Tommy Martin: At its political crossroads the GAA needs something bolder than consensus

Getting it right with the football championship might be a panacea for a whole swathe of gripes and ailments, especially those of the counties that lie outside the elite handful

Though soon to be at a loose end, it’s unlikely Angela Merkel’s next career move will be into GAA high office. Which is a shame, because her previous employment would have prepared ‘Mutti’ well for the Croke Park mandarin class.

Fifteen years of ‘Merkelism’ brought Germany stability in a time of wider chaos. The outgoing chancellor’s careful, consensus-based leadership navigated the country and the wider European movement through several major crises. She was not one for divisive speeches, bold initiatives or catchy slogans. The German verb ‘merkeln’ means “to do nothing, make no decision or statement”.

Once asked what the word ‘Germany’ evoked in her imagination, she replied “Pretty, well-sealed windows.” So you could see her taking to the GAA’s labyrinth system of county boards, committees, councils and congresses like a duck to Wasser. The institutional breadth of the GAA makes it intrinsically conservative, change only coming when some broad-based agreement has been slowly fermented through hours of painstaking debate. It’s just like the German parliament.

Germany prefers its politicians to be dull and boring. To be fair, they’ve had bad experiences with dynamic, visionary leaders in the past. Similarly, too much bold thinking doesn’t go well in the GAA, on account of there always being some part of the organisation’s vast body politic over whose dead body any proposed change would need to be ratified.

That’s why GAA presidents who bring about real change stand out. Peter Quinn and the rebuilding of Croke Park, the modernising thrust of Joe McDonagh and Sean Kelly for the abolition of Rule 42, for example.

Former Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Seán Kelly

But Germany and the GAA are both at a juncture when a default steady-as-she-goes setting is a drawback. A recent report by the European Council on Foreign Relations suggested that Europe needed its most powerful nation to park cagey Merkelism for a bit. “Merkel may have adroitly managed the status quo across the continent,” the report found, “but the challenges that Europe faces now – the pandemic, climate change, geopolitical competition – require radical solutions, not cosmetic changes. The EU needs a visionary Germany.” And they’re not talking about windows.

The GAA is also at a political crossroads. In just over a fortnight’s time its delegates will convene at a special congress to vote on proposals to restructure the inter-county football season. All the tortuous debates about structures and fixtures have come down to this.

Getting it right with the football championship might be a panacea for a whole swathe of gripes and ailments, especially those of the counties that lie outside the elite handful. After another season of one-sided provincial championship pummelings, almost everyone agrees that change must come.

Yet few are confident that it will. Ideas for football championship restructure are like podcasts — everyone has one these days but no one wants to listen to yours. It was the job of special review committee back in 2019 to sift through all the permutations and proposals, red-lines and grievances and come up with the two options now presented to GAA delegates. Both remind one of the old adage about a camel being a horse designed by committee.

In short, option A is that Ireland would be redrawn into four eight-team provinces. As has been pointed out, some counties will be literally presented with the ultimatum: to hell or to Connacht. Option B would see the league become the basis for the championship, with the provincial championships reduced to the status of a springtime sharpener.

The former aims to preserve the sanctity of the provincial structure and, as a result, the power of its ruling councils. The latter pleases the players and managers for whom the league is currently more fulfilling than the mismatch-heavy championship. Both are loaded with other subclauses and conditions aimed at placating various camps.

A winner would require a 60% vote to be carried and few expect either option to reach that threshold. In that case, a default third option comes in: status quo. After years of tedious structural debate, cue yet more tedious structural debate.

When you try to please everyone, you often please no one. By presenting two options that between them tick all the boxes, the review committee may have ensured that neither comes to pass. It’s clear example of the consensus-building that normally serves the GAA well. But it’s all a bit Merkel.

This week, Offaly football manager John Maughan described the league-based format as the “only realistic option” but doesn’t expect it to get through. “We are an overly democratic organisation,” Maughan told this newspaper. “These things take a lot of time to get over the line. It is going to require a big heave and a push.

“From engaging with other managers, along with players and coaches, I get the impression there is a huge groundswell of opinion to change and to move to the league-based format. You’d wonder why bureaucrats might prevent it.”

The bureaucrats might include Brian McAvoy, CEO of Ulster GAA, who, lamenting the cutting adrift of the provincial championships, described the league-based proposal “probably the worst motion I ever saw on a Congress Clár.”

So much for consensus. What about visionary leadership? The GPA are expected to announce their strong support for the league-based format today, but they won’t carry the house. GAA president Larry McCarthy called for the association to be “bold” and to go for one of the options. He has not explicitly endorsed either but has hinted at being in favour of the league-based format. If that is the preference of GAA top brass, they clearly have not yet assuaged the concerns, financial or otherwise, of powerful figures in the provinces.

To do nothing, make no decision or statement. One of Angela Merkel’s predecessors, Helmut Schmidt, famously summed up the requirements for modern German political leadership thus: “Anyone who has visions should go to the doctor.”

Can the GAA find a radical solution or will it just keep on Merkeling along?