New GAA president Larry McCarthy has rounded on keyboard warriors, saying they discourage volunteerism within the Association.
In his first address following the official handover from outgoing president John Horan at GAA Congress, McCarthy echoed comments made by his predecessor in his closing remarks in the role.
Hitting out at a “social media gang mentality”, Horan said: “Many of our members, be they volunteers, or officials have been on the receiving end of this venom and bile which exposes social media not as a tool for betterment but as a dark and dangerous place that cannot be allowed to be a form of bullying that may act as a barrier to encouraging people to step up and make themselves available for volunteering or accepting positions.”
McCarthy elaborated on that in his own address and made a veiled reference to the Donald Trump administration when emphasising the importance of choice of words.
The Cork native, a former secretary and chairman of the New York county board, has been resident in the US since 1985 and is the first overseas president of the GAA, though he has relocated to Dublin for his three-year term.
He said: “One of the lessons that we might learn from the recent near collapse of democracy in the United States is that words matter.
“What one says matters, what one puts in the public domain matters.
“In that regard I would ask all of us to tone down the tenor of our public commentary. Social media has wonderful aspects to it, but there is also a dark side. One of which is, in the words of sports commentator Bob Costas, 'a corrosive assault on civility'.
“Let’s think about that, 'a corrosive assault on civility'.
“By all means let us express an opinion, but please let’s do it in a manner that is respectful. There is no place for the type of abuse that many of our players, volunteers and officials have been subjected to in recent years.
“By all means argue the point in a public discussion, but do so in a manner which does justice not only to yourself but to the GAA. If you are one of those keyboard warriors who, in cowardly fashion hides behind nom de plumes and aliases, and castigates our officials, players or referees, stop.
“Your behaviour not only has a corrosive effect on civility, it has a long term corrosive effect on the GAA as it discourages people from volunteering as members of our Association.”
McCarthy also referred to what he calls the “critics collective”.
He explained: “It is a term that I loosely use to describe our members who have transitioned from the playing field to the role of commentator or prognosticator on the national airwaves. Their comments, sometimes well meaning, can have a huge negative impact on our players, referees, and officials.
“Nobody sets out to have a poor game, least of all the players, but it happens, and it happens on the big stage as often as not.
“Rest assured that the players and officials are the first people to know that they have not performed to their potential and added critique can have a distinctly negative impact not only on the player, referee or official, but on their extended families as well.
“This was a point made by a prominent member of the Collective a number of years ago.
“On a national TV show he said that he wished people would realise that he was taking part in an amateur sport, and while he was trying his best, there were days when things did not go well.
“Today’s players, referees and officials are no different. Measured criticism of a performance is fine, but please, let us all realise the impact of our words.”
