Sir, - According to Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, August 19th) the President of Ireland should not attend the All-Ireland Finals. Further, she should be constrained from so doing by order of the Government. Fortunately, Mr Myers does not control the movements of the President, nor does he determine Government policy. So, the President will be in Croke Park for the All-Ireland Finals. Present too will be An Taoiseach and members of the Government and Opposition, all of them impervious to the rantings of one Kevin Myers.
The GAA is an association of 2,000 clubs, embracing 800,000 people from all of our 32 counties. Its record of service through more than 100 years of history is well documented and acknowledged. The GAA can suffer the convoluted thinking and vitriolic outpouring of a distracted Kevin Myers and remain untouched. The man's obvious detestation of the GAA, matched only by his ignorance of its purpose, distorts his reasoning and discredits his argument.
How often must the GAA's position be stated? The GAA is opposed, totally opposed, to violence from whatever source. The GAA deplores and condemns violence without equivocation and is opposed, not merely to the methods and actions of subversive organisations, but to their very existence. That position has been declared time and time again by association spokesmen at all levels. The GAA pursues, and would have all others pursue, national objectives by peaceful and democratic means alone.
More than most organisations, the GAA and its members have suffered in the Six Counties for nearly 30 years. Many GAA members, including victims of the Omagh atrocity, have paid the ultimate price. And Mr Myers would demean and sully their suffering and memory. The GAA agrees with Kevin Myers that "nobody doubts that the RUC needs reform". The GAA has already agreed to delete Rule 21 when that reform, currently ongoing, is complete. - Yours, etc., Danny Lynch,
Cumann Luthchleas Gael,
Parc an Chrocaigh, PRO,
Baile Atha Cliath 3.