PAYMENTS ISSUE MUST GET A LOOK

WE know it is an issue that the GAA would happily park, but there have been enough loose tongues in recent weeks to reopen the search for those infamous underthe-desk sealed envelopes.

Last week, the Dublin chairman Sean Shanley admitted that in the past aspiring managers had been quite open about asking for payments.

‘We’re also not paying managers. If anyone comes in and puts a demand on it then that’s the end of the story. It has happened in the past, yeah,’ said Shanley.

But surely if the GAA has a strict policy on no payment to managers, Croke Park has a duty to contact Dublin to identify these individuals.

It might be as good a way as any to kick-start a new investigation to one of the country’s biggest nod-and-wink industries.

Another man worth having a chat with is former Waterford manager Justin McCarthy, who seemed to imply the notion that payment to managers was common place when reflecting on his time with the Déise.

‘I didn’t get the money fellas are getting.

‘If I was offered €100,000 or respect, I’d say, ‘give me the respect and forget about the €100k.’

‘Let’s be honest about it, do players realise the effort and time a manager puts into it,’ queries McCarthy.

Perhaps, he might advise, in the interests of transparency, who those ‘fellas’ are.

We might just be getting somewhere.