I FOUND myself in an odd place this week, torn between the Orange Order and the GAA. A well-trodden path it most certainly is not.

The Orange Order came out in the past few days to confirm that ‘Orangefest’ or ‘the Twelfth’ as it is more commonly known, was to be postponed this year. A fatal blow to a man with a wedding planned for the July 17, 2020.

Once the news broke, a friend texted me saying, “If the Orangemen can’t march in July, you can’t kiss the bride.” I responded with the scene from the Wolf of Wall Street where Jordan Belfort – under Federal Investigation – stands up in front of his employees and screams down the microphone, “the show goes on!”

The GAA, thank God for the GAA – the bastion of hope in a world gone to pot, surely they won’t let me down! Yesterday, the GAA released a statement wherein they confirmed, “the senior inter-county championships, scheduled to begin in May, will be postponed until further clarity on the current situation is available… However, it is the Association’s view that it is highly unlikely these will be rescheduled any time before the beginning of July, at the earliest.”

July! It may be caveated with, “At the earliest,” but a glimmer of hope nonetheless! “What do the Orange Order know?” I thought, as I sent the latest news briefing to my betrothed whose hope was all but lost. “I’ll go with the good people of the GAA!” I proclaimed.

We have hope again. Hope, however fleeting, not just for a wedding 18 months in the planning, but hope to pull on our club jerseys at some point this year; hope of hearing the clash of the ash again, the roars from the crowd on derby day; hope to once again contest under the high ball or to hear the shouts of, “hats, scarves and headbands.” At this point, I’m even willing to consider the merits of the advanced mark, or dare I say it, the black card.

Speaking to RTE Sport earlier in the week, GAA director of communications Alan Milton confirmed that, “a number of weeks ago, at the very outset of this crisis, a number of contingency plans were drawn up and they still exist.” Assuring people that, “there will be no shortage of activity if and when we do get back to playing and you can rest assured that games at club level will be every bit as important as those at county level.”

I have often been critical of the GAA in this column but they are to be commended for their swift and thereafter, thoughtful actions in reacting to the crisis.

It is in these uncertain and unprecedented times that the GAA has shown not only sporting but also social and community leadership on an unprecedented scale, again highlighting the fundamental role the GAA plays in Irish society.

Where there have been examples of abdication of political responsibility, especially in Northern Ireland, the GAA has stepped in to fill that void, to lift up those most vulnerable in society and to protect frontline staff.

In my own locality in south Belfast, it was heartening to witness the local Bredagh GAA club and the Ballynefeigh Apprentice Boys’ Flute Band come together to deliver food parcels to the most vulnerable. There was a time in the not-too-distant past that a GAA member entering the Flute Band premise would be risking life and limb; now they have come together to save lives – times of crisis do sometimes bring out the best in people and in doing so, give us hope for the future.

Milton finished his interview stating, “the sooner we can get on top of this, perhaps the situation might lift earlier than it would otherwise.”

Whether it’s a wedding, a GAA championship or the Twelfth, there has been a recalibration of what is important in these uncertain times, and never has it been more vital to take our collective responsibility to each other so seriously, and for each of us to do what we can for those most vulnerable.

Stay safe today to ensure that we are all well and present to enjoy the weddings, the GAA matches and the flute bands of tomorrow. We must stay the course, stay positive, not fall in to despair and above all else, never let our hope waver. As Andy Dufresne recounted in that classic scene from The Shawshank Redemption, with Red sitting under the big Oak tree with the sun on his face:

“Hope is a good thing. May be the best thing and no good thing ever dies.” Stay safe. Stay at home.

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