THE GAA weekend ranged from the playing pitches of National Football League and Hurling League action to the boardroom affairs of Annual Congress.
It spiralled from the sports pages into the news pages with the headline-grabbing protest against Allianz taking place outside Croke Park on Saturday – and then spilling into the conference itself where a number of protesters unfurled a banner behind the top table of officials and loudly barracked some of those present.
The motions and commotion became the big talking point on a weekend that may just shape the whole season ahead.
First, the main order of business and what actually was voted into rule – or was rejected. An attempt to push the All-Ireland finals back and ensure an August finish for the football final with a fortnight’s break between a hurling final at the end of July was doomed from the start. Former director general Páraic Duffy is one of the smartest operators around but even he acknowledged as much before the case for change was withdrawn.
The groundswell of support to protect the club window from August on was hugely significant – as was the passing of a GPA motion instead that the inter-county season be defined as 30 weeks, rather than being extended in the future.
But how motivated by concern for the club player were county board delegates or provincial council officers?
Protesters unfurled a banner behind the top table and loudly barracked some of those present
Part of that same motion to extend the dates of the All-Ireland involved disbanding the pre-season competitions to really take the pressure off players at the worst time of the year. There was a lingering sense that gate receipts and financial self-interest had a part to play here in delegates voting against change.
It will be interesting then to see how successful the Gaelic Players Association are when they look to again bring a motion to disband those same competitions.
A new dissent rule for hurling where the ball can be moved up 30 metres rather than 13 metres has been positively received. It’s significant that both Cork manager Ben O’Connor and Limerick manager John Kiely said they had no arguments – when it comes into play from the league finals on, players will have to respect the referee’s decision without any backchat or it’s effectively a free shot at the posts for the opposition.
That the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals have been removed should only really enhance the hurling championship – the series of hammerings were doing the finalists of the second-tier Joe McDonagh Cup a disservice and will allow the winners of that competition to end the season on a high.
And so to the most contentious aspect – the protest against Allianz that GAA president Jarlath Burns said ‘crossed a line’ on Saturday. That’s inarguable when he revealed that a member of the security staff and a volunteer had been injured as protestors forced their way into the stadium.
The floor of Congress deserves to be sacrosanct. No official – volunteer or otherwise – should feel physically or verbally intimidated.
But the peaceful protest by the hundreds who gathered outside the ground was an acknowledgment of the deep disquiet that still exists amongst members – remember, 800-plus players, past and present, handed in a signed petition to the GAA in response to a report last June from UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. That report detailed how German parent company Allianz benefited financially, via a subsidiary, from the genocide in Gaza through its purchase of Israeli war bonds.
Peter Canavan gave his own powerful response to Burns at the Kildare-Meath game
One of those peacefully protesting was Tyrone legend and RTÉ analyst Peter Canavan who joined the likes of Colm O’Rourke, Pat Gilroy and Brendan Devenney outside Croke Park on Saturday. And Canavan gave his own powerful response to Burns on camera that evening at the Kildare-Meath game.
He was speaking for all those people who are quietly disgusted with the continuation of the Allianz deal, particularly as flagship league sponsors – not even just the rationale but the manner in which it was handled. Ten different counties had motions in opposition to the deal.
So why the complete silence from the floor at Friday night’s Congress session?
It was a bit of a sham that of 277 delegates in the room, not a single one raised any critical comment on Tom Ryan’s 100-page report when he spoke specifically of the Allianz deal and opened up the floor to questions after.
That’s hardly a reflection of the ‘democracy’ of Congress, rather the private conversations that would have taken place in the build-up over any of the contentious issues. As any long-time observer knows, so much of the business is bartered over before delegates convene.
The GAA explained why the motions in opposition weren’t appropriate for Congress – and why they stood over the findings of their Ethics and Integrity Commission, who recommended continuing with Allianz.
But Friday night was a whitewash.
Canavan’s words went to the heart of it all: ‘I have no doubt that if this sponsorship wasn’t as huge in terms of the financial aspect then I have no doubt that the GAA would have dropped them and said “We can do without you”…there’s a moral responsibility.’
Ethics and Integrity, or a decision based on finance?
The answer to that means that issue isn’t going to go away.
Hurling needs more than one director
Dónal Óg Cusack hit the nail on the head on Sunday evening when he said that if hurling really is to grow, it needs more than just a single figurehead in National Head of Hurling Willie Maher.
And while GAA Congress quashed any idea of extending the season by a fortnight and pushing the All-Ireland football final into the second week of August, there is a logic to Cusack’s argument that hurling needs more ‘oxygen’ and that the season is all too ‘microwaved’. We’ve argued here before it would be worth looking at breaking with tradition and flipping the finals.
Hurling is – and always will be – more of a summer game than Gaelic football.
Tipperary’s league opener against Galway took place in monsoon conditions
When All-Ireland champions Tipperary opened the league with the prime home fixture against Galway, it took place in monsoon conditions. Tipperary’s supposed glamour fixture at home to Limerick turned out to be an almost equally miserable evening – weather wise, and results wise.
The weekend just gone saw Kilkenny play Cork on a soft pitch as the rain came sheeting down.
With the preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals abolished, hurling only has five fixtures after the provincial final stage – two quarter-finals, two semis and the final. Those provincial finals will be over by the first week of June.
Rather than a ‘split season’ then, what about a ‘flip season’?
Amateur Status… the future
Credit to the GAA, the booklet produced on the ‘Current and Future Amateur Status of the GAA’ is a hugely worthwhile document. It lays out the background to an important topic and explains the rationale behind the introduction of an inter-county certification programme which counties will have to abide by to participate in leagues and championships.
A motion on that did meet some resistance but was passed with 59.1 per cent of delegates in support. The level of opposition shows just how hard it is for the GAA to try and police itself.
