66 Comments

• Bythebay | Jun 22, 2012, 02:17 PM EDT

  seanomelb, taunts like a primary school dropout, Aussie British Subject.

• Bythebay | Jun 22, 2012, 02:14 PM EDT

  seanomelb, Aussie Brit name caller, never graduated from primary school and it shows with her taunts.

• seanomelb | Jun 13, 2012, 07:24 PM EDT

  You do mean Norn Areland bythebay??

• Bythebay | Jun 13, 2012, 01:26 PM EDT

  Northern Ireland UK, not Northern Irish. Northern Irish are in the northern part of Ireland.

• IrelandNorth | Jun 13, 2012, 09:00 AM EDT

  Ms. Dexy! How do you square your thinly disguised ageist/racism hostility towards elderly Americans with you unrequited xenophilia for foreign nationals in Ireland. It's clear to me at least that abandonmen by your American natural mother in childhood not only poisoned you affections towars her fellow nationals of like generation, but also unconsciously influenced your choice of occupation. Also your understandible outrage apropos Omagh because of the pregnant woman killed. PS All terrorism is morally wrong, whether State or paramilitary.

• RedBranch | Jun 12, 2012, 06:05 PM EDT

  George congratulations on that Master's from Columbia, they have an extensive Holacaust section in their library if I remember correctly. I do not mean to pry but what were the 'things' that intervened to prevent you going for the doctorate?

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 12, 2012, 03:05 AM EDT

  Having read through previous posts on this string, I can’t see where I ‘spewed out hatred’…or is that ‘Dillon-speak’ for disagreeing with his twisted views on modern Ireland? Most of the offensive comments are from Dillon himself….

• Bythebay | Jun 11, 2012, 04:59 PM EDT

  IRA Provo Terrorist medals should not be given to participants in GAA matches. Period. The GAA wants to be inclusive and is bemoaning the loss of players. No wonder they're losing players and they'll have none if they continue that madness. The terrorists lost. Get over it.

• GeorgeDillon | Jun 11, 2012, 04:38 PM EDT

  CiaraBythebay: "George, you really are stupid. How far did you get in school?" Masters from Columbia. Should have gone for the Ph.D but other things intervened. But may yet do a Ph.D in Irish at Harvard. How about you? Irish Intermediate Cert? As regards the British National Front, you're too stupid to have followed my point. I was showing up the viciously anti-Irish poster Lynch, who had been spewing out some hatred or other.

• ancavker | Jun 11, 2012, 10:46 AM EDT

  As far as the Omagh bombing, wrong plain and simple. Regardless of warnings, and who warned who etc. If you put a bomb in a crowded shopping center.Putting a bomb in a crowded shopping center, you know there is a high probability that Innocent people could be killed or injured. No justification period.

• ancavker | Jun 11, 2012, 10:41 AM EDT

  ciara: Unless these Yanks were rude to you prior to the (so called breakfast incident), why the need to beat them up about who is Irish, and who is not. And as far as the breakfast incident, a savvy proprietor would have fed the people, as it is good for business. That is how it is done in so many other places, including the U.S. Stop beating up the Yanks, you need them more over there, than they need you. You really should be embarrassed of what your government and people have done to the place, rather than picking on Americans, Irish or otherwise. Ireland is a failed state.

• IrelandNorth | Jun 11, 2012, 09:10 AM EDT

  Like the canonical gospels, journalists submit copy on a range of topics they may not have personally witnessed. In matters of press or media, always remember that they were written or reported by highly subjective individuals and edited out by highly selective editors wit hagendas to follow. Alas, with the horror of Omagh, we are merely discussing the virulent symptoms of a much protracted imperialist disease.

• seanomelb | Jun 11, 2012, 09:07 AM EDT

  In fact "know all Ciara" I was in Ireland when the bombing took place. Your history of the event is very flawed, but why spoil a good story with the truth pea brain, as I've stated before a warning was given by the silly fools who undertook the bombings.the Omagh bombing was a stupid act which backfired on the perpetrators. Simple facts seem to escape you and your mean spirited buddy from England Dan Lynch.

• ciaradexy | Jun 11, 2012, 06:38 AM EDT

  George, you really are stupid. How far did you get in school? You're telling someone to go back to the national Front but the NF are anti migrants which seems to be YOUR problem. The difference is, the NF are anti-migrants into THEIR own country, you are anti-migrant into MINE yet at the same time you mock and try to belittle the Irish but claim to be Irish. Have you been diagnosed as schizophrenic? Poles and latvians ( I mention them because you did) are as entitled to claim the dole here as you are entitled to claim the dole in Florida. Do you understand that yet?

• ciaradexy | Jun 11, 2012, 05:30 AM EDT

  Seano, the Omagh bombing WAS a deliberate act to kill civilians! Why else would a massive bomb be left on a shopping street!? But you were in Australia when all this was going on here so what would you know and why would you even care! George, i was in Killarney and Killadoon at the weekend. We got great milage laughing at the Yanks like yourself who kept telling us they were Irish. Great craic indeed. I think they finally got the message and you should tell your yank mates that when it says breakfast served till 1030am, please dont start shouting at hotel staff at 1050am cos you cant get breakfast. You lot are idiots! No wonder youre the most disliked people on the planet.

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 11, 2012, 03:17 AM EDT

  Posters who defend the indefensible should know when to stop digging?

• seanomelb | Jun 10, 2012, 07:29 PM EDT

  Typical ignorant reply from ar#e wipe lynch.

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 10, 2012, 06:40 PM EDT

  Wrong George, I have never claimed to be ‘involved in the war’…I said I had worked in a number of ‘in-conflict’ and ‘post-conflict’ countries, including Afghanistan…do I defend the military of your country bombing Afghan towns…that’s one for you, as it’s done in your name, using your taxes…you remember those taxes, the ones not used on welfare, according to you?

• GeorgeDillon | Jun 10, 2012, 10:00 AM EDT

  OLoony Loingsigh--You told us you were involved in the war in Afghanistan. Were you killing people over there, or abetting in the killing? Do you defend the bombing of Afghan towns? Why so silent, you suffer from logorrhea on everything else?

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 10, 2012, 04:04 AM EDT

  It’s partitionist cant and hypocrisy to defend the bombing of an Irish town, and its citizens, as part of a ’war of liberation’…Kim il Sung would be proud of such a tactic...

• seanomelb | Jun 09, 2012, 06:54 PM EDT

  I never stated the authorities were responsible for the bomb and I also stated it was a tragedy. The article was not about Omagh I merely replied to citizen69 using the Omagh bombing in a disingenuous fashion.I never blamed the Brits but what I quoted is historically correct and the likes of Dano with their ar#e-biting silly comments fail to understand what was been stated. Dano and his pommy mates are not interested in truth or justice,they live in a royalist wonder world of Irish hate.

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 09, 2012, 03:43 PM EDT

  Poor George thinks taxes don’t pay for welfare…maybe he still thinks there’s a ‘magic money tree’ somewhere?…but sadly there’s not…Poor George doesn’t know that just to live in Ireland one must pay taxes, be it VAT, Excise duty or Income Tax…and Poor George really struggles when naming the country he’s talking about, he tries ‘Six Counties’, then ‘The North of Ireland’, in fact he will use anything but the actual name…and he really doesn’t like it when others use his own offensive style to point out his errors…

• GeorgeDillon | Jun 09, 2012, 02:44 PM EDT

  Loonyloingish doesn 't like people who make "large bombs". I don't either. But the difference is that loonyloingsigh told us a while ago that he has been operating in furthering the war in Afghanistan. Bombs big enough for you there, you warmongering trash?

• GeorgeDillon | Jun 09, 2012, 02:41 PM EDT

  The racist bigot OLoingsigh offers the preposterous comparison between Irish Nationalists who are resident in the Six Counties, and whose families have been resident in that place for generations, on the one hand, and folks who fly in from Poland, latvia etc., and sign on for Irish welfare. This racist ignoramus doesn't even understand the function of taxes. You stupid fool, Oloingsigh, taxes go to maintain the running of the state, the police, the judiciary, the schools etc. Taxes do NOT go to pay for welfare--in Ireland's case there is a swingeing extra assessment that pays for that. How come you're so ignorant of all this? Been in Afghanistan too long, you racist warmonger? Hence someone who arrives in from Poland, Latvia etc and starts to claim Irish welfare (far in excess of that in his own country) is actually drawing from a pot to which he has not contributed. The GAA supporter in the North of Ireland on the other hand has lived all his life in that statelet and paid taxes and social insurance all his working life, as indeed have generations of his family before him. The fact that you liken the case of an Irish person living in their own country to that of someone who arrives on a plane from Latvia, Poland etc shows what an utterly stupid bigot you are, looney loingsigh. Crawl back to your lousy British National Front, that's where racist anti-Irish trash like you hang out.

• FallsRNat | Jun 09, 2012, 01:08 PM EDT

  the Omagh bomb was planted by dissident republicans, everybody including PIRA agrees & condemned the bombers, unfortunately seano the bombers phoned a warning to the authorities & sent most people into the path of the explosion, that is also fact & the evidence used in court. So how the brits are to blame is beyond me.

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 09, 2012, 11:40 AM EDT

  In another topic, King George D berates his beloved Eastern Europeans for taking Irish benefits such as free health care…here he applauds the GAA for taking UK benefits…given that both groups pay taxes (VAT, Excise duty etc.) into the respective ‘pots’ he is either a bigot or a fool for speaking out of both sides of his mouth…there again, most of us knew that already!!

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 09, 2012, 11:27 AM EDT

  Those who make large bombs, and those who plant them in centres of population, and then try to shift responsibility onto others, are reckless as to the consequences of their actions…those who act as apologists and cheerleaders for such people are no better…and those who cannot see how such actions make a UI even harder to achieve are clearly deluded…

• citizen69 | Jun 09, 2012, 05:44 AM EDT

  @seanmelb: Oh right! So now the Omagh bomb was the fault of the authorities!? Well, i might have known those dirty unionist Brits were to blame! Congratulations, there's another 31 innocent lives cleared from your conscience. If, as you say, the bomb wasn't meant to kill civilians then why was it planned for the busiest day of the week and primed to explode at the very busiest time of the day when the maximum possible amount of civilians would be around? I think it is you being disingenuous as you always claim people who are anti-violence to be anti-nationalist! Let me assure you that most Nationalists, and indeed many democratic Republicans reject the PIRA and their many spin-off factions. I suspect from your comments that you don't even know the difference between a Nationalist & a Republican.

• seanomelb | Jun 08, 2012, 08:02 PM EDT

  Let's get something straight 1. the Omagh bombing was not a deliberate act to kill civilians the authorities were informed of the bombing and ushered the populace towards the bomb and not away from it a tragedy no doubt. 2.It is true innocent people are killed in all theatres of action this is especially true During wars of liberation. For you to use, shall we say "mix metaphors" and promote the usual pro British anti nationalist propaganda line makes you a little disingenuous. You can be what you want to be, but at least be a little more honest in your assessments.

• citizen69 | Jun 08, 2012, 11:54 AM EDT

  @seanomelb: I find it incredible that you can compare Wolfe Tone & Henry Joy McCracken to your so-called Irish heroes of the modern era who car bomb innocents while they shop (Omagh), machine gun Protestants while they worship in church (Darkly), slaughter WWII veterans while they pay respects to the dead (Enniskillen), shoot dead a bus full of workmen simply because of their religion (Kingsmill), bomb innocent people in pubs, hotels, shops & public places (too many atrocities to mention). Yeah heroes everyone. And no i don't ignore murders by loyalists or elements within security forces, nor would i think of trying to portray those people as heroes.

• RedBranch | Jun 08, 2012, 10:51 AM EDT

  Thanks clevelander, from the heart (and safety) of the Buckeye State to give me permission to add gasoline to the any sectarian tinderbox already looking a match. Presumably it would be OK if soldier F presented the cup whilst a UV..sorry Forsa Óglaigh na h'Úladh colour guard stood by sweating in their balaclavas. Serendipidy indeed

• ancavker | Jun 08, 2012, 10:03 AM EDT

  George: If the British government is handing out cash, they (the GAA) would be foolish not to take it. Lets call it reparations.

• IrelandNorth | Jun 08, 2012, 07:28 AM EDT

  FRN! Your correlation of the contemporary Óglaigh na h'Eireann/Irish Republican Army (IRA) with the contemporary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)/Forsa Óglaigh na h'Úladh infers objectivity. We should remind ourselves that the original UVF inspired the original IRA. Munster/southern Ireland doesn't have a constitution. I assume you refer to De Valera's Bunreacht na h'Eireann/Constitution of Ireland, 1937 (as amended). In fact Poblacht na h'Eireann/Republic of Ireland has what it refers to as Oglaigh na h'Eireann/Permanent Defence Forces (PDF), 1924-2012 (colloquially referred to as "the Irish Army", inferring predominance of nationality over republicanism). The PDF metamorphosed out of Airm na Saórstát/Free State Army (FSA), 1922-'24. The FSA transmogrified out of Óglaigh na h'Eireann/Irish Republican Army (IRA). The essential distinction between defence forces and armies is that the latter is considered to have an offensive capability, thus qualifying them as offence forces. As a ex-member of Óglaigh na h'Eireann in a defensive capacity - I know.

• seanomelb | Jun 07, 2012, 08:52 PM EDT

  citizen69 there is no difference between Tone,Sabhat,Pearce,Sands,O'Donovan Rossa,Napper Tandy or any other Irish hero they all fought the English oppressors whose murders you would prefer to ignore.All ways be careful of one who uses the 99% trick it proves their lack of factual data and an ignorance of historical fact. You're only trying to justify your west brit mindset.

• clevelander | Jun 07, 2012, 06:35 PM EDT

  @fallsRAT you state that the PIRA are not an Army from Websters Dictionary . 1. A collection or body of men armed for w@far, esp. one organized in companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions, under proper officers. 2. A body of persons organized for the advancement of a cause; as, the Blue Ribbon Army. 3. A great number; a vast multitude; a host. They were and still are the Irish Army.

• FallsRNat | Jun 07, 2012, 04:41 PM EDT

  I think that you'll find IrelandNorth that the SAS are armed forces operating in a legitimate UN recognised country, PIRA are not an army, they are a terrorist organisation like the UVF who don't operate with a legal mandate from the country they purport to represent, if you read the SI constitution you will see that SI already has the Irish Army who serve on UN missions, when all of the SI political parties signed the Ango-Irish agreement bar PIRA & this was endorsed by successive elected parties to the Dail through the ballot box, then the majority of people accepted partition & vetoed armed insurrection by PIRA.

• GeorgeDillon | Jun 07, 2012, 03:27 PM EDT

  citizen: "The hypocrisy of the GAA is that they have no problem accepting millions of pounds in British grants". And the stupidity of Citizen69 is that it never occurs to him that GAA members pay taxes and are perfectly entitled to get the same support from the British state that other taxpayers get. What, Citizen69, are you suggesting that GAA members should pay taxes and get nothing back? Just what kind of a fool are you?

• clevelander | Jun 07, 2012, 01:38 PM EDT

  @redbranch if you think Stone deserves the honor who am I to stop you. Please feel free to do so. @citizen69 you speak of the GAA"s hypocrisy. As long as britan lay's claim to the land, enforces there rules, and discriminate in housing and employment you are damned right we will take every last pound they have. I would rather them leave us alone and go home with there money and there hypocrisy.

• IrelandNorth | Jun 07, 2012, 07:42 AM EDT

  Dead men are no longer members of any organisation. Why do the British Army's Special Air Services (SAS) shoot people dead, while Irish Republican Army (IRA) Volunteers are considered to murder people? Arrest connotes crime ordinary. 'Taken prisoner' connotes belligerants in the theatre even of an undeclared war. May peace prevail!

• citizen69 | Jun 07, 2012, 01:34 AM EDT

  @Seanmelb: So, to you there is no difference between Wolfe Tone and the thugs that murdered 31 innocent people in Omagh bomb and who are still murdering people against the will of 99% of the Irish people? This is the same sad mistake that is made by far to many so-called Irish who are far removed from Ireland. The hypocrisy of the GAA is that they have no problem accepting millions of pounds in British grants to improve their stadiums & clubs.

• seanomelb | Jun 06, 2012, 07:36 PM EDT

  Read carefully I stated "she took an anti nationalist stance" we are discussing one issue here not her general beliefs.TG I'm not a suppressed west brit like you.BTW whose bringing sectarian into children's sport. The GAA have a history of naming medals after politicians and Irish heroes and local clubs carry names like Wolfe Tone,Patrick Pearse and so on birdbrain.

• RedBranch | Jun 06, 2012, 03:22 PM EDT

  Ona more serious note, for the mother concerned: Your Anonymity Will Not Protect You!

• RedBranch | Jun 06, 2012, 03:15 PM EDT

  I'm sure clevelander would not object to my proposal to have a Michael Stone memorial cup being made up for an under 12 football tournament in the Creagh district of Belfast. An nice one with smiling Michael, father of nine, pictured on the front....

• allan07 | Jun 06, 2012, 03:10 PM EDT

  Well done to the SAS. Who cares they were not arrested or even no attempt was made to arrest them? How stupid is it to consider that no attempt was made to arrest them. These two did not inform their victims prior to killing others. They lived by the sword and died by the sword. Did the US marines attempt to arrest Osama Bin Laden before shooting him through the forehead? No. I rest my case.

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 06, 2012, 02:24 PM EDT

  Clevelander...We are free to honour who we please...bringing sectarian issues into childrens sport is quite another matter...as can be seen by the polarising comments here...

• clevelander | Jun 06, 2012, 12:50 PM EDT

  @dano I have no issue with what the GAA did. None at all. Just as I have no issue with other organizations in Ireland and outside Ireland who honor there own. Also as a member of the GAA I resent outsiders telling us who we can or cannot honor. mind your own business. Sorry that was just a little of a @bytheway rant.

• citizen69 | Jun 06, 2012, 12:32 PM EDT

  Just what do you think a young impressionable lad would do after being told about these 'heroes' by the GAA? Isn't it likely they would go and join a dissident republican group to try and emulate these people by killing Police, Brits & innocent people. Getting their heads full of hatred and destroying the peace process... Is that how you wanna see the next generation grow up!? The GAA should be spending their time trying to get kids to emulate their sporting heroes, not terrorist martyrs.

• citizen69 | Jun 06, 2012, 12:27 PM EDT

  Heroes? Don't make me laugh. When these boys were killed they were armed and hiding behind balaclava masks in the dead of night. Probably on their way to shoot someone dead in their bed. One of them was wanted in Germany for the murder of a baby girl and her Royal Air Force father. Yeah real heroes. Save your 'romantic' bullsh*t. The reality is that the Provos were murderers of innocent people, torturers, bank robbers, intimidators and mafia thugs.

• ancavker | Jun 06, 2012, 10:31 AM EDT

  sirpeter: It is Tyrone, west Tyrone.

• johnshiel | Jun 06, 2012, 10:29 AM EDT

  Seanmor's comment mentions a Sean McCaughey, northerner who died in hunger strike in forties in the south. I'm thinking this is the fellow depicted in a mural in Belfast right outside the doors of the Shamrock Athletic and Social Club. A surprising image because he is shown wearing strictly business attire and carrying a briefcase. Anybody know for sure?

• merefalow | Jun 06, 2012, 10:08 AM EDT

  they were in their OWN COUNTRY bearing arms against the CUTTING EDGE agents of an invader.THEY WERE HEROES AND DESERVE TO BE HONORED.

• seamus60 | Jun 06, 2012, 08:49 AM EDT

  Bythebay. Did you have the same problem when the GAA were drawn into the politics of a joint millitary funeral for a certain gaelic player who was also a member of the british millitia ? If its good for the goose surely its good for the gaunder.

• seamus60 | Jun 06, 2012, 08:42 AM EDT

  Raymond Mc Cartney of SF was on the radio lamblasting the protestors at the torch event. But when he was questioned on the issue of an all inclusive GAA and the effect of those medals, he became a rabbit stuck in the head lights. Cringe worthy but a mere consequence of Ruling by Fooling.

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 06, 2012, 05:59 AM EDT

  seanomelb - Sporting medals normally depict the sport...sad that you accuse a mother, who you or I know nothing about, of being 'anti nationalist'...sad, but typical of your blind adherence to yesterday...TG you chose to leave Ireland...

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 06, 2012, 05:53 AM EDT

  Clevelander - I don't need to ask what the armbands represent...you need to ask yourself a few questions if you think its appropriate to bring sectarian issues to eleven year old childrens' sporting medals...

• seamus60 | Jun 06, 2012, 05:46 AM EDT

  Sure Mc Guinness can arrange for some other club to have the picture of constable Hevarn on their medals. After all he was very accommidating at the time of his hero`s funeral. Didn`t he even hint that the constable was a SF supporter/voter or the likes.

• pilib04 | Jun 05, 2012, 10:52 PM EDT

  The GAA has always stood for a United Ireland, Gaelic and Free.

• seanomelb | Jun 05, 2012, 06:48 PM EDT

  The medals were dedicated to two heroes.Trophies are often dedicated to heroes whether they be sporting military or politicians.The mother needs to rethink why she adopts an anti nationalist stance,what did she expect medals depicting Lizzie or Mountbatten!!

• clevelander | Jun 05, 2012, 06:30 PM EDT

  @george good post. Right sure Gerry knew who the tout was. As @george Stated "but I do know that they were slain in their own country by foreigners. I also know that these men were ambushed, obviously betrayed, near Loughgall, the same place where an ever greater loss of life occurred in similar circumstances. The GAA has every right to honor those who fought for Irish Freedom just as any others do. Also I wonder if anyone will be watching Ireland in the Euro Championship. Check out the arm bands and ask what it represents.

• Bythebay | Jun 05, 2012, 05:20 PM EDT

  The two men referenced were nothing but thugs and criminals. The imagery in the US that they were some kind of heroes is wrong and warped. They should NOT be associated with the GAA which is supposedly becoming more inclusive but in reality is carrying on its continued bigoted and prejudicial ways.

• GeorgeDillon | Jun 05, 2012, 03:29 PM EDT

  I knew nothing about Mr Grew and Mr McCaughey, so I did a little research. I came across a Youtube clip titled "IRA Volunteers Dessie Grew & Martin McCaughey" which tells the story of these two young men. I recommend anyone who wants to understand these men, rather than swallow the stupid demonizations of bigoted fools like Loingsigh (who has told us he makes an easy living imposing foreign rule on places like Afghanistan--what a worthless hypocrite). I know little of Mr Grew and Mr McCaughey, but I do know that they were slain in their own country by foreigners. I also know that these men were ambushed, obviously betrayed, near Loughgall, the same place where an ever greater loss of life occurred in similar circumstances. I know nothing about the deaths of these men. I wonder does Gerry Adams know any more than me?

• Bythebay | Jun 05, 2012, 02:26 PM EDT

  This is an excellent example of the diseased mentality of these IRA Provo Terrorist supporters. They are warped beyond salvation and so twisted they want future generations to be as twisted as they are. Absolutely disgraceful. It shows all the lipservice about an inclusive GAA in Northern Ireland is rubbish as usual.

• sirpeter | Jun 05, 2012, 01:55 PM EDT

  I don't agree with this in sport at all.What the hell were they thinking.

• DanOLoingsigh | Jun 05, 2012, 01:33 PM EDT

  Cillowen - what evidence do you have for your 'Cromwell' post? Why poison young minds with such sectarian symbols? I've never seen such depictions on any sporting medals...and I hope I never will...

• citizen69 | Jun 05, 2012, 11:59 AM EDT

  I thought the GAA were supposed to be leaving all the sectarian politics behind and be open to all?? They seem to be going backwards. Even just last month a GAA safety awareness event was cancelled when members objected to the involvement of the police in educating their kids about road safety. The ‘Live to Play’ event in Co Tyrone was called off when some host club members threatened to hold a picket when the PSNI was due to take part in the Ulster Council Scheme. It just smacks of bitterness. Are they a sporting body or a political party? Open to all my ass.

• Seanmor | Jun 05, 2012, 09:47 AM EDT

  It would probably be better to keep politics out of sports, but that may not be so easy the G.A.A. The All-Ireland football trophy is called after Sam Maguire, an I.R.A. leader in the eraly 1920s (whio like so many other Irish patriots thru the centuries was a PROTESTANT). When I saw the McCaughey's image on the medal, I was reminded of Seán McCaughey, a Northerner who died on hunger strike in a Southern prison in the 40s. Maud Gonne McBride sent a special plea to Dev to save his life -all to know avail. Despite what revisionist historians would have us believe, the fact is that Irish rebels have resisted English rule ever since the beginning of the Norman conquest in 1169. From the start, the G.A.A. has opposed foreign domination. Two land marks in Croke Park remind us of Ireland's struggle for freedom: Hill 16, which takes its name from the year 1916, and the Hogan Stand, which is called after the Tipperary footballer who was shot dead by the British in the fall of 1920. Keeping politica (and patriotism) out of the G.A.A. may be desirable but not an easy thing to do.