GAA defends lobbying on alcohol sponsorship issue

THE GAA stood over its involvement in a campaign asking the new Government not to introduce legislation which would stop alcoholic drinks companies from sponsoring sport.

The request is one of 10 which was put to the Fine Gael and Labour parties prior to Enda Kenny’s announcement as Taoiseach, under the ‘Irish Sport Matters’ banner.

The document, which will also be distributed to every TD before the Dáil reconvenes next Tuesday, was signed by representatives of more than 60 Irish sports governing bodies, including Paraic Duffy, Director General of the GAA and his counterparts in the FAI and IRFU.

The GAA’s backing for the continuation of alcohol-related sponsorships is sure to enrage a number of officials around the country who, in recent years, called for the association to sever all links with the drinks trade.

“One of the great things about the GAA is that it is such a broad church,” said the association’s operations manager Fergal McGill.

“It is open to so many opinions and some feel that alcohol-related sponsorship is not appropriate. That is their right but the GAA’s overall policy is that we are not against alcohol sponsorship. What we would ask is that it be responsible and we believe we are and always have been.

“The only alcohol sponsorship we have ever had as a national organisation has been with Guinness which has never been targeted at underage drinkers and we are comfortable with Guinness because of that.

“Would we be comfortable with a load of alcopop products aimed at kids? No, we wouldn’t. The key aspect is responsibility.”

That hasn’t washed with everyone. Former Tyrone secretary Dominic McCaughey was one of those who claimed it was the GAA’s duty to take a lead on the issue when he addressed it in his annual report five years ago.

“It is almost impossible for clubs and counties to take action on this front when there would appear to be a reluctance at national level to take any remedial action as recommended,” McCaughey said.

“Faced with the ever-increasing problems associated with substance and alcohol abuse across the entire nation, the reasons or arguments put forward for inactivity by our association do not stand up to scrutiny. Solutions to our problems are not going to be handed down from some government department or high office but from within our own clubs and communities."