GPA had no choice but to reject elitist grant proposal
We had qualifiers in football and hurling, two major provincial finals and the Ring, Rackard and Meagher Cup finals at Croke Park. Add to that the standoff during the week between the GAA and the GPA and we had more than enough to fill the sports pages to the brim.
Therefore it was a great time for a government minister to announce bad news. Perhaps, it was coincidental, but, the timing seemed perfect for bad news.
If the news was good, an experienced politician like Sports Minister, Martin Cullen, wouldn’t have chosen one of the busiest weeks of the entire GAA calendar to make his announcements. Minister Cullen’s statement must have been a bitter pill for Dessie Farrell and the GPA especially as they received such positive and encouraging words from all sides when they went before the Oireachtas sub-committee on sport mid-week.
The GPA campaigned for five years for parity of esteem with professional sportsmen in terms of government support and recognition. Initially they had a promise of €5 million on the table for some type of government grant aid. But when the scheme was eventually announced the promised €5m was paired down to €3.5m.
The GPA put a brave face on this reduction claiming that the principle of parity had been established. On reflection they might have agreed too readily. So the Minister and his advisers may have thought that by chipping another €2m off the grant this year would still be acceptable as the ‘principle’ was still recognised.
But there is a limit to how far compromise can go. Clearly, as Farrell, said, the drastic reduction and more especially, the way it was to be divided up, was ‘insulting’ to players. Quite simply it is an absolute botch job.
If the GPA were to accept the scheme as outlined by the Minister they might as well fold up their tent and dissolve. The GPA represents GAA players at inter-county level. Sometimes they are accused of being elitist but if Cullen’s proposed scheme were to be accepted, you would have real elitism in no uncertain terms. Giving grants to the last 12 teams left in the All-Ireland football championship and the last six in the hurling championship is a strange way to recognise the contribution of amateur players who have all been training for their counties almost year round.
This is particularly odd, as when the scheme was introduced last year the word ‘grant’ was studiously avoided as we were told the scheme was based on ‘expenses incurred’ and that players had to train so many nights, do some coaching and keep logs of their activities, in order to qualify for the allowance at the year’s end. Did this happen in all cases? Were players penalised if they failed in any of these measures? Have you heard of any? Did all counties sign off on the applications?
Now I am not sure what Minister Cullen’s subordinates have in mind for the administration of the greatly paired back scheme this year but it can hardly involve expenses and logs. After all, under the new proposals, you could attend every training session, do all sorts of voluntary work in schools and keep all the logs you like but if your county aren’t among the elite few that qualify for the final stages of the championship, all your training, coaching and logging will count for nought. That’s equality for you!
It is a strange kind of logic that if accepted in principle would involve the GPA/GAA in a type of inequality, against the very ethos of the Association and make payment by results an accepted principle in the Association – payment by results, pay for play – is there a difference? Those ‘Of One Belief’ would certainly have something further to base their campaign on. Apart from the serious principles involved, the sum of €1.05m is a far cry from €5m and in terms of cuts, must be one of the most drastic incurred by any group in the country. On those two grounds, principle and the amount involved, the GPA had no choice but to reject the Minister’s suggestion.
