Sport

Kenny Archer: The politics of sport really matter little on the pitches, however green they are

Kenny Archer

Kenny Archer

Kenny is the deputy sports editor and a Liverpool FC fan.

Former Northern Ireland senior soccer manager Michael O'Neill and ex-Tyrone coach, and then Down senior football manager, Paddy Tally, joined forces to campaign for continued sport coaching funding.
Former Northern Ireland senior soccer manager Michael O'Neill and ex-Tyrone coach, and then Down senior football manager, Paddy Tally, joined forces to campaign for continued sport coaching funding. Former Northern Ireland senior soccer manager Michael O'Neill and ex-Tyrone coach, and then Down senior football manager, Paddy Tally, joined forces to campaign for continued sport coaching funding.

The GAA is political.

The GAA is apolitical.

The IFA is political.

The IFA is apolitical.

All those, apparently contradictory, statements are true.

Of course the Gaelic Athletic Association is political. It's avowedly a 32-county organisation, in other words 'nationalist'.

In the preface remarks to its Official Guide Part 1, the GAA states the following: "Since she has not control over all the national territory, Ireland's claim to nationhood is impaired….

"If pride in the attributes of nationhood dies, something good and distinctive in our race dies with it. Each national quality that is lost makes us so much poorer as a Nation.

"Today, the native games take on a new significance when it is realised that they have been a part, and still are a part, of the Nation's desire to live her own life, to govern her own affairs."

More often quoted is the GAA's Basic Aim: "The Association has as its basic aim the strengthening of the National Identity in a 32-County Ireland through the preservation and promotion of Gaelic Games and pastimes. It is the International Governing Body responsible for the promotion of Gaelic Games and the Aims and Ethos of the Association."

Yet the GAA is apolitical too, with people of all political affiliations, and none, involved.

Less widely quoted by trouble-stirrers than the GAA's 'Basic Aim' is its Rule 1.11, under the heading 'Non-Party Political':

'The Association shall be non-party political. Party political questions shall not be discussed at its meetings, and no Committee, Club, Council or representative thereof shall take part, as such, in any party political movement. A penalty of up to twenty-four weeks suspension may be imposed for infringement.'

Of course, members past and present have used their GAA name and fame to attract votes, but that's the way of the world. Politicians, many of whom wouldn't know if a particular ball was 'blew up or stuffed', will piggy-back on sport when it suits their purposes.

The Irish Football Association is political too. After all, it represents and promotes Northern Ireland on the international stage. In case you hadn't heard, there is some debate about the present and future status of NI/ the six counties.

However, IFA teams include many players, and the IFA employs many coaches, who are nationalist and would prefer to have a re-united Ireland.

Strange as it may seem, none of all that above really matters very much.

Those who play football, Gaelic or Association, mostly do so because they love playing that particular code and want to be the best they can be at it. To make their family, friends, and community proud.

I recently read the latest book by Irish Times journalist Fintan O'Toole, entitled 'We Don't Know Ourselves'.

This brilliant work about Ireland – mostly south of the border, but touching on NI too – since his birth in 1958 repeatedly makes the point that how things are supposed to be and how they are actually are can often be different, very different.

That opened my eyes in a very insightful way. Previously, I'd have thought and said that you have live your life like this: 'But, but, if you say 'this', you have to do 'this'.

The reality is that you can say 'this' and do 'that'.

I'm the man who wants 'It was the hypocrisy that got me' to be carved on my headstone; but, I also don't care if I'm cremated.

Living in the real word, there has to be compromise, an accommodation between ideals and aspirations and what goes on on the ground, on the pitches.

I've never heard politics discussed at Windsor Park, Croke Park, Clones, or any Irish League or GAA ground, beyond everyone agreeably slating all the idiotic leaders that we've somehow allowed to be in charge of these islands.

The unionist/ loyalist jibe that the GAA was 'The IRA at play' never made much sense.

Those engaged in sport simply didn't have time for other activities.

Sure, back at the tail-end of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century there were close linkages between the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) and the leadership of the GAA. The Association played its part in the national struggle for independence.

It's worth noting, though, that this is 2022, not 1922.

Even 40 or more years ago, at the height of 'the Troubles', that wasn't the case.

Speaking to Tyrone legend Chris Lawn recently, he made the following, unprompted comment, about his time growing up in Moortown, a republican part of east Tyrone: "Back in the 80s, it wasn't like nowadays - you had a choice maybe, to go...

"I was never approached to volunteer. We were always given that respect, that we were all in for the sport."

There have been paramilitaries in the GAA and soccer, perhaps still are, but that's true of every walk of life, of every sport.

They certainly don't define those sports, nor their guiding organisations.

This column has suggested several times before that the GAA could, and should, do more to engage and involved more members from a unionist background.

Yet that call comes with an absolute understanding that efforts have been, and continue to be, made, and are too often met with resistance or worse. When the hand of friendship is slapped away or ignored, that of course leads to frustration, annoyance, and giving up, focussing efforts on more amenable 'others'.

Similarly, this column has repeatedly advocated the IFA adopting a different anthem for Northern Ireland matches – and the change to 'God Save the King' won't cut it.

Flags and emblems should be re-considered/ altered too, to make everyone involved feel comfortable, and to attract newcomers.

When it comes down to it, though, they're sports. Take your pick, play both if you have the time and energy - and enjoy yourself.