DRA urged to intervene as bitter player grants row rumbles on

A GROUP opposed to the controversial Government grants to inter-county players have asked the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority to rule on the agreement.

Tyrone duo Donal McAnallen and Mark Conway along with Longford’s Joe O’Brien are the high-profile members of a group who claim the decision reached by the Government, GPA and GAA last month contravenes the Association’s rules regarding amateur status.

Their submission was filed on Thursday by Tyrone solicitor Paddy Fahy and may be heard before Christmas.

Conway remains adamant that the deal which was rubber-stamped at a Central Council meeting was illegal.

He explained: “The only body that can make an alteration to Rule 11 or any rule is congress.”

And he warned: “We’ll take this as far as we can take this. This isn’t going to go away.”

They are adamant that the DRA — the GAA’s Disputes resolution body — can rule fairly on the matter, citing a statement the body made in the aftermath of a case taken by Dublin’s Mark Vaughan two years ago.

It stated: “The tribunal is bound to interpret the rules as they are, not as it might wish them to be; to do otherwise would be an abdication of our obligation as an arbitral law tribunal.”

Meanwhile, a further meeting to rally support against the introduction of player grants will be held in the Cavan Crystal Hotel on Wednesday. A spokesman said that GAA members would be given another opportunity to express their views.

Last week’s meeting in Toome attracted over 300 and all speakers made clear their opposition to the deal.

Conway quit Club Tyrone, a GAA fundraising group he helped set up in 1995, while McAnallen stood down as secretary of the GAA’s Higher Education Council because of similar misgivings about the agreement.