Secret footage of GAA Ruling Elite quelling GPA Strike

Liam Horan, former Irish Independent GAA correspondent, and now author of the Horan Stand column, which appears in many regional newspapers, has unearthed "Secret footage of the GAA Ruling Elite quelling the GPA Strike" and has posted it to his blog.

Ok, so I've been a bit slow spotting it - it dates from 12 November. But, it's still amusing.

Liam is also behind The Coach, a weekly colum in the Galway Independent, which provides some great tips on training and coaching for Gaelic games. For those still playing or involved with teams it's well worth subscribing to the RSS feed to recieve it each week.

This week, The Coach looks at how backs can defend against players like Kieran Donaghy under a high ball.

Dessie and the GPA

Eason bookshop. The 28th December. The sales.


And there it was.

Dessie. Tangled Up in Blue.

On sale at .99 cent!

Even though they were basically giving the book away for free, I still had to think twice . But then I thought to myself, less than one Euro to discover why Dessie is so bitter towards the GAA, maybe it's a price worth paying. So, I splashed out.

What did I learn? Noting new. Yes, the GPA has some rationale for existing and has done great work in terms of ensuring better welfare for players. Improvements in expenses, training and medical facilities, insurance and injury schemes for players and ensuring their medical bills are paid were warranted. The GPA deserves credit for provoking the GAA into action on these matters. It also seems that the GPA advanced the cause of the state of play for many of the weaker hurling counties. Again, a worthy cause and the GPA should be praised for advancing their case.

But, what is clear from the book, and is largely unexplained - save for the Maoist attitude of some county board officials, which Dessie has experienced, and one that the majority of GAA members are well aware of and have suffered themselves - is the reason for Dessie's spite towards officials and the GAA.  Ultimately, it seems, his hostility stems from his opposition to where power lies in the GAA - in the committees, county boards and councils.

Dessie makes it clear; he wants that to change. If you've no inter-county experience, in Dessie's opinion, your view doesn't count. Inter-county is the be-all and end-all. Nevermind the rest of us. We don't matter, because we didn't play at the highest level.

Dessie wants the GAA should turn its sporting pyramid on its head and build from the top. (Luckily for the Egyptian tourist industry the pharaoh's construction supervisors didn't think likewise). 

"I maintain that the inter-county teams remain the ideal and, if well attended to, will nurture all levels beneath it, inspiring young players to persevere with the game".

If you get the 1% right, hey presto, the other 99% will fall into place. Simple. Because, once the inter-county stars are well looked-after, the rest of the GAA can run on aspiration and inspiration. Just like football in England perhaps?

The Premier League, where the best and highest paid footballers in the world strut their stuff every week. Yet, this in the country where the national team can't even qualify for the European Championships and as David Conn, explains in the "The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Soul of Football", English football is sharply polarised between rich and poor, and has lost its soul.

The reason is that Dessie doesn't consider the inter-county players on the same terms as other members of the GAA. Because the inter-county players are making a greater contribution than all other members, they should be getting something "more tangible" for their efforts. Kudos and adulation is not enough.

"For years, I had listened to players sitting on bar stools over the winter complaining about how they were treated. They didn't really buy into the traditional GAA line, certainly not the one that highlighted our ethereal rewards - honour, adulation, camaraderie, recognition - they wanted something more tangible."

Does anyone really believe the GPA when they say they don't want professionalism in GAA?

"No matter how many times they were told that they were just another part of the Association, many inter-county players knew they weren't. Who, after all, was filling the coffers of the GAA, allowing all the myth-makers to wax lyrical about how wonderful an organisation it was?"

Could it be ordinary GAA people? The ones who contribute at the bottom - through volunteering, coaching etc - and at the top of the organisation - by paying to watch the games. And unlike the soccer grassroots, who watch the Premier League every week in England, paying outrageous money to see the games in the stadia and on TV, and buy the jerseys, the GAA grassroots can sleep comfortably knowing that their hard earned cash has not gone directly to some chav footballer (Noel Gallagher's words, not mine) who has been in an orgy, at a 4,000 pound a man Christmas party. The GAA's grassroots know that they get value for their money, because what they spend in Croke Park gets reinvested in the game, not porn sites (Shaun Wright Philips), nor fast cars, nor bling bling.

And with the GPA here to stay - as Dessie keenly empahsizes in the penultimate chapter - it's going to be hard to keep it that way.

GAA: for the love of the game

Listening to Dessie Farrell and Donal Og Cusack talking about the "modern" players' commitment to playing GAA you would think that GAA players before their time, had simply nothing better to do, but turn-up from time to time without much training to play a game.

Leafing through some match programmes I have at home, a nice anecdote caught my eye, which shows that in those days it wasn't all that straightforward to represent your county.

In 1975 Gerry Delaney, of the legendary Stradbally clan from Laois was working as a Garda in Ashbourne county Meath, but continued to play with Stradbally and the Laois U-21 team. Having defeated Kildare in the opening round of the Leinster Championship, Laois faced Meath in the quarter-final in Newbridge.

Living in Meath Gerry had to travel down to the game and the best way of doing so was to get a lift with the Meath lads. Joey Tormey, a member of the local Donaghmore club arranged for him to travel with "Scupps" White, Phil Smyth and Eamon O'Brien. As Gerry recounts "It was faily quiet on the way down...just a small bit of banter".

Against a side which included six Meath seniors Laois played exceptionally well, defeating Meath by 5-5 to 3-9, with Gerry Delaney scoring four of Laois's goals!

Gerry recalls the aftermath "having had something to eat with the Laois team after game, my lift back to Ashbourne with the Laois management didn't materialise so I had to ask the Meath lads if they would oblige. They were happy to do so but only after threatening to leave me stranded in Naas! It wasn't the same mini-bus that I went to the game in and the craic wasn't any better...understandably!"

They dropped him in Dunshaughlin and Gerry had to thumb home to Ashbourne.

Gerry didn't feel abandonned by the GAA. Since then he's given 30 years of service, first as a player and now as a club official -serving as chairman for no fewer than three separate terms- with his adopted club of Donaghmore/Ashbourne.

Outcome of Cavan Grassroots meeting

Although the turnout was significantly lower than last week's meeting, around 100 people took time out from their Christmas shopping to attend the anti-pay-for-play meeting in Cavan last night.

Significantly four counties: Armagh, Fermanagh, Derry and Tyrone, will all work on motions for Congress. It's not yet clear whether these motions will outrightly oppose the scheme, or simply call for a debate on the matter. 

That is the very least all GAA members deserve. It's a critical issue for the future of the GAA, so a sensible debate is required among all the GAA's members, not just the hierarchy. Every member's voice should count. And it's a good time of year to make that happen. A lot of clubs are holding their annual meetings at this time of year, so bring the issue up in your club, have a sensible discussion and establish your club's position, which can then be brought forward to the County Convention. That way, when Congress meets in April, the position of the majority will be heard.

Grassroots GAA Meeting in Cavan tonight!

Don’t Forget Cavan!

The meeting in Cavan organised by gaels from Longford and north Leinster goes ahead tonight (Wednesday) night as follows;

Wednesday 19 December

7.30pm

Cavan Crystal Hotel

We know the week that’s in it … and the demands that’s on people’s time. But pay-for-play is the agenda item for GAA people … so if you can, come along tonight.

You’ll be out the door by 9.00pm. Can you give 90 minutes to defend a core GAA principle?

DRA … Drastic Action?
When we set out to oppose pay-for-play we agreed to do it through the GAA system … and to all the while play the ball, not the man.

The DRA is part of the GAA system so we’re using it.

The appeal has been lodged and is being supported/developed by a number of true GAA “legal-eagles” … all on that real GAA basis, ie “No Charge!”

As of now there’s been no feedback from the DRA but we’ll keep you informed re developments.

A Flowing Tide?
As of Monday night, the pay-for-play arrangements approved by Central Council have been either directly opposed or seriously questioned at or by the Clare; Cork; Derry; Down; Fermanagh; Mayo; Tipperary; and Tyrone Conventions or County Committee meetings.

This story isn’t over yet!

Opposition to the grant grows

Your Chance to Make Another Statement!

Fellow gaels in north Leinster have arranged a public meeting on the pay-for-play arrangements as follows:

Wednesday 19 December
7.30 pm
Cavan Crystal Hotel, Cavan Town

Let’s see what the south Ulster/north Leinster/north Connacht view on all this stuff is. If you’re from there, then turn up at the Cavan Crystal next Wednesday night. Bring others with you … and tell even more people about it. This is one of the most important things you’ll be asked to do to help reverse the pay-for-play agenda … so let’s have a turnout that makes a statement!

If you’re getting this email you’re a believer. If you’re a believer, be there!
(If anyone sees a bearded gentlemen in a red suit … invite him along!)

After Last Saturday …
After the approval of the pay-for-play arrangements last Saturday - by Central Council only, remember (and in my official guide Central Council is just one of five levels of “jurisdiction” within the GAA, the other four being Clubs; Counties; Provinces; and Congress) - what’s now to stop this scenario:

• Millionaire A offers County A’s Senior Football Panel members €/£20,000 a man to win the All-Ireland


• He offers Player B from County B €/£50,000 to come on board … and gives him a job/address in County A


• All parties sign an agreement stating that they “recognise that the GAA is an Amateur Association and state their absolute commitment to the maintenance of the amateur status of the Association. They state that nothing in this agreement shall be allowed to undermine the amateur status of Gaelic games”. (Does that last bit sound familiar?)

In the new post-8 December world how can the GAA legally or morally oppose such a scenario? It’s performance-based; County panel-specifc; isn’t “our” money; and will be paid/distributed by a third party. And there’s a paper guaranteeing the amateur status. So it clearly isn’t pay for play! (It’s definitely time for that bearded gentleman in the red suit!)

Up Down! Up Tyrone!
Tyrone and Down will meet in next year’s Ulster SFC (GPA strikes etc permitting of course!). Whatever the outcome, we’ll know we have two true GAA counties going head-to-head.

On Sunday Down voted unanimously to reject last Saturday’s pay-for-play deal. On Tuesday night Tyrone voted 152:1 to reject any meddling with Rule 11 via grants or any other sleight-of-hand. Tyrone’s mathematics are interesting in that they almost certainly reflect the proper proportions involved in this whole issue. Don’t let’s pretend there isn’t a “GPA view”. There is. And it has a right to be heard. But for every GAA person holding that view we’d be very confident there’d be 150 who don’t hold it.

To its shame last Saturday made no attempt to reflect or seek the views of the 150.

You’re Growing … and Growing … and Growing!
As of last night, 12 December, there’s 521 of you out there. Thank you for supporting the opposition to pay-for-play.

We believe this is now on the agenda for Congress 2008. And we intend to keep the debate rolling right up until then. To do that we need your help.

Stay with us!

Keep raising this issue!

Don’t accept that the fat lady has sung (she hasn’t even warmed up yet!)

Keep reinforcing what the GAA’s really about!

And come to the Cavan Crystal Hotel next Wednesday night!

Latest from Oppposition to Grants Campaign

Black Saturday
Despite the clear opportunity to defer and go out for consultation, Central Council went ahead and approved pay-for-play on Saturday. Having just driven a horse and cart through Rule 11, it was a wee bit rich of them to then tell the rest of us to go away and examine our consciences about breaches of amateur status at club and county level. Nonetheless there’s something in what they say. This cancer has been eating away at the insides of the GAA for a while. But just because you’ve a cancer in one place is no reason to start injecting yourself with botulism somewhere else!

Doire Abu!
Derry’s County Convention today unanimously passed a motion opposing grants/pay-for-play. They join Mayo as counties fully opposed to where the GAA is being brought to. Conventions are now coming thick and fast. Try to go to yours and make the case against the implementation of what Central Council passed on Saturday.

“Questions and Answers”There may be a bit of coverage of pay-for-play on RTE’s Q&A tonight (Monday). Watch it and see … and get others to do likewise!

Not Our Style
Some of today’s media coverage was not good for our President, Nickey Brennan. We took no pleasure in it. Nickey’s our President, put there by us. In opposing pay-for-play we’re not about rubbishing anybody. What we are about is upholding a core GAA value.

What’s Next?
Some “malcontents” (by the way as of 10.00pm last night there’s 407 of you registered here) in the midlands and south of the country want to hold meetings along the lines of the Elk/Toome event. It’s not yet clear if the meetings will be held before or after Christmas … but as soon as anything’s organised we’ll let you know.