Croker chiefs get tough on monitoring facility use

CROKE PARK chiefs have demanded that county officials keep tabs on clubs leasing facilities to other sporting bodies.

The move by Central Council is in an effort to avoid a repeat of the controversy which followed the Irish rugby team’s training session at Nemo Rangers’ indoor pitch at Trabeg last February.

High ranking chiefs expressed fears that the actions in Cork were in contravention of rules relating to the use of GAA grounds by non Association.

However GAA chiefs insist the move is targeted at official games and training sessions rather than leisure activities such as five-a-side soccer games which are commonplace at all-weather facilities in GAA clubs around the country.

The consensus amongst Central Council delegates was that it was impractical for the GAA at a national level to police club’s activities and that individual county boards were better placed to take charge of the situation.

“With the structures of the GAA and how they work, it’s not possible for the GAA to monitor it at national level”, said GAA Communications Manager Alan Milton.

“We have a structure there now that works itself down from the provinces to the counties to the clubs.

“The county boards have a far better handle of the activities of their clubs than we do across a wide spectrum of activities. So it makes perfect sense for them to have a handle on it.

“There have been a number of high-profile cases recently as people are well aware of.

“So what was proposed has been a reaction to what has happened in recent months. I don’t think it’s a knee-jerk reaction, it’s been thought out carefully.

“We’ve been looking to streamline it and if there’s any ambiguities there, it should be cleared up now.

“We’ve highlighted it and all the counties were represented at the Central Council meeting.

“They were involved in the discussion and they should be well briefed.

“Central Council were talking mainly about official games and training sessions as opposed to leisure time or 5-a-side activities, that a number of our own members might be involved in. That’s the important difference.

“The leisure activities have helped clubs financially. I wouldn’t have those figures to hand but anecdotally, I can see where clubs would be coming from on that.”

Cork county board chairman Jerry O’Sullivan is hopeful that the measures will prevent the prospect of a reoccurrence of the Nemo incident earlier this year.

“Everyone knows the high-profile incident that occurred earlier this year. For everyone involved, the clubs and the board, it is better that these are avoided. The matter is now cleared up with what Croke Park have said.

“They are insisting that the rules are enforced and I think it’s right that we as county boards enforce it. It’s looking at it on a bigger scale, rather than what local fellas from the community are doing. It is just not allowed for other sporting bodies to use club facilities and that is being made aware of now.”

Limerick county board secretary Mike O’Riordan does not expect the new policy to affect clubs in their county due to the lack of all-weather facilities but still feels it is important that all clubs are aware of the Croke Park mandate.

O’Riordan said: “We only have one all-weather facility and that would be in Rathkeale. There is one on the Ennis road but that’s a private entity, while the facilities in the third-level colleges, UL and LIT, are separate.

“But we have received the correspondence and circulated it to all of our clubs. They have been notified of the mandate and have been instructed to act accordingly. It’s still important that they’re aware of that.”