Book extract – The People’s game

John Scally’s new book The People’s Games: A GAA Compendium is a celebration of the magic of the GAA through the stories of some of the people who populate it. Among their number is the late Aidan McAnespie. Scally writes:

Ulster football could not escape the dark shadows cast by the Northern troubles.

On the 21st of February 1988 Aidan McAnespie was shot dead by a British soldier as he went to watch his beloved Aghaloo play a football match.

On the playing fields Aidan’s main contribution to his club, Aghaloo, was with the junior team. The closest he normally came to the senior team was watching them from the subs bench and making the occasional appearance in the last few minutes when the result was normally already decided. Yet football and the club dominated his life.

Aidan’s sister, Eilish McCabe, subsequently became the best known opponent of the removal of the GAA’s Rule 21 which barred members of the security forces from taking part in Gaelic games. She shared her memories of that traumatic time with me.

“Aidan was the youngest member of the family, the only one living at home. He had gone through a lot of harassment at the border checkpoint from the British soldiers. He had got a job in Monaghan as a poultry processor in the chicken factory and he travelled up and down every morning and evening and we were aware that he was getting harassment every day. He had made complaints to the army, his trade union, parish priest, to anybody who would listen and through his own solicitor. In fact one national newspaper had featured an article on Aidan a year before his death. The headline asked the question, ‘Is this the most harassed man in Ireland?’ Aidan had gone to the media at the time in the hope of embarrassing the security forces for a while and it would have worked to some extent in the short term.”

What form did this harassment take?

“It took different forms as he drove to work they might just pull him over to the side of the road and keep him there for five minutes and other occasions they might come over and search his car, maybe take out his lunch-box and search it with their bare hands and say, “Enjoy your lunch today Mac.” They sometimes called him Mac.

“On his way back they might keep him back 15 or 20 minutes in the side of the road or ask him where he was coming from or going to or they might pull him into the big shed and take his car apart. But I think the biggest problem was the fear of the unknown – he was never sure of what was coming next. The only thing they were certain was that they were going to hassle him. He was never going to be in a car that was waved through.”

Was he physically assaulted?

“On some occasions he was. The most recent one prior to his shooting came one evening as he was coming through the check-point he was going home from work. It was raining pretty heavily and the soldiers told him to get out of his car and take off his jacket, which he did. Then they asked him to take off his shoes and socks and he said, “I can’t do that. It’s pouring rain.” They pounced on him and forcibly threw him down on the road and removed his shoes and socks.

“He came up to me that night and there were marks around his face and neck. I said we were going to have to make a formal complaint. He didn’t want to go down to the police station on his own so my husband went down with him. About six months later he received a letter which said that no disciplinary action would be taken against any member of the security forces.”

When they confronted the army officials they were smiled at..

A death in the family

Dealing with death is always difficult but the suddenness of a violent death is almost impossible to accept.

“That weekend we had a death in the family, my mum’s sister’s husband had died from a long term illness and we all had been helping my aunt with the wake and he was buried on the Sunday morning and all the family were together. We all went back to my aunt’s house for a meal and afterwards Aidan got up from the table and said to me, “I’m away on to see the football match.” He had gone back to the family home and lit the solid fuel cooker so the house would be warm when my Mum and Dad returned home. He walked 269 yards through the check-point when a single shot rang out and Aidan died instantly.

“We were still at my aunt’s house and I was chatting away with cousins I hadn’t seen for a long time. Then my husband came inside and said to me, “Eilish I need to speak to you immediately.” I knew from the tone of his voice that it was quite serious but to be honest I thought it was just that our kids had been misbehaving.

“When I went out he said, “There’s been an accident at the check-point and I think Aidan’s been involved and it’s serious.”

“We got into the car and drove down and just as we were driving through a garda car had arrived and was blocking the road to stop people driving on but we got through. As we approached the football field I could also see an ambulance in the background and I thought to myself, “I’m on time and I’m going to make it with Aidan to the hospital”. I still wasn’t sure what had taken place but I could see a body lying on the ground with a blanket over it but I didn’t believe it was Aidan because the body looked small but I went over towards it. I pulled back the blanket and it was Aidan and he was dead. I immediately held his hand and his hands were very, very warm and I hugged him and embraced him. The crowd all stood in complete silence and I heard my parents coming through. An anger went through my body but it had gone again as the grief came back. When I saw my parents going to witness Aidan on the roadside that was just unbearable. I couldn’t even bear to look at them with Aidan in that situation.”

John Scally’s book The People’s Games: A GAA Compendium is available in all good bookshops now.