Structural Issues that hamper the GAA

[Ballyfireside]

I know it is hardly timely but there is a number of articles available to non-subscribers in today's Irish Times that explain a lot of the underlying factors that challenge the GAA today. Little can be done about some of them which means that we should urgently address those over which we have control.


Rural renewal: Cian (3) is only pupil for new junior infants class

We need a Marshall Plan for rural Ireland

Who goes where? Population change in Ireland

A tale of two towns: Boyle and Sallins

Some 99% of Dublin 6 students go on to third-level

Dublin among Europe’s least ‘liveable’ cities, survey finds

Digital divide still very wide despite Coalition promise

And a timely one to boot, even if off the point- A good year for the Roses? The harvest is assured

[Ballyfireside]

Someone is on the same wavelength as myself, me an Jim McGunness a likely pair! I haven't read this as I'm rushing so I can't offer summary comment but having scanned it I think it I think it advances my argument.

Dublin board rails against GAA grant cut proposals
In the wake of Donegal manager Jim McGuinness’s comparison of Dublin GAA with Chelsea under Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, it has emerged that the GAA is considering a reduction in the funding made available to the Dublin County Board for coaching in the capital.

“Dublin have just... it was like Abramovich going into the Premier League,” said McGuinness earlier this week.

“It’s a different ball game, the level that they have taken sports science to. With nutrition, conditioning, the amount of coaches they have, it’s a professional set-up in every aspect... Kerry have done that for years as well. But there is huge momentum with resources and training facilities in Dublin.”

At a meeting to discuss a report on funding to counties drawn up by the National Financial Management Committee, at Croke Park last Saturday, controversial financial proposals got short shrift, including a suggestion which would reduce the funds made available for coaching in Dublin.

Attended by senior GAA officers from all over the country, attendees were presented with several proposals from a discussion document designed to address financial challenges facing the Association.

One looked at reducing funding significantly for Dublin GAA coaching. This was strongly opposed by the Dublin representative, who pointed to the different nature of challenges facing the GAA in the capital, compared to other counties.

Another proposal, to abolish the hurley and hurling helmet subsidy, was strongly opposed by several speakers. Opposition to it, which can reduce costs by up to €35 per helmet, was not confined to “traditional” hurling counties but voiced by many.

It was also proposed to reexamine the distribution of funds generated by the league, with a view to sharing more revenue with smaller counties who do not have access to the same resources as Dublin.

GAA president Liam O’Neill had indicated such moves would be considered when Dublin signed the biggest inter-county sponsorship deal of all time with insurance firm AIG, believed to be worth in excess of €4m over a five-year period, last October.

“What we have to do is just calmly look at it and see what that implies for us. It may well change our thinking on how we finance counties across the board now to equalise things,” he said.

“You’ll never have an equal world because life isn’t equal, that’s it. But I would much prefer to face the challenge of having to equalise things because we’re getting more money than getting less.

“We dish out TV money and give money back to counties in various ways. Even the way we pool the National League [gate receipts], every county doesn’t get the same amount.

“So we have to look at all of those, across the board, and just see what we can do about. Maybe raising our own income so that we’re in a position to better equalise things. It’s not easy.”

In January, GAA director general Páraic Duffy felt the continuation of the current financial model would not allow smaller counties compete.

“It is clear counties are not competing on equal terms,” he said.

“We are in an era where some counties have backroom teams of up to 20 people; they can afford this back-up by virtue of their success in the top division of the Allianz Leagues, their income from sponsorship and corporate events, and from other fundraising.

“Small counties, by contrast, draw from a restricted pool of players, must survive on lower revenues, and can afford minimal backroom support, yet must compete in the same leagues and championships as those with substantially greater budgets.

“These lesser-funded counties incur the same travel, meal and medical costs, but do not have the additional resources and support to compete on an equal footing.”

However on Saturday, Croke Park officials stressed to those in attendance that the proposals were for discussion and not recommendations for action, adding that counties could consider it in more detail in the next few weeks.

That they also included a redistribution of national league funds indicates that at least part of the motivation behind the document is an effort to build on Duffy and O’Neill’s hopes of creating a level playing field among counties which differ greatly in populations and available resources.

However, the strong reaction of Dublin GAA representatives indicates the strength of resistance in the capital. The tenor of the meeting generally showed that sweeping changes to the way the GAA organises its finances face considerable opposition.