Amateur status under threat

Sir — Congratulations to PJ Cosgrove (Letters, Sunday Independent, October 8) warning of the possible “self-destruction of the amateur status” of the GAA.

His letter should remind all of us of the value of the “voluntary and amateur status” of Gaelic games.

The GAA is not based on multi-millionaire international professionals, but on a community of amateurs organising and playing for the honour and glory of their native parish or county.

But that ideal is under threat now because, as PJ Cosgrove says, the GAA is being “transmogrified into a mega-corporate proposition”.

As he also says, its “authentic amateur” status “cannot survive” the “ridiculous (nay scurrilous) training demands” on young amateur players.

In addition, it is under threat because the GAA will not obey the basic rule that each county should have a team.

The counties were set up by the colonial power in London hundreds of years ago to run the administration of this then colonial island.

The native government set up four counties — Dun Laoire, South Dublin, Dublin City and Fingal — more recently to do the same thing. Despite that, we have one team with nearly limitless resources and a quarter of the population of the country representing those four counties.

They are competing with counties such as Leitrim with one-fortieth of the population and very limited resources. PJ Cosgrove is right. The seemingly unlimited emphasis on success, the “win at all costs” mentality and the absence of sportsmanship is indeed a warning about a threat to the amateur status of the GAA. A Leavy, Sutton, Dublin 13