David Byrne disappointed that Allianz has not been dropped as National League sponsor

PETITION: Dublin All-Ireland winner David Byrne was among the 800 or so current and former county players to sign a petition which was handed in at Croke Park last August. Picture: ©INPHO/Nick Elliott

Dublin star David Byrne says it's 'disappointing' that the GAA still hasn't dropped Allianz as sponsors of the National League.

The eight-time All-Ireland winner was among the 800 or so current and former county players to sign a petition which was handed in at Croke Park last August.

The open letter called on the GAA to end their dealings with Allianz after a UN report claimed the company bought Israeli bonds which funded the bombardment of Gaza.

Byrne, who has committed to another season with Dublin, said the fact that a tentative ceasefire is now in place hasn't changed anything with regard to the GAA sponsorship deal.

The GAA responded to the petition by referring the issue to its Ethics and Integrity Committee for consideration.

Earlier this week, a motion was passed in Offaly asking the GAA to 'begin the process of ending all commercial involvement' with long-time league sponsors Allianz.

"Dave Hickey, who does a lot of work raising awareness and stuff for Palestine in Dublin, would have reached out and there were a number of inter-county Dublin players who would have signed that petition to drop Allianz, in terms of the GAA dropping them from the Allianz League," said Byrne, at the launch of Dublin GAA's new jersey for 2026.

"I haven't spoke to Dave in a little bit but I believe it's still the Allianz League that we're all going to be playing in, right? So to that degree that the overall goal of the campaign was to drop Allianz, and it seems like they haven't listened to us, or haven't listened to the people in that campaign, that's been disappointing.

"There obviously is a ceasefire now, I don't think that changes anything pre-ceasefire.

"It looks like we're all going to be playing in the Allianz League, which I think a lot of players who would have signed the petition wouldn't be too happy about."

Byrne said that top inter-county players 'have a little bit of a platform' and are right to make their voice heard on such issues.

"I think, to be fair, the people who are running Croke Park are good people," said Byrne. "It's not like they're doing anything malicious here. People are speaking up saying they don't want to be associated with Allianz.

"And, okay, they're listening to them a little bit. It sounds like there's an ethics committee going. We'll see what are the actions going to be taken from that. Ultimately, I think the goal is, or what I would like to see, is for Allianz to be dropped in terms of sponsors of the National Football League."

What's certain is that Byrne, 31, will be back for another season in blue in 2026.

The retirements of John Small and Stephen Cluxton have elevated him to the position of third oldest member in the group.

Defender Byrne missed the 2024 season as he took a year out to travel to Australia and, he revealed, he underwent ACL surgery while there.

He initially suffered the cruciate tear in 2022 but played on without surgery for a period, collecting another All-Ireland medal in 2023.

It was looked upon as something of a test case, to see if it was possible for an elite player to continue to operate without surgery after an ACL rupture.

"I played a year and a half of successful inter-county football and then when I landed in Australia, two weeks in, and my knee absolutely buckled on me and I ended up having to get surgery on it," said the Naomh Olafs man.

"It turned out I can do a year and a half of inter-county football without surgery - but not a five-a-side game of astro football over in Australia!"

Was it the right thing to do, looking back?

"I think for me it was all about the timing of the injury, when it presented itself, and giving it a go without getting the surgery," responded the 2012 All-Ireland winning minor captain. "I got that year and a half of inter-county football out of it, which was great.

"And at the time, I was like, 'Yeah, I definitely won't need surgery on it'. And then I just had the incident with the knee and had to go and get it tidied up."

Ultimately, he probably would have missed out on the 2023 All-Ireland win if he'd got the surgery in 2022. Or wouldn't have played such a leading role at least?

"Yeah, definitely, yeah," nodded Byrne. "I injured it in '22 and I came back in that Championship. I played against Cork and Kerry and then the following year I played without surgery and we won it that year. I would have played pretty much almost every minute.

"It's funny, with no surgery I was back playing within I think it was eight weeks, 10 weeks. Then, after surgery, it was almost a full 12 months until I was back playing. It was a bit tedious getting it right but I eventually got there."