Fogarty preaches caution on GPA plan
He warned the Central Council’s decision to support the campaign could be interpreted as “a tacit acknowledgment” of the professional route.
However he conceded GAA administrators had to share the blame for current unrest because, by and large, they had turned a blind eye to the payment of county and club managers.
Mr Fogarty, addressing delegates at the council convention at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork, did not directly refer to the GPA’s implied threat of strike action over annoyance that GAA officials did not attend a meeting with Sports Minister John O’Donoghue to discuss the proposals.
But, he said “shadow boxing” between the GPA and the GAA had reached the point where they needed to call a spade a spade.
“It is no longer sufficient for the GAA to be saying that pay-for-play is not a runner.
“Instead we need to put our cards on the table and point out the consequences of going down that particular route,’’ he said.
“We need to point out the consequences for coaching and schools funding, the necessity to continue giving significant financial aid for the purchase and development of extra playing facilities. We must also think of the thousands of club players who make great sacrifices to attend training, often travelling the same long distances as the inter-county players. They seldom receive any travelling expenses or foreign holidays or playing gear.”
In his view, the revenue that will be generated through opening up Croke Park “must be used exclusively” to help clubs survive.
And the available advice from rugby people was that they shouldn’t deviate from their amateur status. Pointing to a report he had read of the Glaswegians rugby club in Scotland selling their ground to pay off debts accruing from payments to players, Mr Fogarty asked if this was to be the legacy of their time as GAA administrators.
Mr Fogarty said monies spent by clubs on paying coaches could be better utilised in improving juvenile units or schools in their catchment areas.
He said the accounts of many county boards was “worrying”.
“It is patently obvious the current structure cannot be sustained, with teams training up to five nights a week - and some team managers on a very lucrative gravy train if we are to believe what we hear on the grapevine.
“Having said that, I’m very conscious of the need to treat our players well. I believe we have made significant strides in this area. This is something we must continue to improve upon, as it is the prudent road to travel if the association is to continue to expand and improve the standard of its facilities as required by players and patrons alike.’’
Dealing with the Congress decision to amend Rule 42 (which he had supported), he said that in honouring their commitment to open Croke Park, they should be mindful of the fact they owed more to “their own people” than those they intend to facilitate. And, referring to the “floating” of ideas to use other GAA grounds in Munster for soccer or rugby, he said the Congress decision was very specific. It was not a case of “being given an inch and taking a mile”.
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