The €2000 fine dished out to the Dromard club in Longford has provoked much adverse comment. The club were originally fined €3000, reduced on appeal, for hosting a Jamie Carragher soccer school in their complex in the summer of 2015.
The matter was further discussed on today's edition of the podcast which first broke the story, The Racket:
References to the recently announced Bruce Springsteen concert were rife among the complaints. Springsteen and his E Street Band are coming to Croke Park on Friday 27 May with another gig likely on the following Sunday should the original night sell out (a virtual certainty). The GAA double header that had been scheduled for Sunday 29 May has been moved to accommodate this possibility.
But the GAA's Head of Media Relations, Alan Milton points out that 'Bruce Springsteen is not organising another sport'.
He points out that rule applies to other sports. The rule stipulates that 'property owned or controlled by units of the association shall be used only for the purpose of or in connection with the playing of games controlled by the association.'
However, the rule goes on to stipulate that property may be used 'for such other purposes not in conflict with the aims and objects of the association, that may be sanctioned from time to time by the Central Council'.
The Springsteen concert is not deemed in conflict with aims and objects of the association. GAA grounds have frequently been used for music events, notably Sprinsteen himself in Nowlan Park in 2014. Bob Dylan also performed in Pearse Stadium in Galway in 2005.
Here's the complete wording.
All property including grounds, Club Houses, Halls, Dressing Rooms and Handball Alleys owned or controlled by units of the Association shall be used only for the purpose of or in connection with the playing of the Games controlled by the Association, and for such other purposes not in conflict with the Aims and Objects of the Association, that may be sanctioned from time to time by the Central Council.
The rule has popped up in the news before.
In 2010, the Irish rugby team trained in Nemo Rangers indoor facility after their own training pitch in Cork was frozen off.
This arrangement was investigated by the GAA at the time. The club publicly defended themselves on the grounds that the rugby team only trained in the Trabeg Sports Centre indoor facility which a club spokesman described as a 'separate commercial operator' attached to Croke Park.
'The rugby team wasn't anywhere near the GAA pitches or the side of the complex vested in the GAA,' he said.
While this explanation seemingly wasn't endorsed by the GAA, the club were nonetheless not fined and were let off with a straightforward reminder of the rule (5.1). The GAA accepted that the booking was 'taken in error' and they hadn't realised what was happening until the rugby team arrived at the ground.
Nemo said the booking had been taken in error that morning for the afternoon and they didn’t realise what had happened until the IRFU party arrived at the Trabeg Centre. We accepted that and asked them in future to be aware of what the rules say in these situations.
Obviously, Croke Park was opened up to the Irish soccer and rugby teams in 2005 but this decision was only ever limited to Croke Park. Milton confirmed that Croke Park is a stand alone case and is exempt from rule 5.1.
Milton insists that the GAA either has rules or it doesn't. Every club is free to seek a change to those rules if they wish.
If clubs have difficulties with the rules, then there is a mechanism to change the rule which is Congress, and every club in the country is free to argue for a change in the rules.
In 1991, a hurling pitch in Galway held a European Cup Winners Cup match. Galway United played Odense in Ballinderreen's hurling pitch (Noel Lane's club). Crucially, as club chairman Michael Kelly told us, the pitch wasn't vested in the GAA so the association had no power to censure the club on that occasion. Read about that event here.
Read more: Balls Remembers The Time A Small GAA Ground Held A European Cup Winners Cup Match...
