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A leader on and off the field: Jarlath Burns, the new GAA president, profiled

Having grown up during the Troubles in Armagh, Jarlath Burns credits the GAA with keeping him out of the IRA. The new GAA president has developed an inclusive attitude to all traditions in his community and will bring strong diplomatic skills to the All-Ireland position

Jarlath Burns grew up in Creggan, south Armagh: ‘My mother spent most of my childhood trying to keep me out of the IRA’. Illustration: Peter Hanan

The commentary booth of Armagh’s Athletic Grounds, when you are mid-match calling a game, is not the ideal time to get a Facetime call. It’s an even odder time to take it. But Jarlath Burns, the incoming president of the GAA, knew his priorities even when they didn’t seem obvious.

“We were in the middle of commentary and I saw Jarlath’s phone going off. I just ignored it on the presumption he wouldn’t answer. Next thing I know, Jarlath answers it, and in fairness to him it was one of his kids in Australia and there was obviously a time difference issue,” Marcus Ó Buachalla, commentator with TG4’s GAA Beo, told the Business Post.