The Bloody Sunday Trust has welcomed the GAA’s decision to refer the current sponsorship deal with Allianz to its ethics committee.
Responding to this development, the Chair of the Trust, Tony Doherty expressed confidence that this would be, “the first step towards dropping Allianz”. He continued,
“In her report, “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide”,
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese identified Allianz as profiting from the genocide in Gaza through investments in weapons manufacturers that provide Israel with equipment in the “full knowledge it was being used to target civilian populations”.
For example, Allianz both insures, and invests in, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, a company that uses videos of its drones killing Palestinians as part of its promotional and sales material.
Allianz will of course claim that in sponsoring the GAA it is supporting and developing local communities. The reality is that it is an enabler of genocide cynically using Gaelic games to sports wash its reputation while profiting from violence, destruction and human suffering. The only ethical decision that can be taken by the GAA in these circumstances is to end its relationship with Allianz.
Anticipating the decision of the ethics committee Mr Doherty concluded,
“I have every confidence that given the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur, the GAA will show the leadership appropriate to its standing within Irish society and set a precedent for other sporting, cultural and corporate institutions to follow by dropping Allianz”.
He also confirmed that the Bloody Sunday Trust will again write to both the FAI and IRFU asking those organisations to consider the ethics of their own sponsorship deals with Aviva, a second insurance firm identified by the UN as profiting from the Gaza genocide.
