Loans ‘burdening’ clubs

A HIGH-RANKING GAA official fears gaelic games will suffer due to the financial pressures facing clubs.

“The economic problems of the country continue to impact on the GAA,” warns Kildare secretary Kathleen O’Neill in her report for the county convention at the K Club Hotel in Straffan on Saturday.

“Financial assistance and sponsorship is proving much more difficult to achieve. Because most clubs in Kildare took advantage of the Celtic Tiger era and either improved existing facilities or built new ones, the burden of paying the loans is impacting on them. The biggest danger that I see is that clubs will become so obsessed with financial matters that football and hurling and playing and coaching the skills of the games will take a very poor second place.

“It is not easy to achieve the balance particularly when banks have become so aggressive in demanding loan payments.”

The Rathcoffey official added: “I think that clubs will continue to suffer the loss of a number of young people who will be forced, due to the economic downturn, to emigrate.

“This could impact on small rural clubs who would always find it difficult to field teams. It may be necessary to reduce the teams from 15 to say 13 or 11-a-side in order to accommodate these clubs.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill also hailed the bravery of Dermot Earley for lining out in Kildare’s All-Ireland first round qualifier against Antrim, just a matter of hours of the burial of his father.

“The first round of the qualifiers saw us drawn at home to Antrim, a side who were narrowly defeated by Tyrone in Ulster.

“The game was overshadowed by the untimely passing of Dermot Earley Snr. An event like this really puts football into perspective. His son, Dermot Jnr, displayed all the characteristics of courage, bravery and pride exhibited by his father when he lined out for Kildare just hours after his funeral.

“Dermot’s performance was truly heroic and without his influence we would have bowed out of the championship.”