Criticism of GAA over Liam Miller debacle must be measured

REGARDLESS of an outcome in discussions between the GAA and organisers of the Liam Miller charity game, there’s no denying the past week has left an unpleasant taste in everyone’s mouth. Sadly, the controversy only succeeded in bringing all the old animosities between soccer and the GAA back to the surface again and, for this reason, the whole episode has been an ugly one.

Miller was an outstanding talent and the 36-year-old, who died of cancer, was loved in his native county where he also played GAA as a boy.

Social media is where most of the anger has been vented. But nowhere is the hurt more keenly felt than in Cork where a Manchester United XI verses an Ireland XI in a 45,000 capacity stadium would have been a fitting tribute to Liam Miller and his family.

The GAA’s decision to revert to Rule 42 when asked if it would host the game – which bans the playing of other codes in GAA stadiums – just doesn’t cut the mustard in 21st Century Ireland.

The association received a tsunami of criticism over its decision but by abiding by protocol first in referring to its rulebook, the organisation seemed cold and out of touch.

A little more discretion from the outset may have defused the situation. But instead the GAA allowed it to fester to such a point that when ‘peace talks’ took place, the damage was already done.

To be fair, this is a situation that was thrust upon the GAA and, indeed, many Cork GAA officials within the county board were in favour of a ‘one-off ’ event being staged. But head office insisted on protocol.

And then social media is where the fiasco was played out with people branding the decision a ‘disgrace’ and accusing the GAA of living in the dark ages.

But feelings of anger and hurt aside, one must avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater when accusing the association of living in the dark ages. We must not lose sight of the fact that the GAA has moved on considerably and is now a broad parish in every sense of the word.

Its congress was mature enough to know that it was wrong to expect our Irish soccer and rugby teams to play home games in Anfield and Cardiff Arms Park when Lansdowne Road was demolished. As an organisation, the GAA has made huge strides over the past 25-years and its membership is a welcoming one with people from all ethnic backgrounds proudly playing hurling and football. Such progress does not happen in a backward organisation.

But in Ireland the expression ‘one of our own’ carries significant weight which is why people feel the GAA turned its back on one of its own simply because of the sport Liam Miller excelled in.

A compromise will eventually be reached. But the GAA’s reputation and contribution to Irish society – across all 32 counties – is deserving of deeper analysis by those who would have you believe it is outdated.

There is no shortage of people willing to beat the GAA with a stick. The very fact that the GAA so easily handed them one shows that it still chooses to learn the hard way.