Commenting on the attempt to exclude an Army GAA team from a competition in London TUV South Down Assembly candidate and former Irish Ranger Councillor Henry Reilly said:
“This news comes as no surprise to me. Throughout the Troubles the GAA bar on member of the Army and RUC playing Gaelic games showed where the sympathies of the organisation lay. Furthermore, despite the dropping of Rule 21 the GAA remains wedded to the glorification of terrorism.
“A few years ago they ran a competition for under 12s where children were presented with medals bearing the picture of a dead IRA man. Similarly they name both grounds and competitions after IRA terrorists. Kevin Lynch GAA club in Dungiven is named after an IRA hunger striker who was convicted of kneecapping a man in the local area! What sort of sport names a club after someone who denied someone the ability to walk never mind play Gaelic games?
“The GAA is a deeply sectarian organisation which frequently tramples on the feelings of innocent victims by glorifying those who killed their loved ones. This move only serves to confirm what many already knew was the case when it comes to this organisation.”