By Ciaran Woods
c.woods@gaeliclife.com
EVENTS of the past week have once again brought the issue of manager payments to the fore, with one former inter-county manager revealing he received an offer of ¤20,000 to manage a club side in the same weekend that GAA president Nickey Brennan called for a tightening up of the GAA's rules on amateurism.
It was an historic weekend for the GAA at Congress last weekend in Sligo, as the delegates voted in favour of the grants scheme to inter-county players. It was not short of its opponents, however, with Mark Conway and his Of One Belief group having taken the matter to the DRA as they felt it was in breach of Rule 11.
It was somewhat ironic then that at the same time as passing the expenses scheme, the outgoing GAA president was setting out his stall that in the remainder of his time in office he was keen to root out the illegal payments to managers. He will address the issue by commissioning a committee to study and re-draft Rule 11 and make this rule on amateurism much more specific.
What Brennan would have made then of former Dublin and Roscommon manager Tommy Carr stating in a tabloid newspaper on Sunday that he turned down ¤20,000 to manage a club side would be interesting to know.
Technically Carr could be brought to task by the GAA and asked which club contravened Rule 11 by offering the payment, but the chances of the manager landing any club in hot water is extremely slim.
A high number of clubs across Ulster avail of the services of managers from other clubs and counties, with those involved often receiving "reimbursement" of one form or another for their exertions. Knowing that such activities take place and actually taking clubs to book though are two very different matters.
The fact that the President now feels it necessary to tighten up a Rule 11 which he describes as "loose" and "bland" will raise eyebrows among those who were against the decision to pay grants to county players, with the opponents to the scheme seeing it as a first step on a slippery slope towards professionalism. Any interference with the precious Rule 11 therefore will be viewed with a high degree of suspicion.
Of course as his term in office draws towards a conclusion, Brennan may be less cautious in his approach to matters as it matters little whose toes he stands on in the months ahead. That could prove to be the catalyst of a major move by the outgoing President, who could now have the perfect opportunity to make major moves towards eradicating the under the table payments.
