Tír Eoghain - A Straight Red Card For Allianz
While the Tír Eoghain senior county football team and their management team may have lost their quarter-final match against Ciarraí last Sunday, their actions before and after the game won them the admiration and respect of hundreds of thousands of GAA and non-GAA supporters across Ireland and further afield.
Tír Eoghain players and management refused to be interviewed in front of the GAA's official backdrop - a backdrop which includes the Allianz logo. Allianz insurance, a key sponsor for GAA HQ, has strong financial links with the Apartheid state of Israel.
At Tír Eoghain’s insistence, the Allianz sponsorship backdrop was removed from all of the county's post-match interviews.
Sidelined! The official GAA backdrop (which includes Allianz) removed to the side during the post-match media interviews with Tyrone manager, Malachy O'Rourke.
It may seem a small, insignificant gesture but in taking such a stance, by refusing to interviewed beside, or in front of, Allianz branding, the Tír Eoghain squad and their management have reinforced a growing demand from within the GAA rank and file membership - the demand to get rid of Allianz once and for all!
Earlier this year, ten county boards put forward motions to the GAA's Ard Fhéis calling on the national organisation to drop Allianz as a sponsor. The GAA essentially censored that debate. However, as the GAA learned last weekend, censorship is a double-edged sword, and Tyrone players and management demonstrated that last Sunday with great effect in their televised post-match interviews.
C'mon Tír Eoghain! You're not on your own!