Those Palestine flags on Hill 16 might need addressing though...

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2386 - 30/09/2015 17:59:40    1794396

Well said Marlon. Ormonde you have to be a unionist? When your not bigging up the rugger heads ur calling for abandonment of our nations symbols and traditions.

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 30/09/2015 17:59:49    1794397

Change the anthem to The Rocker by Thin Lizzy and the flag to a flaming harp and/or some rabid Irish wolfhounds

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12121 - 30/09/2015 18:08:34    1794398

Maybe he really wasn't trying to appease Unionist opinion in respect of the GAA.

I don't agree however in his opinion that the GAA's core identity would not be affected by the removal of the flag and anthem.
It is a way so as the spectators can participate in the event other than cheering, IMO.

Question reamin, is Burns trying to work the room to advance his political ambitions of becoming GAA president?

Angus (Dublin) - Posts: 283 - 30/09/2015 18:15:29    1794400

Htaem. It always astonished me some (thankfully a minority) who are only in the gaa for some lost long ago sense of nationalism or needing to reaffirm their oirishness. I am in the gaa for the game (solely football) and ladies football too, i don't go to a game to see the flag fly or hear the awful anthem played (you know what im talking about , the one in navan on a freezing February night) when getting up off the wooden seat that has somehow managed to become stuck to your jeans is just too much. So you sit as the cd seems to scrape like old vinyl. It is actually insulting to the anthem, and if you were in America Meath gaa would be up for dissing the flag as they say.
But i don't give two hoots about the anthem and its impossible to see the flag anyway depending on where you sitting and i only ever look if i can to see what team has d dthe breeze.
I feel sorry for the ones that are so insecure about their national identity that they go to a sports game to feel Irish. Pathetic.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 30/09/2015 19:06:21    1794415

Luckily this nonsense would be thrown out of congress if
it ever reached there.

Unfortunately it gave Unionist politicians a platform to
present the GAA as a cold house for Unionists which is
not the case.As such he has done the organisation a
massive disservice.

REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1618 - 30/09/2015 19:29:07    1794426

Marlon I'd
The thing about this state , national anthem and flag( tricolour)is where do the nationalists people of the six counties stand as I'm sure the vast majority of those people regard the Tricolour as THEIR FLAG ALSO THEY REGARD THE IRISH NATIONAL ANTHEM AS THEIR ANTHEM
DONT FORGET THE TRICOLOUR WAS ILLEGAL IN THE SIX COUNTIES UP TO A FEW YEARS AGO.
I see no reason to appease unionists to join the GAA if they don't want to and indeed any that want to become members will I'd imagine be quite welcome.
But don't be kidding ourselves, we are a very divided race and especially in the Six counties. Most of the Orangemen hate anything Irish so I don't think we will see them playing Gaelic games soon
Fair play to Redandblack with your posts , indeed we don't have to change anything as regarding the Tricolour/ Anthem and its great to have it played before games
The GAA and Nationalisms/ Republicanism is linked as members of one are also members of the other.
Same here in GB with clubs called after Pearse, Connolly, Plunckett, South and O Halloran, Davitts, Sean Tracey etc
Good Irishmen and women kept the GAA alive here in Britain over the years and I don't think they would be very pleased with J Burns and his ideas. But hid ideas won't happen and they can't be let happen

SamOnErrigal (Donegal) - Posts: 1427 - 30/09/2015 20:21:13    1794438

Well said SamonErrigal these proposals should not and will not happen.
They are a complete non runner.

REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1618 - 30/09/2015 20:45:07    1794451

Yet again its the nordies who are most upset , those living in a time with maidens dancing at a cross road.
Thank Christ we in the other provinces are more enlightened. I don't want the anthem played at any game that's not a national final (that rule will be passed. Also when ulster teams come to croke park is there uproar when their game is first and anthem not played? Honestly is a div 2 /3/4 game in middle of winter more important than a provincial semi final or a all Ireland quarter final. Can those advocating the anthem at every game clarify this? Let me be clear getting rid of flags or anthem will not encourage masses of unionists to join , but getting rid of anthem at non finals would certainly help those of us involved at the moment.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 30/09/2015 21:05:24    1794460

The complete indifference and lack of empathy or understanding that many so called Gaels outside Ulster have for their Northern counterparts is quite shameful. They had no experience of club members being shot dead; clubhouses burnt down and bombed; pitches studded with glass; teams and fans attacked by Loyalists;held and abused for hours at roadsides and checkpoints by UDR/RIR/RUC/British paratroopers/Royal Marines and guns stuck in your mouths; threatened that your name would be given to the UDA & UVF and you would be dead before the month was out. Royaldunne tells us he can't quite understand why people took great heart and pride in their sport, flag and anthem. No Royal you would have had to live through and experience ALL OF THE ABOVE to have any idea my friend.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9706 - 30/09/2015 21:16:33    1794470

One thing I'd like to ask here--- is it the Unionists/Orangemen who walked down Gavaghy road with Paisley/ Trimble, is it the Unionists/ Orangemen who tried to block the young Catholic schoolchildren going to school, is it the crowd who kept protesting outside Harryville Catholic Church trying to intimidate the people going to mass, the orange bandsmen who stop and play sectarian music outside Catholics churches in the Six counties and the placing of effigies of the pope on bonfires--- are these the type of people we want into our great association or are these the people we should try and appease.
Imagine dropping the playing of the National Anthem and not flying the Tricolour before games to please people like them--- the most bigoted people in the world.
People on here think they would change if we stopped playing the N A and flying the tricolour-- you must all be in dreamland.
They won't reach out to Catholics ( nationalists)-they won't change so this debate is pointless
The genuine Protestant , whether in the Six counties or 26 counties should have no fear of joining a GAA club and indeed would be welcome
Let me say this -- just wait to the 12 of July comes around next year and then you will see again the type of people the Nationalist have to put up with
Look what happened to Derry City back in the late sixties and to play soccer they had to play in the Eircom league And that was a soccer team.

SamOnErrigal (Donegal) - Posts: 1427 - 30/09/2015 21:18:18    1794472

Well said Sam. The west brit element in this country have already sold their souls with their grovelling to please our neighbours from across the water. Yes we should remove our flag anthem and the use of Irish at gaa events. In return our unionist friends will wear green on the 12th refuse to use St Georges flag at the north's games and come see the Pope in Dublin. Well they are reasonable right? Look with rugby selling out to please the minority only the gaa stand firm to defend our identity. long may it continue.

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 30/09/2015 21:52:29    1794490

Um was there not another side too? Two wrong don't make a right . Um i am sure you would condemn atrocities like Enniskillen or the Warrington bombing just like i condemn all that was done to ulster gaels.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 30/09/2015 21:53:26    1794492

Yet again its the nordies who are most upset , those living in a time with maidens dancing at a cross road.

royaldunne

this type of comment is in very poor taste. I am not a 'nordie' but am opposed to removal of the flag & anthem. My reasons for not wanting to remove them from games are because of the atmosphere both bring to games in my opinion (in particular the Munster Hurling championship) and a sense pf pride I derive from both in GAA.

I accept the views of others here who think removing may be a good idea. They have in the main put forward reasons as to how it would help. I don't agree, but welcome the debate.

However, referring to people as 'Nordies' does nothing for the debate. Look at the geographical spread of people who have posted, opposed to this proposed change. You are talking from Donegal to Down, to Cavan. 'Nordies' is trying to apply a term to a group of people to label them.

Why not just look at the views of everyone here as individuals rather than labeling them as a group?

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 01/10/2015 08:57:35    1794502

thomasclarke:

Again, I'm not talking about attracting the hardliners from loyalist estates, but am instead talking about a gesture that may eventually see more young, open-minded protestants view gaelic games as a sport of choice, and one that they can play in an inclusive environment without feeling self-conscious about their political beliefs.

Fair enough, and you are closer to the people you refer to so if you think this change would attract people to our games and build bridges then I accept your opinion. I would like to add one other point though. I've followed Manchester United for 34 years now. Despite Union Jacks being present at games, songs like 'No surrender' being sung and the signing of Andy Goram, nothing has put me off the club. The one thing that did cut to the bone was removing the words 'football' club from the badge. I saw it as a complete loss of identity and haven't bought any official merchandise since.

I personally would see removing the flag and anthem as a loss of identity in Gaelic Games. I do think I would stop going to games and would probably only go again if & when my Son wanted to go. I wonder how many more people would be like me in their actions and would removing both flag & anthem lose as many people as it would gain? If gaining participation is the goal, surely developing the games in Asia & America would be better?

I also fully accept other posters opinions that they would have no problem removing both for reasons other than appeasing certain communities. I just disagree, but it has been a good debate.

Slayer.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 01/10/2015 09:06:59    1794505

But Ulsterman, can you not see that those things have nothing to do with playing a sport?

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 01/10/2015 09:41:25    1794523

SamOnErrigal
One thing I'd like to ask here--- is it the Unionists/Orangemen who walked down Gavaghy road with Paisley/ Trimble, is it the Unionists/ Orangemen who tried to block the young Catholic schoolchildren going to school, is it the crowd who kept protesting outside Harryville Catholic Church trying to intimidate the people going to mass, the orange bandsmen who stop and play sectarian music outside Catholics churches in the Six counties and the placing of effigies of the pope on bonfires--- are these the type of people we want into our great association or are these the people we should try and appease

Of course not. But my question to you is, do you actually think that every single unionist is like this?

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 01/10/2015 09:45:38    1794526

Slayer i have no interest in listening to a terrible version of the anthem, again i will ask you do you feel cheated if the anthem is not played before 1st game in croke park? Yet is played to 100/200 people in February? Reserve anthem for national finals only.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/10/2015 09:52:05    1794527

"this is our game and if we want the tricolour and the National Anthem played then that's up to us, I dont see why we would change anything for them."


This is a really depressing statement. Who are "them"? Not every Protestant is a Unionist and not every Unionist is a Loyalist. How can we ever expect our fellow Irishmen & women to embrace their birthright - Irishness - if we speak about them as if they were the enemy? Nothing does more to perpetuate the calamity that is partition than re-enforcing division. Northern Protestant people like, say, Rory Best, John Lennox and James Nesbitt would be an addition to their local clubs. (I've no idea what political views they hold). Why would anyone want to make them feel unwelcome? Let's invite them in. Who cares if a few bigots reject our overtures? We'll lose nothing. I do t need a song to make me Irish.


Remember, our association predates the state anyway.

Count_Awesome (Kildare) - Posts: 736 - 01/10/2015 09:55:28    1794532

again i will ask you do you feel cheated if the anthem is not played before 1st game in croke park? Yet is played to 100/200 people in February?

not cheated no, but it would be different, not something I'd like to be honest.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 01/10/2015 09:59:46    1794535