East Belfast GAA has written and spoken to senior BBC personnel over a long segment centred on the club on the The Nolan Show, which included a reference to the IRA.
A founder of the club alerted senior members of the broadcasting organisation of the dangers of connecting Gaelic games in the east of the city and the IRA.
David McGreevy, on behalf of East Belfast GAA, formally complained about a segment in late May on the show, which followed claims that devices were left at the Henry Jones Playing Fields, used by the club for training.
The 26-minute segment focussed on whether the club should have a ground in that part of the city, with claims made that they were being facilitated ahead of a queue of other sporting teams.
Close to the end of the segment, which was entirely on the subject of East Belfast GAA, Mr Nolan mentioned the IRA, which had not been mentioned by the caller he was then engaging with.
He said: “Now we know that some clubs are associated with former members of the IRA, we know that, but we are in 2023, it’s a time to draw the line under things of the past and allow different sports in the capital city to be facilitated with pitches to play on."
The caller replied “you brought up the subject” and then mentioned the name of a dead former IRA leader in east Belfast. The segment then ended, according to the clip on the BBC website.
In response to questions on the segment, a BBC spokesperson said: “We welcome audience feedback about our work and engage carefully with all comments and complaints about BBC output.”
East Belfast GAA, founded in 2020, is one of the largest Gaelic clubs in the north, with more than 600 members, including over 200 playing at under-age level. The club was most recently targeted when netting was burned and a post scorched in an arson attack at Henry Jones Playing fields.
In the complaint about The Nolan Show, Mr McGreevy said there was a “conversation about whether people had a right to play Gaelic games in east Belfast, then Stephen started talking about the IRA”.
He said he previously spoke to senior BBC staff “about how dangerous this kind of language is for our members”.
“There is precedence with us being attacked by pipe bombs, facility development being halted and now the most recent threats, these are only the things you know about, we regularly have venues we use threatened because we're using them amongst other things that are far more serious,” the club wrote.
The letter was sent to the BBC complaints department but answered by the editor of The Nolan Show.
“In relation to Stephen’s comments regarding GAA links to republicanism and the IRA, Kimberly Robertson (East Belfast GAA) said herself that she felt ‘uncomfortable’ with some aspects of the GAA,” The Nolan Show said.
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“She said that there were things she doesn’t agree with within the GAA and said East Belfast GAA is attempting to make the club an inclusive space."
Mr McGreevy described this as a “complete non-apology”.
He told the Irish News there have been “several occasions since the inception of the club where we have been targeted by sectarian violence and threats, even though, like many GAA clubs, we're made up of multiple communities”.
Mr McGreevy, speaking in a personal capacity, said: “The people who carry out sectarian attacks and threats don't have the capacity to understand the seriousness of their actions.
“The most recent saga with us was when a TUV election candidate released an inflammatory statement around the removal of soccer pitches to accommodate a GAA pitch.
“The Nolan Show, however, decided to cover the topic (as) should people have the right to play Gaelic games in east Belfast and Stephen started talking about the IRA.
“He mentioned people having legitimate concerns around other sports being squeezed out.
“I was surprised with this latest package from the Nolan Show so I made formal complaint.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We have established processes in place to deal with editorial complaints and haven't identified any issues with the handling of this particular story.”
