Future of the GAA

[lynchbhoy]

i'd agree - the old lassiez faire attitude wont cut it any more in GAA.

We have to have more organisation and structures surrounding finances, grounds maintenance and planning, teams structures as well as starting to get a proper club, county - football and hurling master fixtures template for local clubs, county teams on an all Ireland basis.

IMO this has to be done.

the aspects of insurance and promoting the games in schools and to new estates and immigrants should also be a part of the plans. Locally we have a lot of non nationals on GAA teams ,but to leave this to chance with the old 'sure it'll be grand' attitude will see us going backwards instead of forwards.
Croke Park should lead the way with the planning and templates for all this.
Clubs should also get financial assistence if they are in trouble with loans.

[BarryBreensBandage]

i'd agree - the old lassiez faire attitude wont cut it any more in GAA.

We have to have more organisation and structures surrounding finances, grounds maintenance and planning, teams structures as well as starting to get a proper club, county - football and hurling master fixtures template for local clubs, county teams on an all Ireland basis.

IMO this has to be done.

the aspects of insurance and promoting the games in schools and to new estates and immigrants should also be a part of the plans. Locally we have a lot of non nationals on GAA teams ,but to leave this to chance with the old 'sure it'll be grand' attitude will see us going backwards instead of forwards.
Croke Park should lead the way with the planning and templates for all this.
Clubs should also get financial assistence if they are in trouble with loans.

Brilliantly put chief. This is what the GAA should be doing in order serve the club level of the games, which is what keeps it breathing. A lot of heroes are keeping a badly manned ship afloat. It is akin to the National Health Service in the North...

[BarryBreensBandage]

jeez Lar, I wouldnt say its bleak !
A lot of kids drop out - that is true, but given the other distractions in Dublin theres not a lot can be done. However the cream of the crop usualy stay playing football (and Hurling) and graduate to adult teams- if they dont all make it to the top tier (which they all wont).

the natural atrition rate is actually welcome - as there is no way that clubs can cater for all the players that could come through.
As long as the club looks after these kids well until they decide to quit football/hurling - then at least they will be pro-GAA and potential club and county supporters thereafter.

As a member of a 'superclub' I know that its almost impossible to get the structure right - and imo we are still way off doing this !
If however Dublin clubs and then the Dublin county team ever get the structures and balance right - they wil dominate for a very long time !

Plenty of towns around Meath and Kildare have experienced large population growths in the past 20 years but apart from Dunboyne and Dunshaughlin in Meath and hesitantly nominating Clebridge in Kildare - there are no others with increased populations that have prospered as they could or shoud have.
Its down to someone in each club planning it out properly - or even someone from the county boards. Thats way too much coordination for our organisation though !!

Would like to tell of my experience of Dublin GAA -
I lived in Dublin for three years and played a bit there as well.

Being a Down Man, I got the usual questioning of Irishness, but never from a Dub.

I found that, because of the distractions that may be in Dublin that, the most passionate GAA men about were the Dubs. Especially the hurlers.

I trained and played football with men from Dublin, Kerry, Kildare, Cork, Mayo - we all had the same passion, but the guys who were most interested in where you were from, what you thought, and what your views were on this great game, were the Dubs.

And, IMO, there are no set of players under more pressure each year than the guys that play for Dublin.

Maybe that is why it is so tough to get through club level - because of the demands on a player if they do make it.....

[Banana Man]

just seen this on hoganstand, i'd say there's a right few in debt but how the hell did portlaoise get into debt for €6.5m 

Anyone got the story on it?

We can't bail out every club, Duffy warns

Padraic Duffy
03 November 2010


Paraic Duffy has warned that Croke Park won't be able to bail out every club that has been left with massive debts as a result of the collapse of the economy.

Some clubs, including reigning Leinster football champions Portlaoise who find themselves €6.5 million in debt after a property deal they were involved in fell through, are struggling to meet their repayments and the GAA director-general admits they are desperately in need of help.



"There are clubs in distress. The classic one, and the one that's well known, is Portlaoise," he said in The Irish Daily Star.

"Croke Park simply can't go in and bail out every club in distress, but there are situations when Croke Park and provincial councils will have to take a role.

"It is a concern. Generally speaking, the GAA is in good shape, but you have to acknowledge that there is a fair amount of debt out there. There are a lot of clubs who borrowed to fund really good projects, but repayments are more difficult now. It is a tough financial time.

"At Croke Park level we're fine, but there are clubs and counties who took on major developments and repayments are a problem. A lot clubs and units are finding it difficult.

"Clubs were unfortunate because they built new facilities and couldn't sell their own, or were promised to sell their own and the money didn't come through."

[Rossfan]

As far as I recall Portlaoise bought a load of land as they were about to sell their present grounds to a Builder. Then the Builder's boom ended  resulting in that sale not happening and so they were left with a big debt

[Leo]

As far as I recall Portlaoise bought a load of land as they were about to sell their present grounds to a Builder. Then the Builder's boom ended  resulting in that sale not happening and so they were left with a big debt

Too many of these clubs go about these deals without proper professioanl advice & assistance to protect them from such disasters - small men with big egos is a  in the GAA DNA.

[dowling]

Professional advice from bankers or developers? Is that what you mean Leo?

[dowling]

I'd say every GAA club has them, and a few other greedy people as well who think they can get something, or rather thought they could get something out of a big deal. Everything about the club in their eyes came down to finance. Finance is all well and good for improving facilities but plenty of clubs exist without the four star facilities. Finance is relative to what a club feels it needs or what someone thinks it can make out of a deal.

[lynchbhoy]

I'd say every GAA club has them, and a few other greedy people as well who think they can get something, or rather thought they could get something out of a big deal. Everything about the club in their eyes came down to finance. Finance is all well and good for improving facilities but plenty of clubs exist without the four star facilities. Finance is relative to what a club feels it needs or what someone thinks it can make out of a deal.

true enough
but there are plenty of self depreciating folk in the GAA to more than counter balance that. Volnteers to train kids, do the grounds maintenance, bar work, manage teams etc.
In our club an ex high profile player paid €10,000 of his own money to put up floodlights on a training pitch and as far as I know didnt and possibly wont get that money back - nor is he looking for it.

[seafoid]

I wonder what is going to happen to the rural counties that are the life and soul of the GAA. Will they just be reduced to a minor economic role consisting of farming and tourism and nothing else or will future governments try for a more balanced economic development that isn't centred almost exclusively on Dublin ?  If Tipperary for example doesn't have decent jobs to offer its young people Tipp hurling isn't going to thrive.

One of the points that has come out of the economic crisis is that Ireland is very vulnerable to external economic shocks and that this is reflected in the very high level of current unemployment. This was driven by a massive collapse in construction employment - for the last 10 years the only jobs in many parishes around the country were in building. I think there is a need for a new type of economic thinking for the rest of the country. Could or should the GAA be part of this conversation ?   

[dowling]

Totally agree with you there lynchboy. There are people you describe in all clubs also. It doesn't always balance out though. I'd say during the 'boom' years there were a few clubs who made some money out of re-locating and selling their grounds. While it mightn't have mattered to any great extent in some cases in practical terms, at the end of the day the motivating factor comes down to money. All clubs need it of course and it's great to have financial security but the true value of a club is the collective effort of its membership. But as more and more people take from the GAA at all levels or the more these 'professionals' convince members of the need for a 'buy and sell' mentality the more the 'volunteer' as you and others put it will be eroded.
Even the term 'volunteer' is patronising and divisive and indicitive of where we have come to.

[lynchbhoy]

Dowling, Maybe you have one or more particular clubs in mind.
I am not that close to any amount of clubs right now in order to say that or even the opposite.
I just know my own local club isnt like that. We'd be too disorganised to be anything other than voluntary !
With the economy the way it is I wouldnt think people would take on the job of management etc if they couldnt afford the petrol/diesel (these managers will be undoubtedly parents of players) and clubs are not in a position to pay people anyhow, so I cant see anyone being held to ransom for money these days at least in local clubs.
As for the tipp lads and lads from other counties who are unemployed - maybe these teams will get actually stronger if the lads not working just train all the time !