GAA, GPA and Gov. Reach Agreement.

[azoffaly]

Very interesting stuff here. It appears the GAA have conceded the principle of handing out the money, although it does seem to be clearly ringfenced as above and beyond the other GAA funds, which may give the GAA grounds for standing up to the GPA in the future if/when this grant is reversed/reduced. Still a pretty disquieting time for the GAA I think. On a side note, I don't think the GPA members themselves will be jumping with joy. From the elitest nature of the grants, to the hoops the players will have to jump through to qualify, I think the GPA have managed to put *more* pressure on an IC player than less. And for what? Unless you are a footballer from Kerry or somewhere, maybe about €800 a year. And possibly taxed.

I've highlighted some of what I feel are the salient points, from both sides.

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Agreement between the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Irish Sports Council, GAA and GPA to recognise the contribution of Senior Inter-County Players and additional costs associated with enhancing team performance.

Rationale
Our Senior Inter-County players provide the window through which our National Games are viewed nationally and internationally. It is recognised that the successful teams prepare and train to the highest international standards for team sports and that the current scheme of tax relief for professional sports people cannot be applied to Gaelic players because of their amateur status. The Minister therefore, via the Irish Sports Council, in consultation with the GAA and the GPA, intends to introduce schemes to recognise the outstanding contribution of Gaelic Inter-County players to our indigenous sport, to meet additional costs associated with elite team performance and to encourage aspiring teams and players to reach the highest levels of sporting endeavour. These schemes will be based specifically on Championship participation, the GAA’s blue riband competitions, commencing at the end of the National Leagues, and will operate as follows:

Annual Team Performance Scheme
The Annual Team Performance Scheme will be based on the performance of teams during the championships and will apply to the 12 Gaelic football teams qualifying for the third round of the All-Ireland Qualifier series or reaching a Provincial Final, and the 12 hurling teams participating in the McCarthy Cup. The level of award available to teams will be calculated on a sliding scale increasing with continuing involvement in the Championships.

Annual Support Scheme for the Development of Excellence in the Indigenous Sports of Hurling and Gaelic football
The Annual Support Scheme for the Development of Excellence will be based on the achievement of standards and performance-based criteria designed to raise/maintain the levels of preparation and skill of the teams and individuals not qualifying for the Team Performance Scheme. The GAA, the GPA and the Irish Sports Council will agree a set of standards and performance based criteria for counties and their senior team squads eliminated in the first two rounds of the All-Ireland Football Qualifiers, and those participating in the Tommy Murphy Cup, the Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cups. Recognising that the achievement of excellence necessitates increased sacrifice and effort by counties and individuals, this scheme will assist them in achieving/maintaining the required standards. Support will not be made available to individuals or squads that fail to meet minimum standards.
Funding
An amount of €3.5m will be provided in 2008 to fund these schemes.
Criteria for participation in these Schemes
County committees, team management and players representatives in participating counties will develop improvement plans with measurable goals and objectives, agreed with the ISC, and consistent with national GAA coaching and games development policy. The supports will be based on the following criteria:
County Committee Responsibilities
• Establish and agree key performance indicators with team management. This will involve identifying squad targets and objectives, formulating an appropriate training regime/plan, establishing a code of conduct to which all parties give agreement and the provision of comprehensive information and advice on the anti-doping code. These indicators, objectives and requirements will be incorporated in the proposed Charter for inter county teams and County Committees.
• Provision, as appropriate, of qualified personnel to enhance player/team development. This to include advice and support in all aspects of team and individual fitness, nutrition, health and well-being associated with playing the games.
• A system to take account of players joining or departing from the county squad will be agreed.
• Ensure the presence of certified medical personnel at all inter-county games.
Player Responsibilities
• Attend at least 80% of all training sessions/matches. This commitment will also apply to injured/rehab personnel except where excused.
• Demonstrate improvement through regular fitness testing.
• Keep updated training log/diary.
• Strict adherence to anti-doping code.
• Players who violate the code will not receive awards
• Injured players will be expected to meet a set of agreed minimum requirements to demonstrate that they are participating satisfactorily in the rehabilitation process in order to receive an award.
• Players will commit to participate in an agreed level of coaching and games development work in their county on a voluntary basis. In co-operation with the Local Sports Partnerships players will visit schools and youth facilities as part of an overall policy to promote increased participation in their sports.
• Players will involve themselves in initiatives at county and national level to promote their sports as a healthy activity for all ages.
• Any Inter County Squad or Player may decline the amount.

Conditions
1. Funding for the above schemes will be provided annually through the Irish Sports Council to the GAA and the criteria and arrangements for their disbursement will be agreed by the GAA, the GPA and the ISC.
2. These schemes will be additional to, and will not negatively impact on, existing funding or any future funding, provided by the Government to the GAA through the ISC.
3. All parties recognise the amateur status of the GAA and nothing in this agreement will undermine that amateur status.
4. The schemes will be administered by a National Committee with player/administrative representatives of the GAA and GPA. Committees to administer the schemes at county level will also be established.
5. Dispute resolution will be carried out by the National Committee whose decisions will be final.
6. This agreement applies to senior inter-county football and hurling panels only. Funding will be based on panels to a maximum of 30 players.
7. Any tax liability that might arise from these schemes is the responsibility of the individual player.
8. Player welfare is a separate issue for which the GAA takes full responsibility.
9. The schemes will be subject to a tri-annual independent review to be carried out under the aegis of the ISC.

[turk]

AZ

how do you work out the 800 per year? i can't figger it out

[azoffaly]

Ah, that was just a random figure. It's probably a bit more than that, but with taxes and all, maybe not.

[TheManFromFerbane]

If I was a county player from Carlow or somewhere I'd be fairly pissed off with the GPA now. Now the GPA is not only and elitest organisation, its an elitest of the elite organisation....

if that makes sense.

[turk]

Yea, like am i right in saying, if we take a football example scenario, monaghan say, train like savages, have a great run in the league but get knocked out of the first round of ulster by say Tyrone" and then are unlucky to get armagh in the first or second round of qualifiers and get knocked out.

they ring up dessie for their cash and dessie says "no can do"

[azoffaly]

No, everyone who meets the criteria (training %, Proven improvements, voluntary coaching) is eligible for *a* grant. However, there is more money for the High Performance Grants (The top 12 teams in hurling and football) than for the 'Incentive' Grants (Everyone else).

So, if Monaghan player X has met the criteria, he will get his money, but it will be less than his Kerry counterpart, for example, will get.

[TheManFromFerbane]

I see the camogie players have been in touch with the government. Looks like they want their piece of the pie too. Shrudly done too, held off till the lads got their money and then swooped in. This is gonna get messy!

[The Biff]

So if a county reaches their Provincial Final, they are more worthy than half the other counties in the country? I'd like to apply for Offaly to affiliate to Connacht or Munster, since it is possible to get to those finals by winning just one game. That "Monaghan" example earlier is perfectly apt. I can see an almost inevitable split in the GPA. Also it is curious to see Kieran McGeeney still very prominent in the GPA press conferences, given that he should now be on the other side of the table to the players. As an Inter-County Manager, surely he is in a "Conflict of Interests" situation here as he will have a direct say on which 30 Kildare players will be getting the cash?

As regards the Ladies, there can be no legitimate reason why they are not entitled to some grant on the exact same basis as the men's entitlement has been agreed.

With a bit of luck, this whole scheme will fall on its face in a couple of years, and probably due to a player revolt among the players that are "less equal" than the others.

[Lone Shark]

Dessie's cocodile tears for Mayo hurlers and Carlow footballers have been shown up for what they were anyway.

Most of ye will know full well what side I'm on in this debate, but in case you didn't, here's the piece I've just submitted for next week's paper.

“Peace for our Time!”

The historically aware among your will recognise these words as the way Neville Chamberlain described the Munich Agreement on his arrival back on British soil in 1938. Of course hindsight is always 20-20, and essentially what he returned with was not peace, but war deferred and an enemy emboldened.

While acknowledging that it is more than a trifle dramatic to compare the preamble to a savage global conflict with the agreement reached this week between the Government, GAA and the GPA, it remains apt as what has been negotiatied is utterly unsustainable in the long run and has succeeded in only in strengthening the GPA’s hand for future disputes down the road. Countless key principles have been sacrificed, loopholes have been created so large that even a psychiatric nurse posing as a negotiator can and will waltz through them, and above all the core notion that the GAA is an open democracy with parity of esteem among members has been jettisoned.

To stretch the comparison a little further, last week your writer was among those rounded upon by Dessie Farrell in a national daily newspaper and the language used was anything but diplomatic. In a broad swipe at “the website chatroom mentality”, Dessie put forth his belief that internet discussion boards were populated by “jealous f***ers” who don’t want to engage in “a proper forum”. It seemed to escape his attention that a GAA follower or member can’t exactly jump into his television to put forth a counter argument when Dessie is being interviewed, any more than he has access to column inches in the National dailies. Website chatrooms on the other hand allow anyone to take part – even chief executives of players associations.

This rant, accompanied by the eve more shrill threat of a strike, echoed the increasingly erratic behaviour of Adolf Hitler as he grew wary in 1938 that Allied forces were about to call his bluff at a time when he was as yet unprepared for war. Perhaps the carpets in Dessie’s house have that chewed look about them too – who can say?

The source of his concern was easy to understand – if the GAA and the GPA faced each other down, there was only ever going to be one winner. GAA supporters all across Ireland have followed their clubs and counties for generations with no conditions attached as to the standard of the players that fill the shirts. If the 2008 All Ireland was of a slightly poorer standard because the “elite” saw fit to be on strike, would that matter in the slightest to the county that won it? The GAA had all the cards, and yet they chose to concede many principles, and your writer is not alone in being hugely concerned for what grounds the next battle will be fought on.

Before we examine these issues, let’s draw the distinction between wanting to aggressively crush the GPA pay-for-play agenda and wanting to fight against improved player welfare. Intercounty players do make tremendous sacrifices and it is only right that they receive the best of medical cover, both in terms of personnel and insurance. Their mileage rates should be comfortably adequate to cover for all eventualities, boots and other gear should be supplied promptly and regularly, and these are just some of the areas where the GAA would have been utterly correct in doing all they could to give players what they want. However the line in the sand had to be drawn at compensating players for “lost earnings”. Every player who takes part in a hobby could spend that time working instead, and would be better off if they did so, financially at least. That does not put an onus on the hobby to reward the player for his time commensurately – it merely is one of life’s choices – do I work, or do I play?

Nobody in Ireland or beyond is forced to play intercounty GAA, and that’s as it should be. If a tradesman or a doctor chooses to pass up extra lucrative call outs to go training of a spring evening, that is his prerogative. Countless players down the years have stayed out of county panels in order to get their career moving or to pursue a more intense line of work. Does that thereby put an onus on their employer to provide them with an adoring crowd of thousands to watch them play sport in their free time, since they had to pass up inter county GAA – of course not.

This particular deal looks set to cause huge difficulty in several key areas however. The main concerns are:
(1) The GAA has still secured no guarantees from the GPA that in the event of this grant being withdrawn – and all government subsidies are pulled eventually in hard times – that the GPA will not then turn around and ask the GAA to foot the bill. This is the obvious next step, yet there appears to be no safeguard in place for that eventuality. This would be the final step to full professionalism.
(2) The GPA does not have any female members. GAA clubs on the other hand have thousands, with almost every club in the country having at least one and usually more women on their committee who invariably work tirelessly for the betterment of their club and community. Ladies football and camogie clubs in villages and towns also provide great social outlets for young women and add a great social aspect to the club as a whole. The GAA cannot afford to alienate this segment of their community, as they now risk having signed up to a blatantly sexist and discriminatory agreement. The GPA has a plan for the whole €3.5 million on the table, and Ladies football or Camogie is nowhere to be seen in this plan – this is not acceptable.
(3) The greater grant for greater progression means that GAA transfer rules could be over-ridden at any time. Only the top 12 teams in each code get the full grant – so if Niall McNamee chose to transfer to Dublin, or Darren McCormack chose to move south to Offaly – both acquisitions that the counties would be thrilled to make – the GAA couldn’t block it. The player could easily take a “restraint of trade” case, and there isn’t a court in the land who would even bat an eyelid before ruling in his favour. Dangerously, this also makes it easier for players to use this as a cover for changing counties for more lucrative “private incentives”.

These are just some of the issues that now loom large on the horizon for the GPA. It falls now to the club members across Ireland to make their feelings known and to push them along the GAA’s democratic channels in time for the upcoming Central Council meetings in December. Before the GAA should proceed with this, there needs to be a clear plan to deal with each of the above issues, not to mention a few straight answers sought of the GPA’s ultimate agenda – for example why, if players are so stretched, are they eager to sign a deal which makes additional coaching and community demands of players? Why do they never seek to address the real sources of overwork on players, such as excessively long seasons and managers looking to justify under the table payments with inordinate numbers of sessions? What can they do to make their voting procedures more rigorous and thus give them the legitimacy to be brought under the auspices of the GAA as an official representative body?

It’s still our GAA – for now. Before Dessie and his boys rip the heart out, take it back to your community, where it belongs. We will fight them on the pitches, we will never surrender….

[azoffaly]

I responded on the GAABoard as well LS, but I'll reiterate here. I think you overdid the cooking on this one. I think the tenuous link between WWII and the GAA-GPA relationship will have moderates and GPA supporters rolling their eyes, as will the linking of Dessie Farrell and Hitler. I also think the remark about 'even a psychiatric nurse posing as a negotiator' will rub people up the wrong way, as it sounds condescending.

You used to preach the gospel of attacking the opposition argument's strongest pillar, as if you beat that the whole lot comes crashing down, and you are/were right. This article is more sensationalist than clinical. Even though, as you know, I am in agreement with you here, I think you have let your passion get the best of you on this subject.

[Dingle]

I agree. A pathetic analogy. I can only assume it's a severve case of brian fart on the author's behalf. If not, it's grossly insulting to the GPA.

[azoffaly]

Who is Brian Fart?

Sorry can't help myself

[TheManFromFerbane]

Who is Brian Fart?

Sorry can't help myself

Cheap shot! You are now never allowed another spelling mistake on this board!

I agree on the nurses point too LS. Def is a bit harsh and needless.

[Lone Shark]

I can understand how it may have come across that way, so I'll clarify - my comparison was not on the basis of the personalities - it was on the strength of the core issue, and how it was handled. Party A makes unreasonable demands - party 2 accedes willingly, and in doing so concedes ground that will be very had won back at a later date. That sort of thing. The personality comparison was not sought, and I thought, not made, but I'll make sure.

As for the nurses thing, well I'll stand by that. He is a psychiatric nurse, so that's that part - and he played a nuclear (strike) card in order to deal with a relatively pedantic issue. He was also threatening the GAA when the issue was as much with the government. He refused to go into any head to head debates with those opposed to his strands of argument, and as such I think the fact that he is not a negotiator or indeed the colour of one is more than proven by the facts as they stand.

Dessie refuses to discuss the core points of my argument, in fact he refuses to discuss anything on any forum. He insulted we fora and by extension all of us directly, I don't think criticising his negotiation is unfair in response.

[Bord na Mona man]

All we can hope for is that the issue is somewhat resolved and that player grievances have been appeased.
The fear is that militant top table of the GPA now smell blood and will ratchet up the pressure even more.
I wonder if a more the GPA had a more measured leader than Farrell, who lets himself down (or maybe lets his mask slip) with some silly talk, would the ordinary fan be more in support of them?