Earlier this month, Galway footballer Damien Comer was one of the litany of Irish sports stars to sign an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Rugby star Keith Earls, ex-Ireland footballer James McClean, and fellow GAA personalities such as Mick Fitzsimons, Kevin Moran, and Joe Brolly were among the other 200+ names on the open letter, as the conflict on the Gaza Strip continues.
Palestine's Ministry of Health announced last weekend that the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 25,000, as the vicious Israeli response to the October 7 attack from insurgent group Hamas continues.
The scenes have horrified those watching from afar, and many from the world of sport have spoken out.
Damien Comer spoke to Balls.ie and the Irish media on Tuesday at the launch of the 2024 Allianz Football League, and the Galway forward hammered home why he and so many are adding their voices to the push for peace.
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Damien Comer speaks brilliantly on push for peace in Palestine
Launch of the 2024 Allianz Football & Hurling Leagues, Glendalough, Wicklow 23/1/2024. Pictured is Galway footballer, Damien Comer at the launch of the 2024 Allianz Football League. The Allianz Football League provides an opportunity for all players to claim their spot in the county panel for the season ahead. The return of inter-county action, after a five-month break, also affords the teams competing a chance to showcase their strengths and lay down a marker to their county rivals.
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
The weekend's Ladies Football League action saw a powerful statement from the Dublin squad, who held up a banner reading "Sos Cogaidh Sa Phalaistín" ahead of their clash with Kerry at Parnell Park.
Damien Comer is another who has called for an end to the conflict in Palestine and explained to Balls.ie why he feels it is important for sportspeople to take a stand:
I’m not really sure as to what impact it’s going to have, to a certain level. It’s to contribute and not throw a blind eye to it.
You see it on social media and on the news outlets every single day. It’s a hard watch, to be honest. There’s times when you want to try and not see what you’ve just seen. But what good is that doing? If it’s happening in the world, you may as well open your eyes to it and see it.
Coming from a teaching background, you see how vulnerable kids can be. To see what’s going on in Gaza is cruel, the constant bombardment of schools, hospitals, buildings - it’s a tough watch.
Anything that’s going to help bring a ceasefire over there is something I’d gladly support.
Well said, and one can only hope that the loss of life will come to an end in the region.
Looking to football, Galway will hope to push back to the heights they reached in 2022 after a disappointing 2023 campaign saw them crash out of the All-Ireland series at the preliminary quarter-final stage.
Comer says that he and the Galway panel are aware of where they went wrong in 2023 - and he is determined to be back to his best after an injury-stricken campaign last year.
We were doing pretty well up until the last few minutes of the Armagh game, our season was fairly on track. Within the blink of an eye, we were knocked out of the Championship. The last few minutes of the Armagh game, and playing that extra game six or seven days later, it cost us.
The Armagh game was the big one, it just cost us. It was our own fault, we had plenty of chances to put the game away but we didn’t. It was a bit raw for a while alright, but everyone had to get over it and get back to training and start the season again.
There’s different things that we’ve talked about that we’re going to try and improve going forward. We would have been disappointed with some aspects of our game from last year. We’re trying to rectify different things.
When you compare different things from the two years, there’s some places where we didn’t hit different targets on certain days. [That was] probably the reason we were in the position we were in from the Armagh game, leading into the Mayo game.
We’re back at the bottom of the barrel again. You’ve got to climb your way up and try to get to the top again.
Galway's first Allianz League assignment is a tantalising clash with Connacht rivals Mayo in Salthill. That game takes place this Sunday, with throw-in at Pearse Stadium at 1:45pm. The game is live on TG4.
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