Counties play dumb on GAA managers’ pay

It’s three years this month since GAA director general Páraic Duffy released his discussion paper on the association’s amateur status and payments to team managers, writes John Fogarty.

Discussion may have been the operative word but its author’s disappointment was difficult to ignore when counties opted to use all their powers to ensure county managers weren’t remunerated for their services.

“I’d have preferred a much more mixed response,” Duffy said, shortly after the decision. “In terms of moving it forward, I suppose I would like to be totally convinced that that’s what people really want to do, and I’m not so sure that’s the case. It’s what they come back and said what they want to do is at odds with what is actually happening at the moment. The gap between those two things is quite considerable. I wonder if it (the response) reflects people’s true feelings. Only time will tell.”