Are we missing the point?

The inter-county season may have just got going, but GAA bureaucrats and commentators are already in overdrive. While significant activity on the playing fields is just beginning, controversies abound –with the issue of payments to inter-county managers dominating headlines.

Should Croke Park adopt a standardised system of remunerating elite ‘Bainisteoirí’, or should they turn a blind eye? Are there more serious obstacles facing the GAA at present? One of the newest recruits to the rank of senior county management is Galway football’s Alan Mulholland.
“I think that in high profile counties it isn’t much of an issue,” he observes. “Managers get some pre-agreed expenses, which is only fair and above board. However, I would be in favour of the GAA setting down guidelines. It’s a huge time commitment, but I’m only too glad to have this opportunity. I have a very supportive wife and family, which makes all the difference. Management swallows up a lot of your head-space and you need to go into it with your eyes wide open.
“It’s also important to weigh up the financial implications,” he adds. “Not everyone would be able to afford to give over so much of their free time. That’s one major plus of being self-employed, it allows you a little more flexibility.”
Clare hurling supremo Davy Fitzgerald feels that a manager has a right to expenses.
“Managing an inter-county team is serious stuff,” he says. “There’s pressure to succeed and the manager shoulders a large chunk of the blame if things go wrong. You’re probably talking a minimum of twenty hours a week and all the additional pre-season planning. Like most managers, all I expect is some basic expenses, nothing hectic. There’s a happy medium. Maybe there’s a few guys here and there making a few bob, but if so I can’t see where this money’s coming from. Most counties are struggling to balance finances at the moment. I think the payment issue might actually have been a bigger problem at club level, where ambitious clubs were extending themselves too far.”
Meath football legend and TV analyst Colm O’Rourke dismisses the issue as a non-event. Indeed he is also sceptical of teh hype surrounding indiscipline within the GAA. “It’s not a big issue in my book,” he says of payments to managers. “Also, discipline in general is fine and occasional high-profile incidents shouldn’t distort the true facts. Sure, the row in the club game between Dromid and Derrytresk shouldn’t have happened, but these types of flashpoints will pop up now and again and I don’t see the point in getting too precious about it. The vast majority of our games are played in a great spirit.”
What does concern him is that the GAA is running out of funds.
“The reality is that many clubs are dying on their feet due to emigration and financial difficulties,” he explains. “I think this is the real crisis at the moment. A lot of clubs borrowed money during the height of the boom and are now in severe difficulty. They acted in good faith to improve facilities but now they are between a rock and a hard place. Is there a way out? It would be fantastic if they could write-off this debt. Fully functioning clubs are so important to the social fabric of communities and they should be given every opportunity and support to recover.”
The GAA prides itself on being a democratic and proactive, members-driven organisation. Staying in-tune with the concerns of its grass-roots is key to continued success and development. Former All-Ireland winning Clare hurler Jamsie O’Connor sees the value in healthy, balanced discussion.
“The issue of regulating payments to inter-county managers is certainly on the agenda and the outgoing president of the GAA Christy Cooney has raised it. I think a bigger problem is when managers of club teams are getting paid. If an outside manager is getting say two hundred a night to train a team, that’s money raised by club members that could have been spent on juvenile development. But sometimes players are ambitious and they set the agenda, demanding the best coaching possible.
“Inter-county management is very demanding, the ferocious hours preparing teams, dealing with player issues, speaking to the media and organising schedules. The problem with paying county managers a taxable fee is where do you draw the line? Most county teams have massive backroom teams – coaches, psychologists and so on – and these guys are also giving up their free time. Then there’s a potential imbalance in county resources. Unless payments were strictly standardised, how could say Leitrim compete with Dublin?” He disagrees with Colm O’Rourke in one key respect. “Discipline is an area that needs to be looked at, specifically encroachment from the sidelines,” he argues. “What happened in the All-Ireland Junior club football semi-final was certainly the kind of negative publicity the GAA could do without. These incidents will happen sporadically, it’s a fact of life. But, we need to be mindful about how our games are presented to a wider public. Where I live in Clare is pretty much an urban area on the outskirts of Ennis. We are competing with soccer and rugby for player numbers and we need to put our best foot forward. As a player I struggle to recall many major incidents of reckless indiscipline. Hurlers carry what could be used as a weapon and if you think about it, how many bad incidents have we really seen down the years? However, perception is important. People need to feel confident that their kids will be safe playing Gaelic games.”
Player burn-out is another major issue – but little has been done to reduce the burden on top young players. Donegal’s All-Ireland winning centre-forward Martin McHugh feels that some serious joined-up thinking is needed to improve the situation.
“Paying managers? I think they should leave well enough alone. Anyway, with the recession in full-flow most county boards are broke and not in a position to pay managers beyond standard expenses. I think the biggest questions facing the GAA at the moment are: player burn-out, respect for officials and the standard of football. The demands put on young players are ridiculous. Lads between 16 and 20 are picking up so many stress injuries. Why not do away with minor and under 21 and replace with one under 19 grade? You have lads playing club and county minor, under 21 and colleges football all at the same time?
“Protecting the next generation from burn-out – that’s the real challenge for Croke Park.”