National Forum

Colm O'Rourke's article today re the GPA.

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Brilliant article from Colm O'Rourke

icehonesty (Wexford) - Posts: 2573 - 14/11/2017 08:56:55    2062206

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Replying To icehonesty:  "Brilliant article from Colm O'Rourke"
Agreed. The GPA started off as a vehicle for change and they did achieve some results however the GAA saw a problem that they might have difficulty with down the road. What did they do? They stuffed the gpa's mouth with gold. Not a murmur these days about ongoing problems, seems like it's just one long dinner dance for the GPA since. The Tax- back issue as ORourke mentioned is a no brainer for them to take up but "it's not part of our brief" is the response. They took the GAA's shilling and are silenced now, but hey the management are laughing all the way to the bank.

dead_as_dodos (Carlow) - Posts: 459 - 14/11/2017 11:57:38    2062244

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The gravy train continues, the guys running CP and GPA are singing the same tune. Maybe the players association should raise some funds to have a proper audit of those organisations. Our amateur organisation has grown into a monster where all major decisions are made by well paid officials with income being the most important criteria.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 14/11/2017 13:18:04    2062263

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Replying To dead_as_dodos:  "Agreed. The GPA started off as a vehicle for change and they did achieve some results however the GAA saw a problem that they might have difficulty with down the road. What did they do? They stuffed the gpa's mouth with gold. Not a murmur these days about ongoing problems, seems like it's just one long dinner dance for the GPA since. The Tax- back issue as ORourke mentioned is a no brainer for them to take up but "it's not part of our brief" is the response. They took the GAA's shilling and are silenced now, but hey the management are laughing all the way to the bank."
Spot on. The GPA are now in the pay of the GAA and have been struck dumb. On the issues that matter they are about as effective as an ashtray on a motorbike now. I think independent scrutiny and examination of the GPA 'grants/bursaries' awards is now called for.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9816 - 14/11/2017 13:51:29    2062278

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The truth is this organization is costing us 7 Million a year when all the Costs are added.Imagine what seventy country clubs could do with 100 k each.The GPA should be disbanded Now

jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1686 - 14/11/2017 14:10:02    2062285

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I'd like to see how that budget that O'Rourke mentions breaks down. Its all well and good throwing out figures but not giving specifics.
I believe the GPA publish their accounts (correct me if I'm wrong) so in regards the wage bill, I would be curious to know what the role entails, is it full time, is it at the market rate for other similar jobs and the qualifications required to succeed at the role?
I don't doubt that people are doing well out of this organization but I wouldn't be so quick to judge to say that it's a bunch of people getting rich for doing nothing.

keithlemon (Australia) - Posts: 920 - 14/11/2017 14:40:26    2062293

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Replying To Ulsterman:  "Croke Park will not offend the GPA and likewise they won't annoy HQ too much. It's a win win situation where the gravy continues to flow and there is very little transparency as to where actual funding goes. There are a lot of people earning a good living out of the Association and it has become quite a nice wee comfortable cartel.
However it's modern Ireland where the same two political parties who bankrupted the country to share power and the masses continue to vote for them. Change must come from the grassroots but sadly I don't think the Irish mindset is prepared to do that; people seem quite content to be controlled and told what to do while those in power roar with laughter and 'whatever you're having yourself Mick'."
Politics not a great anology here, the 2 parties who were in governamnt in the years leading up to the crash have far less seats then they had back then.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1413 - 15/11/2017 19:17:36    2062551

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Replying To Dermoot:  "What happened between O'Rourke and the GPA?"
O'Rourke wrote an article a few years ago where he pointed out that there seemed to be cronyism in the GPA when it came to Scholarship's etc. for associates of the top men in the GPA. He used the example of how the Na Fianna club and Farrell's ex Dublin teammates seemed to benefit disproportionately from scholarships etc (he pointed out that Farrell and another man in a top job in the GPA whoes name I can't remember were from the Na Fianna club) Many GPA players took to twitter complaining about O'Rourke afterwards. It turned out this was not players separately deciding to criticise O'Rourke but that that the GPA had sent out a text message to its members telling them to criticise O'Rourke and what bad things to say about him. The text message ended up being forwarded to O'Rourke himself. Afterwards the GPA issued a statement giving out about O'Rourke comments and bringing up how it had helped get Darren Fay a particular course. Bringing Darren Fay, who's course in reality cost peanuts compared to the post graduate courses mentioned in O'Rourke's article, into the debate really annoyed O'Rourke.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1413 - 15/11/2017 20:14:47    2062564

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Replying To bdbuddah:  "O'Rourke wrote an article a few years ago where he pointed out that there seemed to be cronyism in the GPA when it came to Scholarship's etc. for associates of the top men in the GPA. He used the example of how the Na Fianna club and Farrell's ex Dublin teammates seemed to benefit disproportionately from scholarships etc (he pointed out that Farrell and another man in a top job in the GPA whoes name I can't remember were from the Na Fianna club) Many GPA players took to twitter complaining about O'Rourke afterwards. It turned out this was not players separately deciding to criticise O'Rourke but that that the GPA had sent out a text message to its members telling them to criticise O'Rourke and what bad things to say about him. The text message ended up being forwarded to O'Rourke himself. Afterwards the GPA issued a statement giving out about O'Rourke comments and bringing up how it had helped get Darren Fay a particular course. Bringing Darren Fay, who's course in reality cost peanuts compared to the post graduate courses mentioned in O'Rourke's article, into the debate really annoyed O'Rourke."
Fair play to o'Rourke getting it out in the open, it always astounds me how these croneys think they can get away with this kind of thing but sure there is no justice for all.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 16/11/2017 01:46:15    2062599

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "Fair play to o'Rourke getting it out in the open, it always astounds me how these croneys think they can get away with this kind of thing but sure there is no justice for all."
I remember all of this happening at the time.

Lost a lot of respect for the GPA at the time and to be honest, now I mainly disregard anything I see from them.

Yes there budget is released publically in their report but its no broken down by position within the GPA

The_DOC (Galway) - Posts: 758 - 16/11/2017 14:03:57    2062668

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