More pressing issues for GAA than Hawk Eye

MY school reports could make weary reading.

Starting with art and moving through the subjects in alphabetical order the remarks would be virtually identical. “Distracts others in class,” would be followed by: “Is a distraction to others.” All the way down to religious education, those two statements would be repeated ad nauseam.

It was predictable fare, and I always felt my report reflected extremely poorly — on the teachers. Their lack of originality and limited forms of expression were quite alarming.

Fortunately, there were a few exceptions. An English teacher once departed from the usual stockpile of comments to observe that: “Paddy tends to channels his efforts in the wrong direction.” I read. I liked it. I admired the diplomacy, the subtlety, the invitation for introspection.

Who wants to be going in the wrong direction? It sounds so self-defeating, all that wasted energy serving no clear purpose.

The GAA should take heed. My teacher’s observation is equally applicable to the leaders of Cumann Luthchleas Gael. Take the example of the police-state tactics which have been used in Croke Park to suppress pitch celebrations.

At the first match last year when the perspex wall was unveiled in Croke Park a group of Kildare supporters unfurled a banner on Hill 16 which read ‘Down with fences’.

Unlike the barrier, the banner didn’t obstruct anyone’s view. The supporters were merely exercising the civil liberty that was promised to Irishmen and Irishwomen by Patrick Pearce when he read the Proclamation of 1916 — the very statement which once generated the rubble for the terrace where the Kildare supporters were standing.

The Hi-Viz Troopers clearly didn’t see the irony as they pushed their way through the Hill, hell bent on denying the civil liberty of their fellow Irishmen.

Yet, compare the swift retribution meted out to the banner wavers with the total absence of action taken against the phantom whistle-blower who stands on same terrace.

In last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final, a shrill blast from the Hill prompted Tyrone’s Martin Penrose to pause for just an instant, but long enough to sabotage a goal chance.

Cue an invasion of the Hi-Viz Troopers. Not quite. Absolutely nothing has been done. In the All-Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Donegal, the whistling continued.

A few planted supporters dotted across the terracing on match day would solve the problem. Once the miscreant is identified, the Troops could be alerted and the offender removed to a dark room where his liberty to blow a whistle could be beaten out of him.

What does it say about the priorities of the GAA when it stops one supporter from waving a banner but takes zero steps to counter a troublemaker whose actions could affect the outcome of a game?

That’s just one example. The decision to introduce Hawk-Eye is baffling.

Poor attendances at this year’s qualifiers finally convinced the GAA to drop admission prices. Given that reduced gate receipts will probably lead to a smaller revenue, there is an onus on the GAA not to be frittering away its coffers.

It’s hardly the time to think about introducing technology that will cost the Association mega-bucks.

Bear in mind a motion passed at Congress last year to trial independent time keeping was abandoned because the cost of installing official clocks at every venue was in the region of €250,000.

If 32 clocks costs a quarter of a million, consider the astronomical expense of rigging up Hawk Eye in every county ground. The fact that the GAA is going to test it at Croke Park and only Croke Park is yet another ill advised move.

As the GAA’s sporting cathedral, Croke Park should provide a mirror image of what happens at every ground in the country.

That’s why it is wrong to ban pitch celebrations. How can a tradition which is facilitated at every parish pitch in Ireland be outlawed at the greatest GAA venue of them all? We can’t have one rule for the GAA of Croke Park Ltd and another rule for the rest.

Introducing Hawk Eye at Headquarters only serves to reinforce that separation.

Watching the flight of a ball and the run of a player at the same time is nigh impossible. The square ball rule that asks match officials to perform this task is stupid beyond belief.

The greatest surprise of all is that such a crazy rule has lasted for so long. The solution doesn’t require Hawk Eye and the hundreds of thousands required to purchase the gadgetry. The GAA simply needs to accept the rule which was proposed and rejected at last year’s Congress.

The primary purpose of the GAA is to promote and invest in football and hurling. The GAA needs good coaches. Counties need training centres. Cities like Cork need more pitches. It all costs money, but that type of expenditure strengthens the game’s infrastructure.

That’s what the GAA is all about.

The eyes of a hawk will be of no benefit to the GAA if its leadership has lost sight of where they should be going.