Will the paying of grants affect your attendance at Inter-County games

[RadioGAAGAA]

So you think that anytime the GPA want something they can just stamp their feet and the GAA will fold.

Lets go by the historical evidence shall we?

The GPA have threatened... once.

The GAA have capitulated... once.


Let me get out the calculator and do the sums on that....


Yeap, 100% success rate for the GPA.

It is your position that professionalism will come about by the GPA threathening to strike. And you called me niave.

No, not solely through threatening of strike action - to assume such would be silly. There will be other back door methods used (a bit like the paying managers debacle that has been ongoing for some time).

[darbyo]

RadioGAAGAA do you not have any appreciation of how different a grant from the government is and the GAA themselves paying players to play.
I'll give you a quick illustration, if we are next door neighbours but don't know one another very well, and you call to my house looking for a pint of milk, I'd give it to you without any problem. If you called to my house the following day looking for a €10,000 loan I'd refuse. Using your logic the fact that I gave you a pint of milk(the grant) should also mean I'd give you the €10,000 (professionalism). Can you not see that the GAA can support the govt. giving players grants while at the same time know that they'll never pay players themselves. And please don't start on that 'we are paying them already craic', that is just your opinion, not fact.
Dessie Farrell, Nickey Brennan or anyone else can't bring professionalism to the GAA, it's only when people like you, me and other grassroots members decide that we want professionalism can it happen.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Can you not see that the GAA can support the govt. giving players grants while at the same time know that they'll never pay players themselves. And please don't start on that 'we are paying them already craic', that is just your opinion, not fact.

I'm sorry, but it pretty much is fact, and will publically be confirmed as such the first time Bertie is tackled on it in the Dail. The GAA will lose out on government funding approximately equivalent to the value of the grants.


Thinking otherwise is extremely naive.

[darbyo]

Well RadioGAAGAA maybe you something I don't, I hope you are wrong about this. But if you are right I'll be the first to acknowledge it.

[Blacksheep]

Do you know how many GAA members in 26 Counties have votes? A lot of votes.

[stephenite]

37.4% who say it will affect their attendance at IC games is a lot higher than I would have expected to be honest.

[lynchbhoy]

37% is prob not indicative
but even if it was 10% , thats still too many (lets face it) of the die hards that this affects.
The bandwagon jumpers will not give a damn. Its our core members and generally the people that would be most likely to perform all the work and committee jobs that seem to be most affected by this.
I am one of them.
Hopefully this will work itself out.

[DMarsden]

Do you know how many GAA members in 26 Counties have votes? A lot of votes.

This is the reason why i believe the government will not renege on the funding

[orangeman]

Marsden is right - the govt and GAA will never go back on the grants -
However my fear is not about the grants - it's what the GPA will be demanding anytime they wish to up the ante  - it was galling to read a statement from the GPA on Wednesday announcing that the threat of strike action has been called off and thanked all members for their support ( until next time ) - the statement ended by saying that it was now demanding official recognition by the GPA - I know where I'd tell them to go.............

[bingobus]

Had a very interesting discussion with a current County player last night. He is very very sceptical about the grants and the motives of the GPA in this. He has dealt with the GPA before in a number of business/GAA matters and believes they are more Grab All Association that the GAA ever where.

He thinks that this is leading down a very danagerous road. His concerns are now:

The imbalance - The Kerry footballers will get not much more than the Monaghan hurlers. Anyone who knows the effort the Monaghan hurlers put in, will know that this should equate to about €10.37 each for the year. How long before the GPA look to increase the rewards for the bigger or more successful counties.

Club Players - The county mgt set-ups are already putting pressure on players to avoid the club matches/training. Now they have another stick to use. Will county managers use the 80% training attendence to increase sessions and insure that players stay with the county more. Also, will players with weaker clubs turn their backs to the club as they will be getting money with the county and may let it go to their heads and "believe" that they are some sort of professional. I know young players who think they are above anything even of they play a senior league match. Will county managers expand their training squads?

Value - As he siad the grant is very small and the GPA keep making this point. Is it small because thats all they wanted to get the foot in the door as such? With new TV deals, sponsorship on the horizon, the GAA are going to get richer. Will the GPA be happy with their lot or will they go fishing again in a few years?

Gov - At present its coming from the Gov? Is this going to be guaranteed in future? What happens if the Gov change or tights get tighter out there. Will they be happy to throw this money at the GAA? What happens if they don't cough up. The GAA have said they won't.

A lot of his fears are only going to materialise down the line. It happened in rugby that the elite players where taken from their clubs i.e from Shannon to Munster. This is his biggest fear. For the amounts involved at present he doesn;t think its worth the hassle, media coverage, threat of strike.

He actually voted for the strike but regrets this and said it was a collective team vote.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Bingobus

1 - The initial proposal put by the Sports Council was that only the All-Star nominees should get a grant (the 3.5m between them), the GPA vetoed that totally and said it had to go to everyone.
2 - The proposals with regards to training, improvements, measurements etc ensure that each county for both football/hurling has to put forward detailed plans which will be analyzed ot ensure they meet the criteria and then the results analysed...If panels/players aren't meeting the criteria then they won't get the grant...this will ensure that the hurlers buck up their ideas...
3 - 80% of 3 sessions a week or 80% of 2 sessions a week...its still 80% - it is up to teh county board to set the levels of training required.....If you read the GPA's proposal as to how to remedy the club/county conflict you might understand better...
4 - The payments are only to 30 players - if they expand the panel then each players grant is reduced or hte extra players don't get any...
5 - The money is not from the GAA...REPEAT NOT FROM THE GAA...if they look for money from the GAA directly that is a whole different ball game..
6 - It has been agreed that the money is from teh Govt and that the GAA isn't obliged to pay if the Govt doesn't pay....therefore if the Govt doesn't authorise the Grant it is not a GAA issue...
7 - The reason players moved from Shannon etc was BECAUSE THE GAME WENT PROFESSIONAL....that is not what has happened in the GAA....

[bingobus]

Bingobus

1 - The initial proposal put by the Sports Council was that only the All-Star nominees should get a grant (the 3.5m between them), the GPA vetoed that totally and said it had to go to everyone.
2 - The proposals with regards to training, improvements, measurements etc ensure that each county for both football/hurling has to put forward detailed plans which will be analyzed ot ensure they meet the criteria and then the results analysed...If panels/players aren't meeting the criteria then they won't get the grant...this will ensure that the hurlers buck up their ideas...
3 - 80% of 3 sessions a week or 80% of 2 sessions a week...its still 80% - it is up to teh county board to set the levels of training required.....If you read the GPA's proposal as to how to remedy the club/county conflict you might understand better...
4 - The payments are only to 30 players - if they expand the panel then each players grant is reduced or hte extra players don't get any...
5 - The money is not from the GAA...REPEAT NOT FROM THE GAA...if they look for money from the GAA directly that is a whole different ball game..
6 - It has been agreed that the money is from teh Govt and that the GAA isn't obliged to pay if the Govt doesn't pay....therefore if the Govt doesn't authorise the Grant it is not a GAA issue...
7 - The reason players moved from Shannon etc was BECAUSE THE GAME WENT PROFESSIONAL....that is not what has happened in the GAA....

DUBSFORSAM1,

I know all that and he knows all that. If you lead my post again, it is the road that this is leading down that will be the problem and his reasons for it where outlined in my post. At present there is no big deal but how long  will this be the case.

Also, anyone who thinks that if the Gov don;t pay the grants that it won;t be a GAA issue then they need to take their head out of the sand. GAA players not getting their "Grants" is clearly a GAA issue...the key term been "GAA player".

[darbyo]

Bingobus, this is just the thin edge of the wedge argument again and as DFS points out the GPA have agreed that the GAA have no responsibility to pay the money if the govt. stop doing so. This is publicly stated and in writing so I can't see where the GPA can argue otherwise. Besides a rule change would definitely be required if the GAA were to pay players out of there own pockets. And this would require a vote and I think it is abundantly clear that if this were to happen what the result would be.

[bingobus]

I suppose its a question of do you trust the GPA to go on their word and accept it if the GOV give up the Grants money?

Personally, I feel they wouldn't just accept it as easy, while I agree with you that if it went to Congress it would be laughed out the door. But having played the strike card once, the GPA would be left with little choice but to strike again. Would you not agree?

[darbyo]

Well I think any organisation needs to feel that they have both support and a justifiable cause before they can consider striking. Despite what some on here might say, a large proportion of the GAA community either supported or were indifferent to the grants proposal. The vast majority of GAA people are vehemently opposed to professionalism and I think this is true of many IC players also (your friend being an example). So if some, at least, IC players are against professionalism and 99% of the membership are, what leverage do the GPA have to force it through? If some players went on strike on the grounds of professionalism they would be ignored and counties would field without them, most of them wouldn't be long coming back I'm sure. Remember these guys have to live amongst the rest of us and the GAA has been central to their lives, they wouldn't risk losing that over an issue they can't win.