Another shot in the foot by GAA

At times it is tempting to believe that the public relations strategy of the GAA consists of a simple one line instruction - if in doubt take aim at your feet and then fire. For as the dust settles around the debacle that was the debate over the staging of a charity soccer match in aid of the Omagh Bomb Fund at a GAA ground in the town, the association has succeeded only in angering its grass roots supporters here.

And by adhering rigidly to a rule that is more honoured in the breach than in the observance, there is also the small matter of the further alienation of those already hostile to its work.

The bare facts of the whole sorry episode are worth repeating. The feeling that "we have to do something" was prevalent among people both in Omagh and throughout the rest of the north in the aftermath of the bomb seven weeks and three days ago. Various well-meaning initiatives - some more viable than others - were suggested in the heightened emotional atmosphere and it was inevitable that the sporting community would want to have an input.

The Omagh Town first team was playing Glentoran in their first Irish League game of the season on the afternoon that the bomb exploded. News filtered through and as the enormity of what had happened became apparent, the members of the squad then had to endure a tortuous journey back from Belfast not knowing whether members of their families had been caught up in the explosion. In the event, Roy McCreadie's team was untouched directly, but the experience was clearly traumatic for the manager and his team.

The notion of a charity match or matches gained currency in the days after August 15th and reached the front page of the Irish News on August 25th, with the suggestion that the games would be played at the much larger Healy Park GAA venue in the town rather than the under-equipped St Julian's Road home of Omagh Town.

The `foreign games' objection was raised, but in the `anything is possible' mood of those traumatic days it was seen as being of little consequence when the issue was generating funds. Plans at this stage were very tentative and had not even got to the stage of a formal approach, but there was widespread approval. "On a personal level I wouldn't object to such an event," said Brendan McAleer, the chairman of the St Enda's club. "I don't see any major problems." In retrospect he could hardly have been more wrong.

One fact that has been lost in the media maelstrom that subsequently blew up around the issue here is the very vagueness of the planned matches. The names of Manchester United, Liverpool, Celtic and Rangers - big draws all - were bandied about freely, but there was less detail when it came to when exactly they would be in the town to play and whether it would be with full-strength or even half-strength squads.

Don't forget that the period between now and Christmas would see all four clubs involved in heavy domestic and European schedules and that, with the most benevolent will in the world, it would be by no means certain that they could honour any commitment this side of Christmas. Indeed, in the case of Manchester United there was even an indication that their visit would take the form of a game at the end of the season, a full nine months away.

In these circumstances the Tyrone County Board of the GAA adopted an eminently sensible wait and see attitude to the whole thing. After all, there was always the possibility that these games would not take place in spite of the best efforts of all those involved.

The official line was that any approach would be considered if and when it was made and until then the board had no further comment to make on the virtues or otherwise of hosting a soccer match on a pitch within its patch. But the signals emanating from Croke Park were considerably more forthright and were of the `thus far and no further' variety. They were to set the tone for the highly charged nature of the discussions from there on in.

The inconsistency of a situation where American football, Australian Rules and various musical events have been staged on GAA grounds with no apparent difficulty has been given a considerable airing here. But the entire debate entered the realm of the absurd with confirmation that approval had been given for Casement Park in Belfast to be rented out as the venue for a three-week funfair and carnival for a fee of £30,000. Funfairs? But of course. One-off soccer matches? Now that could be more difficult.

All the while Roy McCreadie was attracting considerable interest for his proposals and was confident enough to proceed with a formal request to the St Enda's Club. Omagh's biggest GAA club, and the focal point for much of the town's sporting and cultural activity, was now faced with a series of decisions that would require the wisdom of Solomon. In light of what its members had already had to face, it is indefensible and shameful that anyone or any organisation should have allowed them to be placed in such an invidious position.

But placed in it they were and as the pressure mounted there was the very real prospect of the club being boxed into a corner where it would defy the central edict and go ahead with the game. There was support for this course of action and given the emotive circumstances it is unthinkable that any censure would have resulted.

The club's management committee was due to consider the matter late last week, but as that deadline approached Omagh Town intervened and withdrew their request to stage the fixture at Healy Park. It was a bold move and put an end to what had become a dangerously escalating situation.

Roy McCreadie was at pains to play down the whole incident. "It was only a request to the GAA," he said. "It has got out of all proportion and has got nothing to do with Omagh Town football club."

So now there will be no soccer at Healy Park and doubtless there are elements within the GAA hierarchy who would see their firm stance as having been vindicated. There will probably be less money raised for the Omagh Appeal than might otherwise have been the case, but then the GAA can point to its fundraising efforts which, even at this early stage, dwarf those of everyone else.

Any soccer match on a GAA ground in Omagh would have been a one-off response to an event of once in a lifetime horror. All it took was a little vision. But, unfortunately, GAA eyes have once again been trained firmly on their feet.