Time for the GPA to get Tough

A good place to start would be if the Government stopped the Grants being handed out to GAA players. That is the very first step to be taken before any other player welfare issues can be looked at. It is quite incredible when you think about it that the Irish Government would give money to a select few of it's citizens because they happen to play a particular sport. I wouldn't mind but it's actually a sport that people pay in to watch, sport that generates it's own revenue and not an insignificant one at that.

Any dispute which may exist between the GAA and the GPA has nothing to do with the Government and while it is not at all surprising that they would in the thick of it considering the complete mess they've made of everything else, it is something they should at least have the decency to extricate themselves from immediately.

The GAA somehow thought the problem was solved by the introduction of the grants last year. It says a lot indeed about the Irish press that these kinds can of decisions can be made at the highest levels of Government without been given any scrutiny whatsoever.

Amateurism in the GAA is a ridiculous concept in modern day sport. The GAA Championships come complete with Corporate boxes, Corporate Sponsors (albeit that most of those are now broke banks and defunct semi-state bodies), ticket prices to rival and in many cases surpass any professional sport (I paid €12 to watch the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night).

While the players fight rather limply it must be said for their cut of the takings from the summer of high drama and top notch entertainment they provide each year, I can only assume that Christy Cooney, Joe Brolly, all the committees and other officials who benefit from their efforts come together in October to do a big count, take their cut and have a good laugh at the intercounty players who sweated blood and tears.

Christy Cooney for example is a high ranking official with pillar of State organisations FAS. Now if you haven't fallen off your chair with laughter, I can tell you that that this guy was elected President of the GAA this year. He earned €150,000 a year while "working" with FAS. I put that in inverted commas because one would think that if you earn €150,000 a year you might have some idea about what actually goes on in the organisation which squandered millions on junkets for it's officials.

Could there possibly be a culture of cronyism and jobs for the boys in the Emerald Isle, surely not? Why have one of the World's strongest economies which could only have been built on hard work, good government and the best people attaining top management positions. The Presidency of the GAA is a full time job but Christy will keep his salary when he takes over the position as head of the countries largest voluntary organisation. It's just that the GAA will pay it, not the State or are they the same thing?

You could pay a lot of players grants (about 100 actually) with this sort of a salary. Not that I begrudge the man for being smart enough to work his way up the ladder. The GAA as a professional organisation has to run itself properly and be seen to do so. They do an awful lot of things right, such as making a fortune off their ginormous stadium which is full about twice a year. That's no mean feat. They are no doubt a shining example for other organisations on how to do business but to be fully professional they have to start giving the players a cut.

They can't continue to pull the wool of their eyes by regaling them with tales of the good old days, pride in the jersey, tradition and the love of the game. That stuff starts to ware when the lads preaching it don't subscribe to it themselves.

The GPA should withdraw completely until they get what they want because without them there is no championship, there is no game. They are not asking for much because relative to other sports in other countries there isn't that much there. Anything they do ask for can only be a percentage of whatever is generated in any given year in any case which might be even less than one might expect but whatever it is the Gaelic Players are entitled to it, deserve it and it's time they demanded it.