Dual player nothing but an easy target

One of the side-effects of Cork’s heavy defeat at the hands of Kerry last Sunday is the general agreement that it has finally nailed down the coffin lid on the dual player in the 21st century. He’s gone. History. Finished.

The ready consensus about the impossibility of the dual mandate in the GAA makes for grim reading if you’re a romantic, but also hints at a wider question that nobody seems keen to field, possibly because the answer is so problematic. Isn’t the dual player the logical outcome when the full spectrum of GAA activities is made available by clubs and county boards?

The main aim of the GAA is not to promote Gaelic football. Or hurling. It’s to promote Gaelic games, emphasis on the plural. The Association’s purpose is not to exclude participation, but to encourage it. Or is it?