GAA regret GPA annoucement
09 November 2007
In a statement issued the GAA said that it regretted
the GPA’s announcement that its members
had voted for potential strike action in terms
of its senior Intercounty competitions in the
event of the issue of Government Grants for
senior Intercounty players not being resolved.
The Association made the following points;
- The concept of Government Grants for senior
Intercounty GAA players was a matter developed
by Government representatives and the GPA, independently
of the GAA, over a number of years.
- The GAA has supported the concept when requested
to do so on the understanding that such grants
would be structured and paid on the same basis,
through the Irish Sports Council, as applies
to other sports.
- To date, the Government proposes to make
funding available under the finance which is
provided annually through the Capital Sports
Programme designed to help finance crucial projects
at county and grassroots level. This capital
allocation can vary greatly from year to year
and is dependent, among other factors, on the
state of the exchequer finances in any given
year. In that scenario the GAA has absolutely
no way of guaranteeing that ’additional’
money for player grants is not being deducted
from the allocation for capital funding nor
has it any guarantee of continuity of payment.
Also, it has serious implications for the word
and spirit of the Amateur Status of the Association
by asking the GAA to pay players directly from
its own funding
- The GAA accepts full responsibility for player
welfare, which it sees as a fundamentally different
issue to that of grants. Over ¬20 million
will be expended by the Association on Intercounty
players in the current year and it is accepted
by all parties that very significant and effective
progress is being and will continue to be made
in the area of player welfare.
- The concept of grants for players was a GPA
and Government initiative and it is a matter
for these bodies to resolve. However, the GAA
has had a series of meetings in recent weeks
with both bodies and is fully committed to playing
a meaningful part in reaching a resolution acceptable
to all parties. Further talks have been scheduled
for next week and no further statement will
be made in the meantime.
