Three Mayo GAA signatories call for GAA to drop Allianz over Gaza

In the last week, two of the state’s big sporting and cultural institutions have been called on to drop their links with the Allianz insurance group.

Both the GAA and the Catholic Church’s relationship with Allianz insurer has come in for criticism in light of a UN report which stated that it was one of a number of companies involved in sustaining and paying for Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories.

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On Wednesday, former Meath GAA star Colm O’Rourke was among a number of former intercounty players to hand over a public letter to the GAA calling for the sporting body to drop Allianz as a sponsor.

There were three Mayo signatories among the 800-strong former and current county players who signed the open letter.

Former Mayo inter-county hurler Dónall O’Brien is one of the signatories. He is currently part of the Sligo Hurling senior management team. The Mayo News can also report that the other two signatories are former Mayo GAA football greats.

Other well-known GAA stars to have signed the petition include Neil McManus, Peter Canavan, Tomás Ó Sé, Joe Brolly, Shane McGuigan, Niall Cahalane, Terence ‘Sambo’ McNaughton, Michael Darragh McAuley, Aoife Ní Chasáide, Jane Adams, Brendan Devenney, Greg McCartan, Sorcha Gormley and Danny Sutcliffe.

In a statement, Allianz said: “Our long-standing partnership with the GAA is about supporting Irish sport and communities. Allianz Ireland is part of a global group, and while the wider group operates internationally across insurance and investment, as a matter of principle we do not comment on individual customers or business matters. What we can say is that all Allianz business decisions are guided by strict legal standards and world-leading ESG principles.”

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The Church and Allianz

Separately, the Association of Catholic Priests has called on the Irish Catholic Church to immediately cut links with Allianz insurance.

The group states that “nothing less is acceptable as Irish Catholics will now be conscious of the Allianz connection – albeit by extension – and of our connection with the plight of the children we see on our television screens.”

The so-called Allianz connection is very strong as the statement notes that “for decades, Allianz has been the trusted friend of the Catholic Church – even to the extent of enjoying representation on the Allianz Board – with Catholic Church properties in Ireland including places of worship, schools, cars, etc almost all being insured by Allianz as a matter of course.

“The ACP also encourages all Catholic religious Congregations and dioceses to exercise high levels of due diligence in carefully scrutinizing their investment portfolios to determine if any part of their investments is helping to sustain the appalling human rights abuse being inflicted on the Palestinian people.”

Allianz declined to comment in response to the ACP statement.

Anyone GAA members interested in signing the petition can do so at https://www.change.org/p/drop-allianz-gaa-must-end-partnership-with-complicit-corporate