GPA rejects ‘elitist’ funding cuts

MINISTER Martin Cullen’s proposal to cut €2.5m from the inter-county player scheme and restrict it to 20 county teams has been branded as “elitist” and “absolutely despicable” by GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell.

The remarks were made at a meeting between the players’ body and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs at Leinster House where the issue of funding was top of the agenda.

Farrell’s comments were echoed by a number of TDs and senators from across the political spectrum. Labour Senator Jack Wall went labelled the offer a “pittance” and the committee agreed unanimously that it would ask the Minister to revisit his proposal.

Last night Cullen expressed his disappointment at the rejection by the GPA of the proposal. “I am disappointed that this new scheme is not acceptable to the GPA but I am satisfied, however, that this scheme is generous and more than comparable to the funding provided by the Government to athletes in all other sports.”

Cullen met with the GPA late last month and proposed that the funding should be cut from €3.5m to €1m and that the monies should be reserved for county players whose sides reached the quarter-finals in the All-Ireland hurling and football championships, as well as the finalists and runners-up in the Christy Ring Cup.

“This is discrimination,” said Cavan hurler Mark McEntee who was at Kildare Street as one of the GPA’s representatives. “Myself and the rest of the Cavan hurlers are dumbfounded. What has changed? This has really hit us for six.”

As Farrell pointed out, such a proposal would cut 75% of inter-county players from the scheme and, though there would be some change in teams qualifying for the grant in any given year, a large number of teams would inevitably receive grants time after time, particularly in hurling.

“First of all,” said Farrell, “this would be very elitist and would be contrary to the objectives of the scheme, particularly at the level of the weaker counties when we are aiming to developing these squads so that they can reach their potential. This scheme is about including all of our members and we are not about to abandon a number of them.

“Secondly, we are quite prepared to play our part in the reduction in our allocation but this proposal reduces the funding by between 70-71% and that is very difficult to justify. Why was this funding not ring-fenced in the Department or in the Sports Council? If it was a mistake, who was responsible for that? We haven’t got the answers to these questions.”

The proposal was, said Farrell, “unacceptable”. When the Minister was pressed on why only €1m was available for the scheme he replied that the money ‘simply wasn’t there’.

Farrell fired: “It beggars belief. Everyone knew this scheme was there to be funded. We knew there was a great deal of opposition to it from within the Department for a long time.”

That the scheme was being reevaluated after just one year has also angered Farrell and the GPA. The scheme was given the green light by the late Seamus Brennan in 2007 and that document clearly stated it would be reviewed on a tri-annual basis. For the most part, Farrell was preaching to the converted at government buildings but Fianna Fáil Deputy John Cregan, while supportive of the GPA’s campaign, did suggest that the sum of €1m was a “good starting point” which could be revisited.

Farrell responded: “We would have considered €3.5m a good starting point. Why should inter-county players shoulder more of the reduction? The maximum reduction elsewhere has been 10%. This reduction is savage and would change it from being an all-inclusive scheme to an elitist one. It is absolutely despicable.”

Farrell also pointed out that unemployment among inter-county players is approaching 15% which is in and around 3% above the national average.