GAA opens the money floodgates
By allowing these games to be played in Croke Park, the GAA has sold its soul and exclusivity to commercialism and is set to pay a heavy price.
The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) is now insisting on pay-for-play in some form or other for inter-county hurlers and footballers, and it will be successful in the long run.
Whatever chance the GAA had of holding off on these payments was lost when they voted to open up Croke Park. They can no longer use the excuse of a lack of finance to pay players as they are guaranteed €10 million for the rent of Croke Park in 2007, and probably the same again in 2008.
The players are now saying to themselves that if everybody else can get paid to play there, why not us, with all the extra revenue in the kitty. The players are right.
The chickens will come home to roost for GAA president Sean Kelly and the other opponents of Rule 42. I wonder did they realise the consequences of their actions when they pushed hard for the last few years to abolish that rule.
If managers and others can be paid by the association, why not the players?
And if a deal cannot be struck with the GPA, we could end up with a countrywide repeat of the Cork players’ strike of 2002.
The notion that Croke Park will be open to other sports only for the duration of the closure of Lansdowne Road is way off the mark.
Once permission has been granted, it will hardly be refused in later years when Lansdowne’s capacity will not be enough for 80,000 people expected for a rugby or soccer international.
Also, the GAA will not be in a position to refuse to open the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, Páirc Uí Chaoimh or Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney for use by the Munster rugby team.
Many sports journalists have been saying that Sean Kelly’s presidency of the GAA will be remembered for his great work in persuading the association to open Croke Park to other sports.
I beg to differ.
Seamus Walsh
Ahane
Cragg
Birdhill
Co Tipperary
