GPA Announce Media Ban

Gaelic footballers and hurlers have announced they will not do media interviews or promotional work ahead of two provincial finals.

The move is part of the Gaelic Players' Association's long-running dispute with the GAA over getting assistance in employment and health issues.

The union says its attempts to get a formal agreement have been ignored.

They said players would not do media interviews for the Leinster football final and the Munster hurling decider.

However, the GPA said they would not interfere with the actual staging of the two matches.

Gaelic football and hurling are amateur sports and a new grants scheme for provincial players could be scrapped because of government spending cuts.

A GPA is angry that many of its members are struggling to get or keep jobs, while helping make huge profits for the GAA by playing in high-profile Championship fixtures.

A statement from the union said: "We have asked the GAA to fund a series of enhanced player welfare programmes in the critical areas of employment, career development and health and well-being services.

"As players have chosen the GPA to represent their interests, it is only through a meaningful official relationship, with the attendant financial commitment, that the GAA can meet its obligations to the inter-county players who do more than anybody to fuel its financial engine.

"The players' association is 10 years in existence and has attempted to negotiate a formal agreement with Croke Park under five different presidents."

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And off we go ....

RMDrive wrote:And off we go ....

And off with their heads......No time for that outfit.......cue wrath and indignation........

Boxtyeater wrote:

RMDrive wrote:And off we go ....

And off with their heads......No time for that outfit.......cue wrath and indignation........

I'm right with you Boxty. No time for that carry on at all. And if I hear one more person talk about the money that Cooney get's I'll kill them. It was the members of the GAA that voted him in and by doing so we all agreed to pay him his massive wage.
The whole issue is complex but I've been supping pints for the last few hours so I can keep it simple and say that it's all a load of sh1te.

RMDrive wrote:[
The whole issue is complex but I've been supping pints for the last few hours so I can keep it simple and say that it's all a load of sh1te.

It's not that complex RMD, 'tis a drive for money led by the known suspects.
On the 2nd. issue, well 'tis great to be young. Boxty has had to make do with a couple (well I lie a little) of medicinal cognacs, about 15 fags and a sambo for the night.
In my halcyon days of 40 odd years ago, you'd be ashamed to be home by tomorrow evening on a weekend night.

I think this particular action is a huge own goal. The only people who will suffer are the media and in the GPAs position they need them as a friend - not an enemy. Funny course of action to take.

Hang on........another GAA thread? Well what is this forum coming to lately?

I think this is a strange move by the GPA to call a media ban, but then again with the whole focus on them after the grants being taken away who can blame them.

With regards the GPA as an organisation, they started with the right idea but that, i feel. is not the case anymore.

Cooney facing ‘ultimate test’



By Colm O'Connor

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

OF ONE BELIEF, the group which opposed the paying of grants to inter-county hurlers and footballers, has warned conceding to GPA demands for 5% of GAA income will fast-track the end of the Association.
GAA President Christy Cooney and Ard Stiúrthóir Páraic Duffy will address a press conference at Croke Park this morning outlining their response to the ratcheting up of pressure last week by the gaelic players organisation

Of One Belief founder Mark Conway said he took little satisfaction in telling Croke Park bosses ‘we told you so’ as they prepare for the stand-off with chief executive Dessie Farrell and the GPA’s 1,900 members. And he described the coming weeks and months as the ‘ultimate test’ of Cooney’s presidency.

Conway said last night: "If you look at our website from a couple of years ago, you can see in black and white that we warned that this day would come. I wish I was as good at predicting the Lotto numbers. Once our top people accepted the principle of the grants it was inevitable we would find ourselves at this point. Loath as I am to say it, ‘we told you so’."

Conway is fearful that the matter may mark a watershed in the GAA’s 125 year history.

"The GPA want five percent but mark my words that will grow to 10%, to 15% to 20%. Who knows where it will end. If this is accepted what is to stop them from looking for their share of every aspect of GAA income?

"The knock could come to the door of the likes of Club Tyrone, wanting their share of their revenues. Then it could be the county committee looking for a slice of the money from gates. Eventually they will go to the clubs – then it is game over.’’

The Tyrone man laughed off claims that player welfare will suffer because of lack of funding either through grants or GAA revenues.

"I consider the term ‘Player Welfare’ to be an insulting statement. It suggests that something untoward has been happening to players, as if we need to set up a redress board to discuss what miseries the players have been put through. I object to the phrase. Last year in the Tyrone accounts last year it was revealed that almost £1.25m (€1.4m) went towards county teams, the majority of that on the senior football team. We are spending fortunes on elite players.

"Former Cork hurler Diarmuid O’Sullivan was talking at the weekend about possible match fees and that players deserve more for their efforts. He talked about the monies the GAA received from the opening of Croke Park to other sports and the players saw no benefits.

"The reality is that every county got a quarter of a million euro of that agreement – the problem is that leading GAA figures have been totally disingenuous on the whole thing. Once the grants were allowed, it began to create cracks in the whole dam against professionalism.’’

He added: "Down there (in the south) some of us here in the north are considered dinosaurs for our stance on certain issues like Rule 21 (to allow members of the security forces in Britain and Northern Ireland to play hurling and football) and the opening of Croke Park.

"I think it harmed us allowing soccer and rugby into Croke Park but life goes on and I accept the decisions that were made. But once we start playing players, we have opened a door that might never be closed."

He also slammed the GAA’s response to the GPA’s press conference outlining their stance last week.

"We’ve seen GPA press conferences and their representatives on television, radio in the newspapers. We’ve read all the apologists backing the players in the past week. But the silence from Croke Park has been deafening. As an ordinary grassroots member of the GAA, I find their handling of the thing to be bitterly disappointing."

He continued: "We are developing a £6.7m (€7.7m) new facility here in Tyrone. We have to raise over £5m (€5.7m) for that through various fundraising ventures. We do that of our own time, as volunteers of the GAA. Meanwhile the people at the top table of the GAA are taking us down a much different road."

However Conway is confident Cooney, who took charge in April, can guide the GAA through this situation.

"I think so. Christy is only in as president but I have a huge regard and respect for him. This is Christy’s baptism of fire and perhaps his ultimate test. For me he has to state the reality, stand tall and not allow himself or the GAA be bullied. The idea that we should be beholden to an elite group of players is poisonous."

Meanwhile Farrell is to appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs this afternoon. Farrell will be discussing the role and functions of the GPA. This meeting will afford members of the Committee the opportunity to question Farrell on the role of the GPA and its campaigns in relation to player welfare and player-related revenues.

More faith in Conway than Cooney.
Also support him in his other stances to.

Here is the GAA's statement. I've taken the liberty of highlighting sections that caught my eye.


GAA position on formal recognition of the GPA
Jul 07, 2009

Wednesday, July 8.

Given the specific recent background of the development of discussions with the GPA (see Annex 1), but also in the wider context of the issues to be resolved, the GAA wishes to state its formal position on the question of recognition of the GPA:

1. The GAA’s serious engagement with the GPA on the issue of recognition, with the full support of GAA Central Council, demonstrates the Association’s good faith in seeking a resolution to the recognition issue. The GAA has long recognised both the validity of a players’ representative body and the potential value to players and Association alike of a partnership in such a context.

2. However, if the GAA is to provide significant funding to the GPA – regardless of the structure of such funding – it can only do so on the basis of the GPA‘s existence as an integral part of the Association. The GAA nationally reinvests virtually all of its revenues directly to Counties and Clubs and is fully committed to the welfare, indeed the enhanced welfare, of all those who play its games. It is essential, both for the players and the Association, that any funds spent on the crucially important area of player welfare are accountable and provide value for money.

3. The GAA centrally is, as indicated, prepared to provide significant funding to the GPA as an officially recognised players’ body. However, as applies in the preparation of our own annual budgets, and also in respect of funding requests from all Club, County and Provincial units, from our sister organisations, and in relation to the many projects of a community nature that it undertakes, the clear GAA policy is to do so only in the context of a project based funding model. Under such a model, appropriate initiatives for inter county players would be approved and delivered based on an assessment in terms of value for money, affordability and their overall benefit to the playing body.

The GAA simply cannot provide funding for any unit or body based purely on a fixed percentage of annual income. The Association already has a substantial fixed annual overhead that must be met from revenue sources that are unfixed, unpredictable and subject to significant alteration due to factors outside the Association’s control. The GAA has to act responsibly in its financial management, and cannot place its financial welfare at risk by committing itself to a permanent arrangement of the kind sought.

4. It is also the view of the GAA that comparisons with other players’ bodies elsewhere and in other contexts are of limited relevance. On every important criterion, the situation in respect of the GAA is profoundly different:

(i) The GAA is an amateur association, while other bodies function in a purely professional context;

(ii) GAA players play our games as a recreation of choice, while others do so as a professional activity;

(iii) The GAA does not exist to make a profit. Indeed, professional sport is increasingly conducted according to the profitability models of business. Sporting entities “invest in” players as, in effect, assets and, very often, must respond to the demands of shareholders.

5. Apart from these fundamental and specific differences, there is a more general context that should be taken into account, and within which the issue of the recognition, status and funding of the GPA must be resolved. This concerns the very nature and ethos of the GAA. The GAA belongs to the tens of thousands of Irish people who participate in GAA activities in their respective local communities, ranging from the selfless volunteers who seek to improve the quality of life, sense of unity and belonging in their communities to those who are spectators of our games. In essence, the GAA exists because of the voluntary efforts of its members; the GAA, therefore, has a core duty of responsibility to all its members. This embraces all of our players, as well as the varying needs of the entire GAA community.

Part of that responsibility is manifested through the huge and growing GAA expenditure on facilities in clubs and communities throughout the country. Notwithstanding these enormous demands on GAA revenue, the Association allocates in excess of an audited €25 million annually in the preparation of inter-county teams and on the welfare of its players. The GAA is able to devote such a significant expenditure in these areas due to funding sources such as gate receipts, sponsorship and broadcast/media revenue.

6. On an annual basis, the GAA reinvests its income in the infrastructural, social and human development of the Association and its members, only ever retaining a tiny fraction of its resources as cash reserves. Even a cursory examination of the audited and publicly available accounts of our County boards, Provincial and Central Councils would confirm that the GAA does not have substantial cash reserves.

7. Notwithstanding all of this, the GAA recognises the hugely important role played by inter county players in the promotion and development of our games and in generating finance that helps the Association to operate successfully at many levels. Hence, in addition to financing projects of a welfare nature, the GAA reiterates its willingness, subject to a resolution of the recognition and funding issues, to: (i) provide administrative funding for the GPA; (ii) provide office accommodation for the GPA; (iii) ensure GPA representation on national committees; (iv) develop joint GAA/GPA sponsorships and opportunities for the benefit of our players and indeed the wider Association.

8. Finally, the GAA wishes to re-state unambiguously its determination to continue genuine and good faith discussions with the GPA with a view to the earliest possible agreement on the recognition and funding issues. However, it is critical that any eventual agreement should not compromise the principles that inform the GAA position and that are at the heart of the Association’s existence and ethos. In other words, the recognition of the GPA must preserve the principles upon which the GAA is based, its internal cohesion, its amateur and voluntary character, and its mission to cater for all its members. It must also, of course, be consistent with maintaining the financial integrity of the Association.

Conclusion

The GAA and the GPA have proved in recent years that they can work together successfully, be it in addressing player-welfare matters or in pursuit of the Government Expenses scheme. In so doing, we have developed a solid working relationship based on the principle of mutual respect. It is the GAA’s wish and intention that, this should be the basis of our future collaboration in the crucial common goal of looking after, and enhancing, the welfare of the players of Gaelic games. To that end and in that context, the GAA is ready immediately to re-enter discussions with the GPA on the matter of recognition, and to devote its best efforts to bringing these discussions to a mutually satisfactory and early conclusion.

Annex 1

Discussions with the GPA on formal recognition

The GAA began a process of consultation with the GPA during the Presidency of Nickey Brennan to explore the possibility of formal recognition of the players’ body by the Association. This process culminated in a series of direct meetings between representatives of the GAA and the GPA in December and January 2008-09.

While it was clear throughout this process that there were differing concepts of the nature of an eventual agreement on recognition – specifically with regard to the structure of funding for the GPA; the necessity or otherwise of a formal link between the two bodies; and, to a lesser extent, the transfer of responsibility for elements of player-welfare matters from the GAA to the GPA – both parties continued seriously to seek a basis for agreement. This phase of the discussions concluded on February 27 of this year when the GAA submitted a document to the GPA outlining a possible framework for recognition of the GPA. The GAA never received a formal response to this document, although there were informal indications that the GPA was unhappy with the proposed funding structure.

Following the installation of Christy Cooney as GAA President on April 18, the GAA indicated to the GPA that discussions on recognition would resume when the new President had an opportunity to settle into his role. The GAA was given to understand that this position was accepted and understood by the GPA, and the first meeting with members of the GPA’s Executive duly took place on the evening of June 8. At this meeting both sides agreed that the issue of recognition needed to be resolved as soon as possible, and the GAA proposed September 30 as the deadline for conclusion of discussions on the issue. At what was a cordial meeting, the GAA requested the GPA to respond formally to the framework document that had been submitted by the GAA in February, and to outline any reservations it may have had.

The GPA response to this request was received two days later, on June 10. The GPA demanded an immediate commitment by the GAA to provide funding of €50,000 per month to the GPA, and also that a final agreement, or at least substantial progress towards an agreement, be achieved by July 1, 2009. In addition to this monthly payment, the GPA would expect such an agreement to include a commitment by the GAA to provide the GPA with 5% of its gross income from all gate receipts, sponsorship and broadcast/media revenue. The GPA also declared that, failing either a full or interim agreement by July 1, it would be left with no alternative but to pursue its own course of action.

This correspondence from the GPA was placed before a meeting of the GAA Management Committee on June 13. Given that the GPA position required nothing less than a fundamental and radical alteration of GAA policy and philosophy, the meeting reached the entirely reasonable decision that the matter should be discussed fully at a special meeting of the Management Committee on July 11, to permit a period of review and reflection by the Committee members.

Despite the obvious need for the GAA to have some reasonable time to consider the matter and despite, too, the fact that the CEO of the GPA and the Director General of the GAA were to be on holiday for a combined period of three weeks between the two Management Committee meetings, the July 11 date was rejected by the GPA. On June 25 the GPA indicated that it would be embarking on the course of action in which it is currently engaged

Wait til we hit them with the GFA!!

Does anybody know what the GPA are going to do with the 5% of commericial income if they do get it. Will the GPA hold onto it and will the players see any of it.