Player Grants

[Frank Casey]

RTE 6 one news reporting that a final decision is still required by the Central Council to ratify the proposed grants scheme. December decision was in principle only.

Something up??

This is from the press statement released by the GAA in December.

"Following a debate on the issue of the Government's proposed Awards scheme for Senior Intercounty players, the GAA's Central Council today passed the following proposal:

"Arising out of the unanimous decision of Ard Chomhairle at its meeting in February 2007 to authorise negotiations on the issue of government awards to GAA players, Ard Chomhairle now approves, in principle, the agreement reached in November 2007- subject to the establishment of an acceptable, centralised system for disbursement of funding. Recognising a concern expressed at various levels of the Association, Ard Chomhairle  agrees that disbursement will not be made directly through County Boards and that details of a centralised system for disbursement, when finalised, will be presented to Ard Chomhairle for approval.     

Regarding the Association's amateur status, Ard Chomhairle recognises the many concerns that have been expressed in the course of this debate. It asks all clubs and county committees to consider their compliance with the relevant rules and regulations and to submit their views and proposals prior to a full discussion on the preservation of our amateur status by Coiste Bainisti and Ard Chomhairle."   

Central Council decided to ask all parties to the agreement to accept the following amendment to the section of the agreement which refers to amateur status to read: All parties recognise that the GAA is an Amateur Association and state their absolute commitment to the maintenance of the amateur status of the Association. They state that nothing in this agreement shall be allowed to undermine the amateur status of Gaelic games. 

The Council indicated that the proposed scheme was acceptable in principle on the basis that the money involved is exchequer revenue, that it will be paid via the Sports Council and that it is for agreed and defined purposes which will be monitored and audited by that body.   It was also clarified that the GAA had received formal commitment from the Government that the proposed Awards would not impact adversely in any way on any current or future capital or games development funding and that the Government accepts full responsibility for scale and continuity.   It was pointed out that the GPA has also formally agreed and accepted that the GAA has no responsibility in providing any future funding for Player Awards/Grants."

[never kickt a ball]

Mark Conway is on the Drivetime Sport show about this.
Starts at 20 minutes (on the RTE site).

Here it is:
http://www.rte.ie/radio/liveplayer_av.html?1,null,200,http://www.rte.ie/smiltest/radio_new.smil

Click on the Drivetime Sport menu by the way.

Yes about 21 minutes in (after the discussion on Keano kicking chairs etc)

[ExiledGael]

Can anyone explain his story in brief?? Can't access that for a number of reasons

[never kickt a ball]

Conway says: In response to DRA appeal, GAA have said there is nothing to appeal against as no decision was made in the first place. Conway appears encouraged but confused. Seems that Central Council still have to vote on grants? He is translating (inTyrone language) very legalistic letter from solicitors on behalf of GAA

[ExiledGael]

Conway says: In response to DRA appeal, GAA have said there is nothing to appeal against as no decision was made in the first place. Conway appears encouraged but confused. Seems that Central Council still have to vote on grants? He is translating (inTyrone language) very legalistic letter from solicitors on behalf of GAA

Gracias, Dessie is not going to like this.

[ziggysego]

Frick, only seeing this now.

Is there an archive section on the RTE website? Want to listen to the Mark Conway piece.

[Rossfan]

I just knew it had to be something contentious when RTE started their "Sport Soccer First" with GAA. 
Of course they followed with the Cork saga.
Now if there was a good news GAA story it would never appear at all on the Dublin 4 Station.

[Tatler Jack]

Now if there was a good news GAA story

This could be a good news story - upsetting Dessie can't be all bad 

[never kickt a ball]

Mark Conway is on the Drivetime Sport show about this.
Starts at 20 minutes (on the RTE site).

Here it is:
http://www.rte.ie/radio/liveplayer_av.html?1,null,200,http://www.rte.ie/smiltest/radio_new.smil

Yes about 21 minutes in (after the discussion on Keano kicking chairs etc)

Frick, only seeing this now.

Is there an archive section on the RTE website? Want to listen to the Mark Conway piece.

[ziggysego]

Oops, misread that. Thought that was the live radio link.

Thanks kickt. I'll get a listen tomorrow.

[never kickt a ball]

Oops, misread that. Thought that was the live radio link.

Thanks kickt. I'll get a listen tomorrow.

By the way click on the drivetime sport menu under RTE 1 menu

[Bud Wiser]

This whole thing is getting on my nerves at this stage.  There will be no winners now no matter which way it goes.

On the assumption that we are talking about €5M allow me to speculate.  There are 1,600 GAA Clubs in the country.  Thats where the players come from and there is an impression given that the elite ones drop out of the sky into Croke Park or arrive in Limousines on All-Ireland day. In the GAA world that I used to live in we were all equal and no bullshit was either taken or given and I never foresaw a time we would fight over money.

Now, let's divide this €5Million euro between the 1,600 clubs and after spending €848 Euro on postage stamps to send out the cheques we are left with €2227.00 per club.  Now say each club has thre teams, say minor football and two either junior or senior hurling or football teams which allowing for an average of 35 active players per club.  In Ballyboden you would be talking about 200 active players but lets not go there, lets take the worst case scenario.  So 35 players woulkd get a grant of €63.62.  Is that what this whole thing is about?

The grants should be divided in the following way.  Clubs like Ballyroan and Ballinakill and Clonad for example in my own county should be given the 2,000 Euro and it could be given as a grant to the players like providing hot showers, proper dressing rooms and sets of hurleys. I never had those facilities either down home or in the Phoenix Park with Eoghain Ruaidh.  If someone handed me a nice Ramie Dowling hurley and a spare one it would be all the grant I would have ever wanted.  This money is more trouble than it is worth and hurling is going to loose out because already the footballers are making the running.  The GPA is, in my opinion an association run by footballers for footballers.

If they are serious about grants go and give the money to National School teachers who are prepared to spend it on the children.  There is a planning application before South Dublin County Council  www.sdcc.ie at the moment, now gone to An Bord Pleanala.  In it Maurice Curtin, dad of David who hurls for Dublin has submitted a letter. Maurice was the principal of our national school and came from Kilkenny.  His love of hurling made it a natural desire for him to teach the children.  He tells of his attempts to acquire goalposts and the field in which he was expected to teach them is at an angle of 30 degrees off level.

Go out and do surveys, find places like this and then go and ask some Plant & Machinery company to sponsor your effort by way of " if I give you two grand will you go up and level that field and put up a set of goalposts for the young lads"  That is what I would call 'giving out grants that every player' would benifit from, assuming we are talking about ALL players  and not just the elite.

There is no point in the anti-GPA faction objecting to the payments unless they have some alternative. There is €5Million  on the table, thanks to the GPA. Show me the man who refuses to take €5M offred to him free of charge and I will show you a fool.

Let each club receive 2,227 euro.  If the want to put €500 of that up on a mantlepiece and say to their players, right lads, the first one of you to make it onto the county team gets that, fair enough but the rest is divided equally by way of a grant for all of you in the form of a list of additional club facilities.

Like I said before, if the GPA can sort out sponsorship deals for all players like a fixed rate car insurance policy for lads between 18 - 21 who would qualify by being an active member or player in a gaa club that is fair enough. Not alone should each club receive the 2227 Euro, they shoukld send Brian Cowan back a direct debit form for this year, next year and every year because when building was booming the bigger clubs got bigger with better facilities and the smaller clubs were left behind.  A grant for facilities is a grant for the players in any language.  Send out the cheques today and be done with it.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Lest we forget, nothing cut and dried just yet. Go on the Dubs  ... from Ar Aon Chreideamh Amháin (Of One Belief)...

Take A Bow, Naomh Olaf ... and the Wonderful Dubs!

To its eternal credit the Dublin County Board, as we reported in an earlier circular, asked its Clubs to discuss and vote on the November agreement. We understand Naomh Olaf was the first to do so, last Thursday night. The result? A whacking 74% to 26% AGAINST!The discussion then moved on to the meeting of the Dublin County Board on Monday night. The result here? Another resounding rejection of the scheme with at least 35 delegates speaking out against it. Dublin's Clubs were very clear about two things. They don't want the scheme and they were bitterly disappointed that the whole thing had been handled as a "done deal" at a high level and they had not been consulted.

A very consistent pattern is emerging here. When ordinary GAA people have their say, they're very strongly against this move to pay-for-play. So far that's been the case with votes in Armagh; Derry; Down; Dublin; Fermanagh; Mayo; and Tyrone. In fact the only vote we know of that's gone in favour of the arrangements was ... yes, you've guessed, the fateful 8 December one by Central Council! Surely it's not a case of everyone being out of step but "Our Johnny"?

We also believe that the GAA's Management Committee was by no means unanimous when it voted on this issue. But convention evidently is that Management votes as one when it goes to Central Council ... so a small majority translates into a unanimous vote. It all seems a wee bit Stalinist! But if we add the Management Committee dissenters to those Counties which have clearly set their faces against the agreement ... then surely Central Council's true position on the arrangement should be far from the near-unanimity we were told occurred back on 8 December? If it's not, then our GAA systems are worryingly dysfunctional.

DRA Affairs

We've formally gone back to the DRA asking it to hold a hearing on our submission. It's now been lodged for over a month and with the deadline for motions to Congress fast approaching we feel it's reasonable that our case should be heard by 24 January. We'll keep you posted.

The GAA's "Iraq War" ...? Are There Certain Similarities?

A small, remote group of high-powered people enter into a secret arrangement with third parties ... wave a nonsensical threat (Weapons-of-Mass-Destruction/GPA Strike) ... refuse to consult the rest of us ... insist on committing us to something we neither needed nor wanted ... break the fundamental rules ... shift the rationale after it happened (waving UN motions and phrases like "no binding decision") ... leave the subject (Iraq or the GAA) in far worse shape than they found it ...effectively create a civil war ... but continue to insist they did nothing wrong.

It's enough to make you cry!

Well, You Have To Laugh!

Following Central Council's clear confusion about what it actually decided on 8 December, one of you came back to us with the following:

"The situation gets more bizarre by the day. I think between "It's not binding!" and "It's not pay for play ...and never will be!!" I have to share with u now, encouraged by this novel approach to logic, that when I approached my wife last night to tell her that I considered our marriage vows no longer binding and wished to have a meeting at another date to ratify that "decision", if it was a decision ... or perhaps not, she planted her very nicely rounded knee in my groin ... but, said later that it never happened ... and in any case if it did happen it was only a matter of showing me how much she loved me ... or not ... and whatever ur having urself !!"


Yes, They Said It!

Some words of wisdom from a variety of sources:

"The reality is that this issue (ie grants) requires the collective decision of the Association through Central Council following consideration and debate, particularly at county level"

Nickey Brennan 22 April 2006 (Hmmmm!!!)

"The GAA should maintain its position as the country's leading amateur sporting body and should continue its policy of not paying its players for playing, whether directly or indirectly: this should include not paying any form of reimbursement for wages/salaries for time lost as a result of either playing or training."

The often referred-to but rarely-quoted CLCG Amateur Status Report 1997, Paragraph 2.8(a)

"What makes the GAA so great is the fact that you have to sacrifice so much to play football matches. I would never like to see that change and I think the grants could be the start of something bigger."

Philip Jordan, Double All-Ireland winner

"Paying players, by whatever devious means concocted, is dangerous and ultimately self-defeating as far as the amateur ethos of our great association is concerned."

Paddy Buggy, past-GAA President, in January 2008

"What used to p*** me off was players, young fellas, telling you how to play the game - telling you the sacrifices they'd made. Telling you that there should be a government grant at the end of it. How they felt their image rights were being infringed on and all that. You're playing for your county, like. There are kids out there who'd love to do it. Kids who can't get out of bed in the morning who'd love to be there. That's not grá mo chroí stuff - it's a fact. I hated that attitude of these people who were giving the impression it was a chore, that being a modern day inter-county footballer was tough and 'I'm missing out on overtime here' ".

Dara Ó Cinnéide, All-Ireland winning Captain

"Our clubs want the amateur status of the GAA protected and are opposed to the grants scheme. Delegates at our meeting let it be known in no uncertain manner that they had no hand, act or part in the (grants) decision making"

Dublin County Chair Jerry Harrington

And no, that first one doesn't change the second time you read it:

"The reality is that this issue (ie grants) requires the collective decision of the Association through Central Council following consideration and debate, particularly at county level"

Nickey Brennan 22 April 2006

And Finally ... Keep This Issue Alive!

The mantra for opposing pay-for-play in the GAA remains the same:

• We work within (and want to protect!) the GAA's structures and systems
• Bring the issue up in your Club
• Bring it to the National GAA Club Forum on 9 February
• Bring it to your County Committee and swell the growing tide of County opposition to it
• Make sure it reaches the floor of Congress: it's becoming increasingly clear there'll be a Congress debate on all this ... but we need the motions submitted!
• Ask your Central Council delegate just what went on at the 8 December meeting
• Talk to people about the damage pay-for-play will do to the GAA ... and how Ireland will suffer as a result
• Keep hammering home the point that nobody in the GAA has to do anything: we're all volunteers ... and if the burdens are too much we should just walk away or reduce our input
• Above all, in the GAA we don't pay people to play our games!

Thank you again for your support!
There's a growing bit of light at the end of the tunnel!
Thank you for lighting the torch!
Beir bua!

[quidnunc]

  Hear hear