I recently decided to travel north after reading open letters sent to the Taoiseach in December 2017 & November 2018.  These letters were signed by more than a thousand prominent members of the Irish nation living in the six counties many of whom are members of the GAA and Irish citizens.  The letters outlined their concerns and frustrations around Brexit and reminded the Taoiseach of the Irish Government’s responsibilities in protecting their rights as Irish, and therefore European, citizens or as members of the Irish nation living in the North.

I visited Crossmaglen and met with two officers of their Club to discuss their concerns over Brexit.  I really appreciate that they took the time to meet me and I really learned a lot about living so close to the border. The following is my report to the club outlining the reasons I went, what I learned and why if a parliament in London doesn’t accept the offer from the E.U. tomorrow, I would recommend that every GAA Club in Ireland visits the north to illustrate our solidarity with GAA clubs in the North at a time of great uncertainty.

To understand and empathise with the frustrations of the people in the North it is important to look at our shared identity and the rights that were created on foot of the Good Friday Agreement.  We are all part of the Irish nation, our interests, traditions, interest in the Irish language and of course our membership of the GAA point to the ‘national ideal’ that the GAA aspires to, as stated in the Official Guide of the Association.  Crossmaglen’s work to protect and nurture Irish culture is very impressive and as a Gaelteacht area not so long ago the Irish language is at the forefront of this.  Their identity manifests itself in the Gaelscoil in the village and the Irish language classes, pilates as Gaeilge and lectures on local historyamongst other things that are held in their club.  Clearly we all part of the same nation but as a result of partition these people who share our national identity and are members of the GAA are represented in the Brexit negotiations by politicians in London who do not reflect their identity, share their values or have common interests.  This situation is exasperated by a Government in Dublin which is perceived to have a lax attitude to and as being distant from the Irish nation living in the north and the fact that the north’s political institutions are not functioning.  

Therefore, members of the GAA are living at the mercy of the egotistical whims of deluded, nostalgic colonialists in the English Tory party who believe their own lies about their history and masses of people in England who have been brainwashed by poppies.  The reasons for Brexit are more complicated than manipulated shared national memory in England and a desire to be centre stage in Europe’s political discourse and the English are more than entitled to take their ball and go home. However, this situation undermines the balance achieved relating to national identity and allegiance in the north and the rights created on foot of the Good Friday Agreement; this is both very dangerous and potentially damaging to peace on this island and at the very least offensive to all Irish people.

With this in mind I headed to Crossmaglen.  Firstly, there is a possibility of a physical border reinforcing partition, causing delays and controlling the movement of citizens of Ireland on the island of Ireland.  Their teams and players cross the border everyday; for instance the day after I visited they were going to Omagh for the Ulster semi-final, if there was a hard border the journey would be longer if they wanted to avoid the border or if they crossed the border, they would be risking uncontrollable delays for the team and supporters.  One of the officers, like a number of players, works in Co. Monaghan and obviously she has to cross the border everyday.  A hard border would make life far more difficult, slow movement across the border and ultimately isolate Irish people in the north from the rest of the country taking away the freedom that should be enjoyed by all Irish people on this island and undermining the achievements of and progress made by the Good Friday Agreement.

We did not intend to discuss the past and the officers I spoke to wanted to stress that they are not bitter about the past and are so happy today as their children are growing up in a very different place to that which they grew up in but the past informs our present and fears based on experience are also playing the minds of people in the North.  They told a few stories of the persecution, intimidation and victimisation the club and its members faced up to the mid 1990’s.  This deliberate, malicious interference in the business of a GAA club was so bad that even their underage team used different routes to go to matches to avoid harassment from the state forces.  Both of the people I spoke to hoped and were fairly confident that things wouldn’t go back to the pre-Good Friday Agreement world but they both had legitimate fears that undermining the Good Friday Agreement would reinforce partition and divisions may lead to further divisions.  This would isolate GAA members from the rest of the country emboldening those who history has taught us hate and are threatened by our culture and shared national identity and see the GAA as a symbol of this and as a target of their hatred.  

The GAA is seriously affected by Brexit and our fellow members, who are members of the Association just like you and me, have legitimate fears about what might happen.  Therefore, to illustrate our solidarity I would certainly encourage every club in the 26 counties to at least reach out and illustrate our solidarity.

Club Lotto

Date; 16/12/18
Numbers Drawn; 3 10 16 21

8 Matched 3 Numbers & win £15 each. Well done to our winners.
Next Draw; 06/01/19

Jackpot; £12,000/€13,000