Conway quits Tyrone funding body

[ONeill]

You're either very young or misinformed about your own club.

Coleman did not manage Kildress in the late 80s. He managed them in 77/78.

Conway is a trustee:  http://www.hoganstand.com/tyrone/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=86635
(and a committee member at that unless there are two of them)

[reddgnhand]

Its amazing that all the anti-GPA supporters want definitive proof to back up any allegation about players/managers etc being paid - but yet when asked to give definitive proof that the GPA want pay for play or that the grants are pay for play and yet they can't provide them apart from a one off remark a number of years ago....

Just on that point has McGeeney started the ball rolling by mentioning his arrangement with Kildare? 

[darbyo]

Its my opinion and its only an opinion that whats ahead ( now that the principle of "pay for play" is gone) is a situation where whoever has the biggest cheque book will have the best players playing for them like what has been going on in America for years.

I appreciate that it is only your opinion but if you are going to oppose the grants on the basis that it will lead to professionalism. Then for it to be taken seriously you must have an idea how this can happen, otherwise you are against the grants based on an irrational fear. Now some on here will have you believe that this is already professionalism and will quote dictionaries to prove it. But this isn't professionalism and unless you can at least speculate on how a professional GAA can come to pass then I don't think you can argue against the grants on that basis. By the way you are not the only one who has used this fear as their rational for being anti-grant and none of them can answer the question either.

[reddgnhand]

Its my opinion and its only an opinion that whats ahead ( now that the principle of "pay for play" is gone) is a situation where whoever has the biggest cheque book will have the best players playing for them like what has been going on in America for years.

I appreciate that it is only your opinion but if you are going to oppose the grants on the basis that it will lead to professionalism. Then for it to be taken seriously you must have an idea how this can happen, otherwise you are against the grants based on an irrational fear. Now some on here will have you believe that this is already professionalism and will quote dictionaries to prove it. But this isn't professionalism and unless you can at least speculate on how a professional GAA can come to pass then I don't think you can argue against the grants on that basis. By the way you are not the only one who has used this fear as their rational for being anti-grant and none of them can answer the question either.

As I said its only an opinion and I dont believe its based on irrational fear. I will repeat a question I put to previous posters. Are county players so desperately in need of 1500 euros that they were refusing to wear their county jerseys and represent their respective counties?  To me Dessie & co are testing the waters on this issue. Why would they create this situation in the GAA for 1500 euro? It dosent make sense.   

[new devil]

You're either very young or misinformed about your own club.

Coleman did not manage Kildress in the late 80s. He managed them in 77/78.

Conway is a trustee:  http://www.hoganstand.com/tyrone/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=86635
(and a committee member at that unless there are two of them)

He also manage them in the late 80s

Ive been away from home the last couple of years so i wasn't at the last AGM.....so i stand corrected..he must of joined the committee again this year.
Still doesn't take away from the fact that hes a total GAA man and has done unreal work for club and county

[rrhf]

O Neill whatever way you look at it paying an external coach is not pay for play and was rightly or wrongly in an attempt like everything is to ggive the players the best.  I cant listen to your repetitive chipping away any more.  Im out... 

[Rois]

So why are you defending their actions ONeill?

You see, that's where so many arguments are falling down on the anti-grant side...

Just because a small number are receiving recognition from the govn you feel you cannot contribute as a volunteer anymore? You're either a volunteer or you're not. What others do (again a very small elite) shouldn't affect you.

O'Neill you keep saying that people are either volunteers or they're not.  And yet you say you admire Mark Conway for sticking to his principles and stepping down from his voluntary role.  Quite contradictory.
How can you presume to know what drives all people to volunteer?  An example:  I went to a meeting on Sunday to discuss the future of ladies' football in the club.  I listened to how strapped the club was for coaching assistants for the younger age groups.  Seeing the work put in by the youth coordinator and the existing coaches drove me to give up a few of my Saturday mornings every month to help out.  If those coaches were getting paid, I'm sure I wouldn't have volunteered.  What drove me was the voluntary efforts of everyone else involved. 

And where are arguments falling down on the anti-grant side - I've read some great points here on the anti-grant side.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Now some on here will have you believe that this is already professionalism and will quote dictionaries to prove it. But this isn't professionalism

So the dictionary is wrong?



Maybe that will be Dessie's next step - change the definition of professionalism so the IC players will think they are still 'amateur'. 

[Bensars]

Don't worry Billy, I'm just running away from pog...it's a lesson most of us have learned over the years. He'll drag you down to a level you don't want to go.

As for you, BTK, I've no interest in GPA, and think Farrell is a complete disaster. However, I'll challenge anyone who will display hypocrisy when it comes to these govn grants, or anyone who deals in unfounded hysteria.

ONeill

In our own county do you think any of the panel are in desperate need of what amounts to(according to Paddy Heaney) 1500 euro?  

My concern is that the  government of Northern Ireland appear to be getting cheated out of hundreds of thousands of pounds of revenue due to the backhanders getting meted out to your so called amateur managers and players. If someone would be good enough to send me some details of financial irregularities I will be happy to pass the information on to the proper authorities.

Welcome to semi professionalism gaa fans.

The sentiment expressed by the poster above  will be one of the major problems for players in the north.  Im not getting into the ins and out, however if it comes to pass i can see people like "bignifanatic" and others following this particular path.  

Not only will the grant/ award  leave a player open to investigation in regards of additional income ( excluding dinner dances, personal appearances, training camps, sponsored cars, holiday spending money ), theres many a player self employed who wouldnt want the taxman  sniffin around.

[ONeill]

O Neill whatever way you look at it paying an external coach is not pay for play and was rightly or wrongly in an attempt like everything is to ggive the players the best.  I cant listen to your repetitive chipping away any more.  Im out... 

What about paying footballers?

[ONeill]

O'Neill you keep saying that people are either volunteers or they're not.  And yet you say you admire Mark Conway for sticking to his principles and stepping down from his voluntary role.  Quite contradictory.

Conway's principle in that the GAA should've debated this beforehand on a wider scale. To me, that was his biggest grievance with the whole process. He stuck to his guns there and that's admirable.

[Rois]

But he's either a volunteer or he's not.

[ONeill]

Conway has never intimated that he won't be volunteering again. Did you hear this somewhere? He'll be working for his club in the same manner as before. All he did was stand down from the Club Tyrone committee. He's in many more committees.

[DMarsden]

As i said from the outset, Conway has a very good point in terms of the workings of the association and if he felt strongly about it he should have worked to alter it within the associations structures. unfortunately his message was diluted by the wild hysteria of the elk meeting and the PR search which ensued. when i ask lads casually about why they think conway quit whatever it is he's quit, the answer varies from "he's anti gpa" through "he objects to the GAA's money being paid to players" to "he feels the GAA have gone about this all wrong".

[INDIANA]

how can you work within an association where the cosy cartel at the top make all the decisions without consulting their shareholders? This was a fundamental change in the policy of the association and the members weren't consulted. This wild hysteria as you claim was a pretty normal reaction and nothing alters the fact that Nicky Brennan is a poor GAA President and his legacy will always be tarnished with his appalling handling of the situation which many grassroots members like myself classify as rank poor management by someone who is way out of his depth.