Ireland v France - GAA’s Croker conversion made history

WHAT a game! Even though Ireland lost to France at the death in the first game of rugby ever played at Croke Park, it was the most historic day ever in our sporting and social life.

Never was the national anthem sung with greater emotion. Never was a game played with such intensity. The Irish team almost pulled off a dramatic victory, roared onwards by 80,000 supporters in the symbolic heartland of the GAA.

Never was there greater disappointment as defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory.

On the field of play, our sporting dream was shattered as France clinched a last-minute victory. Ironically, a text message to Ireland’s captain Paul O’Connell warned that history would only be made if Ireland won.

Yet, history was made as Ireland North and South united behind an all-island team in what was aptly described as this country’s cathedral of sport.

Sean Kelly, the former GAA president, can feel justly proud of leading the organisation into the 21st century. It would be hard to exaggerate the importance of his achievement in convincing members to lift Rule 42 which banned ‘foreign’ games at Croke Park.

As a result, the perceived “backward” image of the GAA has been transformed in the public mind to one of confidence and progress.

We should not forget that Gaelic football, hurling and camogie are at the heart of social and sporting life in every corner of the country at parish, county and provincial level.

The GAA has become an outgoing, modern and highly professional outfit. Despite its amateur status, Croke Park is one of the finest stadiums in Europe.

This was saluted by the French media at the weekend, which hailed the GAA’s evolution from rebellion to embracing an inclusive and peaceful Ireland.

As the only truly world-class stadium in the country, Croker is a splendid symbol of the GAA’s modernity and a big earner for the association.

TV pictures beamed to millions of viewers yesterday provided a valuable promotional opportunity for the organisation at home and abroad.

From being a symbol of divisiveness, the GAA has become one of unity. In a newly emerging Ireland, where immigrants make up 10% of the population, sport can be a uniting factor — especially in our primary schools, with their increasingly varied mix of children from so many different national, religious and cultural backgrounds.

An organisation steeped in the nation’s history, the GAA has one more bridge to cross.

For some, the moment of truth will come when the strains of God Save the Queen ring out over ground where hundreds were injured and 14 people were killed, including Tipperary’s Captain Michael Hogan, on the first Bloody Sunday.

The Hogan stand is a constant reminder of that dastardly act of British revenge for the gunning down of twelve secret service men and two auxiliary police officers by Michael Collins’s assassination squad.

Putting that behind them will be hard for some. Nonetheless, the GAA came of age in 2002, when the vast majority of its members took a huge step forward on the basis that the alternative to opening Croke Park for rugby and soccer was unimaginable.

It would be a truly appalling vista if our national teams had to play their ‘home’ games in England.

Though sadly Ireland lost yesterday, the decision to open Croke Park will be etched in history as a generous, open-hearted, inclusive and all-embracing act of faith in Ireland’s future.

For this, the GAA deserves to be applauded.