Gaels have recently come together to call on the GAA to promptly cut all ties and business with Allianz.
Almost 800 former & current county players issued a letter to the GAA, signed by humanitarian groups and gaels across Ireland demanding that they stop turning a blind eye to the role that their title sponsor continues to play in the ongoing Genocide in Gaza.
On November 1 1884, seven men came together and founded the GAA. Their aim? To preserve and cultivate our Gaelic culture & identity. The following decades saw Gaels across Ireland suffer at the hands of the British empire. Many were murdered, others interned and the banning of Irish sport was reinforced by the widespread burning of clubhouses across the country. Throughout those difficult years the GAA family stood shoulder to shoulder and stayed true to the principles by which they first came together.
Lasair Dhearg Spokesperson Pádraig Scott stated, ‘By 1852 Ireland had lost more than 2 million people, about a quarter of the population, to starvation and emigration. Just 32 years before the GAA was formed, the seven men who met in Thurles that day would have been acutely aware of what imperialists are capable of given that An Gorta Mór was within recent memory. Imposed hunger – a man made famine – had been allowed to take hold and spread unchecked because to many in the British Government the people of Ireland were less than human, nothing more than statistics helping to feed the coffers in London.’
He continued by remarking, ‘180 years later, the Irish people are once again witnessing genocide unfold in front of us. While it may not be on our front doors, the GAA, an organisation supposedly at the heart of our communities, have placed profit above principle in aligning themselves with German insurance giant Allianz. They are a company whose history is steeped in genocide. They bankrolled the Nazis, they insured the death camps, and now they are complicit in the bombing, shooting and imposed mass starvation of two million men, women and children in Gaza.’
Pádraig concluded, ‘Lasair Dhearg are calling on all Gaels to stand strong. We are encouraging people to sign the petition launched by Gaels Against Genocide and others, put pressure on GAA President Jarlath Burns to end this blood stained partnership with Allianz, and stay true to the founding principles of the GAA. Our communities want no part in genocide. Ní neart go cur le chéile’
You can sign the online petition calling on the GAA to drop Allianz by clicking the following link: https://www.change.org/p/drop-allianz-gaa-must-end-partnership-with-complicit-corporate
