A chara, - It seems that some of the "usual suspects" took the opportunity of the recent announcement of additional funds for the redevelopment of Croke Park to have a petty snipe at the GAA. Some took this route because the GAA represents a form of Irish culture, an expression of Irish identity - and this is unpalatable to them. Others, meanwhile, did so because they just do not understand the vital role the GAA plays in Irish society.
Without the GAA and other sporting organisations, such as the FAI and the Community Games, Ireland's social problems would be much worse than they are at present. The GAA provides an outlet and gives hope to the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who regularly play and watch its sports. Moreover, other organisations recently received funding, with the FAI getting £87 million, and, on a practical level, the money the GAA received will be quickly repaid in the form of taxes.
I am pointing these facts out not because of any bad feeling towards other sports, but rather as a means of defending an organisation that has contributed so much to the lives of so many people in our society. - Is mise,
Cllr Nicky Kehoe, Dublin Central Sinn Fein, North Strand, Dublin 1.