What the PRESIDENT SAID...

The flag and anthem means a lot to the GAA and will continue to do so. But who knows in the future. In the future if there are agreements in place for the whole island, of course the GAA would be inclusive in that. I would say that in terms of overseas, Europe GAA have changed their name, they’ve rebranded. They are now the Gaelic games of Europe. That’s an inclusive title that they have chosen deliberately to include their camogie and football. They’ve changed their logo. It would be time to look at it in our own island too. I think at home it causes more difficulty as such but everything is possible. We have to learn from our international units in that we should never have closed minds about things that we always thought were precious and sacred. They may well be that but we have to have open minds as to where this could go. There is a massively changing world at home. The Brexit is going to affect the GAA the same as it’s going to affect everyone else and it does cause concerns. There might well be political realignments on the island of Ireland and if there are new agreements and new arrangements we’d be open-minded about things like flags and anthems but not in advance of agreements. In terms of an agreed Ireland which everyone in the GAA and everyone in Ireland looks at. You certainly can’t look at these issues in advance that’s for sure.

...and what he said yesterday

No, they won’t be scrapped. I was asked a question in the context of world GAA and when we go around the world, our flag flies high. The only place it has ever caused some issues was part of our own island. But it is very much part and parcel of our culture, part and parcel of our heritage. What I did say is who knows what will happen in the future. We all aspire to be part of a new, inclusive Ireland and in a time when there is a new, agreed Ireland, there might be something different happening.