Strong words.

The pro-Palestinian protestors were once again condemning Allianz's sponsorship of the National League, with the German company's subsidiary, Pimco, a large investor in the Israeli government.

The continuation of the sponsorship was confirmed in December after an ethics committee was tasked with making a decision.

The protestors marched from Gill's pub in Drumcondra, and among them were GAA legends such as Peter Canavan, Colm O'Rourke and Pat Gilroy.

A group managed to storm the Croke Park meeting room where Congress was taking place, with GAA president Jarlath Burns claiming that a number of volunteers and security staff were injured during the incident.

Burns went on to condemn the protestors, saying: "I would urge people within our own association who might have aligned ourselves with some of the people who have come in and illegally occupied our building today and tried to disrupt Congress by assaulting our staff members and the people who are here to protect us, just to examine their own consciences and to work out, are they doing the right thing?

“Because we went through a process, we have our Congress to go through, and I would not be bullied or intimidated by anybody who would come in here and try to do so."

Speaking on RTÉ during their coverage of Kildare vs Meath, Canavan passionately responded to Burns' words, with many praising the Tyrone icon.

Burns, who hails from South Armagh, also brought up the 1975 bombing of Donnelly's bar in his village of Silverbridge, which resulted in the deaths of three people including his 14-year-old friend.

Burns said: "They came into Donnelly’s bar, which is our local shop, and murdered three people, one of whom was a good friend of mine, Michael Donnelly.

"And I got into my car on the December 19, 2025 and drove to the front of Donnelly’s house, shop, pub, which is still there, to make a speech.

"I don’t need any lectures about what it's like to feel the pressure of illegal occupation.

"I don’t need any lectures or people shouting in my face about what it’s like to go to bed at night, fearful that somebody would barge into your bedroom and riddle you with bullets. Because that was my lived experience when I was young."

In response, Canavan said: "Yeah, strange comparison, but a lot of what he said, I would echo. In that it does strike a chord, and you go back to when we were younger and to what we had to endure. And, you know, Jarlath spoke about what happened in Donnelly's bar. There was a lot of atrocities went on, and what kept us going was the GAA.

"We had something to do, something to be part of, and for a lot of us, it was the GAA that saved us. There's thousands of children aren't getting that opportunity. 

"He also referenced...and Jarlath is still sore from something that happened 50 years ago, and rightly so  he mentioned that there were no convictions on those killings. That was 50 years ago. Why? Because so many people buried their head in the sand, and didn't want to know what was going on. 

"The exact same is happening now with us, we have an opportunity as an association to do the right thing."