Cooney defends presidential pay

GAA president Christy Cooney has rejected suggestions made last weekend by former Kilkenny All-Ireland-winning captain Eddie O’Connor that he is being hypocritical in his insistence that inter-county managers should not be paid.

O’Connor pointed to the fact that while the president isn’t paid directly by the GAA, he does continue to be paid by his employer for his three-year term, that sum then reimbursed to the employer by the GAA.

As a high-powered executive in Fás, on a reported salary of nearly €160,000 per annum, this would have meant the GAA paying a near half-million total to Fás to cover the president’s term of office.

What Croke Park should do, reckoned O’Connor, is put a ceiling of €50,000 per annum on the salary reimbursement of the president, and use the savings to employ more full-time coaches, while allowing individual county boards make their own decisions on whether and how much to pay the county team managers.

Speaking at the launch of the 12th annual FBD All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge in Waterford Castle yesterday, and having initially refused to comment on the matter (“I’ll be dealing with that in maybe another forum”), Cooney flatly rejected those suggestions.

He accepted that there should be a ceiling: “Absolutely, absolutely” — but as to what that ceiling should be, nothing definite.

“I would say to you, the only situation that’s there is that a person that comes into the office of presidency wouldn’t be out of pocket and wouldn’t lose money as a result of taking on the role.”

So, he rejects any suggestions of hypocrisy? “Absolutely. My personal circumstances are no different to the four presidents before me.”

But what if a situation arose where a president left a job where he was on an even greater salary than Cooney himself, say of half a million a year?

“Ah no, I think there has to be a note of realism around it, I do believe that, absolutely. We’ve reviewed that and we have something in place that will manage that going forward.”

So there will be a ceiling? “There is a structure already put in place to deal with that. In my first year as president I reviewed that and we have put a document to Coiste Bainaistí which has been agreed by Coiste Bainaistí and that will ensure fairness and relevance going forward.”

A couple of minutes later, however, Cooney cleared up any suggestion that there would be a ceiling.

“No, I didn’t say that, I didn’t say that. I said I’m going to have a discussion with the county chairmen, secretaries and treasurers.”

Did he have any figure in mind? “No, I haven’t even put any thought into that.”

He then went on to defend his attack on payments to inter-county managers.

“We have a policy within the Association, nobody has put a motion to Congress to change that and all I’m saying is that the policy is there, are we going to adhere to it?

“If we want a change, are we going to put a motion to Congress to change it?

“At the end of the day we’ve got to decide fundamentally whether we’re going to be a voluntary organisation, an amateur organisation and that’s the key thing at the end of the day.”