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.