Time to update the old fashioned idea of the GAA ‘Gael’
“Both outlined
sport’s formative influence” “It seems out
of step with Sayeh’s story”
ANOTHER Sunday night and edition of
The Sunday Game that represented a sign of the times. In a parallel coronavirus-free summer, the highlights and panel discussion would have been all about the games. All-Ireland hurling champions Tipperary should have been entertaining Cork at Semple Stadium. Clare and Waterford were due to lock horns in the Munster Championship in Ennis. The western showpiece that is the Connacht senior football final was originally down for decision last weekend.
They are the sights and sounds of a normal Irish summer.
Instead, the RTÉ show, once more, tapped into a hot topic that crosses the lines between sport and politics and society. It’s why Jason Sherlock and Boidu Sayeh took part in a panel discussion with host Joanne Cantwell on racism in the GAA.
The former is a 1995 All-Ireland winning footballer with Dublin and was part of Jim Gavin’s coaching ticket when the five-ina-row was completed. He has described his own journey and the impact of his Chinese heritage in the personal and emotional documentary Jayo.
Sayeh is the Westmeath senior footballer whose public profile and charisma are making him a poster boy for the modern face of the GAA — the kid from war-torn Liberia who was adopted and came to live in Rosemount, Westmeath, and whose dedication and talent have quickly taken him to the top of the inter-county tree.
The Black Lives Matter movement and the protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd have held a mirror up to society the world over. And so Sherlock and Sayeh spoke of their own experiences: the racial taunts, the slings and arrows directed their way, the self-doubt, anger and frustration caused by different incidents.
Both also outlined sport’s formative influence and how the GAA have the opportunity to take the lead. That it’s worth engaging in the debate about race and inclusiveness and whether the association can do more.
‘Can we look at what we do in our summer camps with kids?’ asked Sherlock. ‘Can we look at how inclusive our clubs are for people who wouldn’t traditionally go into GAA clubs?
‘Challenging whether we are just non-racist, or can we be antiracist? Can we actually do something to help young boys and girls that might need it because of the colour of their skin?
‘There’s so much going on in the world at the moment, it’s such an emotional and divisive time, but I think we look to society to give us leadership, to give us guidance, and we do the same with the GAA,’ added Sherlock
Last week, Cork ladies footballer Niamh Cotter questioned the public response of the association, tweeting: ‘Very disappointed with the lack of response by the GAA, LGFA and Camogie assoc to the anti-racism movement. Missed opportunity to pledge to further promote an inclusive environment. Citing being a “non-political organisation” not good enough when basic human rights at issue.’
Antrim ladies footballer Lara Dahunsi echoed those views, adding her powerful testimony to that of young, black Gaelic footballers like Stefan Okunbur and Franz Sauerland. While Antrim LGFA did support the Blackout Tuesday campaign on Twitter, it has been the GAA’s preferred way to quietly and consistently work on the issues at root, at grassroots level.
Even so, these are probing, timely questions: is the GAA doing enough? Can it do more? It’s worth stating that the GAA hasn’t been neutral on this. The only thing it is ‘non’, is party political. The GAA Official Guide now explicitly states that it is ‘Anti-Sectarian’ and ‘Anti-Racist’ — the capitals included for full effect. That ‘any conduct by deed, word, or gesture of sectarian or racist nature or which is contrary to the principles of inclusion and diversity against a player, official, spectator or anyone else, in the course of activities organised by the Association, shall be deemed to have discredited the Association’.
It’s hard to get much clearer than that.
An article by John Harrington on the official website GAA.ie documented the work done to date: ‘In recent days, Franz Sauerland, Stefan Okunbor, and Lara Dahunsi have given powerful and affecting testimonies of the racism they have suffered on GAA pitches. It is important that their voices are heard because it is only by shining a light on such discrimination when it occurs that it can be exposed and rooted out.
‘Last year the GAA launched a manifesto which was summed up by the statement ‘GAA — Where We All Belong’. That manifesto wasn’t a self-serving pat on the back, it was a call to arms, and one the Association is determined to live up to.
‘The racist slurs suffered by Franz, Stefan, and Lara proves there is a journey still to travel, but the GAA has worked hard and continues to work hard to ensure that inclusivity is a byword for Gaelic Games.’
It is important to also flag the work of full-time Diversity and Inclusion Officer Ger McTavish, and that after a pilot phase last year, the GAA’s first ‘Responding to Racism (R2R)’ workshop took place in Mayo last March.
This educational and awareness campaign has been developed in collaboration with Sports Against Racism Ireland (SARI) and includes both education and procedures to follow should any incidents arise in GAA clubs. The workshop included a contributionfrom Ballaghaderreen clubman and All-Ireland-winning Mayo Under 21 footballer, Shairoze Akram who was born in Pakistan.
Contained in the writing of the piece was an important mission statement: ‘The founding fathers of the GAA hoped the Association would help consolidate Irish identity through the playing of our native sports at a time when they were close to dying out altogether. Gaelic Games are thriving now and the time for consolidation is long past. Now there is far more to be gained from sharing our sporting culture with others.
‘Proof of that is vividly illustrated by the rapid growth of our international GAA units which now number over 400. Once traditionally a home from home for Irish ex-pats, GAA clubs outside of Ireland are now bastions of multi-culturalism and a great advertisement for the GAA’s embrace of diversity.’
Except the mission statement at the start of the Official Guide still enshrines an old Ireland, stretching like an umbilical cord to that old-fashioned idea of the GAA ‘Gael’ — the white, male, Catholic church-going, nationalist, Irish-speaking, Irish-dancing, Gaelic games-loving member. And for those truly special members, the moniker ‘fíor Gael’ – a ‘true Gael’.
And within it, that sense of trying to define anyone outside of that as ‘other’.
As not a Gael.
For plenty of members, many of those things still hold true. For a growing number more, on these shores and afar, they don’t.
That mission statement that doubles as an introduction to its constitution still reads: ‘The primary purpose of the GAA is the organisation of native pastimes and the promotion of athletic fitness as a means to create a disciplined, self-reliant, national minded manhood.’
Which is closer to De Valera’s Ireland and his fantasy idyll than one with a taoiseach who is the son of an Indian immigrant.
Which seems out of step with the stories of Sherlock, Sayeh, and so many more.
It also seems out of step with 2020, and all the questions prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement.
And that is without mentioning the timeline of a 20x20 campaign that seeks all-inclusive movement to shift Ireland’s cultural perception of women’s sport. All of this, when the GAA is moving towards the ‘One Club’ umbrella model involving the Camogie Association and the LGFA.
It is time to discuss it, to unpick it and to update it. To reflect the all-inclusive nature of the association at this important moment in time.