Is the GAA preventing Ireland from being successful on the world sporting stage?

Ireland is somewhat of a recluse in world sporting terms. Long have we punched above our weight in the culturally-charged pursuits of writing, theatre and acting, however, we drastically under-achieve on a consistent basis at most international sporting conventions.

Take the Olympics for example, the most reliable barometer of international sporting proficiency. A team representing Ireland has competed at the games since 1924. In that time we have only ever managed to bring home more than five medals once, with a calculated total of 31 medals. Hell, Michael Phelps and his 28 medals would surely eclipse Ireland’s entire Olympic achievement if he stayed in the pool for the next four years.

In Rio, Ireland’s Olympic endeavours amounted to a grand total of two medals, neither of them gold. That is not meant to belittle the titan achievements of Annalise Murphy or the O’Donovan brothers, who performed excellently. There is no shying away from the fact that Ireland can and should be doing better on the world stage. Our Olympic output works out at a ratio of one medal per 2.25m people. The UK, by way of example, achieved 67 medals, a ratio of one to around 900,000 inhabitants.

Conversely, Ireland’s football team acquitted themselves quite well at Euro 2016 in France this summer. That being said, the fact that we reached the last 16 was more down to changes in the structure of the tournament, with three teams progressing out of our group as opposed to the more common norm of two.