IN ALL FAIRNESS - GAA needs to make an example of racial slur culprit

The reputation of Tipperary GAA took a hit on Saturday after a racist comment was directed at Wexford hurler Lee Chin during a senior hurling challenge match against Tipperary in Carrick-on-Suir.

While the subsequent statement from the county board, which was released within hours of the incident taking place stating it does “not condone this kind of behaviour and wish to distance ourselves from any such comments,” it is something that will stick as long as this incident is remembered.

First of all, this game was a fundraiser for a local man, Ryan O’Dwyer, who sustained serious injuries in a car accident last year which has left him paralysed from the waist down. What must he think that the game which was organised to aid his recovery and set him up for the rest of his life will now be remembered for a comment made by an elderly gentleman who really should have known better.

Sadly, there are some out there who feel the slur “Chinaman” which was used not once, but twice, towards the Wexford hurler isn’t racist, but unless you have been living away from the real world, it certainly is.

While there is an investigation underway and the man in question (there is no point in using the world “alleged” as his slur was caught on camera) has since contacted Tipperary County Board to offer an apology, he has admitted his guilt and will now receive the punishment from the GAA which according to its rules will be up to a maximum of 48-weeks. One wonders, is that enough, even with it having been increased to that as recently as Congress in February. Does the GAA really need a gentleman such as this in their association going forward, a man who has previously been a selector with Tipperary Celtic Challenge teams and is from a family of GAA hurling royalty in the county, going back to almost the foundation of the Association.

What is important now is the message that comes from the whole mess. Firstly, he without sin casts the first stone, and hopefully the reaction to it and likely punishment will be such that the gentleman in question sees the error of his ways as he used the phrase on at least two occasions. Why couldn’t he have used Lee Chin’s name or number 14 if he was so put out by something that happened in the melee which led to the comment being made. Why did “Chinaman” have to come out of his mouth?

He needs to be made an example of and from talking to people over the last couple of days since the incident became national news and disgusted by the reputation of Tipperary being dragged through the dirt, so many people will now be on extra guard as to what they say, as not only will it have implications in terms of their ability to attend games if they are suspended, but if it is big enough, someone’s livelihood could be lost over it as well.

Will the high profile nature of this incident lead to a reduction in racial slurs at GAA games and in society in general, I sadly doubt it, but it still needs to be done in any case as if it isn’t, we’ll only hear more and more of these kinds of incidents.

In modern Ireland, players of different skin colours are part and parcel of everyday life. Tipperary GAA have had a black player on a minor hurling team in recent years and there will more in the years to come. It’s time for people who have an issue with skin colour, and some of it is related to the housing and refugee debates, to wake up to the reality that Ireland isn’t a small backward country anymore, it is an international country, now made up of different races, ethnicities and creeds, which are now making the country even better than it was before.