‘United Ireland? It’s almost like craving the love of somebody and them not reciprocating’

THE pandemic has put a fresh focus on the merits of an all-island approach when it comes to problem solving, and has heightened talk of a united Ireland.

So where does the GAA fit into the argument, in a week when the Claire Byrne Show featured a special extended programme on a united Ireland – including a cut-short cameo from Joe Brolly – given the association is bound up in the debate about flags, anthems, nationalism, and identity?

‘Aw, poor Joe. It would have been great for Joe to get more air-time but you only get one chance to make a first impression,’ reflected Oisín McConville.

‘We’re talking about joined-up thinking in terms of an all-island approach but anyone who has been watching the political ground in the North will realise we can’t get on with each other. It’s difficult for the GAA because obviously in the North it only represents one section of the community.

‘We talk about an all-island approach – to me that was a no-brainer. How we couldn’t get together and do that in a time of a pandemic...

‘Look at the leaders in the North – how they couldn’t come together and stop the in-fighting and the bickering for 12 months, put the needs of the people first.

‘A united Ireland for people in this area would be utopia. It is something that people have longed for for some time. But then you think is it realistically going to happen? You think of all the issues. You start to realise it’s going to be very difficult because, personally, I would feel it’s almost like craving the love of somebody and them not reciprocating. I don’t know how much will is in the south to go through with it, whether it’s seen basically as a lot of hassle.’

Given Crossmaglen’s history, as a club that lived in the shadow of a British army outpost, how many locally thought they’d see the Good Friday Agreement and the way the history of Northern Ireland has unfolded in last 25 years or so?

Did he ever think he’d see Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald sitting down for a rational live television debate?

‘I just have to look around me at the area I grew up in and the area that my kids are growing up in – there’s no correlation between them. My kids, hopefully, will only ever know the history about the Troubles, the trials and tribulations of growing up in this generation.

‘But then you have to be realistic and wonder is this the one that perhaps is a bridge too far when you consider that a certain sector in the north are going to be dead against it? A united Ireland still is more tangible now than it has been. Even to have that talk of a border poll is great, moving in the right direction.’

Has the GAA a part to play in that respect, given its potential for integration and how it is embedded in so many communities? Or is that asking too much for an association that is non-political?

‘I don’t know if any association can be fully nonpolitical. That’s the first thing,’ said McConville. ‘The role the GAA has to play. On integration, you have foreign nationals or players from different ethnic backgrounds or religions playing, but you watch how many people from different backgrounds come right to the top of the game.

‘I don’t think when you consider the amount who start off and those who play all the way to the top of senior football, I don’t know whether it’s a cultural thing or what but I don’t think there is enough of those guys coming through when you consider how diverse society is.

‘The first part the GAA has to play is to continue to make it a more welcoming organisation as we move up in age groups and don’t lose as many of those players. That’s a big cultural shift. Maybe that will happen as we go down the generations.’