Duffy vows to address illegal pay controversy

GAA Director General Páraic Duffy has vowed to address the thorny issue of illegal payments to club and inter-county managers at the Association’s annual Congress in Down next month.

Duffy was reacting to yesterday’s TV3 news investigation which revealed five counties admitted to having paid an inter-county manager more than legitimate expenses.

The report also revealed two other counties declared they would have no problem with third party donations to fund a manager, while 21 of the 32 counties admitted some managers are being paid.

Paid managers and coaches of clubs tend to operate on a per training session basis while tax-free lump sums for inter-county managers, ranging from €40-€100,000, have been mentioned within the GAA.

Duffy said: “I have already spoken on this issue before and my views are known. I’m on the record last year when I expressed concern about the matter.

“I’m in the process of preparing my Congress report and that’s probably the place for me to make my views known.

“At this point, I don’t want to get involved in a major public debate and I’d prefer to make my points in a more thoughtful way in my report.

“But am I shocked or surprised by these findings? I can’t say that I am, based on the anecdotal evidence to hand.”

Two former GAA Presidents last night made their feelings known on the issue.

Christy Cooney’s predecessor Nickey Brennan said: “We’ve always known there are suspicions about a number of counties but I’ve always said that the situation at club level is far worse.

“While it’s happening at inter-county level, I don’t think it’s as widespread as people think whereas the club scene is just rife.

“You can only stop something if you have the proof that it’s happening. We all have views and I’ve expressed mine. I’ve no reason to doubt that what I said wasn’t correct.

“But it appears that many clubs can’t seem to operate unless they have a trainer from outside their parish area.

“I know it’s anecdotal but we’re hearing all sorts of monies and you have to wonder can club units continue to pay out that sort of money.

“Being an inter-county manager does involve a huge amount of work above and beyond what would have happened in the past. Now, he’s a counsellor, a minder, a psychologist and I do totally accept the costs associated with being an inter-county manager today. To be fair, there has to be a recognition of that but the danger when talking about expenses is how long is a piece of string?”

Any payment to a manager beyond what he is entitled to flouts the GAA’s amateur status, former Association President Seán Kelly explained: “It doesn’t surprise me because all of the anecdotal evidence and the grapevine is indicative of such things happening.

“There needs to be a rethink on how inter-county managers are compensated for their efforts.

“I saw where Tipperary wanted to create a position of Director of Football for John Evans and that made a lot of sense to me. But it was rejected on grounds contrary to rule.

“It makes sense that if a guy of the calibre of John Evans is willing to put time and effort into not only training the team but also on working out proper procedures and a strategy to leave behind a legacy, there’s an awful lot of value in that.”

Former Down senior football team manager Ross Carr last night insisted: “I can only speak for myself but I never got a penny and it would have cost me money to manage Down.

“Listening to other managers andbearing in mind that pressure on them and the hours of work involved, they seldom feel appreciated and I don’t think that county boards have a clue of the time, sacrifices and commitment involved.

“But if a county is prepared to pay a manager, that’s not the manager’s fault.”