TOM RYAN: REVOLUTION IN THE AIR

TOM RYAN’S maiden meeting with the press in his position as director general of the GAA was run of the mill, as these meetings go. He played it safe and sound, and did not tiptoe very far away from the overall vision of his predecessor, Páraic Duffy, either on the contentious issue of TV paywalls or our fixtures pile-up.

It would be unfair not to wish the Carlow man well in the toughest job of all in Irish sport — and, more than that, I sincerely hope that he lives up to Duffy’s stature as a DG and presents the same calm and measured approach at even the toughest of times.

I believe he will be a good and worthy choice.

However, I have to put on record — as I did, once and once only, at the very beginning of Duffy’s tenure — that it would have been a good thing for Ryan to promise us that he will also burst a gut to live up to the monetary package which comes with the job.

No director general has ever been prepared to allow the association’s membership to properly measure his worth.

Duffy (right), like the others before him, did not see it necessary to offer the ultimate transparency which should be standard for an amateur organisation and offer on his first day in public the salaries of everyone in full-time positions in the GAA. Why are these sums not visible? As I did upon Duffy’s arrival as director general, I’ll make it known that I understand the DG receives a very rewarding remuneration – and that the full package, including a pension which is benchmarked against the Dublin City Council manager, touches upon €250,000.

If I am wrong about this, then I would like to know it, though Duffy chose to laugh off such a figure in the past, saying it was nothing near that high sum. Unfortunately, he never offered an alternative figure.

Duffy was a great leader of the GAA, even if I, like many people, disagreed with some of his decisions. He was straight and forceful, and did a good day’s work for the association throughout his 11-year tenure. Whatever he received monthly, he was probably worth every last cent of it.

Ryan has a hard act to follow. He will have to prove his worth too, to himself and to his membership. But, to begin with, we’d like to know what the GAA believes he is worth to the association, in euros and cents, please?