Tyrone manager Mickey Harte doesn't think it's beyond the bounds of possibility that there could be a change to the playing of the Irish anthem before GAA games at some stage in the future.
During the All-Star tour, GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghaíl hinted that there might come a time when the GAA need to be "open-minded" regarding the playing of the Irish anthem before games, given potential "political realignments on the island of Ireland". Since Ó Fearghaíl uttered these words there has been much discussion about the importance of the anthem to the GAA and the possibility of it being taken away.
One man who is perhaps well placed to discuss the issue of the anthem is Mickey Harte. As a man who has spent his life living in Northern Ireland and immersed in GAA at the highest level Harte is undoubtedly keenly aware of how the playing of the Irish anthem before GAA games is perceived by those who don't share an Irish identity, and whether it would deter such individuals from participating in the GAA.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster (via bbc.com), Harte was fairly diplomatic when quizzed on the anthem issue, but he indicated that he could envisage a time when it is no longer played before GAA games - after all, the GAA has made big changes to its traditions in the past:
...there was a time when Croke Park wasn't open to other sport, there were times when the police force from this part of the world (Northern Ireland) were not allowed to play.
Harte made the point that the playing of the anthem is not "anti anybody else" - rather it is important to people because it is "in their culture".
And, I suppose, you don't want to be moving things always to create some kind of special clone, we have to let people be as they are as long as they are not disrespectful of others.
We don't want to take anything away from anybody. But if the time's right and people felt there was some movement could happen in that that direction, then I think it will.
