Euro scepticism of little value to GAA

Paris becomes a focus of Irish sport this weekend for the second time in little over a month. Scarcely had the boulevards emptied of boisterous Irish soccer fans in tight-fitting nylon jerseys than the city plays host to the more arcane attractions of the Railway Cup (to give the M Donnelly interprovincial championship its old-fashioned designation).

Former GAA trustee Noel Walsh can lay claim to having saved the competition literally from extinction when opposing moves to scrap it a couple of years ago. His doggedness in preserving the interprovincial series has been impressive and may be succeeding in that at last there appears to be a sustainable slot in the games calendar for the competition.

This time of the year is suitable given the intercounty schedules over the past three seasons and apart from some intrusions from the club championships there isn't a better time to stage the matches.

Although there has been some grumbling about the cost to the provinces Walsh gives three reasons for the initiative that brings the hurling and football finals in alternate years to overseas venues.

Firstly it gives the matches a new profile. There has long been a complaint the GAA don't adequately promote the Railway Cup and to address that sponsors M Donnelly are flying over media to ensure a certain level of coverage.

Secondly it rewards those elite players who have remained faithful to the interprovincials. To the charge of junketeering Walsh points out that players are not professionals and deserve some rewards for their commitment to the games.

Thirdly the staging of the matches in different countries provides recognition for the diaspora and encouragement for those involved in fostering the games.

For those who are at best agnostic about the interprovincials, the third reason is the most important. Leinster chairperson Nicky Brennan makes the point: "I think you need to understand the context, which is to encourage the game in the centres we visit."

The games in Europe have been developing at a terrific rate and in ways the overseas units can teach something to the association at home. The way in which the games attract people who have had little - or at most a lapsed - involvement in the GAA at home hints at areas of potential outreach in an environment loud with the din of homogenised trans-national sports interests and their relentless promotion.

Brennan said the importance of the GAA becomes more pronounced to those who are away from home. To develop an enjoyment of and genuine interest in Gaelic games is to participate in a uniquely Irish experience. That people continue to be absorbed by football and hurling guarantees the GAA's cultural survival. It is also gratifying increasing numbers of people who are not Irish are embracing the games.

Increasingly the games are at the heart of the GAA. As the overtly political provisions of the rulebook drop away it is football and hurling that drive the sense of identity and the association's success.

It has been pointed out that of the three great cultural movements - the Abbey Theatre and the language revival movement being the others - that provided the intellectual engine for the independence movement over a century ago, the GAA is by far the strongest. For some the centrality of the games is an unsatisfactory encapsulation. An Ulster officer once said the appeal of the GAA did not lie in its being a "sporting organisation simpliciter" and his view no doubt has its supporters. But the games are not a cultural constriction; they represent what is essential about the whole GAA experience.

In an interview with this paper GAA director general Liam Mulvihill acknowledged the association was becoming increasingly more sporting than cultural, a process reflected in the growing success of the overseas units. "The values of the organisation or the values of the sport are things a person tends to appreciate, as they get older and not something that's of interest to younger people.

"A lot of our members would probably feel it's a pity that in modern terms we can't keep the two ambitions to the forefront: that we can't do more for the language and Irish culture but as the organisation has become focused on a much busier games' programme, it's been more difficult to keep the cultural side to the fore.

"I'm not describing it as a problem; it's a fact. We have come to realise that that is the situation but we still have a feeling we would like to do more for Irish culture while at the same time appreciating that the games are becoming more and more popular abroad and that more and more of the people who are taking up the game in Australia, Switzerland or France or wherever.

"When you hear of them looking for a rulebook and wonder what sense they make of rules one, two and three. It's an aspect that was raised by Australia, asking that we look at changing the basic aspirations in so far as they apply to units abroad."

In the social embrace of football and hurling those who have helped build up the European Board units, such as the Paris Gaels club that hosts the weekend's Railway Cup, also demonstrate the importance to communities of recreational sport quite apart from the excitement generated by championship competition, which has tended to dominate Gaelic games at home.

Physical recreation is now regarded as a vital element in the lives of both adults and children. Accordingly there has to be a confidence about the promotion of the games in Ireland in areas and communities where the GAA hasn't previously thrived.

It's also noticeable there is a highly visible female presence in the European units. This is a trend the GAA is hoping to accentuate at home through the pilot projects with camogie and women's football. Tapping a new source of administrators is only one advantage. The full involvement of women strengthens the community base.

So in a way there's a metaphorical feel to the weekend's events. An ageing GAA institution goes to Paris in search of re-invigoration but the European experience may have even more to offer.