Colin Sheridan: GAA's failure of courage is damning

The GAA was never meant to be safe. It was meant to be just. Today, it sounds more like an insurance brochure. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Some columns write themselves. It's Christmas, so, in the spirit of the season, I’ll try to be as generous to the Gaelic Athletic Association as possible. I’ll try to ignore the politics of its founding fathers and the idealism of its socialist principles. I’ll try to suppress the profound sense of pride I feel when I watch my kids play an amateur sport, coached and cared for by volunteers, on fields curated by friends and neighbours. I’ll try, but… 

Moments matter. And last week the GAA faced a moment that really mattered when it could have done the right thing. Not the easy thing. Not the tidy, lawyer-approved thing. The right thing. Instead, it chose corporate cowardice. The Gaelic Athletic Association, an organisation that never misses an opportunity to wrap itself in the language of community, solidarity and history, has decided that listening to its own members is less important than protecting a commercial relationship. In doing so, it has exposed an uncomfortable truth: the modern GAA speaks like a grassroots movement but acts like a multinational brand, terrified of upsetting the balance sheet.