The GAA is probably the “biggest factor” behind Ireland’s poor showings at international sporting competitions over the years, a leading sports journalist has claimed. 

Ireland won four medals in Tokyo in 2021 but observers are feeling increasingly confident about the prospects of Irish athletes in Paris this summer.

Speaking to Lunchtime Live, Irish Times sports correspondent Ian O'Riordan said Ireland has not done “too badly” at athletics in recent months.

“We’ve got a relay team finishing fifth in the women’s four by four,” he said.

“But I suppose… could we have done better?”

Despite this, Mr O’Riodain feels Ireland could perform better.

He pointed out that New Zealand - a country with a similar population - won more medals than Ireland at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow.

Mr O’Riordain said Kiwis do not even have an indoor track - but their athletes are better funded than Ireland’s.

“I think their funding for the last Olympic cycle was around 150 million,” he said.

“Whereas I think our latest count was about 60 or 70 million.

“But funding doesn’t alway equal medals; I was looking at the tables from Tokyo and I think New Zealand only won one boxing medal - whereas we obviously won gold with Kellie and a bronze as well.

“So, these things go in swings and roundabouts.”

Unlike us, New Zealand does not have a single indoor 200m track.
We have two (not including Nenagh) https://t.co/RrjXD5u0vg

— Ian O'Riordan (@ianoriordan) March 5, 2024

So why are Irish athletes underperforming comparatively?

Mr O’Riordain feels there is an “elephant in the room” and that is the Gaelic Athletic Association.

“The GAA is probably the single biggest sport in this country when it comes to ability, when it comes to funding, when it comes to the pool of [talent],” he said.

“That’s the beauty of the GAA; it’s in every community in Ireland and it’s probably the biggest sport in terms of participation in every county.

“So, if you took out the GAA, of course we’re probably doing a lot better in athletics - but then again, there’s a lot of people who might go into GAA and end up in athletics.

“The biggest factor in all of this is perhaps that we have a big indigenous sport like the GAA which is taking a lot of talent away from other sports.”

The GAA has 511,500 registered members across Ireland.

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Main image: A sloitar on a hurl.