Cavanagh issues warning to Cullen
Seán Cavanagh made no mention of the dreaded ‘strike’ word when asked his opinion on the issue yesterday but the Tyrone All Star insisted inter-county players would not stand idly by.
“Every player is going to give you a different opinion but I think the general opinion is that GAA players would be pretty angry if they were the only ones singled out for special treatment in the cutting of the sports budget.
“I would imagine if GAA grants are completely thrown out there would be some course of action maybe down the line.
“On what that might be, I’m not too sure. Any players I’ve been speaking to, and any feedback I’ve been having from the GPA, is that something would be considered.
“They have been speaking with players from all different counties and they would be extremely angry if the grants were thrown out the window.”
The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism muddied the waters in the Dáil last week by suggesting that the scheme was about to be guillotined before doing an abrupt U-turn in Croke Park the next day.
The minister will no doubt be aware that the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) passed a mandate to withdraw services from all competitions prior to the scheme’s green light in 2007 and that spectre remains should the axe fall on funding.
Cullen’s contradictory pronouncements have only succeeded in rekindling what has been an inflammatory subject long before his predecessor John O’Donoghue agreed to the scheme back in 2007.
The first raft of payments was only made late last year after months of uncertainty and conjecture and players will hardly take too kindly to being strung along in a similar vein again this year.
“You’re picking up the paper and you’re reading one thing he’s saying and then he’s saying something different the following evening,” said Cavanagh.
“To be honest, I don’t really know where it’s at, at the minute.
“You’d almost rather just have a final answer on it and then move on after that and work out what the players want to do after that.
“It’s frustrating but I’ll not get into the whole politics of it.”
If anything, the issue is an even hotter potato for the Government this year with the nationwide increase in unemployment figures being mirrored among senior inter-county panels in both codes.
“I would be disappointed (if the grants are pulled),” said Waterford’s John Mullane. “There are an awful lot of GAA players out of work at the moment. The grant is a big help to some of these GAA players staying in the country at the moment. I can only speak on behalf of Waterford players.
“The grant last year was a big help when it was given out before Christmas.”
The issue was driven home to Cavanagh on the team bus back from the Ulster semi-final in Casement Park last Sunday when an innocent enquiry to some team-mates about work the following day was met with the news that they were now unemployed.
Cavanagh reckons up to nine of the current panel are currently without work and it is men in that position who have more to lose should the grants be pulled.
“Fair enough, some guys are in good enough jobs and are well enough looked after,” said Cavanagh. “To them it doesn’t mean as much but there are GAA players putting huge time and commitment into their sport and they don’t have any employment.
“They really are on the breadline and to those sorts of guys a couple of thousand euro towards the end of the year means an awful lot and maybe allows them to have a better Christmas.”
The counter argument here is why amateur GAA players should receive any government monies at a time when the country’s finances are in such difficulty and cuts are being made in the health and education sectors.
The GPA and the players might have been able to count on public support for a strike over the issue two or more years ago but that course of action would hardly endear them to people so readily in the current climate.
“It’s a hard one to call,” said Cavanagh. “Over the last couple of years some of the public have been a bit more understanding towards the GPA. They realise not everyone in the GPA is looking for pay for play. What we received last year was brilliant and I wouldn’t be pushing for much more than that.
“In the present economic climate – and the way an awful lot of guys playing GAA and spending their weekends away at training camps and not allowing them to have weekend or part-time work in the evenings – I would hope people would be a bit more understanding about the way things are than they would have been three or four years ago.”
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