“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little”.

The 18th century Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke is better remembered for another quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

Yet that first remark from the Dubliner is better suited to the current sad situation within the GAA.

Many of its members have called for the Association to end its links with insurer and major sponsor Allianz due to the German firm’s funding of Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

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The GAA could have done that ‘little’, could have sent a message to the world.

However, the GAA leadership has decreed that even taking that small step is too far to go.

So it does nothing.

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Remember that Burke was a conservative, not a radical.

He also stated: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle”.

The GAA is arguably the greatest sporting organisation in the world; it is certainly the greatest amateur one.

Yet it is currently divided, far from united.

The major questions facing it now now may appear simple but they are deep and complex:

What does the GAA represent?

Who represents the GAA?

Answering that first question goes into the realms of ethics and morals, but really both questions are the same, as are the answers.

The GAA is its members, who represent the GAA.

Not just Management Committee.

Not just Central Council.

Not just the county board delegates and the other representatives to Congress.

The wider membership.

GAA President Jarlath Burns belittled the 800 past and present players who signed the petition last summer to ‘Drop Allianz’, labelling it as merely a tiny percentage of the GAA’s membership.

What does that make the around four dozen members of Central Council then?

The fact that not a single delegate from any of the 10 counties who passed motions opposed to Allianz stood up to speak at Congress on Friday evening was hugely disappointing.

What was the point of passing those motions?

Was it merely performative? About not wanting to look bad or be criticised because a neighbouring county had passed such a motion?

The GAA, in correspondence with this newspaper, insisted that the Allianz issue would be ‘debated fully’ at the weekend Congress.

Instead of that ‘little’ there was nothing.

If the GAA really wanted to have open, honest debate over Allianz it would have made that happen.

Instead it blocked such discussion. Part of the ‘reasoning’ from the GAA’s Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC) was that the motions referred to outside bodies – such as the UN. Jesus wept.

Jarlath Burns talked about the protestors who came into Croke Park on Saturday ‘crossing a line’.

The only line the GAA top brass appear to care about is the bottom line.

The EIC’s claims that finding any insurer without links to the Israeli economy is ‘impossible’, as would be locating any sponsor without a relationship to unethical behaviour, were indefensible.

Of course there are other options – but only if you actually look for them.

That EIC Report also, shamefully, chose to point out that the United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese had been sanctioned by the US government, as if that were some black mark against her, rather than a badge of honour.

It is my understanding that the decision to stick with, and by, Allianz was taken as far back as last September.

Every word and action since from the GAA leadership has been a smokescreen and a charade. All about ensuring that the long-standing links with Allianz continue.

The GAA simply did not want to lose out on any Allianz money.

Jarlath Burns has set out protecting the Amateur Status of the Association as a major aim for his Presidency.

Perhaps if there was not so much blatant focus on money-making from the hierarchy then there would be less incentive to spend (and over-spend) by county boards (or county managers, to be exact).

Burns’s remark about ‘illegal occupation’ of Croke Park was offensive to many, not just the protestors.

On that front, it was a flabbergasting stretch to compare an injury to one security person – as disappointing and unnecessary as that was – to what went on during the Troubles.

Beyond that, it should always be remembered that both sides of the community lived – and died - in fear during the Troubles. Many of us lost loved ones.

The idea that the Troubles were a one-sided attack on only one community is a contributory factor to people failing to move on from the past and heal wounds.

Again, while it’s beyond dispute that the Glenanne Gang were heinous, brutal thugs, their murderous activities extended far beyond south Armagh, to at least five other counties, including Dublin, and over a period of seven or eight years.

Similarly, there were sectarian killings carried out by republican paramilitaries too, although not to anywhere near the same extent as by loyalists.

While every life lost in the Troubles was a tragedy, there have been far greater numbers killed in Gaza, and over a far shorter timeframe.

If we’d really suffered something similar here then around half a million people would have died.

Burns’s words only served to widen the divide within the Association.

He should know all too well that Irish people do not give in easily, do not simply accept defeat.

Edmund Burke spoke and wrote widely about governance and leadership.

Some more of his words to consider:

“The great difference between the real statesman and the pretender is, that one sees into the future…[and] acts on enduring principles and for immortality”;

“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse”; and

“Nothing turns out to be so oppressive and unjust as a feeble government”.

The protests against Allianz look likely to continue.

© The Irish News