Tyone Responds To GPA Regonition

[Fionntamhnach]

I didn't feel any need to propose a motion concerning the GPA

So, you couldn't be arsed then, even if you feel strongly now?

The  accusation that is most often levelled at the GPA is that of 'elitism',that was a pretty elite gathering when it was decided to formulate a policy without prior notice and go public with it!

The "elite" gathering was one that apart from the executive committee members were all elected by ordinary club members in Tyrone to represent them. It may have been the case that a delegate may have raised the issue in question with a discussion and a show of hands taken on the matter that night. Again, ask your club delegate what went on and if he was actually part of the unanimous group.

And before you ask, no I usually wouldn't stand up for anyone from T***yreagh!

[Fionntamhnach]

I remember the matter involving the county hurlers and the GPA getting involved, it was down to a monumental c**k-up in communication and a fairly anal referee which ended up being played on a pitch that not too long beforehand was considered good enough for the senior footballers to play a competitive match on. I'm sure the GPA would have only been delighted to help out as it was a chink of bright publicity that they could try and get their hands on so they could boast about it in their press releases. Joe Brolly summed it up right when he said that the GPA in general don't give a damn about hurlers from Mayo, and for that matter other counties who aren't competing in the McCarthy Cup.

They went on record afterwards thanking the GPA for their involvement and Thomas Colton, I think it was, wrote to the Tyrone Times taking Kevin Hughes to task on the matter,saying that they were banging their heads against a brick wall until the GPA came on board.
As for Joe,he has never explained why he felt the need to attend the inaugural meeting,were there issues that needed to be addressed?If there were, what were they,have they since been addressed or was he just wrong in his assessment at that time?

It doesn't really argue my point in that the GPA were only too happy to help out with the Tyrone hurling squad for their own agenda more than anything else. Re: Joe Brolly, you'll need to ask him. I remember when the GPA was first founded there was a general public "alrightedness" to it, maybe Joe saw something he didn't like?

[bigpaul]

What's with the comment about not being arsed? There was no discussion on the matter,no indication that the T.C.B. were about to formulate a policy, and therefore no indication that I or any other member would need to take pre-emptive action to ensure our club delegate would be armed with a mandate when the policy was being formulated!

[Norf Tyrone]

Is it not a case of that when the County Board are elected you are essentially giving them veto to act on your behalf.

Much as in the same way as when you elect a politician he doesn't come and check with you over every policy.

[Fionntamhnach]

What's with the comment about not being arsed? There was no discussion on the matter,no indication that the T.C.B. were about to formulate a policy, and therefore no indication that I or any other member would need to take pre-emptive action to ensure our club delegate would be armed with a mandate when the policy was being formulated!

I must admit the statement took me by surprise as I wasn't expecting anything about the GPA, though it's well known for quite some time what the stance of the Tyrone County Board is with regards to them. All I'm saying is that if you felt strongly that the GPA was beneficial to the county hurlers and that they could help do more for them, why not get this recognised by your club? I don't think you'll find the answers here on a discussion board I'm afraid.

KIDDO (Sludden?), Conway may have been there as a proxy on behalf of his club, or was he actually elected by his club, bearing in mind that most clubs hadn't elected their delagate at the county convention and the February meeting would have been the first meeting for new board members? However if he was there and speaking without a mandate, questions do need to be asked. I believe the minutes will be printed for the April meeting late next month which should answer this.

[Norf Tyrone]

http://tyrone.servasport.com/countyboard/subcommittees/prmarketing/

Does this help?

[KIDDO]

Conway on the night in question , was not present to give a pr and marketing report .

[bigpaul]

The whole point regarding the hurlers is that the GPA were a help,you are automatically presuming that they had an ulterior motive.I don't think any of us can suppose to know anyone's motives beyond their public pronouncements!
County Board representatives are elected to represent the interests of their members.When a matter arises that  involves the day to day running of the Board then it is only natural that they should vote in accordance with their club's wishes on the matter.The problem arises when a County Board meeting takes it on itself to formulate a new policy without delegates referring back to their club for direction on the matter.As I stated originally,Pat Darcy is making a mockery of the word 'equality' when he asserts that I am equal to anyone who attended that meeting!

[bigpaul]

Fionntamhnach,if the Tyrone County Board had sent a letter to Croke Park in support of the GPA,would you think that the procedures followed were acceptable?

[Hardy]

their agenda is nothing less than the destruction of the amateur ethos and egalitarian structure of the GAA.

That is an opinion based on assumption and chinese whispers.

Uladh – it's not. It's based on the repeated calls from the GPA for elite players to be paid, while at the same time prefacing almost every statement with "we don't want pay for play". What was the infamous €127 a week (for county players only), if not pay for play? What was the GPA chairman talking about when he went inadvertently off message and used the 'p' word? What's professionalism and pay-for-play (for the elite few) if not the destruction of the amateur ethos and egalitarian structure of the GAA?

The players are as entitled to a voice as anyone else and as with any union, they are entitled to maximise their influence as a group.

I agree (allowing a loose interpretation of the word 'union', as unions usually represent employees). But the GPA doesn't represent 'THE players'. It represents some of the players.

anyone who believes the gpa don't represent county footballers has their head in he sand.

Nobody believes that. That in fact is the problem The GPA represents ONLY county players (but not all county players).

The simple fact is that the GPA represents the grab-what-you-can mentality of a greedy few, who see themselves as possessing a powerful lever that they're prepared to use to prise an advantage for themselves, to the detriment of the organisation that practically all other members serve as volunteers. They've said themselves that they see the amount of money the GAA generates and have decided "we want some of that". They are the only group in the GAA who have decided to organise themselves to grab some of the organisation's money for themselves. Who is asking where that money will be diverted from? What programmes will be cut or scrapped? Which of the GAA's community activities will suffer because these greedy people (who are the ones who already benefit most from their membership of the GAA) want cash in their own back pockets?

The plain fact is that the GPA people represent the worst form of opportunism and gombeenism and are openly challenging the principles of the organisation they would happily destroy for the sake of an extra few bob for themselves.

The referees could just as easily decide that the games can't go on without them and start demanding 'pay for refereeing'. Likewise for all the other volunteers. But they'd be wrong. And, as has been said many times here, the GPA people are wrong in their estimate of their own power. Ultimately, their only weapon is withdrawal from county teams. Who will give a toss, other than themselves? That's the point at which they will see how useless their weapon is, as the throngs of lads who would die to play for their county queue up to take the places of those who have insulted them by excluding them from their elite club.

[magpie seanie]

Thanks for putting so eloquently what I'm thinking Hardy on the couple of occasions you have posted on this thread. More power to you.

I heard Donal O'Neill (another - "there's nothing in it for me" merchant like Dessie) on Newstalk this morning on about how the grants for GAA players would"underpin the amateur ethos"!!! FFS you couldn't make it up.

I hope other county boards have the balls to come out in support of Tyrone.

[muppet]

 Firstlly I will declare as I have done before that I am not for 'pay for play', not for the reasons that Hardy so eloquently outlined above, but because the Gaa could never sustain it and the game as we know it would be destroyed.

That said if the Government and the GPA had agreed a grant scheme that would be zero cost to the Gaa and it offered the scope to tie the GPA into an agreement not looking for pay for play, why not go ahead? It would cost the Gaa nothing, the players would be happy and the government would be seen as the great arbitrators. Win win.

Except for the clubs of course. Speaking as a former club player I see this argument as hypocritical. If the GPA is seen as being greedy then you can't add the club player to the cause because you are guilty of the same crime.

If you are against pay in the Gaa fine, I can respect that but it should apply across the board. We have a number of players who are full time Gaa professionals at the moment and that is befoe we get onto managers. Attacking the players for being greedy without mentioning the managers who always seem to be in the hunt for a paid job is also hypocritical.

[Hardy]

Consider the paid managers included, then.

[Uladh]

My job involves me every day mediating between frictioned parties and i have to have the ability to see arguments from every angle. This applies particularly to the GPA as i believe strongly that GAA members consistently fail the "in your shoes" test with regard to county players.

Uladh – it's not. It's based on the repeated calls from the GPA for elite players to be paid, while at the same time prefacing almost every statement with "we don't want pay for play". What was the infamous €127 a week (for county players only), if not pay for play? What was the GPA chairman talking about when he went inadvertently off message and used the 'p' word? What's professionalism and pay-for-play (for the elite few) if not the destruction of the amateur ethos and egalitarian structure of the GAA?

The only occasion i can remember any of them calling for pay for play was the one you mentioned. can you document these "repeated calls?"

If you know the history of the GPA's development, you will know that it was the GAA who elevated intercounty players to "elite" status and while its obviously an anomoly, A county players union is the only feasible way for them to have started. the seperating criteria between club and county players dictates that. personally i think the GPA missed a trick by not just allowing club players to sign up as associate or second tier members, even if were just a token gesture.

[theskull1]

Again Hardy, you make the point so well. The GAA is made up of 99% of people who share these same views and who understand the importance of holding onto them.

Yes muppet there are paid managers, there are misguided businessmen providing salaries to certain county players. The GAA should be addressing these issues and making more noise about how these activities are eroding the core ethos of the orginisation. It is also very naive of you to think that grant scheme would keep the GPA happy for long. It will set a legal precedent of players getting financially rewarded for representing their couinty and leave the door open for them to the gain even more in the future.  The fact that the GAA mightn't be paying for it is irrelevant. The grant scheme is pay for play.
You're also implying that you would be for "pay for play" IF the GAA could afford it? I'm assuming you're talking solely about the financial price rather than the cultural price. I find this an unbelieveable stance when you consider the points Hardy has just made.
And finally, if the GPA also represented club players then it would not be what it is today....i.e. a financially motivated orginisation concerned only in persuing the interests of an elite few. So the crime would not be commited if club players were involved.

personally i think the GPA missed a trick by not just allowing club players to sign up as associate or second tier members, even if were just a token gesture.

And if the GPA did allow it purely as a token gesture Uladh, how would it benefit the GPA? You're almost implying they could have USED the club players membership to bolster their perceived repectability amongst the GAA population to then use this position to fulfil their real agenda?