Sir, - As a GAA man I am beginning to take on a hunted look. Up to now, we were only responsible for being mean to the soccer industry and the Crown forces. But now, thanks to the infamous £20 million, we are responsible for every ailment that afflicts Irish society.
From drug abuse to facilities for the disabled, from the homeless to the aged, from childcare to the state of non-national roads, we are now to blame. This accursed £20 million.
Over the next three years the Government will spend £50 billion in the current account, give or take. This expenditure can now be broken into two lots: the £20 million the GAA will get and the £49,980 million the GAA won't get. Of the two, the former is clearly the most valuable.
The first £20 million can cure all the ills of Irish life. It has the miraculous ability to expand to meet the needs of every pressure group in the country. For the next 50 years every complaint about a funding shortfall from every organisation in Ireland will be made with references to this £20 million. And we, the GAA, have it.
It's quite obvious what we should do. We should give it back. Yes. We should give it back and get a completely different £20 million, a £20 million without all the curative, magical powers.
In the past the GAA has been accused of having a persecution complex. Well, maybe. But just because we have a persecution complex doesn't mean everyone isn't out to get us. - Yours, etc.,
Palmers Road, Dublin 20.