Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE ARE ALL FLYNN THIS TOGETHER
GPA chief repeats training warning
THE Gaelic Players’ Association has issued repeated warnings to inter-county players around training bans.
At Monday night’s Leinster Council annual convention, Pat Teehan (inset), chairman of the provincial body, hit out at reports that counties had been training collectively. He stated that the GPA has “a major responsibility” on player welfare and that “it would be very helpful if they made a public statement condemning any such activity and instructing their members not to partake”. However, while the GPA hasn’t issued a public statement on the matter, its chief executive Paul Flynn has sent three separate emails to the membership since just before Christmas, stressing the need for players to adhere to the training ban. On December 23, when the ban was still only due to run until January 15, he wrote: “The GPA are fully supportive of this provision to allow players sufficient down time and will be monitoring adherence with this early in the New Year.”
After the GAA extended the ban to the end of the month, Flynn told members on January 5 that “while we appreciate this will impact considerably on inter-county team preparation scheduled for the month of January, the severity of these measures must be seen as proportionate to the risk currently presented by Covid-19”.
As that week developed, reports emerged about Down and Cork’s alleged transgressions, along with those of other unnamed counties, and a third missive was issued by Flynn on January 8. It carried a stronger tone than the previous circulars and provided a facility for players to report training breaches in a confidential manner.
Reminding players that they weren’t insured to train during this period, Flynn said: “We are asking for full co-operation from players, coaches and county officers during this period to safeguard the health and safety of all involved in our games and wider communities and ensure a timely resumption of our games, when it is safe to do so.
“Delegates at the GPA AGM in September voted in support of the introduction of a confidential reporting platform to help monitor adherence with the closed-season.
“If you are aware of breaches of the closed season measures you can report, in confidence.”
A link was provided for players to report training breaches with the process outlined. A first disclosure would see the GPA contact the squad rep and captain and remind them of the closed season protocols.
If a second disclosure came to light, the team manager and county board would be contacted by the GPA and a third would see the GPA contact the GAA “to take appropriate agreed action”.