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12th August 2017
08:24pm BST

Therein lise a huge problem in the GAA. The culture is so much against drinking, that when the lads get a moment of freedom, they feel compelled to binge-drink.
This goes a long way to explaining why many GAA players go on some crazy drinking sessions that can be so detrimental to their health.
We all saw photos of the British and Irish Lions players having a few bottles just days before their third and vital test against New Zealand.
Some of us were questioning their behaviour, claiming that if a GAA player did the same, they would be a shame to their county.
That's true and that's the problem. The culture of complete abstinence is the reason for their madness when they get an opportunity.
Tomás Ó Sé's column in Saturday's Irish Independent hit the nail on the head. Ó Sé feels that the GAA culture which almost brands a single drink as blasphemy is the root cause for GAA players doing so much damage to themselves when they actually drink.
It's all or nothing for them.
"Rugby and soccer players can socialise like adults, because they don’t face the same expectation to remain abstemious that GAA players face. As a consequence, they can have their three or four beers routinely and leave it at that. That’s the difference. He (A rugby or soccer player) might do that every single week and it’s not going to harm him in the slightest. A GAA county man might go socialising three times in six months but, every time he does, it’s like Armageddon for his vital organs.O Sé recalled a classic story when Jack O'Connor was manager of the Kerry footballers that sums up this problem. Kerry were out in Vilamoura on a team holiday at the time, and were about to go into town for a few beers when O'Connor rocked up with his young son.