When Donegal last hosted the GAA Annual Congress in 1988 – what happened?

It’s that time of year again when the GAA’s decision-makers gather to propose rule changes, reflect on the past season, and welcome a new president.   

For the first time since 1988, Donegal is set to host the GAA Annual Congress, welcoming delegates from across Ireland and beyond to the Abbey Hotel in Donegal Town this Friday and Saturday.   

This significant event will see representatives from county boards worldwide, including the UK, Continental Europe, North America, and Asia, convene to discuss and vote on pivotal issues shaping the future of Gaelic games.

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The 1988 Congress, held in the Astoria Ballroom Bundoran, was only the second time the Annual Congress met in the county, having done so in 1975 when it was also held in Bundoran, this time at St Patrick’s Hall.   

The landscape may have changed in 37 years, the figureheads different, but some of the same old debates take centre stage.   

Here we will rewind to March 1988 and look at some of the talking points from that weekend in Bundoran that influenced the trajectory of the association.   

The Annual Congress of 1975 in Bundoran  

The first time Donegal hosted the GAA Annual Congress was in the first week of April 1975. The surrounding media reports worldwide were not focused on Bundoran but rather on Vietnam as Saigon began to fall ultimately ending the USA’s near 20 war in Vietnam.  

The takeaway from the GAA president at the time, Dr Donal Keenan, was his disappointment that almost four years after the ‘Ban’ on foreign sports was lifted, no move had been made, particularly by rugby-playing schools to promote GAA.  

During the Congress, 70 motions were brought forward for discussion, of which, 37 were passed, 20 were rejected, and the rest were withdrawn.   

Some of the issues passed ranged from inter-county games being brought down from 80 minutes to 70 minutes, the need for a goalkeeper to wear a distinctively different jersey from the rest of his teammates, and two attempts at a deliberate foul, trip, or pulldown, will result in a sending off.  

Interestingly, following the Donegal senior team's visit to the US earlier that year, they promised to bring forward a motion to allow the New York minors to take part in the All-Ireland minor football championship, which was overwhelmingly passed.  

The 1988 Congress and the Troubles   

Almost 400 delegates throughout Ireland and from abroad gathered in the Astoria Conference Centre for the GAA’s largest three-day event.   

Think back to that time and remember what was hitting the national news, it too was reflecting GAA society.    

A week prior to the Congress on March 19, 1988, the British Army corporals Derek Wood and David Howes were killed by the Provisional IRA in Belfast in what became known as the ‘corporal killings’ when the soldiers, marked in civilian clothes, drove into the funeral procession, seemingly by mistake.   

The soldiers were then dragged from the car and taken to a nearby sports ground where they were beaten and shot dead. The image of their discarded bodies was later described as the ‘most dramatic and harrowing’ of the conflict in Northern Ireland.   

A month earlier, GAA member Aidan McAnespie was shot in the back by a member of the British army while walking across the border from Aughnacloy in Tyrone to his local club for a match.   

Desmond Fahy later described in his book ‘How the GAA Survived the Troubles’ that at that Congress in Bundoran in 1988, it was the first time since the 1981 hunger strikes that the GAA found itself pushed onto the political centre-stage and subjected to the harsh glare of media attention.   

During the Congress, outgoing GAA president Dr Mick Loftus put the harassment of GAA members right at the top of the list.   

“I assure Congress that to my certain knowledge, the death of one of our members on his way to a game is but the tip of the iceberg of continuing and deliberate harassment of our members,” he said.   

“No thinking person, much less any native of Ireland, can be unmoved by the tragedies and outrages which are in many senses close to us. The GAA hopes and works for Irish unity. It equally puts away and totally renounces and recourse to violence as a means to an end.”   

Issues surrounding the north did not stop there. Out of the 37 motions brought to the 1988 Congress, three motions, from Armagh, Cork, and Fermanagh GAA focused on a similar concern surrounding the occupation of Crossmaglen Rangers Club by the British army with the motion calling on the Irish Government to assert strong pressure for the army to vacate the grounds.   

New GAA president John Dowling, moments after his installation, told the Congress: “May I, as I begin my presidency, declare my total commitment to the struggle to achieve justice for Crossmaglen that has endured too much for too long.   

Donegal GAA’s Role in the Congress   

The only Donegal motion submitted to Congress was deferred in favour of a similar motion from the Leitrim County Board. It was put forward by Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon who called for an increase in delegates permitted to attend Congress.   

The Leitrim motion called for the number to be set at four delegates per county.   

Dr Seamus Hegarty, Bishop of Raphoe, and Donegal chairman Charlie Faulkner also appealed to Congress to undertake special work for Irish emigrants and set up a fund to provide employment and thus curb the emigration problem.    

However, this motion was ruled out before Congress because it had already been submitted and rejected the year previous.   

Donegal’s representative on the National Congress, Paddy McGill, did bring up the tie between the GAA and culture, however, emigration was not mentioned.    

Sitting TD Pat the Cope Gallagher thanked the GAA for the role it has played in the social life of young Irish people. He paid particular attention to the GAA’s role in making friends, especially when they emigrate, stating: “You shudder to think that many young Irish people would get involved in drugs and drink without these friends”.   

You Can Have Music But Not International Games   

Despite the criticism directed to the GAA at that time over the damage done to Croke Park, Congress voted overwhelmingly to support all four motions regarding the existing policy of staging concerts at Croke Park.   

One strong opponent to this came from Down GAA who highlighted the hypocrisy regarding the failure to allow national games to be played at GAA HQ.   

“It’s our national stadium and not a resource to be exploited for financial gain,” said Down GAA member Dan McCartan.   

Brother Sylvester of Offaly reckoned that the GAA only wanted the concerts for financial gain, having pocketed £175,000 the year previous, while Louth GAA wanted all money made from concerts put towards club development.   

GAA Rules and Championship Structure   

Dublin’s motion to seek an open draw for the All-Ireland football championship was snubbed by delegates.    

When President John Dowling called for another speaker on the issue apart from Dublin, the room was met with absolute silence. The vote told its own story with only Clare and London GAA voting in favour of a change to the championship structure.   

Dowling made an immediate impression by arriving in Bundoran as the new president by bicycle as part of a charity run. He further cemented his arrival on the scene by announcing the improvement of Gaelic football and hurling his immediate priority.   

He supported the remarks of outgoing president Dr Loftus who claimed that Gaelic football needed to be more positive in the way it’s played, while hurling needed greater promotion.   

He agreed with Cork’s representative Con Murphy that if something is not done, then the games in the GAA will see a serious decline by the end of the 90s.   

In that, Dowling called on the Games Council to trial any new rules over a period of time before bringing them in.