Tom Parsons, chief executive of the Gaelic Players Association, has challenged the Government to “walk the walk” and heed his organisation’s call to increase grant funding for intercounty players in next month’s budget.
The GPA are looking for the Government to increase the player grants from an average of €1,400 per player to €2,500. The proposed increase for approximatively 4,000 intercounty players – male and female – would see the total grant rise from €5.6 million to €10 million annually.
Government grants for intercounty GAA players were first introduced in 2008 with an initial disbursement of €3.5 million (€1,944 per player).
The subsequent economic downturn led to that overall investment dropping to €900,000 in 2015 before it was increased again to €3 million in 2018. In 2021 the Government announced funding of €2.6 million for female intercounty players – thus establishing parity with their male counterparts (there is a smaller female playing pool).
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However, the GPA now want the Government to increase the overall figure, citing the findings of a report by Indecon claiming that intercounty players generate a total economic impact of €591 million per year.
The GPA have spent recent months meeting politicians from all parties, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and the two ministers leading the sport portfolio – Patrick O’Donovan and Charlie McConalogue.
Countless organisations have been lobbying politicians ahead of Budget 2026 and the GPA hope their cause is recognised when the announcement is made on October 7th.
“Every one of them doubled down on how valuable the intercounty game is,” said Parsons of those meetings. “They’ve stated, ‘we know the sacrifice, we know the commitment, we know how important you are to Ireland’. Not that they’ve committed to funding, but they have said that.
“So, if they truly believe that, then let’s walk the walk now and show players. It can’t be lip service where the Government recognises all these things in principle but then there’s an excuse.
“Players aren’t going to lobby year on year, so we need to walk the walk now and not talk the talk. There’ll be serious disgruntlement across the playing pool if it doesn’t happen. I just don’t think players would accept it and we’d be mandated by players to be back here in January knocking the door down again.
“So, this isn’t going to go away for the Government and that’s why I think they should really address it now.”
When the grants first emerged, Parsons was on the verge of establishing himself as a Mayo footballer.
“I can only speak from my experience when I was playing and I was a student – the grant was like gold for us in 2008,“ he said. ”It was not far off just enough that I didn’t need to be working in a bar on a Saturday night.
“And that’s when the cost of living was way down, rent was way down and there was no problem getting student accommodation. All that has increased, yet the grant is worth less now than it was in 2008.”
The GPA says grants to intercounty players are currently worth 24 per cent less than they were in 2008.
And though it is not a like-for-like comparison, the GPA have contrasted that decrease with athletes on the international carding scheme. They outlined how this investment was €9,055 per athlete in 2008 and €27,000 per athlete by 2023.
Parsons is aware of players who have had to step away from the intercounty scene for financial or professional reasons.
Leitrim were forced to hand Fermanagh a walkover in Division 3 of the National Football League in March because they couldn’t field a team.
“Twenty out of 32 of the Leitrim squad (from last year) dropped out this year,“ he said. ”Some Leitrim players were the stars of the Sigerson campaign, the majority of that squad were students.
“I talked to Steven Poacher (Leitrim manager) about why they did not field a team. There’s no doubt about it, those students in college in Dublin, they can’t afford to play the game. And if we lose the likes of Leitrim, we will lose that cultural heritage.
“The Leitrim example needs to be looked at. If we surveyed all those students and we said, ‘look, there is a grant that is more substantial that means you don’t need part-time jobs’, I would be flabbergasted if they didn’t say that would entice them to play with their county a bit more.
“And it’s probably compounded too with demographics because work and education are primarily in the cities, so in rural counties the commitment is even higher because a lot of players are travelling.
“For the likes of Leitrim, Roscommon and Mayo, we always have pools of players in Dublin who have to travel up and down. It’s giving more of their time and rents are through the roof. So, we have to work hard to make sure that they want to play.”
