Aims may change for global gain

Gaelic Games: A motion for April's Annual Congress will ask the GAA to look at the application of certain rules to non-national members. The proposal comes from Australia and pertains to Rule 2 of the Official Guide, titled "Basic Aim", Seán Moran reports

It reads as follows: "The association is a national organisation which has as its basic aim the strengthening of the national identity in a 32-county Ireland through the preservation and promotion of Gaelic games and pastimes."

With the decline in emigration the numbers of Irish people available to involve themselves with the GAA abroad have dropped accordingly and the nature of the overseas units is changing.

Native participation in other countries is rising, partly because of the growing opportunities left by fewer immigrants and partly because the widespread availability of championship matches on cable and satellite stations has created an interest in Gaelic games.

With this evolution comes a realisation that aspects of the Official Guide are anomalous for non-Irish members. The overtly nationalistic emphasis of some rules may excite little comment at home but can be seen as inappropriate by nationals of other countries although it's worth noting that the flying of the Irish flag at matches as required by Rule 16 is not a bone of contention.

GAA president Seán Kelly welcomes debate on how these new members might be accommodated. He has a particular interest in the overseas units and is familiar with the changing face of the association abroad.

"That's right," he says. " It's a new trend and a welcome one. For instance in America when we visited recently (on the All Stars tour) local kids were very keen on hurling. I think some of the units are looking for a derogation from the rule. I think it shows they're pretty serious in that they're going through the rulebook and looking at how it affects them.

"We will be having an open presentation on the overseas units at Congress in order to create awareness of their activities amongst Gaels in Ireland. In time there may be a case for creating a chapter of the rulebook to cater for the overseas membership."

It has been noted at the highest levels of the GAA that the old stereotype of expatriates making up virtually the entire overseas membership is no longer applicable. International tournaments at underage level and women's competitions now frequently attract teams that don't include any Irish players whatsoever.

This year will see a major, underage hurling tournament being held in New York for teams in that region and hardly any native Irish children will feature.

One of the major growth areas in the GAA abroad is Europe. Barry Moroney chaired the European Board last year and is currently coaching officer. He acknowledges that the European experience is "probably 10 years" behind the GAA in places like Australia and Canada but says that he can see provisions like Rule 2 having to be dealt with in the future.

"It will probably be an issue in the next couple of years. We're still in our infancy and not bothering too much with rules issues. There are more important things to be done like setting up clubs and organising underage. But I can see a time when we will have to ask are these rules excluding people."

Based in Guernsey, Moroney points to trends indicative of how quickly Gaelic games are growing in popularity.

"In the last couple of years local interest has increased. We have a club in Rennes and out of the membership of 25 or 26 people only one member is Irish. In Brest there's a similar situation except that no one is Irish. The club was founded in the university.

"We had an 11-a-side hurling tournament last year and of the 14 or 15 players who came from Zurich, eight or nine were Swiss. You have guys who meet Irish people in pubs and between talking to them and watching the big matches from home, they fancy giving it a go."

The advantage for the GAA in attracting non-national members is that when the Irish people who have often provided the chief dynamics behind the foundation of clubs move on as their careers take them, locals are left behind to maintain continuity.

The most prominent example of this is European Board secretary Hervé Guicherd from Tallensac in France. He had the distinction of addressing last year's GAA Congress in Belfast in French. The president of the time, Seán McCague, responded in Irish and, having jovially allowed that they were probably both no wiser, welcomed the new delegate.

In future Congress may provide simultaneous translation but for the moment it remains to be seen whether delegates will be sympathetic to the waiving of fundamental, aspirational rules in order to encourage the growing membership abroad.