A FORMER GAA president has vowed to continue his battle against alcohol firms sponsoring sport despite lifting a self-imposed ban on attending the All-Ireland hurling final.
Dr Mick Loftus, who was president of the GAA from 1985-87, stopped attending the finals 15 years ago in protest at the championship being sponsored by Guinness. The 83-year old stressed he is not anti-drink, but is opposed to sport being used to promote the sale and consumption of alcohol.
The Co Mayo GP has decided to attend next Sunday’s All-Ireland final between Galway and Kilkenny as Guinness are no longer the main sponsor and that his protest has served its purpose to some degree.
“It all came from my area as being a coroner in north Mayo for 30 years and I saw what alcohol does, from suicides to road traffic accidents. And then as a GP what I see in families. If people think I am anti-drink I am not. I was reared in a pub and served in it often. It is the whole promotion and glamorisation of it that I have an issue with,” he said.
“The All-Ireland final is a very special occasion. Perhaps selfishly, I feel the urge to join my colleagues, past presidents and others, whose personal friendship and loyal camaraderie, I have always enjoyed.
“As I grow older I feel it is a pity to be denied such a privilege . . . But I shall continue to vigorously oppose such sponsorship. I am still convinced of the awful damage, especially to young lives by this scourge. If anything, the ongoing tragedies make me more adamant in my conviction.”