Inside Track: Don’t let anyone say politics and sport don’t mix

They say politics and sport shouldn’t mix. Look through the records and you’ll see that’s most certainly not the case. There’s a strong mixture there, and it’s going to get another stir over the next few weeks as the battle for the country’s presidency hots up.

Jim Gavin has thrown his two-tone blue hat into the ring, hoping to maintain a winning run that began when he took over as manager of the Dublin team.

It’s doubtful if any previous presidents had a huge storage of sports votes to get them over the line. Éamon De Valera once said the Irish psyche was better suited to rugby, and that hardly got him any GAA backing.

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His predecessor, Douglas Hyde, most certainly didn’t. He was removed as a patron of the association for attending a soccer International, falling foul of the infamous ‘foreign games’ rule.

Ireland played Poland at Dalymount Park, and seated on either side of Hyde were De Valera, Taoiseach at the time, and Oscar Traynor, another Fianna Fáil luminary who was Minister for Post and Telegraphs.

Traynor was in a prominent FAI role – there’s a trophy in his name still being contested – while in his youth, he played for Belfast Celtic. No need for censure here – neither he nor Dev had any links with the GAA.

Many prominent politicians since then have had links with sport. The one who comes immediately to mind is Jack Lynch. The former Taoiseach won six All-Irelands, five in hurling and one in football.

For a time, the Corkman had as Tánaiste, John Wilson, who played on the Cavan team that won the only All-Ireland football final played outside of Ireland.

Brendan Corish, the former Labour leader, played inter-county with Wexford, while Kerry’s Jimmy Deenihan and John Donnellan, Galway, won All-Irelands before being elected.

Mayo has a good record of rewarding its football heroes at the polling booth. Henry Kenny, father of former Taoiseach, Enda, won an All-Ireland in the mid-1930s, while Seán Flanagan was the first to captain the winning team in successive years, Louth falling victim in the first of them, in 1950.

Followers of the red-and-green need no reminding that Flanagan was also the last – no, let’s make that most recent – to lift the Sam Maguire Cup. Another former countyman, Alan Dillon, is presently sitting on the government benches.

Among others who benefitted from their prowess on the field of play when it came to election time, were Des Foley and Jim Tunney, both Dublin, Jack McQuillan, full-forward for Roscommon’s double in the mid-1940s, and Tipperary hurler, John Doyle, who had a spell in the Senate.

Let’s begin a look at the local scene by asking a question: What have Séamus Kirk and Peter Fitzpatrick got in common? Nothing to do with football, but all to do with politics.

Both retired undefeated from the Dail, winning every general election they contested. Same goes for Frank Aiken, Paddy Agnew, Dermot Ahern, James Murphy, James Coburn and his son, George, Joe Farrell, Eddie Filgate, Gerry Adams and Imelda Munster.

Current TD, Ruairí Ó Murchú, has two wins to his credit, while still basking in the glory of their first win, last November, are Joanne Byrne, chairperson of Drogheda FC, Erin McGreehan and Paula Butterly.

Let’s get back onto the field again for a look at the sporting connections. Séamus Kirk won a seat for the first time in 1982, entering the Dáil on the same day as another debutant, Brendan McGahon.

He had a fine inter-county career cut short by an injury sustained playing for Louth against Down in a league match.

Concentrating on politics after that, but still with an eye to his St Bride’s club, Kirk rose to become a Junior Minister, while he was in the role of Ceann Cómhairle when he retired in 2016.

By then, Peter Fitzpatrick was in the second of his three terms. His first began in 2011, the year after he was manager when Louth senior side got to the Leinster final. Neither he nor Kirk can say their GAA connection did them any harm.

Brendan McGahon had a sporting background as well. His game was soccer, and showing the steel that he carried with him into politics, lined out with Dundalk in the League of Ireland.

Going further back, we see that long-time Fine Gael grandee, Paddy Donegan, was no stranger to the Gaelic field.

The Monasterboice man, who filled ministerial posts, most notably Defence, lined out alongside one of Cavan’s greatest ever, Mick Higgins, for Drogheda side, St Magdalene’s, against Dundalk Gaels in the 1945 senior final. He had less luck that day than in his political career, which followed.

Oriel Park regular, Dermot Ahern, was Minister for Justice in his time in the Dáil. What is not widely acknowledged is the part he played in keeping the black-and-white flag flying on the Carrick Road when, around this time last year, it was in danger of being lowered. He sits on one of the committees in Abbotstown.

One of Ahern’s elections needed a photo to decide the issue. He went head-to-head with his Fianna Fáil colleague throughout the count, former Louth senior manager and Senator, Jimmy Mulroy. It wasn’t until the last few votes were sorted that the Blackrock man edged home by a short-head.

It’s not only on this side of the border where it’s no harm to have a sporting background when going for election. Justin McNulty won an All-Ireland with Armagh in 2002, and after that, embarked on a political career. He is currently an SDLP MLA.

There’s been one president born in the North, Mary McAleese. There might have been another had Mickey Harte yielded to the pressure Micheál Martin put on him to stand in the 2011 presidential election, won by Michael D Higgins.