GAELIC GAMES/Player Grants: GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell tells Ian O'Riordan there is nothing now to stop grants for players

After three years of lobbying for some sort of financial recompense for GAA players, the Gaelic Players Association appear to be running out of patience. GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell yesterday rejected the latest suggestions that an annual grant scheme is still a long way off implementation, saying that agreement could well be imminent.

Initially the GPA was seeking a tax concession similar to that introduced for professional athletes, but since that's been deemed unworkable, all their efforts have focused on a government grant for intercounty players, which would average less than €2,000 per player a year, with an annual cost of around €3.6 million to the exchequer.

The Government have agreed to the principle of the grant, and has tasked the Irish Sports Council with exploring ways of distributing it. The GAA have also approved such a scheme at Central Council level while, according to the GPA, the players themselves are becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of any financial recompense compared to most fellow athletes.

"This grant scheme is our priority right now, definitely," said Farrell. "We spent a lot of time on it coming up to Christmas, and again in the past few days. The whole concept has been going on for the past three years now and I'm anxious that something does come about sooner rather than later.

"There are a number of parties involved here. Obviously ourselves, the GAA, the Department of Sport, the Sports Council and also the Department of Finance. So that makes it difficult enough to make swift headway. But we're meeting again with the Sports Council next week, and the idea of the sports grant is definitely moving forward, and definitely the most viable option at this stage."

John Treacy, the chief executive of the Irish Sports Council, was typically cautious when asked about the recent level of progress on the issue.

"There have been ongoing discussions with various people," he said, "including ourselves, and that will go on for the moment. But how soon it can be accommodated I just don't know. That's the big marker. There's a bit of discussion to be done yet. And it's still largely a matter for the GAA."

Farrell, however, didn't concur with Treacy's more guarded opinion on the possibility of a grant being introduced in the near future. "No, I wouldn't accept that. We were told that three years ago, and have been pursuing it ever since. It has been problematic alright trying to get it past the final hurdle, but essentially everyone involved is in favour of it, and agree that players should be recompensed in some description, given the significant contribution they are making to Irish society.

"That goes from Finance Minister Brian Cowen to Minister for Sport John O'Donoghue, to the Sports Council, and to president Seán Kelly in the GAA, in that it has been endorsed at Central Council level. So everyone involved feels this is the way forward."

The GPA's blueprint for the scheme is relatively straightforward, and involves three levels of grants (€2,500, €1,750 and €1,000), depending on the team's progress in the championship. In hurling the grant would simply be broken by the three tiers of the championship (the Liam MacCarthy, the Christy Ring, and the Nicky Rackard cups).

"We have fine-tuned the scheme to include a performance-related element," added Farrell, "so the Leitrim hurlers aren't receiving the same grant as the Cork hurlers.

"But the figures involved definitely aren't the issue. We've been told on several occasions that the cost to the exchequer is immaterial, and wouldn't even hit the radar. It's all about the mechanism involved.

"So we're still trying to drill down and see where the problem lies, because after every meeting we have everyone in favour of it. I think we just need to get all parties around the table at this stage to thrash the thing out."

The GPA's grant scheme would be a new departure for the Sports Council, and would be independent of the high-performance carding scheme. Farrell believes the principal has long existed in the form of artistic grants, which underlines some of the frustrations GAA players feel when it comes to financial incentives.

"There is a realisation now that intercounty players are the only category athletes in the country that are not receiving benefits from the government or state bodies. The professional athletes, even though they're well looked after in their own careers, still receive the tax break from the Government, which can be quite lucrative. And the high-performance athletes get their various levels of funding through the Sports Council.

"In effect we're being discriminated against, and that's causes great angst at this stage among the intercounty players. I know a lot of players are anxious that headway is made in the near future."

In the meantime, Farrell reiterated that the GAA are fully supportive of the scheme, which apparently doesn't contradict the amateur status. "The GAA have given the all clear on this. What's ironic in all this is that 12 months ago the Sports Council had a full meeting and were totally in support in the concept of providing these grants. Now there seems to be a problem, so that doesn't add up.

"But we're pressing on with this. It seems like we've been promised and promised and yet nothing seems to be happening. We've been as patient as we can but all the while the games are flourishing, and the players are making more and more commitment, only to be discriminated against when it comes to financial recompense."