CLUBS PAY THEIR WAY IN DRIVING SUCCESS
KEVIN O’SHAUGHNESSY is Strategic Programme Manager with the Dublin County Board. He is at pains to point out the financial contribution made by the clubs themselves in the outstanding success of the Games Promotion Officer (GPO) model.
‘The important fact that isn’t ever included is that the clubs in Dublin pay 50 per cent of any salary – €18,000,’ he said.
‘The GPO is a support structure to the volunteer. They do not manage teams in Dublin. If you look at some of the numbers in Dublin, you might have one GPO and 1,000 volunteers.’
In terms of precise numbers, he adds: ‘There are probably 42 employed by the County Board with another four or five employed by clubs.
‘Some clubs have two. If they have two, they get no funding for a second one.’ St Brigid’s is one such example. Catering for a population of roughly 1.2 million, he said there is a good reason why money was invested in games development in Dublin in the past decade.
‘There was a perception that Dublin needed to do something. And we did.
‘We were in trouble when we weren’t doing something; now we’re in trouble when we are.
‘It’s an interesting concept that we’re too good and we’re too effective, in other words that we’ve too many people playing. The genesis of this came from the perception that we couldn’t get the participation rates, that they were too low.’
He admits that a number of Meath clubs have been in touch recently in terms of following a similar pathway and has a simple answer to other counties looking for increased financial support.
‘Part of that debate is what percentage are the clubs and county going to contribute? It’s unreasonable to say, “We want the same as Dublin but we’re putting nothing in ourselves”.’