As bleak as things may seem right now this could very well be the chance of a lifetime to hit F5. We need to grasp it.
The Gaelic Athletic Association began 136 years ago in a very different world to the one in which we live today.
Founded in a small smokey room in the garrison town of Thurles when Parnell himself was still hail and hearty, it predates the Rising, the War of Independence and the State itself.
When this ends and we walk back out the door and into sunshine, hail or sleet, when we feel the strength in our legs again, when we catch that biting scent of tribes competing again and when we're together as people and a community to celebrate sport again, we will do so with the relief that it is still there for us. We will appreciate it more for having been isolated from each other. – Donal Óg Cusack
Over the course of its existence, it has survived a war of independence, a vicious civil war, two world wars, the Cold War and the Troubles. Repeatedly, the Association came out stronger.
This virus will be no different and of that much, at least, we can be certain, in an age of agonising uncertainty.
What's really important? What matters? The GAAs tangible absence in our lives has made us all a bit more introspective.
Tribalism, an obsession with gaining an edge and winning will still be evident BUT making memories, friendships, love, togetherness and perspective will take centre stage.
At its very epicenter will be our being... our way, our GAA. – Derek McGrath
It does, however, offer us a unique moment and a very rare opportunity to take stock, introspect and ask ourselves some fundamental questions about where we go from here.
Often times throughout history we ask what the GAA is meant to stand for? And since clocks first ticked it has meant different things to different people.
It will be forever thus. Or will it? Will this be an awakening of what really matters?
Will this be the reality check to redefine what the GAA will stand for over the next quarter of a century and beyond?
Will we at the very least pause and ask ourselves the question?
It will matter more than ever before because it will have reset the values of a generation with an appreciation of the role that GAA plays in our daily lives and why it is more than just a game. – Ciarán Whelan
The value systems we employ increased in diversity, particularly in the last quarter century, to the extent that very alien and almost anachronistic points of view jostled for position at the pulpit.
The organisation fragmented and became peppered with factions and vested interests.
Is that the kind of indulgence you can afford in a peacetime luxury economy? Are those positions really feasible when we come out of this?
Well what's the definition of insanity?
The GAA brings us together in every corner of every parish in the country like no other organisation does. The GAA has always been about more than games. When the GAA is back up and running people will feel safe. It will feel like we are back to normal. – Tomás Ó Sé
One of the most enchanting aspects of the Gaelic games experience is the mixing of tribes, the cross-community interaction and sharing of communal ideas. The spirit of meitheal made manifest in a modern setting, which exists at the heart of the GAA.
We come together. We drink. We sing. And we go our separate ways better for it.
The most fertile plot for sowing the seeds of the organisation has always been found around the mass gatherings that are now trenchantly disbarred and, with no light at the end of that tunnel, the immediate future has a frosty feel to it.
The notion of playing games behind closed doors is not only utterly pointless, it goes against the founding principles that Cusack and Davitt set out in the 1880s.
Sport without supporters is fine if your guiding light is your bottom line and you're in a business that's too big to fail. Absolutely kosher if you are tied into multi-billion euro contracts and you run the risk of ending up in an endless cycle of litigation where the only ones laughing are legal professionals.
The very concept of what makes the GAA special is that it was designed to bring people together. If you can't do that then what is the point?
The harsh reality of the real world is going to bite hard when we come out of this. The cost will be immense. The rebuild will be long and painful, particularly for people in rural Ireland.
And it won't be easy for sport.
All sports will matter but none reflect community in Ireland better than the GAA. That will matter more after this time of isolation and so the GAA will matter more. This period will end some things and put some others into perspective that we may not choose to pursue again, but when this ends, we will choose to hurl and football again and we will choose the GAA again. – Donal Óg Cusack
Sports organisations are very expensive machines to run. Director General Tom Ryan has already spoken about the monetary impact and the potential loss of income.
Public liability insurance had already become a debilitating factor before any virus for sports clubs in a variety of codes.What will happen to the insurance industry on the other side of this is anyone's guess. Just like trying to figure out when things will "go back to normal."
If we have an inter-county championship at all this year it will be a bonus, whatever format that may be. If we don’t, then so be it.
The reality is now our very own best-case scenario is a resumption of the club. Getting people in the community back together around the games that matter. And maybe that's another harsh but valuable lesson handed out at enormous cost by the scourge of our lifetime.
Commerce and contracts will be a concern, but community will light the way.
An expensive reminder about what's really important.
