O’Neill says GAA could look for Olympic status
GAA President Liam O’Neill believes plans already in the pipeline to initiate a World Cup of Gaelic games ‘would be a stepping stone to that [Olympic entry]’.
The idea may come across as fanciful, though anyone who attended yesterday’s intriguing and colourful launch of South Africa’s GAA grassroots development programme at Croke Park sensed the potential.
Around a dozen South Africans broke into song, joining President O’Neill in an impromptu dance, as a mark of gratitude for the support they have received from the Association in developing the game locally.
The GAA’s long-term goal is for teams from all five continents to supply teams for a World Cup of Gaelic games with O’Neill agreeing that a logical next step would be to seek official Olympic status for our national games.
“I’d imagine that if we had an international competition ourselves, that would be a stepping stone to that [Olympic entry], wouldn’t it?” said O’Neill.
“Why not, yeah. The possibilities for growth are exponential when you think of it. Years ago, we’d have been happy with a team in Europe.
“We started off with four teams in Europe in 1999. I think there’s over 70 teams now. Last year, four teams sprang up of their own volition in northern Spain, in Galicia.
“If you consider that they set that up themselves, it’s far more than we had when we started off. In Brittany, teams are starting all the time and in fact Brittany is the only place in the world where Gaelic games are on the second level school curriculum so when you have that support it’s no longer far-fetched.”
O’Neill used yesterday’s platform to address the issue of New York’s status in the All-Ireland football championship.
New York officials were concerned at comments made by O’Neill earlier in the week which, they believed, suggested their future in the Connacht championship was far from certain.
“Not at all,” continued O’Neill. “We’ve just been talking about a vision for the future and in that vision, a World Cup is a possibility and a New York team might like to take part in that at some stage. That was all that was said.
“The idea has already been suggested by the Middle East board that we might have a World Cup. They were looking at eight teams taking part.
“I’m not sure where we are with that now but at least someone is thinking in that direction and I think what has happened this morning shows that it’s not too far away when that will happen.
“But New York’s future in the championship, there’s nobody questioning it. Certainly not. We’re spending something over $3m [€2.2m] in physical infrastructure in New York.
“The majority of it is on Gaelic Park but we’re also backing projects in Rockland and Shannon Gaels. That’s just within New York so why would an organisation invest that money if we’re downgrading?
“We want to upgrade what’s happening in New York. We want more people playing.
“We want a player pathway for those native born New Yorkers and native born Americans who play our game and that’s one of the challenges facing us abroad.”
Meanwhile, O’Neill confirmed one international outlet for Gaelic footballers which already exists, the International Rules series, will continue in Australia later this year.
Australia broke from tradition last year by fielding a team of indigenous players in the tournament though they were comprehensively beaten across two tests, casting doubt on the future of the series.
“There will be a tournament, or an event, in Australia involving our players and involving their players,” said O’Neill.
