Daly confident payment to managers will be rejected

GAA presidential candidate Tom Daly has confidently predicted the Association will reject any proposal to make payments to managers legitimate under the rules of the organisation.

As director general Páraic Duffy’s discussion paper on payments is circulated among management committee members, former Ulster chairman Daly has described the debate on the matter as a fundamental one that goes right to the heart of the Association.

And he sees the matter ultimately being decided by a reaffirmation of the GAA’s voluntary status.

“Páraic Duffy has been explicit in relation to his motivation for this and clearly feels something has to be done about the perceived widespread breaches of the rules regarding payments to managers at both club and county levels,” said Daly.

“As I understand it, he intends putting forward some scenarios for dealing with that into the future.

“Clearly, it’s going to come down to the kernel of the amateur status of the association. To my mind, it’s going to be very difficult to show favour to one group of people within the Association by way of ratifying payments for time invested in promoting games in the form of managing teams and then expect others to put huge amounts of their personal time at all levels in the GAA on an entirely voluntary basis.

“I think all the survey work that has been done recently in terms of attitudes of GAA people at grassroots level to this issue shows there’s a very strong attachment to the amateur and voluntary ethos of the GAA. That’s something that will manifest itself in any debate on any recommendations that come forward.

“It’s not going to be an easy circle to square and my assessment is that it will come back to a core discussion about how we value and recognise the time of all people that give their time and effort gratis to the Association and how we ensure we don’t have some sort of two-tier system where the time and effort of one person is valued by payment and for others it’s not.

“I suspect if it comes to a decision, the broad base of the GAA would want to underwrite, support and sustain that principle of voluntary effort.”

Donegal native Daly has also stated the rule on current winter ban on inter-county collective training must be adhered to.

Cavan have a case to answer after their senior footballers were found to have broken the two-month moratorium earlier this month.

“Everybody at officer level in the Association has one responsibility and that’s to ensure it is complied with; otherwise it makes a joke of our rules. If people want to come forward and argue for change, that’s a debate that can take place in the future.

“But, for now, it’s an adopted rule and was put there from a player welfare point of view. That was the key motivation for it.”

Regarded as one of the most forward thinking chairmen in Ulster, Daly’s stewardship saw him forge excellent working relationships among all GAA units in the province as well as greatly improving cross-community rapports.

The Ballyshannon man was also instrumental in the setting up of several initiatives such as Club Maith and the annual club and volunteer and coaching conferences.

During his chairmanship, the Belfast Rising initiative was established. He heads the Casement Park redevelopment project board and regards the promotion of Gaelic games in urban areas as paramount.

“We have a big amount of work to maintain our market share in the urban areas in the future.”

While acknowledging the presidency is a more challenging position in the current economic climate, Daly firmly believes he can lead the GAA forward, outlining three areas where Association can progress.

“Something that I would be very strong on is the GAA working with the statutory sector. In the past we have tended to sit back from engaging with that whole sector. We certainly haven’t done enough of it but when we have it’s worked for us.

“As statutory bodies become more pressed for resources, there’s a tremendous opportunity for them to link in with an organisation likes ours in order to achieve both their own and our objectives such as social cohesion.”

Daly continued: “With the strength that lies within our own organisation, we also could do a lot more to create synergy between the GAA units by being proactive around initiatives.”

“I’ve always been interested in bringing the whole GAA family closer together in terms of ladies football, camogie, handball and rounders as well as the cultural side of the GAA.

“The recent initiative that was announced in terms of creating an integrated club is something I would strongly endorse. It will require energy and needs to be driven forward.

And he added: “There are a number of different models in how you achieve this, whether it’s at county or provincial level, and we have looked very closely at a federation model in Ulster where the presidents of the respective associations would come together about six times a year and meet on a common games promotion agenda.”