Ireland: The A-Z Irish Glossary - 'G' is for 'G.A.A.'
The 'G.A.A.' (Gaelic Athletics Association)
Founded in 1884, the Gaelic Athletic Association is an
institution dedicated to fostering Irish games like hurling
and Gaelic Football.
Widely held to be one of the most successful amateur sporting groups in
the world. Although the grass-roots levels of the G.A.A. are, in the main,
comprised of
very community-minded men and women willing to give large chunks of
their
free time over to promotion, training, and fund-raising. Unfortunately the upper echelons of the Association are filled with the
worst sort of ditch-brained sectarian muck savages whose
greed and venality is proverbial - most Irish people reckon G.A.A. stands
for Grab All Association. (Like some Irish politicians when in power, they have a 'take it while it's goin' and sure nobody's watchin' anyway' attitude).
Famous for not permitting non-Gaelic
games to be played on their facilities and for banning members of the
British security forces in Northern Ireland
from joining (a lovely piece of narrow-minded sectarianism that is
really going to help 'the Cause') !!
The
G.A.A.
is a victim of its own success, in that the goodwill and and dedication
of its local organisation more than compensate for the greed,
incompetence and bigotry of its so-called executive. Many people would
see the problems of the G.A.A. as being the problems of Irish society in
microcosm.