Kelly: GAA sick of being 'easy targets

GAA president Sean Kelly responded angrily to claims by Health Minister Micheál Martin’s that it is irresponsible and wrong to have the hurling championship sponsored by Guinness.

"It wouldn't be the first time the GAA was singled out this way," a fuming Kelly said. "We welcome the initiatives and measures taken by both the Health Minister and the Justice Minister to tackle this awful scourge in our society. But I feel using the example of our Guinness sponsorship and not using any other examples is being very unfair to us."

It has transpired that neither the minister nor any Department of Health officials have approached Croke Park privately to voice their concerns about the sponsorship. The GAA president feels the association is again being made an easy target for batting practice.

"Look at any sports, at soccer or rugby or golf, they are all sponsored by drinks company and yet they are never brought up. That is why I am disappointed we have been highlighted in this way. There seems to be an attitude out there, if we have to give some organisation a kick in the backside, it is the GAA. Well, that's not going to happen anymore."

Kelly has a point and his dismay at the Guinness sponsorship being singled out is understandable. Minister Martin's outburst came only days after the Heineken Cup final was played in Dublin, complete with two massive advertising banners that crossed each end of Grafton Street for a week, while a walk down any Irish street would see young children sporting Carlsberg logos on soccer shirts.

Kelly went on to point out that the GAA were the last sporting organisation to accept drinks sponsorship and did so with some reluctance.

"We only brought Guinness on board in 1995 and they have been very responsible (sponsors). When we sat down to have talks with Guinness, we made it clear to them that the main facet of this sponsorship was to the promotion of hurling, our national sport. And they have been very responsible in that regard."

Added Kelly: "I do think the association is taken for granted sometimes. In every small corner of every small parish, there is someone out playing in a GAA field. There is a growing awareness for what the GAA is doing through increased exposure. Perhaps we are being singled out because we are part of so many lives.

"Most politicians mightn't follow other sports as passionately and avidly as they follow Gaelic games. I know Minister Martin is a huge Nemo Rangers fans so he would be much more aware of drink sponsorship in our sport than any other.

"But taking the GAA sponsorship in isolation does nobody any good. We need a total attack on the problem, and allow people to make decisions for themselves in their own interest and health."

As an organisation, the GAA's commitment to youth has been total since seven men sat in a Thurles hotel and Kelly says that will continue despite criticisms from government level.

"As an organisation committed to the youth in this country, we will continue to point out to young players that this is not the way to go. And if they do make the decision to drink, that they do so responsibly.

"A lot of GAA players don't drink, DJ Carey, Mike Frank Russell, Eamon O'Hara, Sean Marty Lockhart, none of them drink and they are all superstars. That shows young people a good example."

Meanwhile, the proposed 225-bedroom hotel for Croke Park will be open for business by December 2004 should the planning application, to be submitted tomorrow, be successful.

Plans for the ambitious project were unveiled in the Hogan Stand yesterday with stadium director Peter McKenna confident the association will get the private investment needed within four or five weeks if they are granted planning permission.

The GAA are looking for private investors to finance the project, with the GAA buying the hotel back over a seven-year period.

"This will not mean any immediate end to our financial troubles, but in the long term, there will certainly be benefits," Kelly said. With 220 car parking spaces proposed for the 3.2 acre site and the close proximity of the Croke Park conference centres, the association believe the hotel will be a viable investment.

"There is a dearth of hotels in this area of the city," McKenna said. "I think this project will benefit everyone and will rejuvenate this whole area. Croke Park is a strong brand and there will be huge advantages for any hotel to be associated with the GAA."

However, the Croke Park Residents Association (CPRA) may be the one stumbling block. "We have had detailed meetings with a number of residents and we will make the plans of the hotel available in public display when they are finished. Again, we feel this will benefit the whole area," McKenna said.

The plans have been devised with the residents in mind. There will be no nite-club or public bar facilities in the hotel, ruling out weddings or other social functions.

In the drafts, the five-storey building is 70 metres from the nearest back garden.

Although hotel occupancy rates in the city have been down slightly in the past 12 months, the GAA are confident of attracting private investors to the project.

Unfortunately, as GAA director-general Liam Mulvihill pointed out, Jones Road area is not one of the designated areas for urban regeneration, despite all the areas surrounding it, including Summerhill and Dorset Street, being designated as such.