GAA county officials will now consider the issue at Croke Park on Saturday.
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In the 29-page document, Duffy outlined three options available, as he sees it, to the GAA as it attempts to address an estimated €12m in “under-the-counter” payments to managers.
Duffy says the problem can no longer be ignored, saying the GAA will have to either enforce its own rules and clamp down on payments to those on the sidelines, or introduce a new system of regulated payments for senior inter-county managers.
“I suppose over the years this has been a hot topic for debate and there’s many reports and all the rest of it. And this has been the first time there’s been a report published and I suppose it put the three options there – and there I think they make a lot of sense,” said O’Mahony, who has managed Galway, Leitrim and his native Mayo.
“What the GAA need to do is stop talking about it and if they wish to do something about it.. the one thing I would say as a manager over the years, the myth and the reality are much different.
“Okay, and I want to be totally honest here, there probably are a few exceptions which have given all managers a bad name, but my experience of the vast majority of managers is that they are motivated by winning their provincial or All-Ireland title rather than making money,” the Fine Gael TD told Oisin Langan on Newstalk this morning.
“I don’t think there are too many managers working round the country that are millionaires as a result of their experiences in inter-county management.”
Though O’Mahony agrees the issue needs to be addressed, he acknowledges that county chiefs face a challenge in identifying a solution.
“The experience over the years is that sometimes the weaker counties have managed to put far more resources into trying to be successful, trying to get up with the big boys as it were, than maybe some of the more traditional counties, like the Dublins or the Corks or whatever. So, it’s a very complicated story, to be honest.
“[Y]ou have a situation in many dressingrooms where the manager probably is the only person who’s not being paid – legally paid or whatever. Because you have physios, secretarties, full-time county secretaries, Croke Park staff get to All-Ireland finals; everyone in stadium is being paid except the players.
“So this is a huge challenge to keep the amateur status of the GAA but run it professionally.”
Managers motivated by All-Ireland titles - not money, says O'Mahony
FORMER ALL-IRELAND-winner John O’Mahony says intercounty coaches aren’t in it for the cash – but payments to GAA managers should be regulated.
Yesterday morning, the association’s director general Paraic Duffy’s published his much-anticipated discussion paper on the subject.
GAA county officials will now consider the issue at Croke Park on Saturday.
In the 29-page document, Duffy outlined three options available, as he sees it, to the GAA as it attempts to address an estimated €12m in “under-the-counter” payments to managers.
Duffy says the problem can no longer be ignored, saying the GAA will have to either enforce its own rules and clamp down on payments to those on the sidelines, or introduce a new system of regulated payments for senior inter-county managers.
“I suppose over the years this has been a hot topic for debate and there’s many reports and all the rest of it. And this has been the first time there’s been a report published and I suppose it put the three options there – and there I think they make a lot of sense,” said O’Mahony, who has managed Galway, Leitrim and his native Mayo.
“What the GAA need to do is stop talking about it and if they wish to do something about it.. the one thing I would say as a manager over the years, the myth and the reality are much different.
“Okay, and I want to be totally honest here, there probably are a few exceptions which have given all managers a bad name, but my experience of the vast majority of managers is that they are motivated by winning their provincial or All-Ireland title rather than making money,” the Fine Gael TD told Oisin Langan on Newstalk this morning.
Though O’Mahony agrees the issue needs to be addressed, he acknowledges that county chiefs face a challenge in identifying a solution.
“The experience over the years is that sometimes the weaker counties have managed to put far more resources into trying to be successful, trying to get up with the big boys as it were, than maybe some of the more traditional counties, like the Dublins or the Corks or whatever. So, it’s a very complicated story, to be honest.
“[Y]ou have a situation in many dressingrooms where the manager probably is the only person who’s not being paid – legally paid or whatever. Because you have physios, secretarties, full-time county secretaries, Croke Park staff get to All-Ireland finals; everyone in stadium is being paid except the players.
“So this is a huge challenge to keep the amateur status of the GAA but run it professionally.”
Listen to the full interview at Newstalk>
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