Players won’t be taken for granted, says GPA chief

PLAYER welfare is the primary objective of the Gaelic Players Association and pay for play is not on their agenda, chief executive Dessie Farrell said at last night’s Carphone Warehouse sponsored gala awards function in the Citywest Hotel in Dublin.

In the presence of GAA President elect Sean Kelly, the Players Committee chairman Jarlath Burns and several prominent county managers, Farrell said the days of treating players for granted were at an end.

But in a generally conciliatory address in which he expressed optimism about the outcome of continuing negotiations with GAA leaders, he made it clear they would not tolerate a situation where players were not treated with respect.