Down call on GAA to tackle rugby
By Colm O’Connor

Down GAA secretary Seán Óg McAteer has claimed the devaluation of the interprovincial championships "have let our counterparts in rugby assume ownership of the brands of Munster and Leinster in particular".
In his address to convention, McAteer warned against any changes to championship structures, insisting the GAA is "ready, willing and able to face" the national economic crisis and paid tribute to John McAreavey whose wife Michaela was murdered as they honeymooned in January.

With growing calls for a open championship in both codes, McAteer sounded a word of warning against breaking from the past.

"As a county who have not won a provincial senior football title since 1994, believe me the hunger is there, the value of an Ulster championship to Down, its players, its management and its supporters should not be underestimated," he said.

"You still want to be kings of your province, you surely want to be able to still say that you are the best in Ulster, Leinster, Connacht or Munster whilst then going forward to try to be the best in Ireland. There is a danger that we will be guilty of surrendering the provincial tag to our competitors, we have all but handed over the inter provincial series by our dilution of that competition and now we have let our counterparts in rugby assume ownership of the brands of Munster and Leinster in particular.

"A move to some sort of championship that is based upon a Champions League-type structure will only lead to the further success of our competitors, we are the GAA, these are our games, these are our structures.

"I suggest we stop the tinkering with our structures and our units and we market our games as been unique to our island. Just as America can welcome you unashamedly to the Home of Baseball, we in Ireland can welcome you to the Home of Gaelic Games, this is Gaelic Games country."

McAteer believes the GAA will play a key role in helping its member through testing economic times.

"2012 will bring its own challenges but we in the GAA are ready and willing to face up to the challenges presented to us, we are a confident organisation whose games will stand the tests put to it, we need to respond with positive leadership. Let us open our shoulders and market our games in a positive manner, we have stood the test of time through many difficult periods in the history of Ireland, in time of recession and challenge let us once again show that the GAA is the glue that holds our communities together. Let us hang out our brightest colours, let us never be afraid to say we are the GAA, we are the biggest and the best amateur sporting organisation in the world, let us be proud of what and who we are. The GAA and its games is a uniquely Irish entity we should be proud of our national games."

The Down official also paid a heartfelt tribute to Down footballer, John McAreavey on his tragic loss.

"John McAreavey showed the calibre of man he is by the dignified way that he conducted himself at all times, how he rejoined the county panel and gave of his very best for Club and county in 2011 when inside his heart must have been breaking. John McAreavey you are a credit to your family, your community, your Club and to Michaela you have shown yourself to be a wonderful man of Down."

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, December 05, 2011