Cooney defends GPA deal

CHRISTY COONEY has no doubt the GAA’s recognition of the Gaelic Players Association will ‘safeguard’ its future and ‘seal its cherished amateur and voluntary ethos’.

Acknowledging that the proposal to formally embrace the GPA under rule and fund their player welfare programme has not met with universal approval, he said that some of the commentary which greeted the announcement had been ‘both disappointing and disingenuous’.

He also revealed that in time, the GPA, under Dessie Farrell, would expand its role of activity to cater for the needs of players at club level. And, he rejected criticism of the presidency as a full-time position, saying that the holder of the office could not perform his duties ‘in any other way’.