GAA blind if they believe they can stay pitch perfect
JAMIE CARRAGHER never imagined he would become a cause célèbre in Longford GAA circles. Since his retirement in a Liverpool shirt, the well-regarded defender and Sky Sports pundit has kept his hand in the game in various guises, his self-titled Soccer School one facet.
In August 2015, Dromard allowed said school (which caters for boys and girls aged 5-11) to take place on its club grounds, never imagining that it would come on the radar of the GAA’s high-powered Management Committee who decided to make an example of the case.
Rule 5.1 (a) of the Official Guide, governing the uses of association property, states that such property ‘shall be used only for the purpose of or in connection with the playing of the Games controlled by the Association’.
On appeal, Dromard argued that the 3G pitch on which the summer school took place is a community resource, even if, as club property, it is vested in the GAA. And that plenty of other clubs around the country are flouting the same rule on a weekly basis, whether through renting out astro facilities for five-a-side or finding creative ways to use their grounds in a revenue-making capacity.
After a hearing, a fine of €2,000 was imposed on the Longford club.
Former Munster Council chairman Noel Walsh said this at the time: ‘It is terrible what is being done to Dromard. They did break the rules, but who pursed them, who told on them? How many clubs are allowing lads go in and play soccer matches on their field? There is hardly a club in the country that is not.’
It would be interesting to know what the Longford delegation at last Saturday’s Congress thought of one particular motion that was debated at length and passed by an overwhelming majority of 90 per cent – and this after heavyweight Congress hitter, Cork’s Frank Murphy, spoke against it. It concerned the very same subject and was ground-breaking in a literal sense: that Central Council would have the power to authorise international units to allow their grounds to be used in the manner of Croke Park – that is, for games other than those controlled by the association, like rugby or soccer. A neat twist? The motion was sponsored by Britain GAA. It’s not known whether they asked Carragher for his input. In what is a truly bizarre anomaly, Singapore Gaelic Lions in theory – as an international unit – can embrace the Jamie Carragher Soccer School, while Dromard is clearly a step too far. Go figure. Ireland is now the anomaly, Central Council only having the power to authorise one stadium – Croke Park – for the use of other sports. Given that other key, strategic stadia were made available by the GAA as part the IRFU’s Rugby World Cup, there’s a level of double standards in operation here that is hard to fathom. Immediately after Congress, newly-installed GAA president John Horan wasn’t for budging. This reporter asked him why not apply the same principle to clubs in Ireland? ‘We’re dealing with different circumstances and I don’t see why there would need to be a relaxing of that [rule] at the moment. We’ve worked hard in this country to put our facilities together and we struggle at times to get local authorities to give us that extra bit of space that we need and I think we’ll hold our ground there,’ he replied.
‘Circumstances are completely different. You’re not comparing apples with apples there; you’re definitely in two different realms. Over there most people who are involved in international units put their hand in their pocket to play the game. They don’t get gate receipts and they’re not able to pull sponsorship deals but if they have a facility and manage to try and keep it going... they don’t have enough capacity or demand from themselves to use it all the time.
‘I think that was the idea that if they could rent it out to other sports organisations to get an income to maintain the facility it’s a good business model. If you have a facility, you sweat it but they wouldn’t sweat it with the amount of GAA activities. They feel there’s an opportunity to make money and keep the facility going.’
That very same logic is being applied by clubs in Ireland. There is a level of wilful blindness to pretend it is not.
Horan articulated the fear that there is enough internal demand on GAA facilities that allowing rival sports in through the gates is simply impractical. But why not allow the final decision rest with Central Council?
The decision to open up Croke Park to rugby and soccer was a bold and brave one by the GAA, requiring a leap of faith. The fact that it yielded a staggering €36 million in revenue during the time Lansdowne Road was being developed made it a very smart piece of business as well. It came after a hugely emotive debate on the use of grounds, which was then covered under ‘Rule 42’. The change was well received outside of GAA circles
That leap of faith has changed attitudes to the extent that there was virtually no opposition to the adding of various county venues to support the IRFU’s 2023 Rugby World Cup bid.
The GAA has nothing to fear on this one. Attitudes have long since changed since ‘the ban’ was in force and the GAA viewed its sporting rivals with suspicion and distrust to the extent that it couldn’t trust its own members.
There is a rich crossover in modern sporting terms.
Look at Kevin Doyle involved with Wexford football, the recently retired Republic of Ireland international giving a dig out with the Under 20s. Paul McGrath has been a vocal supporter of the Wexford hurlers since taking up residence in the county.
Wexford is one county where sporting loyalties regularly cross the divide. It is now time for units at home to follow the lead of their international brethren.
I don’t see there would be a need to relax that rule at the moment