Clonoe club to remember their own members.

[Dag Dog]

We need to be careful that the GAA doesn't get used as a vehicle to promote a political point of view.
Most of the membership are there for the sports but a few will align with the GAA to try and use it as a battering ram against Unionists.

[Snapchap]

We need to be careful that the GAA doesn't get used as a vehicle to promote a political point of view.
Most of the membership are there for the sports but a few will align with the GAA to try and use it as a battering ram against Unionists.

It's a small, dignified memorial to three of their own, placed within the confines of their own ground, with an inscription which merely says "Erected by Clonoe O'Rahilly's in Proud Memory of Our Fallen Gaels".

If you seriously think that sounds like something that was designed purely to be a "battering ram against unionists" then you're bound to concede that it's a meek enough effort. Meanwhile, back in the real world, the rest of us can appreciate that it's just a GAA club, in their own little space, remembering three of their own people.

[delgany]

We need to be careful that the GAA doesn't get used as a vehicle to promote a political point of view.
Most of the membership are there for the sports but a few will align with the GAA to try and use it as a battering ram against Unionists.

Just ask Pat Catney MLA , Lagan Valley , how to grand stand   he' ll give a master class !

[naka]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Up to the club but should exclude them from Stormont funding.

Soccer clubs /teams in the north, including the north's own soccer team, wear poppy armbands and hold minutes silences for British war dead. This in spite of Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy etc. Should they too be stripped of Stormont funding, or is it the considered view from the good people of Balbriggan, that it's only wrong for Republicans to commemorate their dead in this way?

snapchat playing devils advocate here?
why just pick 3
am sure a fair few gaa volunteers would have worked hard for the club  and would have  deserved recognition..
as an aside i wonder did the Trusteees in whom the land was vested sign off on the memorial given that one would be from the county board and one from the ulster council, this might cause an issue if consent not obtained .( rule 1.11 very clearly says the gaa is non political so they might be uncomfortable with the singling out of the 3 volunteers as they may construe it as political)
i have no issue with commemorating dead volunteers but its definitely a grey area as to who is worthy of this in  gaa club grounds

[Snapchap]

snapchat playing devils advocate here?

Not in the slightest. Merely giving my own opinion, and challenging the ridiculous suggestion that the memorial was only built to antagonise unionism. Again, if it was an effort to attack unionism, then it was a shockingly poor effort, given that it is a small memorial in the corner of a GAA club's own property, which itself is located in an overwhelmingly republican area.
I also challenged the suggestion that the club should be ineligible for Stormont funding, and I in no way am playing devils advocate with that either. I challenged it because it's a ludicrous and insulting suggestion (and I explained why).

why just picjk 3
am sure a fair few gaa volunteers would have worked hard for the club have  deserved recognition..

Because they were three men who were members of the club, who died young, in tragic circumstances and it was also a milestone anniversary year (30th anniversary of the Clonoe Ambush). Cormac McAnallen's name now proudly adorns the Eglish club grounds. You could as easily ask the same question of them: "why that one member? a fair few gaa volunteers would have worked hard for the club have  deserved recognition". The fact is that in any club, deaths of certain club figures leaves a particular mark on their club/community. Particularly in instances where they were young members who died before their time.

as an aside i wonder did the Trusteees in whom the land was vested sign off on the memorial given that one would be from the county board and one from the ulster council, this might cause an issue if consent not obtained .

I have no idea, and to be honest, it's not my business/concern. Not from the club. I just support their right to commemorate their loss as they see fit.

i have no issue with commemorating dead volunteers but its definitely a grey area as to who is worthy of this in  gaa club grounds

Again, the answer to "who is worthy" of any form of remembrance by their own club, is a matter for that club/community to decide upon. Nobody else.

[Baile Brigín 2]

What is peoples views on the commemoration in Clonoe?

Up to the club but should exclude them from Stormont funding.

Soccer clubs /teams in the north, including the north's own soccer team, wear poppy armbands and hold minutes silences for British war dead. This in spite of Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy etc. Should they too be stripped of Stormont funding, or is it the considered view from the good people of Balbriggan, that it's only wrong for Republicans to commemorate their dead in this way?

Are Republicans commemorating them or the GAA?

I never said it was wrong. I said there may be consequences.

Poppy fascism is a huge problem, but it's state sanctioned, like it or not.

[Baile Brigín 2]

To be clear, the funding I refer to is the cross community peace and love stuff. A decision was made and a tesult of that decision the club is now a cold house for the PUL community.