GPA: players have no objection to paying managers

THE Gaelic Players Association has offered its tacit support to the formal payment of inter-county GAA managers, revealing that the players would have no problem with this.

The views are expressed by GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell in his submission to a discussion document on the issue which is to be published shortly by GAA Director General Paraic Duffy.

Farrell claimed: “we all know what is going on at the moment with regard to illegal payments to certain managers which appears to be more prevalent at club than county level.

While he stopped short of an outright demand that payments be formalised and made legal, he certainly opened the door for a historic move in this area.”

He urged the GAA “to do the right thing” by seriously addressing the situation and claimed that by doing so the association would no longer be a “laughing stock” for turning a blind eye to illegal transactions.

He also noted pointedly that if managers were to be paid then this would not prompt players to push for their own share, something that has long been feared.

“I think from a GAA perspective the great concern would have been; would this lead to the floodgates opening and the players calling, if the GAA did take the bold step and legitimise payments, for a similar situation for them?” said Farrell.

“Our understanding, having consulted with players, is that wouldn’t be the case. Players know it is going on but it doesn’t mean they are calling for the same type of payments themselves.

“Only the other week we enshrined the amateur ethos of the association into our own constitution so I think that issue was put to bed and maybe with that put to bed it might make it easier to do the right thing in terms of addressing the situation of payment to managers.”

The GAA hasn’t confirmed when Duffy’s much anticipated document will be released but it’s expected out in the next fortnight.

“Paraic asked us (the GPA) for a submission on it and we have submitted that,” continued Farrell. “It is going to be very interesting to see what will be the outcome of that but I get a sense it is more a discussion document than anything else. It will be in the public domain then for debate to see what is the best way forward with this.”

Asked specifically if the GPA’s 1,800 or so membership base of inter-county players would have a problem with managers being paid, Farrell said they wouldn’t. “Players know what’s going on and what they’re keen to see is that whatever happens that it’s done in a transparent way.”

Just last week it was revealed that Meath GAA will make €11,000 per month available to fund Seamus McEnaney’s new management team.

Former Meath selector Sean Kelly criticised the cost factor and questioned if it would lead to strength and conditioning programmes for development squads being cut or, he asked, ‘will the minors be asked to bring their own sandwiches to some Ulster League games?’

“I think one of the issues that has emerged over the last week is that when payments are needed to sustain a management team that it doesn’t come at the cost of player welfare,” commented Farrell.

“There have been some recent comments that would have raised alarm bells and it is a situation that won’t be tolerated by the GPA. Everything has to be within reason. Budgets have to be put in place and player welfare shouldn’t be affected by costs involved in bringing in a manager.”

Meanwhile, Farrell revealed that 15 per cent of inter-county players are unemployed, two per cent higher than the national average.

He said the GPA may look into lobbying the GAA to provide an emergency fund to help create employment for players.

The former Dublin forward also revealed that the GPA is coming under increasing pressure to deal with claims under its benevolent fund scheme, making typical payouts of between €500 and €3,000.

Against this bleak background, Farrell argued that it’s vital that no further cuts are made to the player grant scheme, which was reduced from around €3.5m in its first year to just over €1m last year.

“I think on the back of evidence that we’ve seen, when you consider that each player generates €100,000 a year on average and we’re only looking for €500 per player to assist them to do what they do best, I think it’s very difficult to argue with that.”