Fixtures not at fault for falling Mass attendances, say GAA chiefs

ARMAGH and Tyrone county board officials insist they do not have a case to answer to as regards the clash between club matches in their counties and Sunday morning Masses, which Cardinal Sean Brady has claimed is having an impact on Mass attendances in his archdiocese.

The Cardinal is understood to have written a letter to the Armagh, Louth, Derry and Tyrone county boards about his concerns over declining attendances and how they were linked to the staging of club fixtures on Sunday mornings. But Armagh PRO Joe Jordan revealed that the Orchard county never organise games that would create such a clash.

“I’ve been involved in Armagh GAA since 1973 when I started with the underage county board and itsimply doesn’t happen that we cut across Mass times on a Sunday. The earliest start in Armagh on a Sunday for a club game tends to be 2pm with the very rare fixture being at 1pm. In my own club of Middletown, there is a 10am Mass on Sunday and if there is club training, it is held afterwards so that players can go to Mass before they go training.

“When it comes to arranging championship matches then on Saturday evenings in particular, we are always very careful that we play them at venues that are away from chapels or else play them at later times as much as we can. When scheduling our fixtures, we are always very conscious of Mass times. Even with training sessions, I don’t think they generally would be held on a Sunday but if so, that is a matter for each club itself to decide on.”

Tyrone chairman Ciarán McLaughlin echoed those sentiments when referring to the scheduling within his own county.

“The policy of the CCC in Tyrone is to try to avoid playing games on Saturday evening or Sunday morning when there is Mass on. We always try to adhere to that. But in certain cases, it is dictated otherwise. For example this Saturday, our county senior team have reached the All-Ireland quarter-final where they face Dublin. We’re delighted to be involved and that game is fixed by the GAA at a national level so it’s out of our control. Then sometimes we have to play club matches at that time as there is no other suitable date.

“As regards the issue of club training sessions at the same time as Masses, then that is a decision for each individual club. It’s not possible for us to police it.”