Fogarty Forum: Allianz decision won’t wash for many in GAA
There was scant recognition of the nine counties who have passed motions opposing the GAA’s commercial partnership with Allianz in the association's statement regarding its relationship with the multinational company. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
In their right minds, nobody should have expected the GAA were going to part ways with Allianz.
This column in November highlighted just how difficult it was going to be but the indications had been there for months. GAA leaders were talking off the record about Allianz being too big to lose. They were also taking soundings from Government and the advice was not to cause themselves the hassle.
Lo and behold the GAA went to bury bad news not just on a Friday evening but on the last one before Christmas. Issued in cold, clinical terms, there was no heart in the statement. Nothing to acknowledge the suffering and genocide in Gaza. All business, no benevolence.
Instead of simply stating there wasn’t enough evidence to sever the relationship, they prioritised reasons of self-interest as to why they shouldn’t. It seemed a done deal and the conviction of GAA president Jarlath Burns on RTÉ Radio 1 on Saturday hardly dissuaded that theory.
Nevertheless, the press release sure was chilly. The other ethical reference was not to the GAA distancing itself from a group that bought Israeli war bonds but how the GAA is “ethically and legally bound to honour its contracts”.
If the claim that Allianz PLC does not fund the Israeli Defence Forces or corporate entities “involved in the war in Gaza” was such a strong one, it would have been listed above the insurance and legal concerns the GAA had about losing Allianz.
But the GAA know that was a strawman argument. The UN report never stated that Allianz PLC did such a thing. However, it is a part of the accused global insurance group as it states in the “about us” section of the Allianz Ireland website. The left hand insisting that it doesn’t know what the right hand is doing simply does not wash.
The GAA’s ethics and integrity commission themselves suggested Allianz were guilty of something when they recommended the GAA speak to Allianz PLC “to use its influence to encourage other companies within the group to act in accordance with Irish, European and International Law.”
What was just as feeble about the statement on Friday was the scant recognition of the nine counties who have passed motions opposing the GAA’s commercial partnership with Allianz (Dublin and Tipperary ruled similar motions out of order) and the hundreds of current and former players who have signed a petition to that effect. Their earnest concerns deserved far more than reference in a final sentence.
On Saturday, Burns said the 800 signatures did prompt Central Council to refer the Allianz partnership to the ethics and integrity commission for review. At the same time, he said they represented “0.13% of our membership”.
Nine of 32 counties putting forward a proposal to end ties with Allianz is no insignificance. Combined, they represent almost a quarter of Central Council and close to 50 votes at Congress. They are hardly a small rump of malcontents. And they are hardly going to go away.
What the GPA does next will be interesting. It was they who lobbied the GAA to release a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in May of last year and a donation to the Irish Red Cross efforts to support relief work in Gaza was also made.
GPA chief executive Tom Parsons said he would not be commenting until the ethics and integrity commission completed their review. Shane McGuigan (Derry) and David Byrne (Dublin) were among the signatories. Will others, Peter Canavan and Neil McManus, be part of RTÉ’s coverage of the National Leagues if it continues to be branded as Allianz’s?
The GAA may not be prepared to end their policies with Allianz but the sentiment is so strong among many of its members. The possibility of boycotts and protests at games, if not around the promotion of the league and possibly the football championship, is strong also.
On Saturday, UN special rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, who wrote the report which prompted the campaign against Allianz, reacted: “From the Book of Contradictions: GAA, Irish largest sporting organisation (once part of the resistance to British occupation), decided to maintain ties with Allianz despite the latter's dealings with Apartheid Israel. Placing profits above rights.”
Because of their intrinsic underwriting relationship, the GAA can rightly maintain it was never going to be as simple as saying goodbye to close to €2m they supposedly receive from Allianz in sponsorship annually.
Allianz has benefited hugely from the relationship too in terms of obtaining business and riding sidecar on the GAA's reputation.
The problem is the GAA gave its own name one hell of a kicking on Friday. The cover of Christmas won’t mask the distinct lack of decency shown.
john.fogarty@examiner.ie
Loughrea will hope to count on the expertise of the county board in challenging the red card of Cullen Killeen in the dying embers of Sunday’s All-Ireland club SHC semi-final.
Three years ago, Cianan Fahy’s two-match suspension arising from a retrospective suspension in the Leinster final was quashed based on a technicality. Galway argued the disciplinary process shouldn’t have commenced by email and it was accepted by the Central Hearings Committee.
Not only that, Clare used the same argument to free up Rory Hayes and Peter Duggan for their All-Ireland quarter-final. The loophole was later closed following an emergency meeting of Central Council and a motion.
There is no clear evidence in the available video footage to clear Killeen, although Loughrea and Slaughtneil would likely have had their own cameras capturing the game from the stand side of Parnell Park.
There’s an All-Ireland final at stake so Loughrea will obviously be doing everything in their power to get their man and the communication between linesman Michael Kennedy and referee Johnny Murphy will be scrutinised.
There’s a choreography that has to be followed so if anything is found to have been done in error Loughrea will seize on it. That’s how Limerick’s Peter Casey was able to play in the 2021 All-Ireland final — referee John Keenan chose to take the advice of his umpire rather than his linesman Liam Gordon, who stated Casey and Conor Gleeson should be booked.
There’s also the Disputes Resolution Authority and the lesser-spotted clemency committee but it would appear Killeen’s best hope is finding some sort of discrepancy in the process of his sending-off.
Fógra – Launched last week, former Waterford footballer Tom Hunt has produced a considerable piece of work in his book, “The History of Clonea 1886-2025”. A 500-page tome with over 300 photographs, it is already being considered one of the most comprehensive published sports history books in Waterford.
In training anyway, Ben O’Connor has not been Cork senior hurling manager a full month and already he knows the rumour mill in the county shows no signs of abating.
Speaking about Niall O’Halloran’s departure as coach to last week, O’Connor admitted there had been a breakdown in the pair’s understanding of how they were going to work together.
“We parted there, he wished us the best of luck and, as far as I’m concerned, myself and Niall, there’s no issues between us but it was [a case of] what was the point prolonging it when it wasn’t going to work long-term?” said O’Connor.
“That’s the way it finished, everything was amicable. There were stories going around that this happened and that happened – we had an honest conversation between the two of us and we agreed that it was probably the right thing for the two of us to split.”
O’Connor would probably be aware that soon after O’Halloran’s departure there were also tall tales that he too was heading for the door. This column received such messages, from both in and outside Cork.
Clearly, nothing has been learned from the dressing room rumours of last July. Fair play to O’Connor for filling the vacuum, but the interest in Cork hurling is such that it won’t be long before another story gets legs.
