by
Seamus Morris

As today is the “Glorious Twelfth”, De Scribe felt it appropriate to examine the role of the GAA in Northern Ireland.

Many will have seen a front page picture in today’s Irish Times a picture that features an Eleventh Night bonfire in the North, resplendent with the usual paraphernalia of such events (Tricolour, Sinn Fein election posters and plenty of wood). However, if one looks to the top of the structure, it becomes apparent that there is something else acting as fuel for the “celebratory” fire… an Antrim GAA jersey.

De Scribe has a background in this area, having researched the topic of the GAA’s role in Northern Ireland for a thesis twelve months ago. Plenty of texts are available that speak of the struggles fought by the Association down though the years in the North. In a climate of fear and intimidation, it is amazing that not only have the games survived, but in fact they have flourished in the North.

When the dark days of the Troubles existed, when it was common to hear news reports of “tit for tat” killings, the GAA in the North was at the mercy of Loyalist death squads. To parade down some towns with a hurley was to take a grave risk. It would require more than this article to list the full chronicle of murders committed against innocent GAA members.

The one thing that continually cropped up during my research was that the GAA maintained, at all times, that it was apolitical. From the highest office of the Association, right down to the grassroots, it was stressed that the GAA had nothing to do with politics. However, that is a claim which has been swallowed with difficulty by many people in the North.

Why was the GAA set up ? To promote Irish games and culture. What was it promoting this culture against ? The ways and customs of a foreign power, ie the British. Thus, from its very inception, the GAA was seen as being in some way political.

Down through its history there have been incidents whereby the Association has come into direct conflict with Britain. Bloody Sunday at Croke Park was one of the darkest days in GAA history, an event that resonates to this day (the naming of the Hogan Strand in Croke Park being a case in point). Mention Crossmaglen Rangers in South Armagh and inevitably their dispute with the British Army concerning use of their pitch will spring to mind. Mention the GAA to a member of the British Army and they may throw back at you the events of 1988 when the bodies of two British soldiers were dumped in the grounds of Casement Park, Belfast, by the IRA.

Whether they like it or not, the GAA is viewed by many in the North as being a political body, supportive of the cause to “overthrow” the Northern State and bring a unified Ireland to fruition. That is the reality of the situation, that is what the picture in today’s Irish Times spoke of in loud and unequivocal terms.

And yet. In modern times the GAA has managed to find for itself a niche in the sporting life of Northern Ireland (refer to it as you may, “The North”, “The Six Counties”, “Northern Ireland”, even “Ulster”, De Scribe finds that the safest option is to use them all at one time or another !). The GAA is now a big time player in the sporting life of the North, a fact borne out by the coverage provided to it, increasingly so in the last decade. BBC and UTV are now enthusiastic subscribers to the games, and audience figures are growing. And the audience is not just your typical Catholic/Nationalist one.

Yes, the GAA is converting many of the “other” persuasion that there is something to these “strange” games of Gaelic football and hurling. This cross community effect is to be welcomed, a sign that times are changing, and for the better. Thanks to the increased coverage that the games are receiving, a whole new audience has been attracted. What price that in a decades time there may be a young Mr Adair playing for the Antrim hurlers ? (err, maybe not !).

It has now reached the level that BBC Northern Ireland spends more time covering Gaelic Games than it does Irish League soccer. The product now speaks for itself, showing a vibrancy, skill and excitement that expresses the Nationalist community in a positive light. From speaking to members of the GAA in the North, they stressed that they had good cross community relations, wanting to emphasise that the GAA had nothing to do with politics.

This is all well and good, until you place yourself in the position of Billy from the Shankill Road, who has been brought up to see the Irish Tricolour as a symbol of republican paramilitarism, and the Irish Republic as a symbol of “Rome Rule”. Billy doesn’t see the GAA as just being a sporting organisation. He views it as a chance for those Taigs to join together and shove their republican rituals down the throat of the Queen’s loyal subjects. Where we see sport, Billy sees sectarianism. In Billy’s defence, we must remember that the GAA for most of its history banned British security forces from joining. To Billy, this was akin to the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The GAA, in Billy’s eyes, was anti Northern Ireland, wishing to bring the State down and force a million of the Queen’s people , against their wishes, into the “Papish hell” that was the Republic.

Sounds fanciful ? Well, that’s the way our organisation was, and in some parts still is, viewed in the North. When we look at pictures such as that in today’s Irish Times, we should take pity on those who wish to view a sporting organisation in such terms, yet also attempt to understand where they are coming from. It will take many years before all of the people of the North fully accept the Gaelic Athletic Association as just a sporting body.

Our society has suffered from the sickness of bigotry for too long. For over thirty years Northern Ireland was subjected to an insufferable amount of violence. The remnants of that period left a people that still distrust “the other”. Today’s Irish Times illustrates that fact starkly. If we truly believe that the GAA is the best sporting organisation on this island, our response should be to ignore such ignorance and stand proud in our culture. Happy Twelfth!