Dublin footballer David Byrne believes it’s important intercounty GAA players display a social conscience, reiterating his call for the association to sever its ties with Allianz.
The eight-time All-Ireland winner, who has committed to another season in blue, is disappointed he will feature in a National League competition sponsored by the financial services company in 2026.
A report published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN included Allianz on a list of companies and corporations that bought Israeli bonds. The report argues this played a “critical role in funding the ongoing assault on Gaza”.
A ceasefire has since been brokered, but Byrne said the point stands, upon moral grounds, that the GAA should end the long-running sponsorship deal.
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He was one of approximately 800 GAA players, past and present, who signed an open letter to the GAA and handed it in at Croke Park last August, calling for an end to the sponsorship deal. He also spoke outside the Dáil at a Dubs for Palestine rally, calling for an end to Israeli aggression.
The GAA referred the sponsorship issue to its ethics and integrity committee for consideration.
As recently as this week, a motion was passed in Offaly asking the GAA to “begin the process of ending all commercial involvement” with Allianz.
“Dave Hickey, who does a lot of work raising awareness for Palestine in Dublin, would have reached out and there were a number of intercounty Dublin players who would have signed that petition to drop Allianz, in terms of the GAA dropping them from the Allianz League,” said Byrne, at the launch of Dublin GAA’s new jersey.
“I haven’t spoke to Dave in a little bit, but I believe it’s still the Allianz League that we’re all going to be playing in, right? So to that degree, that the overall goal of the campaign was to drop Allianz and it seems like they haven’t listened to us, or haven’t listened to the people in that campaign. That’s been disappointing.
“There obviously is a ceasefire now, I don’t think that changes anything pre-ceasefire. It looks like we’re all going to be playing in the Allianz League. I think a lot of players who signed the petition wouldn’t be too happy about [that].”
Byrne believes it is important for GAA players to speak up on such issues.
“I do think it’s important,” he said. “We have a little bit of a platform. We are not huge celebrities, like big international soccer players or anything like that. But we do have a bit of a platform and a voice within our own community.
“And the GAA itself has such a brilliant ethos and such a brilliant reputation. If we see something that we don’t agree with, that’s socially a bit wrong or morally a bit wrong, it’s important that players organise themselves to speak out against it.”
Byrne started all of Dublin’s league and championship games in the season just gone. He missed the 2024 campaign as he took a year out in Australia. He also underwent ACL surgery during his time in Australia. Byrne initially suffered the cruciate tear in 2022 but played on without surgery for a period, collecting another All-Ireland medal in 2023.
It was looked upon as something of a test case, to see if it was possible for an elite player to continue to operate without surgery after an ACL rupture.
“I played a year and a half of successful intercounty football and then when I landed in Australia, two weeks in, my knee absolutely buckled on me and I ended up having to get surgery on it,” said the Naomh Olafs man.
“It turned out I can do a year and a half of intercounty football without surgery, but not a five-a-side game of astro football over in Australia!”
He added: “I injured it in 2022 and I came back in that championship. I played against Cork and Kerry and then the following year, I played without surgery and we won it (Sam Maguire) that year. I would have played pretty much almost every minute.”
