Departing Cooney focus on payments to managers

Christy Cooney haspromised to delivera speech on thedivisive payments tomanagers issue in one of his last acts as GAApresident.

The Corkman will be officially succeeded by Liam O’Neill when Congress wraps up tomorrow evening at the Heritage Resort in Killenard, Co Laois.

In his last press briefing yesterday he predicted the two motions which will generate most debate this weekend will be the ones relating to the close season rule and the actual numbers of delegates who attend and vote at Congress each year.

He also promised to make a public announcement about the current state of affairs in relation to the payments to managers situation.

Cooney has been a central figure in recent months in attempting to nail down a means of addressing the payments issue once and for all. He refused to discuss it again yesterday but promised to address it tomorrow.

“I’ll have some comments to make on the payment of managers, and where we are with that process, at Congress,” said Cooney.

Asked about his most satisfying achievement during three years as president, he pointed to the formal recognition deal struck with the previously independent Gaelic Players’ Association.

“I think other things like managing the pitch invasion situation at Croke Park has been important also,” he continued. “It creates a good scene around health and safety which is so important for our players and patrons. I suppose keeping our attendances up for the last three years is very important also and we recognised that we had to do something about our ticket prices to bring in patrons to games.”

He may also be remembered for being the president who shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II at Croke Park.

“You just do what you can to represent the association in as positive a light as possible,” said Cooney. “I think we did that with the queen’s visit and I think we put a positive signal out that the association is always capable of moving on and recognising what’s right to do and when the occasion is right to do it.”