Opening up Croke Park

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Monday February 21, 2005 22:00 by Barra Ó Gríobhtha

Seán’s ninth birthday is approaching and with this in mind his father Jimmy asks him if he would have any interest in watching Ireland Vs France this coming weekend in Landsdowne Rd. Sean is ecstatic at the prospect, so the following day his dad sets out to purchase a pair of tickets for the big game. To his dismay though, there is a reduced capacity in the stadium due to FIFA regulations and as a result Jimmy is unable to purchase tickets from any of the legitimate sources. For a while he wonders if he might chance his arm and negotiate a ticket from a tout prior to the match, but eventually his financial situation deems this option a non-starter.

Jimmy heads for home dejected when it suddenly dawns on him that Dublin are playing Meath on Sunday. Realizing this, Jimmy turns the car around. “Seán I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news for yeah. The bad news is I couldn’t get tickets for the Ireland match, but I did manage to get us tickets to see Dublin on Sunday instead. How does that sound?” Seán forces a smile and replies “Oh, OK”. “Are you sure?” “Yeah, I guess”. Seán doesn’t play Gaelic at school, in fact he’s never played Gaelic football before, but appreciating the effort his father has made, he decides to humour him and the two head off for Croker that Sunday.

Seán is overawed; from the sound of the crowd reverberating around the stadium to the humorous jibs and friendly exchanges between the rival supporters. The game itself is a cliffhanger and is forced into extra time, with Dublin coming out eventual winners. Seán enjoys his birthday thoroughly, admitting to himself that he had underestimated all that the GAA had to offer. The following week as Jimmy parks in his driveway, he spots his son kicking his football high into the air while his friend prepares to jump and catch it. Motivated by this site, Jimmy makes a few phone calls and before long Seán is playing under-10s football with his local club.

Most people in Ireland seem to be of the opinion right now that the GAA would be mad not to milk soccer and rugby for all their worth by opening up Croke Park and other venues to them. But money should not be a priority for the GAA. Instead their primary concern should be the hearts and minds of young Irish boys and girls like Seán above. A child can only play one sport at a time, and most aspiring athletes will eventually commit to one sport in particular. Sporting organisations in Ireland are themselves involved in a competition, with ticket and jersey sales key to the development of their respective sports. Parents will buy their child either a Munster jersey or a Limerick jersey for Christmas, not both, and the limits on disposable income suggest that in order for there to be a rise in rugby match attendances then their must be a fall in GAA attendances. This competition also extends to the athletes and coaches themselves. The greater the athleticisms and organisation involved, the higher the standard of game achieved, and hence the larger the following and so on. This is why the GAA needs to attract as many young people to their games as possible, and this should be uppermost in their minds.

I’m amazed at how quick people have been to accept the notion that Soccer should be played in Croke Park. So what if the government has invested in Croke Park? The government invests in many of our companies and these companies are hardly expected to open their doors to those they are competing against. Professional Soccer and Rugby are corporations employed within a competitive market. They shouldn’t therefore expect or demand favours from their competitors, especially when that help effects the latter’s market share negatively. Of course I believe that professional Soccer and Rugby would benefit from being played in front of crowds of 80,000 people, but I also believe that Gaelic games will suffer long term as a consequence.

Rugby and Soccer have decided to take the professional route. George Hook stated on Saturday night that players composing the Irish national rugby team bring home salaries that are in the order of tens times that of the average Irish wage. Therefore, here’s a suggestion. How about a wage cut? GAA players bring home no salary, and hence their organisation is in a position to afford Croke Park. Rugby and Soccer can’t have it both ways and they can’t expect an amateur association to come along and rescue them. Of course the GAA could have decided to professionalize, but instead they decided it was better for the game itself if they invested their money on stadia rather than on ludicrous wage deals. That’s called planning for the future and I suggest Rugby and Soccer take a leaf from the GAA’s book. I’m genuinely shocked by the general public’s tendency to defend Soccer and Rugby on this issue when at the end of the day they are left without a proper stadium as a consequence of their own greedy machinations. Have they no long-term strategy planners at the FAI or IRFU? I’m also disgusted by the perception out there that the GAA’s stance on this issue is motivated by bigotry; it equivalent to playing the race card and it repulses me. The GAA is intertwined with the vast majority of communities in Ireland, from Rosslare to Ballycastle, from Achill to Trinity College. Saying the GAA is bigoted is equivalent to saying that the Irish in general are bigoted as far as I’m concerned and I don’t believe this to be the case what so ever.

My dad helped set-up a ladies Gaelic Football team in my hometown, and guided them to the Donegal county final the year they were formed. This required many hours of training per week in every sort of weather. My uncle has managed many teams with similar success. These men were motivated by nothing more than a purist desire to serve their communities, and Croke Park for me is a monument to their benevolence, and the thousands of others out their who serve their communities with no desire for payment. With this in mind, I would strongly suggest that the GAA reclaim the moral high ground on this issue and I hope profoundly that the GAA Congress has the courage to defend its traditional stance on the matter.