Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome an t-uachtarán to the Seanad. I also welcome his wife, his family, the Oireachtas Members, Deputies, the sitting county councillors and the distinguished guests who are in the audience. I acknowledge that this event would not have happened without a lot of work being done by a lot of people. They know who they are and I thank them for making this possible.

As I sat here I asked myself what have I got in common with the GAA. I will share a story that talks about a past. The word "identity" has been used a lot here today. As a young Church of Ireland Protestant boy in south County Dublin, what had I in common with the GAA? Very little. As a matter of fact, my State public school did not encourage any GAA sport. It is important to note that fact because that was disappointing for many young children, who did not have prejudice. Kids are not prejudiced against anything. We had a yearning and were keen to play hurling. I wish to acknowledge of two great curates, one in the Church of Ireland on the left-hand side of the road in Monkstown village, and another very innocent curate in the Catholic Church located on the right side of that road. Anyone who knows Monkstown village will know there are two massive churches on either side of the same road. Back in the 1960s, it was an offence in the Church of Ireland even to play sport on a Sunday. However, it was through the initiative and encouragement of both curates that we played hurling on Sundays. They organised a few hurls for us young boys and taught us how to play the sport. Certainly, I am a handy man with a hurl at this stage. I learned how to play the sport and loved hurling. I continued to ask right up into my teens why were we not allowed to play in our school and educational system. The identity of the GAA has moved on and is inclusive. As everyone has acknowledged here today, the GAA is a very inclusive organisation and inclusive in sport. Indeed, the GAA has many interesting and large characters from the Church of Ireland community who have played huge roles in the organisation. One person who came from the Church of Ireland tradition and who I knew personally was president of the GAA. I acknowledge that important point.

Volunteerism also has been acknowledged here today. I live between and attend the activities of two great GAA clubs, namely, Cuala of Dalkey and Kilmacud Crokes.

I acknowledge the work of the volunteers.

I also pay tribute to two people who have been special to me and are great ambassadors for the GAA, Councillor John Bailey in Cuala GAA in Dalkey who did enormous work way beyond that of a volunteer, and Mattie Kenny, a Galway man, who did wonders for Cuala GAA and is now going to do wonders for Dublin.