OPINION:SPORT IS now being used by a noisy section of the Northern Irish media as some kind of barometer for bigotry. The new Orange Order chief, Edward Stevenson, had barely taken office before the pen and microphone brigade were telling us that he will not be attending GAA games – a "dog bites man" story, if ever there was one. A month or two previously, the then newly ensconced Ulster Unionist leader, Tom Elliott, had been questioned on the same subject.
After each, in his honesty (or naivety), had intimated his non-intentions towards GAA fixtures, cue the breathless reporting of what was made to sound like a crime against the peace process. And thus, yet another couple of leaders within unionism were deemed to have lived down to the stereotype.
Quite what would entice either Elliott or Stevenson to a Gaelic match in the first place, or what kind of reception they would receive if they did turn up at one, were neither explained nor explored. Their stated positions were taken, or at least presented, as a deliberate slap in the face to the nationalist/republican/ Catholic communities.
There is a corollary here, which, in all fairness, I don’t think the reporters are deliberately ignoring. Rather, such is their eagerness to make a point they are blind to this awkward little truth, which floats by, like an unnoticed cloud, high above their heads. For them to imply that offence would be taken by these communities, suggests that the journalists themselves view Gaelic games in much the same way as Elliott and Stevenson do. That is, as the preserve of only one side of the divide. Moreover, if Elliott or Stevenson were to attend a GAA fixture, it would certainly amount to a substantial gesture of reconciliation.
However, it certainly does not naturally follow, as the journalists are intimating, that the opposite must then be true: that failure to attend amounts to a grave insult.
To put the most benign interpretation on the motives of this section of the media, perhaps they are trying to encourage just such gestures of reconciliation from leaders within each of the communities. However, such an interpretation is impossible to entertain for more than a few seconds. If gestures were the objective, then surely the wannabe peace-processors would be seeking them from both sides, and this is patently not the case.
The media is not using “sport” as a litmus test for bigotry, but merely the GAA; and it is only ever unionists that are put to the test. There are never any questions to nationalist leaders or politicians about whether or not they plan to attend a Northern Ireland football international in the near future.
In the stark absence of both sides being treated equally on this, it is hard to ascribe anything other than a narrow personal agenda to the questioners.
What the GAA thinks about being used as a yardstick against which the majority of unionists would be found wanting, is unknown. However, as an organisation making a real effort to reach out to the unionist/ Protestant community, one would imagine the progressives at least are not too happy.
If reconciliation is indeed the objective of some journalists, then they should realise that it cannot be forced. In fact, beyond a certain point, too much pushing becomes counterproductive.
As for Stevenson and Elliott, I have no idea what their thoughts are, but I’m certain these cannot be deduced from whether or not they will attend a sporting fixture.