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This board is a waste of time for reasonable discussion on the topic. you don't get finished sensibly discussing the actual detail of the pros and cons of each side of the debate when the next idiot declares

The GPA should have been told to get to f__k, and if their players didn't want to play, tell them to go to f__k to and get in others who are willing to play for their county (not for the money).

Sorry, t'was a bit strong - I was in a pissed off mood when posting it

The Down County squad has been training up to 4 nights a week, for at least the last month. One of the players was dropped off the squad allegedly for going to a club dinner.
Unless you are a school teacher, a student, self employed or working for a county supporter, how can you work at a normal job, travel 40 miles away to training for 7pm, home at 10-11pm, challenge matches at weekends etc etc without a lot of hassle? Something has to give.

That is the problem here IMO. An inter-county (IC) player is expected to give up anything between 4-7 nights/days training for the championship.


I think the GAA need to mandate a standard for training and fixtures that encompasses the whole country, set clear boundaries between club time and county time. Then limits are applied which ensure that players are not asked to make unreasonable commitments.


For instance, all counties play senior club games on a sunday, all clubs train on tues and thurs - and if there is no game, train on sunday as well. Counties can train on wednesdays - thats it. Limit it to 1 day a week, IC football should be moving towards less of a step above club football IMO - more like what internationals are for soccer players.

A week before the IC championship, normally IC players won't play much anyway - so the clubs shouldn't train that week, the counties can do what they want - train those 5 evenings.

I also think that the intercounty championships need to be re-arranged so more than 1 game within a province occurs on the one day. If all the 1st round games (in the country) were played on the one day TV couldn't cover them all and some revenue would be lost (imagine that - all them county grounds actually getting used and being for 1st round games again!) but, is money more important than the soul of the association - I think not. Condensing the IC fixtures will free up more time for club football, and let the IC players play for their clubs instead of train for their counties.




For those advocating the grants - IMO its extremely dangerous, look at the state of local soccer and rugby. The cornerstone of the GAA is the club and the volunteer club member - they bring in the future.

The foundations of any organisation is not near the top (where the GPA thinks it is) - they are at roots. It would extremely unwise to marginalise that which the association is built on.

RadioGAAGAA - What is wrong with getting money off the GOVT??

That could otherwise have been spent on hospitals or teachers? 


Its effectively pay-for-play, no matter what way the GPA and their supporters try and disguise that with semantics, bottom line is, they don't get paid, they don't play.

This is just to try and gauge opinion here on the board, and fit it by demographics.


Thank you for you time 

This is exactly why the grants should never have went ahead.

You'll see everyone jump on the bandwagon now wanting some money for themselves.



The GPA should have been told to get to f__k, and if their players didn't want to play, tell them to go to f__k to and get in others who are willing to play for their county (not for the money). The Rubicon has been crossed now - hopefully the head honchos have the wit to jump back quick enough to limit the damage.