Over three and a half million euros in grant aid which has been handed to the GAA by the Irish Sports Council comes with no strings attached, GAA President Sean Kelly has stated. The GAA has received the funding which is in addition to the 109 million euros in public funds (Government and Lottery) supplied for the redevelopment of Croke Park. Of the money received, the GAA will channel some 1.34 million euros into the grass roots of the organisation; 1.25millions to hurling and one million to Dublin GAA. "It's strings-free to a degree, " Mr. Kelly explained. "They obviously demand a certain amount of accountability and I welcome that. "Anybody left to their own devices can think they are doing a great job and it may not be the case. "Certain standards are required and I'm quite happy with that. "When I went to the Government I said no strings attached and that's the way it was. "They gave us money for Croke Park and the same here but they are different aspects altogether. "If they had tried to attach strings I don't think they would have got Rule 42 changed. "I was able to stand up without fear of contradiction (and affirm) that the money was being given to us on the basis of what we had done and what we planned to do in the future." Tweet

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