No regrets as voice of Croke Park bids farewell

No regrets as voice of Croke Park bids farewell

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/no--regrets--as-voice--of-croke-park-bids-farewell-1484899.html

Monday September 29 2008

Danny Lynch will spend tomorrow clearing out his office in Croke Park,
ending more than his tenure as the GAA's public relations manager,
before heading into another phase of his life which, as of now, is
joyously uncluttered.

He will continue in his role dealing with cases of alleged sexual abuse
in the GAA and has a few other projects in mind too, but it will be all
at his own pace.

He won't miss the daily commute across Dublin's gridlocked streets, the
late night meetings with residents around Croke Park (a TD once
described him as an urban terrorist) or the letters of complaint, some
of which ranged from the trivial to the bizarre.


"And I definitely won't miss late night phone calls from journalists
asking me to confirm or deny something they knew anyway.

"I look forward to buying my newspapers as an ordinary reader rather
than from a premise of apprehension over some criticism or other of the
GAA," he said.

But as Lynch prepares to leave the GAA's frontline, he isn't afraid to
offer some candid views on various issues, past, present and future,
which affect the Association he served for so long.

Hard bargain

For instance, he doesn't believe the GAA struck a sufficiently hard
bargain with the FAI and IRFU for the use of Croke Park; he has grave
suspicions that the Australians will only behave themselves for a
limited period in the International Rules series and questions the merit
of the link-up; he believes that there should be a moratorium where
former GAA presidents aren't allowed to take State jobs or sit on boards
for a set period; he insists that any form of pay-for-play would destroy
the GAA in a relatively short space of time.

With the exception of International Rules, those are issues which didn't
figure anywhere on the GAA's horizons when he took over as PRO as
successor to the late Pat Quigley in 1988.

A native of Dingle, Lynch, who had been a career civil servant, reaching
private secretary level, joined the GAA from the Office of Public Works
in 1988.

His inside knowledge of how local and national government worked would
later turn out to be a major plus in the complex relationships between
the GAA and various agencies, especially when it came to the
redevelopment of Croke Park.

He regards the Croke Park project as one of the single greatest triumphs
ever experienced by the GAA. Back in the late 1980s, Croke Park was a
decaying stadium and presented a major dilemma.

Should it be patched up on a piecemeal basis or torn down and totally
redeveloped, an undertaking which carried high risk and even higher
costs?

"You must remember the context of the time. The country was on its
knees, economically and socially, the Troubles in the North were ongoing
and national morale was low."

The mood in the GAA reflected that. The dominance in football exerted by
Kerry and Dublin throughout so much of the '70s and '80s had left a
sense of staleness, so crowds weren't nearly as high as they are today.

"On top of that, you had the emergence of the Irish soccer team at
European Championship and World Cup level," he said.

"That changed the dynamic to such a degree that those who had an
anti-GAA agenda were predicting that it was the beginning of the end for
us. The GAA was being depicted as rural, unfashionable and on the way
out."

However, as the '90s dawned, the GAA got ready for a fight- back. They
decided to move ahead with the redevelopment of Croke Park, even if many
had doubts whether it would be financially viable. Other subtle changes
were also made. Live TV coverage of games increased which, in turn,
widened the supporter base.

"The gender and age balance began to change. Up to then, the crowds were
made up mostly of males. In fact, it was as if the female population
weren't encouraged to go to games.

Problem

"We had a particular problem in Croke Park where there weren't enough
ladies' toilets. I'd spend a day or two after All-Ireland finals
replying to complaints about the facilities which, in fairness, were
justified," said Lynch.

"The GAA had the courage and the vision to take a huge leap of faith in
their organisation and their members.

There was no promise of Government grants at the time, so the easy thing
would have been to patch up Croke Park. If we missed the boat back then,
the stadium would never have been properly redeveloped," said Lynch.

He also regards the emergence of Donegal and Derry as first-time
All-Ireland football winners in the early 1990s as significant
milestones, which were replicated by Armagh and Tyrone who joined the
elite club a decade later.

"Who would have thought 20 years ago that we would have so many first
time All-Ireland winners in football in a relatively short space of
time?" said Lynch.

"And in hurling we had plenty variety too. I have no doubt that the
changed championship formats have been very important in making our
games more appealing than ever before."

If the GAA is well positioned now to take on the challenges ahead, it
wasn't without its controversies during his spell as PRO. Rule 21, the
occupation of Crossmaglen and opening Croke Park to soccer and rugby
were all highly emotive issues which had to be handled with utmost
sensitivity.

The then president Joe McDonagh took steps towards removing Rule 21
(which prevented members of the British army and other security forces
joining the GAA) in the aftermath of the signing of the Good Friday
agreement, but ran into opposition.

Successor

His successor Sean McCague eventually managed to steer it through, but
Lynch recalls it as a fraught process.

"In effect, the rule had little practical relevance other than being
used as a stick to beat the GAA with," he said.

"We came under ferocious pressure from various sources, including Sinn
Fein, not to remove it, but, as ever, the ordinary GAA members made up
their own minds and recognised that the time was right to move on."

The occupation of Crossmaglen by the British Army was another hugely
emotive issue.

"It was seen as a symbol of oppression, not just in Crossmaglen but
right across the GAA community.

"In these different times, it's easy to forget how emotive that was.

"It was one of the great days for the GAA when it was finally sorted
out."

If Lynch played a key role in the various behind-the-scenes political
machinations which faced the GAA over the years, there was one occasion
when he was thrust out front and left swinging in a very cold wind.

Controversy

It occurred in December 1991 after the GAA's Management Committee
overturned a decision granting permission to Dublin and Down to play a
challenge game as a joint promotion with a Bohemians v Shamrock Rovers
soccer game at the RDS

A storm of controversy blew across the sporting landscape and, as the
GAA's official spokesman, Lynch felt the brunt of the anger and
confusion.

"Efforts were made to hang me out to dry. Decisions were taken by very
eminent people to allow the game go ahead only to later decide against
it without offering a coherent reason why," he said.

"I was told on one occasion to claim it was called off because the
players would need injections as the RDS had been used for show
jumping."

"Imagine the impact that would have had on the GAA around the country.
We'd be telling young lads they couldn't go down to the local field
because horses or sheep had been in there.

"It was a very difficult time for me because I was left to explain
something for which no reason had been given."

Considered

He considered resigning and returning to the Civil Service, but his wife
Carmel advised him against quitting on a single issue.

"She was right. Others were to blame for the mess, so why should I leave
a job I was otherwise enjoying?" he said.

The GAA is a much-changed place since then, but there's one
administrative area which he believes needs to be addressed.

It concerns the role of the president which, according to Lynch, has
never been properly defined. It was expected that the Strategic Review
Committee report of 2002 would deal with this area but it didn't,
certainly not in a coherent way.

Lynch believes that ex-presidents should not be allowed to take State
jobs or sit on boards for a certain period of time after leaving office.

"I'm saying quite clearly that I think it has the potential to
compromise individuals in terms of taking hard decisions when it comes
to Government or State agencies," he said.

As the man in the firing line any time a problem arose, Lynch recalls
dozens of times when the GAA came in for truly bizarre attacks.

"We got dog's abuse from some people for not postponing games when
Princess Diana was killed," he said.

"It was unbelievable but there were people who accused us of being a
disgrace for not calling off games.

"We still get some strange complaints. In fact, it's worse in some ways
now because people can send an email and know that it reaches us in a
matter of seconds.

"We'd often find that they are sent at night.

"It's as if people come home from the pub and decide to vent their
feelings.

"At least under the old system, they had to buy a stamp and an envelope
and write a letter."

His decision to leave Croke Park was taken a year ago and it is one he
doesn't regret in the slightest.

"I had great times there but by early next year, I would have been
working full-time for 39 years," he said.

"It's time to ease down and enjoy things I haven't had time for up to
now."