GAA confident agreement will be backed by congress

GAA-GPA AGREEMENT:THE GAA is confident its agreement with the Gaelic Players Association will secure the endorsement of next April's annual congress. At a press briefing in Croke Park on Saturday details of the framework for future relations between the players' body and the association as well as an interim agreement for the coming year were announced.

Headline provisions include a fund of €1.1 million for player welfare schemes as well as €250,000 towards the GPA’s administration costs this year and next year. All funding will be subject to agreed procedures for evaluation and agreement.

According to GAA president Christy Cooney the process for signing off on player welfare projects will be based on the model used by the Irish Sports Council for approving the drawing down of its grants.

The fund is some way short of the €2 million (or five per cent of the GAA’s commercial income) originally sought by the GPA but speaking at Saturday’s media briefing, players’ association chief executive Dessie Farrell said that the amount agreed was “satisfactory” but that it would take some time to get the programmes up and running”. He also said the GPA’s ability to criticise was “not an issue” and that it “was important for the GAA that there is an independent voice for players”.

Commenting, GAA director general Páraic Duffy said: “We want the GPA to be an independent voice. We don’t want them gagged or frustrated.”

On the issue of current GPA commercial arrangements, Cooney said the various sponsorships now in place would continue for their current duration but that any further commercial deals would have to be vetted before proceeding. He also said that it was the intention of both parties that “ultimately the GPA will be fully funded from central GAA funds”.

Issues such as players’ equivalent of the All Stars awards scheme will also be up for discussion.

Earlier the agreement had received the unanimous approval of the GAA’s Management Committee and will come before Central Council next Saturday week. Key county officers were briefed on Saturday morning and asked to bring the matter back to their county committees for discussion.

The players’ body for its part also endorsed the agreement at a meeting in the nearby Jury’s hotel.

Ten years after the GPA was formed, Croke Park has now agreed: that it will be formally recognised as the representative body for senior intercounty players within the GAA; its function will be to represent the views of senior intercounty players and to act as the vehicle for delivery to them of the most comprehensive player welfare programme possible.

For its part the players’ group reiterates its commitment to the voluntary and amateur ethos of the GAA and will give explicit expression to this in its constitution.

It is likely that the recognition of the GPA will not attract universal support. The government-funded players grants scheme of two years ago triggered strong opposition, especially in Ulster, and that constituency is unlikely to be impressed by Saturday’s agreement.

Croke Park officials were of the view after the weekend’s briefings that there was broader support for the recognition process than for the grants scheme and relief that relations with intercounty players have moved onto a more constructive basis. Opposition is none the less expected.

“Of course there’ll be people with different views but we believe that this is in the best interests of the association,” said Cooney.

The president also paid tribute to the role of Turlough O’Donnell SC, who facilitated the talks during the length 10-week process and who has indicated his willingness to assist in the ongoing talks’ process to arrive at a final agreement, for which the deadline is the end of next October.

The teams who negotiated the agreement were: the GAA – Christy Cooney (president), Páraic Duffy (director general), Feargal McGill (operations manager) and solicitor Liam Keane (chair of the Central Hearings Committee); the GPA – Donal Óg Cusack (chair), Dessie Farrell (chief executive) and PR consultant Fintan Drury of Platinum One.

The full text of the interim agreement can be viewed at www.irishtimes.com/sports/gaa