This article is from page 97 of the 2009-12-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 97 JPG
IT’S better to have the GPA inside the GAA tent that outside it — that was the verdict delivered by county board delegates at a special meeting that took place in the West County Hotel last Wednesday night.
The was near-unanimous backing for the draft document of agreement between the GAA and GPA that was subsequently endorsed in Croke Park on Saturday by Central Council del- egates 35-5.
“My view would be that I’d rather have these guys inside in the tent do- ing you know what out, rather than having them inside the tent,’ Mun- ster Council delegate PJ McGuane told the meeting.
“By having them inside they have authority, but they also have respon- sibility to us the GAA, the supreme body in the association.
“It’s something that’s been inevita- ble the last few years. My view is that they should have been brought in a long time ago.
“But if they want to do what it says on the tin, the name GPA is a mis- nomer — it should be the IPA (Inter- county Players Association) or the EPA (Elite Players Association), be- cause that’s what it is at the moment.
“I welcome the proposals but I would put in a caveat — everything should be agreement in principle and strict and certain criteria are going to have to be laid down for these peo- ple,” he added in what was the long- est contribution to the meeting.
The debate was opened by Central Council delegate, Tom Downes, who admitted that “for the past ten years they (the GPA) have been a thorn in the side of the association.
In the early years the assocation thought that they would go away, but this group have had firm ideas and their proposals were to look after in- ter-county players. They set up an of- fice, appointed a chief executive and were here to stay,’ he added.
“What about all the volunteers who are trying to maintain grounds but who can’t get money,’ wondered Clarecastle’s Martin Reynolds. “The money from Munster Council is way down this year — when the rugby and soccer goes out of Croke it will be down further.
“It has been stated by Tom (Downes) and you Mr Chairman (Michael O’Neill) that Clare County Board always looks after its players well. If that’s so why is Croke Park giving €1.6m in this calender year to an elitist group that’s just talking about county players.
“What about the under 21s who are getting their medals on Friday night. Are they not entitled to the same as senior players? What about the jun- ior footballers? They train as hard as everybody else.
“It’s an elitist group. In 2011 or 2012 when Lansdowne Road is open, where is all this money going to come from. What kind of money is the chief executive going to be paid?
Are we going to be paying for a fella who has been agitating against us for the last six to eight years?
There are an awful lot of questions that need to be answered here,’ he added.
“There are a serious amount of questions that need to be answered,” admitted chairman, Michael O’ Neill, while Smith O/’Briens_ delegate agreed that the GPA was “an elitist oy eee av isr-Ln eye lee
“In principal I agree with it,’ he added, “but something has to be done to protect the club players.”
“I think they have joined up now because Christy Cooney wants to make a name for himself in his first year,’ said Jackie McHugh of O’Callaghan’s Mills. “If he didn’t do it in his first year, he’d never get a chance to do it. He’d be snowed un- der if he didn’t do it this year.
“The GPA are finding it very diffi- cult to get sponsorship now — the cold winds are around and they’ve gone into the tent and Christy Cooney has facilitated them,’ he added.
“We should have had this meeting ten years ago,” said Tubber delegate and former vice-chairman of the board, Michael Lee.
“We were willy nilly, bits and piec- es — one county in trouble this year, another county in trouble another year. We should have been collec- tively looking after players.
“It’s better to have them inside that outside causing trouble, but I would have reservations. We have to trust people going forward, but having seen the leadership at the top over the past ten years, I am not too confident that they are firm enough or strong enough.
“The important thing is to pull the handbreak now — this is the limit of what we’re approving,’ he added.