GPA want seat at county board and provincial council tables once integration is complete

CEO of the Gaelic Players Association Tom Parsons, GPA Head of Equality & Player Relations Gemma Begley and Tyrone's goalkeeper Niall Morgan. Pic: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

The Gaelic Players Association want a seat at county board and provincial council tables whenever an integrated GAA comes into being.

While already permitted to attend Central Council meetings of the GAA, where they have full voting rights, a motion to next Monday’s GPA AGM calls for player representation at county board and provincial council level in the new merged association.

At present, county board and provincial executives do not have in their make-up player representative positions.

The motion reads that the GPA “seeks formal, structured player representation on all key decision-making bodies affecting inter-county players, within integrated GAA Structures, inc Central Council, Provincial Councils and County Boards”.

A separate motion also aims to achieve greater GPA involvement at administrative level so as to protect player welfare and ensure inter-county fixture-making isn’t worsening a player’s professional or educational existence.

The motion proposes “a formal mechanism to ensure all inter-county fixture competition decisions require consultation with player representatives to protect player welfare & mitigate against professional/education disadvantage”.

Among the eight motions to be voted upon, the GPA is asking for reform of expense payments to female inter-county players so that they are reimbursed every month, the same as their male counterparts.

The current payments system, overseen by the LGFA and Camogie Association, sees female inter-county players receive two expense instalments at the end of the League in April and the other at the end of championship in August.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner earlier this year, the GPA’s head of equality and player relations Gemma Begley said college students putting diesel in the tank across December, January, February, and March to bring them to and from inter-county training, but then having to wait until April for that first tranche of expenses to come through can at times be an “uncomfortable wait”.

Elsewhere on the theme of levelling the playing field, there’s a motion advocating “for a policy of equitable promotion, media coverage, and commercial support across inter-county hurling, camogie, and football, in collaboration with the GAA, LGFA, and Camogie Association”.

Where last month the Connacht Council increased juvenile stand tickets from €5 to €35 for their provincial football semi-finals, the GPA is asking the GAA to ensure that underage ticket pricing for inter-county fixtures “remains affordable and accessible, and that any future pricing structures reflect the importance of encouraging young supporters to attend Gaelic games”.