Financial outlook positive for GAA

THE GAA are meeting with all the Irish financial institutions who are trustees of the Association, to determine if they will be impacted by the current banking crisis in the country.

The series of meetings have yet to be completed but the early clarifications that have been received by senior GAA figures have been very positive.

It also emerged at the recent Central Council meeting that the Association’s finances are in line with the expectations and budgets that were set out for 2010.

There have been concerns recently at the attendances for championship games with the provincial senior hurling semi-finals in both Munster and Leinster relevant examples of poor crowds, but the GAA is positive about their overall financial outlook for the coming season.

The GAA is also set to make significant price reductions to the entry fees for Round 1 of the forthcoming qualifier series in both hurling and football.

The football qualifiers kick off this weekend with six games down for decision tomorrow and two to be held on Sunday, with the preliminary and the first round of the hurling qualifiers scheduled for the next two weekends.

But the remaining rounds of the qualifiers will see no alterations to the GAA’s price structure for senior championship games.

Meanwhile the GAA Director-General Páraic Duffy is in the process of producing a paper concerning the Amateur Status Rule and the payment of managers, which will make specific recommendations to the GAA’s Management Committee and the Central Council.