There’s no way we can handle true integration
IN our hurling land of milk and honey, the good times keep on rolling. Plans are in place to build a centre of excellence in the county after Gerry McManus – brother of JP and also a long-time benefactor to Limerick GAA – is reported to have assisted the county board purchase a 95-acre site in Crecora.
The plans are to develop several pitches on the ground as well as state-of-the-art facilities to help develop players to play at the highest level.
If it comes to pass, Limerick will break new ground, given that some counties, albeit a minority at this stage, do not possess a dedicated training base, while Limerick will now have two.
Only last year €1.2m was spent in opening a new 705-seater stand in the original centre of excellence that is Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale, along with new dressing rooms and a gym, while there are plans to upgrade the existing 3G pitch there later this year.
The news this week leaves me somewhat conflicted. I see the value in having better facilities but on the flip side I have seen how increased levels of professionalism has thieved the joy from our games.
And it concerns me that there is such a focus currently on facilities, that the GAA is closer to becoming a property development organisation than a sporting one.
In his recent report, the GAA Director General Tom Ryan estimated that between all the capital projects planned for around the country, the expenditure is likely to be in the region of €200million.
NOW, if there is any lesson to be learned about capital projects in this country, the best way to get to the final cost is to multiply the original estimate by two.
I am not suggesting that these projects are a complete waste of time and investing money in extra pitches to allow players to play and train is preferable than building a zoo to house a white elephant, as happened in Cork with Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
However, there is no evidence that the money invested in these centres of excellence around the country is actually enriching us where it matters most.
After all, both Gaelic football and hurling are constantly under the spotlight because of the terrible state both games are in, despite the fact that players as individuals have never been stronger, fitter and faster.
But, then, these training hubs are built to enable professional mind-sets, which feed into the narrative that a game can only get better when self-expression and risk is coached out of it.
Anyhow, if there was an audit conducted and the money spent on these training centres was measured against how our games have regressed as a spectacle, the National Children’s Hospital would be in the penny place when it comes to not getting value for money.
On the flip side, the need for the GAA to invest in more facilities can be justified by the fact that in three years time it will be a fully integrated organisation.
That is something I welcome, but only on the basis that it is properly planned.
I am not convinced that it is and right now I don’t believe that at club level the facilities, and this is particularly true in urban areas, will be able to deal with the doubling of membership.
If the integration of the LGFA and the Camogie Association is to be achieved, it will require support from a Government whose income over the coming years is likely to be restricted as the corporate tax cow gets milked dry.
Of course, one of the many benefits of an integrated Gaelic games body is that, in theory, it will deliver some badly needed reality to the men’s intercounty game in both codes.
Equality has to be the foundation on which integration is built on, which means that all players at the elite level will be treated the exact same.
As it is, most county boards on the men’s side are at breaking point in meeting the huge costs of preparing their intercounty teams, where the income in terms of gate receipts, sponsorship and media rights are on a completely different level to the women’s codes.
Doubling those expenses while income streams fall further behind is not feasible, which logically should lead to one outcome.
The runaway train that is the costs placed on counties to fund their intercounty teams will be brought to a halt because the monies will simply not be there to meet them.
That should mean smaller backroom teams and reduced contact hours with players, which would absolutely be a godsend to our game.
But…
YES, there is a huge ‘but’. That may well sound like the logical outcome but it will not be one that will come to pass for all counties.
In the event of an integrated Gaelic games family, the gulf between the haves and the have nots in the GAA will become a chasm. And how do we know that? In part, because that chasm is already in place. Limerick and Dublin’s dominance in both codes has been partly fuelled by the professional supports both have been able to purchase.
That it is the likes of the traditionally well-heeled counties like Kilkenny and Tipperary in hurling and Kerry and Mayo in football who have come closest to challenging tells you money still talks.
In an integrated association the big counties will absorb the costs better than the rest to ensure that their flagship teams will not suffer, simply because, just like in life, some teams will always be more equal than others.
And, as the gift of a 95-acre farm that is about to be bestowed on Limerick shows, the same applies to some counties.
That is not Limerick’s issue – they would be mad to turn down such an act of generosity – but it will become a GAA issue when the price of success reaches parts that others simply can’t access.