Sir, – Anyone who watched Dublin demolish Monaghan in Saturday’s Gaelic football semi-final on Sky Sports would have noticed how every ad break featured a call to join the British army.
I appreciate that the official position now is that we’re all supposed to be proud of the many Irish who fought in the Great War, but the Union Jack-laden recruitment ads impressed upon me what a giant leap the GAA has in fact taken in selling itself to a British commercial television channel. Frankly, it’s wrong.
I only saw the match because I happened to be visiting a friend who is an avid fan of English soccer, and thus subscribes to Sky Sports, but I think of the likes of my 79-year-old dad, who couldn’t watch the match at all because, for the first time in its history, Irish television is not carrying top Gaelic sports events.
The GAA is an amateur organisation which has always relied on the voluntary support of the ordinary people of Ireland, North and South, and on funds provided by the Irish taxpayer. Pretending that it is a commercial entity like Manchester United is a lie, and denying ordinary people the chance to enjoy matches played by amateur players from their own community on terrestrial television is simply wrong.
The association has begun a journey down an ugly road, and I dearly hope it retreats. – Yours, etc,
CIAN MARNELL.
School of Humanities,
Galway-Mayo
Institute of Technology,
Galway
Sir, – I write to urge the GAA to turn down the volume when music is played at matches at Croke Park.
I was lucky enough to have been there on both days of the weekend and was really disappointed, as were a number of people around me, to be unable to talk to friends with whom I had gone to the game, who were seated right beside me, such was the volume on the PA system.
The music can also drown out the roar that supporters give to welcome their teams, which is a real shame as this thunderous outpouring can really stir the soul. The loud music, which I presume is designed to add to the occasion, actually detracts from it, supplanting the genuine passion of the wonderful fans with manufactured noise.
We all come to see the game and to enjoy the banter with friends and rivals alike, so please, give us what we want and turn down the volume. – Is mise le meas.
PADDY MEANY,
Calderwood Road,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9
Sir, – Watching Dublin’s footballers overwhelm Monaghan 2-22 to 0-11 on Saturday in a west Mayo public house full of Dubliners who had driven down to their holiday homes in their large, new cars, I was minded of the Fenian proposal to rebalance the country by moving the capital to Athlone. – Yours, etc,
GARETH SMYTH,
Emlagh,
Louisburgh,
Co Mayo