Professionalism? It would destroy the GAA

Pauric Duffy: It (the job) is a labour of love and that is true for most people in the GAA. Everyone is into the GAA and you feel comfortable.

‘I’m obviously being paid to do this but it is a job I would do for nothing if I could afford to’

‘If it (the series) is going to be revived there has to be more of that intermingling between the teams. There has to be a mutual respect, that this is not a war. I would like to see it starting again. Our players want it.’

SOME people are born to shine on the pitch. Others, harbouring no less passionate a love for sport, are destined to make their mark farther from the battlefield.

Pauric Duffy is firmly entrenched in the latter camp.

A discussion on his playing days in his native Monaghan lasts only as long as it takes to shrug his shoulders and deliver a wry smile.

But questions on his life as a GAA administrator propel him into fifth gear.

Most people think it takes a certain type of madness to voluntarily engross yourself in a GAA boardroom. Duffy himself describes it as a “labour of love”, his interest in officialdom being awakened by his father Mick who served as county board chairman in Monaghan for over 20 years.

Duffy’s assumed his first ‘post’ as vice-secretary of the Castleblayney Faughs club whilst still in his teens and he followed in Mick’s footsteps by taking over as county chairman for five years in the mid-80s.

The time since have been a blur of administrative duties. He served on countless committees, sub-committees and work group but his graduation from the provincial to national pond came out of the blue.

Sean McCague, with whom he served as a senior Monaghan selector in the 80s, rang at the beginning of his presidency and asked him to chair the GAC, a committee with responsibility for fixtures and discipline at the time. Though a daunting task, he found it easier to dispense justice at a national level than he had in Monaghan where he had to suspend both his brother-in-law and a good friend within six months of assuming the chair.

His toughest experience in charge of the GAC was the Brian O’Meara case when the Tipperary player was suspended for the 2001 All-Ireland hurling decider after being sent off alongside Wexford’s Liam Dunne in the semi-final.

The case attracted a huge amount of publicity — and sympathy — for O’Meara who felt the committee had their minds made up before his hearing even took place.

Duffy says otherwise. “I wouldn’t say we had our minds made up. It was the toughest decision we ever had to make. When we looked at the video and everything else you felt you didn’t have much choice.

“I can see why he would feel that. If we had felt there was a way to let him off within the rule book we would have done it but there wasn’t a way we could downgrade the offence within the rules.”

Since January Duffy has been operating out of Croke Park on a full-time basis having swapped his job as principal of St McCartan’s College for the role of the association’s Player Welfare Manager.

It’s a role every bit as demanding as his chairmanship of the GAC, dealing as it does with the nitty gritty of individual players’ cases as well as the bigger picture that encompasses everything from the club v county issue to drug awareness, burn-out and commercial opportunities.

On the face of it, there seems little crossover between his new job and his old one but Duffy thinks otherwise. At McCartan’s he had responsibility for 704 male pupils and 48 teachers and ancillary staff. As Welfare Chief, he has a body of 2,000 players to cater for using much the same in the way of interpersonal skills.

So, how has he found the first eight months? “One of the issues Liam (Mulvihill) raised when I got the job was that we didn’t know how much time would be used up solving individual problems with individual players and I have spent less time on that than I expected for a couple of reasons.

“Players now are better looked after, for one. There have been problems but not that many. Secondly, and in fairness, some players would go to the GPA. That has given me time to look at some of the bigger issues.”

Which is just as well because the big issues are numerous and complicated. One of the biggest is the question of pay for play. Though he accepts that there are still some inroads to be made as regards player welfare, he challenges anyone to say that inter-county players aren’t well looked after.

“Most play the game because they want to and I would hate for money levels to ever threaten that. Professionalism would destroy it because players would follow the money.

“Players would go to bigger clubs and bigger counties and if that happened we would just be another sports organisation and wouldn’t survive. We wouldn’t be able to survive with soccer or rugby if that happened because we’re not a global brand. If we pay players to play the game we are finished.”

Though relatively unknown to the vast majority of the GAA diaspora, Duffy has hit the headlines in the past year with radical suggestions that included the scrapping of the U21 grades, the ‘capping’ of training sessions and the abolition of replays.

The marginalisation of club players is a cancer which is threatening to destroy the game from within and Duffy is determined to find some sort of balance between club and county. He compiled and distributed a discussion paper nationwide earlier this summer and is hoping some concrete solutions can be found to alleviate the problem.

Some of his suggestions may be too radical, he accepts, others not radical enough. The deadline for feedback passed last week after which the management committee will take ownership of the issue and prepare specific proposals.

Whatever the outcome, Duffy believes the current situation cannot be allowed continue.

“There was a guy who was on the Monaghan panel for a while this year called Mark McNally. He’s a student and left for the States at the end of May. He’s back now recently but he didn’t miss a single (club) championship match.

“He missed four club league matches but three of those were games played without county players. The thing is, that’s a common story. I don’t say that I have the solution. Some of the suggestions might be too drastic, some might not be drastic enough, but we have to do something.”

He might spend his working days in the jewel in the crown that is Croke Park but he insists it is no ivory tower, despite claims that the GAA hierarchy are out of touch with the grass roots.

He tasted success as a selector with McCague when Monaghan delivered two Ulster titles and a National League title in the mid to late 80s but he has got his hands dirty at the lower levels too.

He is the holder of a Level One coaching licence, has taken the Scotstown minors to two county finals, coached and managed Emyvale at senior level and taken charge of McCartans for McRory Cup duties.

He has experience on the international stage as well having served as tour manager for the International Rules at senior and U17 levels in recent years.

He remembers one test in particular from the 2001 tour when Darren Fay and Sean Martin Lockhart gave granite-like performances in a game where there were few shrinking violets. It remains to be seen whether the series can be revived but Duffy feels it can be rescued if efforts are made to foster a more mutually friendly atmosphere between the teams who have to often resembled combatants instead of players.

“I remember the day after first test (in 2001) when the two teams went to the races in Melbourne. The referees too. Maybe that hasn’t happened the last few times.

“If it is going to be revived there has to be more of that intermingling between the teams. There has to be a mutual respect, that this is not a war. I would like to see it starting again. Our players want it.”

Though the GAA obviously consumes him, he does his best to avoid letting it define him. A keen interest in cinema and all manner of other sports are particularly cherished distractions.

A frequent visitor to the States, he can brief you on the Patriots’ chances in this season’s NFL and tell you that the Celtics have made a bold bid for NBA success by signing blue-chip players like Kevin Garnett.

Soccer, rugby and cricket all hold an interest too but there is no doubting where the heart lies. His eyes light up when he talks of Monaghan’s championship run and dim just as quickly when he considers what might have been in the quarter-final against Kerry.

“I’m obviously being paid to do this but it is a job I would do for nothing if I could afford to. It is a labour of love and that is true for most people in the GAA. Everyone here is into the GAA and you feel so comfortable. It’s like being a child in a sweet shop.”