Madam, – I reacted with some anger to the picture of the stage for the U2 concerts in Croke Park (Sport, July 23rd). Not because of the giant eyesore that it is, but of what it represents. I believe it is a monument to the GAA’s poor respect to both inter-county hurlers and footballers and to the wider playing members of the GAA.
Currently the GAA has a ban on pre-match training sessions for GAA teams in Croke Park before a big match. Of course the ban does not apply to rugby and soccer teams who rent the stadium for substantial sums of money.
I was part of a Sligo team that won the Nicky Rackard title in Croke Park last year; part of a team that was allowed only to walk around the edge of the Croke Park pitch on the evening before the final (one must suspect the GAA felt that 30 players having a puckabout on the pitch might in some way damage it for all time). It is then mind-boggling that they let 20-tonne excavators and tipper lorries on the pitch so U2 can play. This coupled with the fact that the GAA is not prepared to fund the players’ grant scheme or fund the players’ body the Gaelic Players Association with 5 per cent of player-generated income, suggests the GAA is more interested in the bottom line of its bank statement than its players. – Yours, etc,