Jarlath Burns: 'There was a line crossed today'
GAA president Jarlath Burns has said “a line was crossed” and called on GAA members involved in the “No to Allianz” protests to condemn those who illegally forced their way into Croke Park on Saturday.At least two people are known to have been injured as a result of protesters breaking into the stadium. Close to 20 of them interrupted Congress, forcing Burns to adjourn the annual gathering for a period.A number of former inter-county players took part in the protest march from the North Circular Road to Croke Park on Saturday.Burns has called on them to distance themselves from the “unedifying scenes”.In a post-Congress press conference, he said: “We’re no strangers to protests. In a couple of weeks's time, we will be having the Eid celebration here, where we allow our Islamic brethren in to pray. And there will be people who feel it's not right to protest outside Croke Park that day. We've always facilitated peaceful protests.“We've even facilitated it in some fields at half-time in some of our matches this year, even though it's against our regulations. But there are almost unwritten rules of engagement between peaceful protests and the allowance of peaceful protests. And I think that there was a line crossed today.“Coming into our property and disrupting our Congress is unacceptable. We have members of our security team and volunteers injured today as a result of injuries sustained from people who are trying to get in past. That is totally unacceptable.“And I would urge people who might have been connected with the GAA, who are involved in that protest, to speak about it and to condemn it, because we have a right to carry out our Congress unfettered.“We are a democratic organisation. That is a democratically-convened gathering every year that goes through convention and nominates people democratically. And I would urge those people maybe to consider the same methods as well.“And finally, I would praise the restraint that was shown by our delegates. A lot of them put themselves in harm's way today to try and keep the protests out and to try and just facilitate it and maintain it.” A protester enters the room during the 2026 GAA Congress. Pic: Nick Elliott/InphoBurns said he had friends involved in the movement but asked them to “reflect on the terrified people who were in that room, who were not used to that, who didn't come to Congress to think that they were going to be roared at and shouted at and intimidated. Reflect on the people who were injured today in the course of their work, many of them volunteers as well.“They are people who I see coming in and out of Croke Park every day, and they do a brilliant job. And we don't ask them. They are not trained to deal with what they had to deal with today.” Burns confirmed the GAA’s security protocols in Croke Park will be reviewed as a result of the events. He adjourned Congress for an early lunch because of the interruption in the Hogan Stand suite where protesters unfurled banners at the top table and chant “No to Allianz” and “Allianz amach”.One protester condemned the decision by the GAA not to debate any of the motions put forward by nine counties calling for the association to end its commercial relationship with the global insurance firm. Instead, those recommendations were referred to the GAA’s management committee.Last year, a UN-commissioned report found a subsidiary of Allianz to be complicit in the genocide in Gaza as they purchased Israeli government bonds. Upon review, the GAA endorsed their ethics and integrity commission’s recommendation not to sever the relationship.Burns reopened Congress by condemning the protesters.“It's a bit ironic that people who are protesting against illegal occupation will come in and illegally occupy our building.“And I just want to say this, on the day that we made the decision based on the Ethics and Integrity Commission, it was on December 19, and December 19 in my area is a very big date.“It was in 1975, the Glenanne Gang 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 went into my car on December 19 2025 and drove to the front of Donnelly's house, shop, pub, which is still there, to make a speech.“Fifty years on, justice still hasn't been served for the 120 innocent Catholics who were murdered by the Glenanne Gang in a four-year period in my area, in my community.“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.”
