Media reports indicate that amongst those organizing the soccer match for the late Liam Miller's family is a GAA member of the GAA Clb that Miller played with as a juvenile .His name appears to be O Flynn..
As such he would have known that by rule the GAA is prohibited from allowing its pitches and premises from being used to promote field games it competes with.
That being the case one wonders whether the approach to use Pairc Ui Caoimh to host the match was deliberately made to stroke up controversy and as an opportunity to savage the GAA by the many opponents it has in Irish society ,who are envious of the ability of the GAA to secure their own premises and pitches by careful use of its funds and by implementing its amateur ethos by its thousands of volunteers working for and playing its games for free instead of paying its players.
It is hard to conclude otherwise than that an ambush was sprung and well orchestrated by both social media and regular media begrudgers who despise the GAA and all it stands for,including power hungry politicians who want to make the GAA as inefficient in administering its affairs as they are with administering those areas of responsibility they themselves control such as health,policing and housing to name a few.
That the Judas goat Sean Kelly,former GAA President who misused his power to promote the game of rugby over the games he was supposed to nurture is again weighing in on the side of those who want to drive a coach and fours through GAA rules,comes as no surprise.He has well earned his pieces of silver for his treachery.
Those of us who labour on the on the coal face of promoting our National Games know only too well of the targeting of our schools by the soccer and Rugby people in order to deplete our ranks and promote their own and their trips to lANDSTOWN ROAD --"No phones or cameras please for fear you violate the image rights of our players".
In this former GAA stronghold rugby and soccer have seduced at least a half dozen of our better players to their ranks at the expense of our adult teams with the implied promise of money and fame.
And we are supposed to laud them by giving the use of our grounds to further promote their advances.You must be joking.
I hope those in charge of our rules and games do the honest thing and implement the rules as all true GAA people understand them,come what may.
And a lesson ought be learn ed here .Never again seek money from the State to promote our games and when we are treated unfairly and threatened by the State because they gave us taxpayers money .let all GAA taxpayers just cease paying their taxes and funnel the money saved into our local and National branches.