Farrell sees no rise in player power

THE GAELIC Players Association (GPA) has called for improved structures between players and county boards to help avoid the sort of conflicts that unfolded in Cork and Offaly. While GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell denied such conflicts represented any escalation in player power, he believes there was an increasing sense of players wanting to take more responsibility for the way they are managed.

“I don’t see it as player power,” said Farrell. “I think it’s something that if it’s harnessed right can be very useful. I think by and large there is great willingness among officials and county board administrators to engage with players, consult with players, in whatever is relevant to the players. Where that has worked has been seen to be quite successful.

“Because players have their fingers on the pulse. They know what’s required, know the standards. No player wants to get involved in the kind of disputes we’ve seen. All they ask for is that the environment they operate in is conducive to success.

“So issues around player welfare, around facilities, around performances of the county board and of the managerial team all have an impact on that. Those are the type of issues that pose problems for players, but by and large where there is none, the players remain very quiet. It’s an amateur game, and if they’re going to commit four or five nights a week then they want to make sure they have the chance to be successful, and that everything is as right as it can be.”

The GPA did engage with some of the Offaly footballers before their recent vote of no confidence in manager Richie Connor: “It was a difficult one,” said Farrell. “Richie Connor was a great footballer with Offaly, but (as manager) maybe it just wasn’t meant to be . . . I know the players felt they were in a very difficult position, because they hadn’t been successful themselves over the past couple of years. The Cork situation is much more deep-rooted. That’s why nationally, and locally, there needs to be formal structures set up where players can engage with the county board, and vice versa, on issues that relate to them.”

Farrell believes the new GAA Player Charter should help address that need for improved structures between players and county boards.

Farrell was confident the Government players’ grants scheme would survive, despite the economic crisis: “I’m not fearing the worst. The line we’ve taken all along is if there are cuts that the GAA scheme falls in line with that. We’ve heard nothing to the contrary to date . . . So we’re still optimistic.”

Farrell was speaking at the GPA’s launch of the Halifax Hurling Twinning programme for 2009. The programme is aimed at promoting hurling in the non-traditional counties, and will see counties from the Lory Meagher and Nicky Rackard Cups paired with their counterparts at McCarthy Cup level for the coming season.

Under the scheme, players and coaches from the top hurling counties travel to the “twinned” county to oversee a coaching session. The pairings for 2008 are Monaghan and Tipperary; Cavan and Waterford; Louth and Clare; Tyrone and Limerick; Donegal and Kilkenny; Non Ards (Down) and Galway; Fermanagh and Cork; Fingal and Laois; Sligo and Offaly; Leitrim and Antrim; Longford and Wexford; Warwickshire and Dublin.

The president of the GAA, Nickey Brennan, has expressed his sympathies and those of the association to the family of the late Séamus Grant who has passed away: “Mr Grant, a former Waterford GAA county secretary of 37 years and who also served on several GAA national committees, provided an invaluable service to the GAA and he will be sadly missed by all his friends and colleagues in the GAA.”