AN early day motion has been submitted in Westminster calling for MPs of all political parties to congratulate Armagh GAA on their All-Ireland win over the weekend.
On Sunday, July 28, Manager Kieran McGeeney led his side to win the Sam Maguire, after beating Galway in their closely fought Croke Park clash.
Yesterday afternoon SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood submitted the early day motion congratulating the team on their victory – which followed a 22-year wait for the trophy.
Paying tribute to the players, coaching staff and all those involved in the win, Mr Eastwood said the victory was a “moment for celebration of the spirit and impact of the GAA in clubs and communities across Ireland”.
“This is a huge moment for Armagh,” he said.
“The players, coaching team and the entire county can be rightly proud of an enormous achievement.
“We’ve seen over the course of the last fortnight how sport can bring people and communities from different backgrounds together, reflecting that the GAA is overwhelmingly a force for enormous good in our society and brings neighbours together.”
The MP also used the opportunity to comment on complaints made when a PSNI car was spotted flying an Armagh flag following the match.
“The visual of police officers driving through Armagh in unarmoured PSNI cars with the local GAA flag is something that would have been unimaginable a few years ago,” he said.
“It’s a mark of how far our society has come and shows that community policing teams get it.”
He added: “It’s hard to take the criticism of PSNI officers in Armagh seriously from people who have spent years waging a culture war against the GAA and everyone involved in it.”
In his motion, titled ‘Armagh, All Ireland Men’s Senior Football Champions 2024’, Mr Eastwood asks “that this House congratulates Armagh on their 2024 All Ireland Senior Football Championship victory; congratulates all the players, managerial, coaching and backroom teams involved in securing the county’s 2nd All- Ireland Senior Football Championship; celebrates the fact that all of the Men’s All-Ireland football titles, from schools to seniors, are now home in Ulster; and pays tribute to all those involved in the GAA from coaches and players to staff behind the scenes and volunteers across Ireland and Britain, their dedication and commitment to their clubs and communities which remain an important sporting and cultural fixture in life across these islands as well as a focal point for the diaspora abroad”.