GAA players grant may not go ahead, says Cullen

PAYMENT OF the GAA players grant may not go ahead next year, Minister for Sport Martin Cullen has signalled.

"I do not have unlimited funds," he told the Dáil, adding that because of the current economic downturn and a reduced budget for the Irish Sports Council (ISC) next year, "the future of the Gaelic players schemes will be considered in that context".

A sum of €3.5 million had been allocated in November 2007 to the ISC to fund two schemes in 2008 for senior Gaelic inter-county players, following agreement between the department, the GAA, the ISC and the Gaelic Players Association.

GAA Mayo manager and Fine Gael TD John O'Mahony asked that "the principle of grants for players be maintained, whatever the budgetary conditions are".

Mr O'Mahony said the players and the GAA understood there had to be savings and cutbacks but "perhaps people at large do not understand that elite senior inter-county players have very little flexibility in their jobs with regard to overtime.

"A cost analysis was done in recent years that examined how much players lose from their income," he added. "It is important that we continue to recognise their input."

Mr Cullen said, however, that "any assessment of the budget will show that in recent years, the GAA, FAI and IRFU have received an incredible amount of resources from taxpayers. While this was the proper course of action, it is not sustainable."

He added: "I am convinced that with relatively small sums of money we could achieve much greater success, including at Olympic and world level, in a large number of sports. However, I do not have unlimited resources."

• The Minister for Sport is "trying to get a visa for Usain Bolt", the Jamaican world and Olympic record-holding sprinter, "to come to the University of Limerick to train" in advance of the 2012 Olympics.

Mr Cullen also said that the All Blacks visiting rugby team had told him that the facilities in Limerick "were the best they had encountered" and that they were one of the top two in Britain and Ireland.