Former president Peter Quinn now feels a GAA ‘outsider’

Former GAA president Peter Quinn says a disconnect between administration and grassroots certainly exists within the organisation if club players believe one does.

The Fermanagh man held the highest office in the association between 1991 and 1994, but regards himself as “an outsider” nowadays.

He attended last Saturday week’s Congress where he sat at the back of the hall. He was entitled to vote and position himself closer to the top table alongside fellow iar-uachtaráin such as Mick Loftus, Seán Kelly, Nickey Brennan, Christy Cooney, and Liam O’Neill, but chose not to do either. “I didn’t vote. I had one of those new-fangled machines but I didn’t bother using it,” said Quinn.

Asked if there is a disconnect within the GAA, as claimed by the Club Players Association (CPA), Quinn said: “It depends on who you’re talking to. The people who would identify if there is a disconnect or not are the club players and if they see that there is a disconnect then there is a disconnect.”

He reserved judgment on the CPA, established in January. “It depends on how it operates. I wouldn’t express an opinion at this stage because it’s too soon.”

Quinn’s own county voted in favour of the Super 8 All-Ireland SFC motion, which will come into force next year. Fermanagh senior manager Peter McGrath is vehemently against it but Quinn chose to keep his powder dry. “It’s the same as everything — there are advantages and there are disadvantages but I don’t want to get into a debate into it. I may have my own opinions but I’m not going to get involved in it. When a president’s term of office ends, he should walk away.”

Quinn can appreciate how someone new to the Congress experience might have been uninterested by what went on. He said: “If a stranger came in, he would probably find the whole thing very boring.”

Although he did not go into details, Quinn said GAA’s greatest democratic unit can be restructured to be more effective and efficient. “Of course it can. Everything can be streamlined,” he said.

Speaking to this newspaper in 2012, Quinn bemoaned the level of management in the GAA. “The volume of administration has increased and while some of it is necessary I’m not convinced with the level of administration.” He also said he hadn’t “any great problem with payments to managers but it should be controlled”.