The Bloody Sunday Trust has strongly criticised the GAA following its decision to maintain links with Allianz despite the insurance company being identified as profiting from the Gaza Genocide in a report prepared by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, Tony Doherty emphasised that Allianz is specifically referenced in the report “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide” in the following paragraphs –
Global insurance companies including Allianz also invest large sums in shares and bonds implicated in the occupation and genocide, partly as capital reserves for policyholder claims and regulatory requirements, but primarily to generate returns.
Their insurance policies also underwrite the risks other companies necessarily take when operating in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, thus enabling the commission of human rights abuses and “de-risking” the operational environment.
He continued,
The GAA cannot justify its decision by claiming it is dealing solely with a local subsidiary of Allianz. The advertising signage displayed prominently at GAA fixtures that are broadcast to an international audience does not promote Allianz Ireland. It puts the Allianz brand and everything it stands for on our national games before a global audience. In choosing to maintain this link the GAA has reduced itself from something uniquely Irish and community based to just one more generic corporate entity that places profit above principle and investment before integrity even in the midst of a genocide.
