McShea's Say: Pay for Play topic will arise again, but GAA must stick to its values

This week, in a wide-ranging interview, Kerry’s All-Ireland winning manager Jack O’Connor expressed the opinion that pay for play for inter-county managers was something which he was not in favour of.

I would be in agreement with the Kerry man for not hedging his bets on a subject that will undoubtedly gain momentum in the not-too-distant future. 

The GAA was founded in 1884, and its chief objective was for Ireland to take control of its own affairs in the field of athletics and games, national in outlook but non-political. It was against this background that the GAA took root. 

It suffered many growing pains. But it survived and grew and grew, from a tiny acorn to the mighty oak it is today. Dreamers, idealists and nationalists kept the flame alive in the darkest days. 

In its early stages, the GAA had to surmount many serious difficulties. It had to withstand the sneers from anti-Irishmen, the hostility of a large section of the press, who failed to recognise that the young organisation contained the germs of one of the most powerful national forces of modern times, and the contempt of that superior section of the public who regarded Irish games as vulgar. 

It had to contend with opposition from without, and with gross mismanagement from within its own ranks. In those early days, how it continued to exist through all its trials and tribulations is a miracle. 

But to its great credit, the GAA not only maintained its existence but made wonderful progress. The reason it did was because the basic principle on which it was established was both sound and patriotic, and it was blessed with the services of both men and women who appreciated the tremendous potentialities of the organisation as a great national asset. 

And today the Association is on a sound financial basis, with many wonderful grounds of its own, solid resources, and with those men and women with a splendid spirit and pride which has been the salt of the organisation from the day it first saw the light down to this very moment. 

Since the formation of the GAA, the club has been and is the cornerstone of the GAA. 

The club provides the roots from which the lifeblood of the Association is generated. It is the oxygen of the Associations very being. 

The GAA world is strewn with neglected heroes; those are the wonderful club members who are the lifeblood of the organisation. 

These are the people who work week after week to manage the underage teams, the people who line the pitch, the stewards on match day, the club officers who are available year after year as administrators, and the county board officers (especially those tasked with dealing with All-Ireland tickets!).

In speaking to some former county footballers in recent weeks, there was a view that much of the fun has gone out of playing for a county team. The approach seems to be somewhat extreme and maybe, just maybe, too serious. 

As I mentioned last week, the flawed fixtures programme has made playing county football somewhat elitist, at the expense of clubs, and that situation is simply unfair to club teams and management. 

The question of paying county team managers at this juncture lacks credibility, it is many years since former GAA president Peter Quinn was quoted when he was asked about under-the-table payments to county managers.

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Peter's answer was both factual and jovial when he said, “That one would have trouble finding the table, never mind the payment”. All sorts of figures are quoted when it comes to managers' financial ‘perks’, and while I agree that no manager should be out of pocket for managing a team, the figures being quoted are significant and unrealistic. The honour of representing one’s county is special, and I have never heard of even one player make an issue of pay for play. But the situation with managers does require clarity. 

If the question of paying managers was implemented, how would paying the Kilkenny football manager be dealt with in comparison to the figure an All-Ireland winner would be compensated? 

The profile of managers and players at county level today is significant, and I have no doubt that a county footballer or hurler will, on many occasions, have his job prospects enhanced by wearing his county jersey. 

If or when this issue of payment is aired, it is imperative to remember those club trojans who are the lifeblood of the greatest amateur organisation in world sport. They are the real heroes.