Louth talks ongoing in row over expenses

DESPITE A crucial relegation match against Meath this Sunday, members of the Louth football panel are meeting their county board tonight to discuss the non-payment of expenses.

The issue entered the public domain when Louth panellists Darren Clarke and Mark Brennan vented their disgust over the non-payment of three players’ mileage costs on Twitter.

“What a disgrace four months and still no expenses from the county board,” Brennan tweeted last Tuesday night.

Clarke added: “The last thing you would expect to affect preparations for a crucial relegation match – player expenses not paid yet this year!”

Aaron Hoey and Paddy Keenan, the Gaelic Players Association representatives for Louth, are attending the meeting on their team-mates behalf. The inter-county mileage rate is currently 50 cent per mile.

Clarke, coincidentally speaking to the media yesterday to promote the Meath game, confirmed talks were ongoing but his and Brennan’s online comments have clearly incensed the county board executive.

When asked yesterday for clarification on the issue a county board source stated: “We are hugely disappointed that players have used twitter to voice their concerns on this issue. The majority of players have already got their expenses, a small number have not but it will be resolved over the coming days when they will receive these expenses.”

The GPA are not becoming directly involved, on the presumption that tonight’s meeting will settle the issue and that the players out of pocket will be reimbursed. If not, the GPA and GAA have a resolution forum, already utilised in Fermanagh last year, that can be activated if the current disagreement cannot be resolved internally.

“The whole expenses thing is just to reimburse your fuel expenses and that’s it,” said Clarke, when asked whether gate receipt intake could be ring-fenced to ensure this issue didn’t arise again.

“I suppose that is maybe something they looked at. There has never been a problem in the past. I’m sure there won’t be a problem in the future when we get over this blip.” Clarke continued with a more conciliatory tone: “The Louth County Board have been great with building the Darver project and a state-of-the-art facility that we have now for training. I’m sure they took a hit for that.

“There are plans now in place to go ahead with the Dundalk stadium so there is a lot going on at the moment. Hopefully it will sort itself out.”

The GPA policy on expenses advocates a meeting, between players and the board, at the start of every year to ensure any cash-flow problems do not result in unexpected payment delays.

Meanwhile, Clarke, who plays with Dublin club St Sylvester’s, has put this season’s return to the Louth team down to the improved mobility of his troublesome knee.

“There is basically no cartilage in the right knee. The surgeon says I’m on borrowed time. I have been managing it right with the Louth physio and he has been doing a really good job on it. I don’t even train every night of the week, then do gym work and my own cycling and swimming.

“It’s been working, touch wood, very well this year. I’ve been able to keep the fitness levels and sharpness up. But it’s not ideal. He doesn’t really know how long it will last.

“As the surgeon said, come in after every year and see how it is. He had to do a microfractions procedure on the cartilage to get growth in the cartilage. It hasn’t fully healed or grown back. It is a chronic knee problem so I just have to manage it.”

Clarke’s surgeon is former Ireland international scrumhalf Niall Hogan, who also performed a similar procedure on Rob Kearney last year.

“Basically, the thigh bone, the femur, there is a cartilage at the bottom of it that has worn away with wear and tear over the years. When he went in to clear the cartilage, out it came away from the bone. It doesn’t normally regrow.

“He stimulates it with microfractures and it drills a steel product into the bone. Blood flow and bone marrow come through that and it tries to set. It’s tricky enough; shocking painful when you are running on the hard ground.”

Clarke confirmed he will need a knee-replacement surgery when he retires.