BBC report on Londonderry GAA isn’t even funny

Conan Doherty

The greatest victory of the peace process is that it allowed everyone from every community to live in harmony in the one place with their own identities.

That might not seem like a lot to ask in today’s world but, for a piece of land that only signed an agreement 20 years ago to officially acknowledge that there are two separate groups of people looking to be part of two separate countries, it was massive steps coming off the back of massive conflict.

Since 1998, a new generation has grown up and they accept the world as it is. They don’t just tolerate people with different viewpoints and beliefs, they form bonds, they work together and they just live together like normal people. Being unionist or nationalist isn’t an issue anymore because, whatever side your bread is buttered, there’s a home in the north for you.

You can be Irish if you want to be. You can hold an Irish passport, you can play for the Republic of Ireland, you can immerse yourself in the GAA.

And you can be British too. Some even see themselves as Northern Irish now, they’re already so far removed from it all and they’re beyond the struggles.

But, to do that, to co-exist as well as everyone does, there are all sorts of little cracks in the pavement that everyone just knows to avoid.

Sometimes, it’s as extreme – and maybe it seems backward – as not wearing your Celtic jersey on certain streets. You might have a perfectly reasonable argument for why that should be okay to do but there are years and years of hurt and troubles which make it insensitive and provocative and make your arguments count for nothing, really. The place just isn’t at that point yet.

And, when you’re talking to someone in the GAA community, you can presume that they look at the island without a border. When you’re a Gael from Derry who grows up submerged in Irish culture, speaking the language and playing the games, you’re afforded that opportunity to just be Irish and live in Ireland, whether your coins have a queen’s head on them or not.

It’s bad enough though that Irish people in the north are having to look partitionism in the face more and more. The threat of Brexit and a hard border would f**king destroy GAA Sundays, RTÉ Player isn’t available to six counties of the island which harbour some of the proudest GAA men and women, and the eir Sport package isn’t available either, ruling out Saturday night league games and a load of club matches too for a massive chunk of the association.

Those are real, physical strifes that have to be endured but, every so often, an attack on identity occurs too, which is just as frightening.

This might happen with something simple like the drawing of a border. It might be when citizens of the Republic genuinely don’t realise that there are people in the north who associate themselves with that country. It might happen when Eamon Dunphy makes a stupid joke by saying ‘Londonderry’ on a night three Derry men led the country to the World Cup qualifier. People might say you’re being hypersensitive but the more that stuff is allowed to embed into everyday culture, the more 800,000 Irish people in the north get forgotten about and feel cut off from their country.

For every time someone tells you to just move on and get over it, you can come back and tell them it’s easier to just not be an asshole and avoid offending someone when no-one would take offence if you did. If they’re Irish, just say Derry. If they’re British and you’re talking about a largely unionist area, you can cater for that too and no-one will take issue because they accept that.

But on the BBC News at 6’o’clock on Sunday, Eve Rosato gave her round-up of Gaelic Games and it didn’t seem to cater for the nationalist majority who’d both be playing and be interested in that particular sport.

After the update on Rory McIlroy’s latest, Radio Ulster provided a rundown of the football. And it was a disappointing day for the Oak Leafers – rather, Londonderry.

“Meanwhile, Ulster teams had a disappointing start in the opening games of the Allianz National League,” the report read.

“Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan and Londonderry all lost but there were wins for Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and Down and Slaughtneil’s camogie team qualified for this year’s All-Ireland final.”

Still can't believe that your 6pm Radio Ulster News bulletin claimed that "Londonderry" suffered defeat in today's GAA NFL. Is this "policy"?

— Ulster Schools GAA (@ulsterschools) January 28, 2018

Maybe most people in BBC Radio Ulster call it Londonderry. Maybe they see it that way and believe strongly that the city and county should always be called Londonderry. But, Christ almighty, nobody listening in for the GAA results see it that way. And nobody, from either community, would’ve taken exception – or even noticed – if she had just said Derry.

To top it all off? Whether you see it as Derry or Londonderry, the team is called Derry. Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Doire. They’re not called Londonderry GAA. You wouldn’t call them Londonderry City if you were talking about the League of Ireland.

So, factually, the report was read wrong. But, whether it was or not, a completely avoidable conflict has erupted off the back of it, two communities will be offended, and the Gaels of Derry and their proud history, tradition and identity is poked at once more.