For what it’s worth, I wish people would shut the f**k up about Dublin getting larger grants.
A quarter of the population live in that county. If they weren’t receiving an exceptional percentage of overall funding spend, it would be wholly unfair on people born in Dublin, and would be detrimental to the GAA’s grassroots policy of “get them involved with their club early, get them involved for life”.
This is NOT a modern GAA problem. This one rolls all the way back to 1884, when the core constructs of the Association were founded upon the well-meaning and identity-building - but fundamentally imbalanced - partition of jurisdictions according to county lines.
It just so happens that Dublin have come across a golden generation of players at the same time that social media has enabled every dimwit across the land to have an opinion, and to drumbeat the populist narrative. The Dublin dominance issue will fix itself in a couple of year, except the dimwits in 10 years time will then be yelping about how the GAA needs a strong Dublin.
——-
Fundamentally, where the suits need put in order, is this.
1. Core values of community and volunteering need stamped on their foreheads, sent as daily reminders, typed in 10 foot letters at the top of every letter or enail they read. Every decision they make needs to be evaluated against how it improves the Association for communities and volunteers. If it doesn’t help them, don’t proceed..
2. Strategies, annual budgets and forecasts should focus on minimising expenditure, and not maximising revenue. This concept does not rule out large infrastructure projects or a commitment to coaching; as both provide advantages to members. But it should minimise the desire/need/will to collect pits of cash and then decide what to spend it on. The purpose of this organisation should never be to gather money.
——
I think you are missing the point here. The development grant(s) are not dished out to counties but per individual player. Going by the last published figures I know of, (2010-2014) Dublin got over €274 per individual, regardless of status.By comparison each Mayo was paid €22 (or thereabouts) and Kerry got the princely sum of €19 for every player they had registered.
For the record, Dublin has easily the lowest participation rate of any county in Ireland. Here I am talking about active participation as players or supporters.
No rocket science involved here- say Dublin play Longford and 50% of the population of Longford turn up, whereas it would be unlikely that Dublin would bring anywhere near 5% of its population along. Which county would have the greater support at the game?
Lots of apples and oranges there Lar.
here's the actual breakdown:
Sorry Hound, I couldn’t respond sooner than now.
I don’t doubt your word and if the info you posted is relevant in some way to the discussion in hand, I’ll take your word for it.
But, for the life of me, I can’t make head nor tail of what these stats mean!
I take it that it’s the General Development Fund’s grants to primary schools. Now, who got the money, the principal or a particular GAA club?
Was there specific conditions attached to the payment of these grants?
I am going to assume that the dosh was given to some club or other and from there on, it was (is?) up to the club to devise a training schedule to qualify for the money from the GDF.
Otherwise, I cannot see how the scheme could operate. Farr will tell you that no school principal could allow any outsider to dictate school policy with regard to activities of any sort during school hours.
So, who gets the money and what are the duties /requirements to qualify for the it?
I was heavily involved with primary schools GAA for decades in Finglas and I had (still) have excellent relations with the Isles.
They were the first club I heard of to begin sending young players out to schools in the area to help coach kids after hours and, in some cases, they assisted schools in fielding teams for competitions but , again school policy wouldn’t allow a complete takeover of anything to do with the school by anyone who could be termed an outsider. Insurance complications involved otherwise.
Now, with three teachers heavily involved in pushing Gah games within my school and with every possible help from the Isles there was never a pickup of more than 5% of pupis who stayed with the club after they left the school and moved n to secondary level.
What I am leading up to is that allocating cash for kids who are not going to be of any use to the GAA after they leave primary school is a bit daft to me.
My county allegiances is one thing but I am a Gah man at heart and I’d love to see kids everywhere playing the native games but I don’t see any major increase in participation in any clubs or schools I am aware of.