Describing yourself as a GAA man up North

There's been a raft of articles recently about the GAA in Northern Ireland. Tyrone's All-Ireland final victory and the arson attacks on GAA grounds have been in the headlines sparking questions about what the GAA stands for, what it represents, and if it's doing enough to open to the Unionist community.

Describing yourself up north as a G  A  A man--I've never liked it when pronounced gah, I always thought there were some negative connotations when heard it said that way--has many more implications that it does down south. Not only are you a bog hopping culchie, but generally considered a dangerous Fenian one at that. 

The Belfast Telegraph has been weighing in with a series of articles some positive, some negative, all demonstrating that we've a long, long way to go yet. Pity there's not more like Ed Curran, the editor-in-chief of the Telegraph group, who today provides the best analysis on situation yet. Well worth a read.

While I'm on this subject...there's a great story about Paddy, who was walking down the street in Belfast and he discovers a gun pressing against the back of his head. A voice says, "Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

Well, Paddy has to think fast. He says, "I'm a Jew." 

And he hears a voice say, "I've got to be the luckiest Arab in the whole of Belfast."