Carey calls on GPA to reconsider grants demand

FORMER Gaelic Players Association President DJ Carey has called on inter-county players and the GPA to reconsider their demand for government grants in the existing economic climate.

The GPA has already rejected an offer from Sports Minister Martin Cullen which would reduce the funding to just €1m (from €3.5m) and leave approximately half of the country’s hurling and football teams without a share.

Said Carey yesterday: “Maybe it’s time the GAA and the players take the lead in this situation and say ‘hold on a minute, we are in pretty difficult times and we need to act here – maybe it can’t be afforded’.

“If a GAA player who fought and battled for this is to lose out, then, you know what, there are highly paid sports people who should be in the same boat. It shouldn’t be just the GAA players who are to lose out, but I think also the GAA and the players have to take a lead and say ‘if the country is in the situation it’s in, then we have to look at it’.”

Carey is all in favour of the GPA’s request for 5% of Croke Park’s revenue streams as long as the monies are ring-fenced for college grants, injured players or educational programmes and not for pay-for-play. Whilst full of praise for the GAA as an organisation he is aware that there remains a deep distrust of the GPA among the rank and file but he firmly believes the playing and administrative sides need to work closer in tandem. He betrayed a hint of exasperation when talking about how the GPA is 10 years down the road and still in discussions over official recognition from Croke Park but he sees it as symptomatic of a wider problem in Irish society. “It is like everything else, it seems to get to a crisis point before people sit down. The whole country has gone mad as far as I’m concerned. With everyone it’s we blame the government, we blame the GAA, we blame everyone.

“We go and strike and then we’ll sort it out, instead of people grasping it by the throat and saying ‘you know what, every one of us in this country is in trouble’.’’

Carey was speaking in Dublin where he was promoting Bóthar’s ‘Golf with Stars’ initiative which is hoping to raise valuable funds to support its projects in the developing world. Though retired from the game, he maintains a keen interest in the sport and he was surprised on Sunday to see how little Galway utilised the man who many believe has taken over his crown as hurling’s greatest current exponent.

“I would have thought Galway should, at that stage, have had the game closed out,” said Carey of the All-Ireland quarter-final’s closing minutes between the Connacht side and Waterford two days ago.

“Six points up, probably the best hurler in the country on their team and they never played him with one ball. For the last 15 minutes did they even aim to play the ball to Joe Canning? That is a major surprise to me. Whatever about when you are winning well, when you are under pressure you want to be bringing your best player into it, particularly your best forward, particularly the man that is doing the most scoring for you. They didn’t do it and paid the price.”