With the GAA's powerful Central Council having fully endorsed the finalised
scheme for the payment of the Republic's government grants to players as
well as having given the green light for an anticipated resumption of the
International Rules series, a new era is about to dawn for the Association
as a whole.
WITH the GAA's powerful Central Council having fully endorsed the finalised
scheme for the payment of the Republic's government grants to players as
well as having given the green light for an anticipated resumption of the
International Rules series, a new era is about to dawn for the Association
as a whole.
Motions on the payment of grants to inter-county players will now be tabled
at Annual Congress in Sligo on April 11-12 when it is expected that the
issue will be enshrined in the rule-book although not without what is
expected to be passionate debate.
Indeed, the legal challenge from the committed 'Of One Belief' group, which
is bitterly opposed to the payment of grants, has not lost its impetus even
though the Disputes Resolution Authority has stated that it did not have the
authority, as a matter of law, to allow its recent submission to stand.
The 'Of One Belief' group is now expected to make a further submission to
the DRA and will undoubtedly be even more determined to express their
opposition to the grant payments in the wake of yesterday's Central Council
decision.
The fact that yesterday's meeting gave approval for the continuation of
talks aimed at securing a resumption of the International Rules series would
suggest that the Ireland v Australia rivalry will be back on track -
although, hopefully, without the violence that marred the 2006 matches to
such an extent that the series has been in cold storage since then.
The GAA has also made it clear that it will be seeking firm assurances from
the AFL that they will not be targetting Under 19 gaelic footballers as
potential recruit for Rules football in Australia.
While Central Council would certainly appear to be in favour of the Rules
series coming back into vogue, there are many within the GAA who would view
this move with considerable scepticism, among then Tyrone manager Mickey
Harte, an outspoken critic of the Rules concept.
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