GAA Director General Tom Ryan delivered his first Annual report yesterday and touched on many of the key areas that have dominated his time since taking office in April.
He hit the ground running after a decade in charge of the finances, and it was always going to be a year of strong debate with the new Championship structures and timings being given e first run out.
He was thoughtful but very clear in his responses in an hour-long media briefing that took place in Croke Park yesterday. We have covered elsewhere the ‘lingering unease’ around the decision-making process for opening up Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the Liam Miller Tribute Game while recognising it was the right thing to do.
Here though is a selection of other thoughts from the 64-page report on matters ranging from the playing rules to facilities, and from communication to values…
Gaelic Football Playing Rules
“There is nothing wrong with exploring the need for change and improvement. To fail to do so would be a dereliction of duty.
So whether you agree or not with the specific experiments proposed, and whether or not any of them eventually materialise in the form of bona fide rules, in many respects one of the most important and valuable outcomes will be a validation of the process undertaken.”
International Ventures
“Although these games are not driven by a financial imperative our resources in this sphere are finite. So although each game or event in isolation presents a good argument, perhaps in future years we will need to cast a more critical eye and be a little more selective or modest in our ambitions.”
Club Fixtures
“There is no apparent discrepancy in what we all want – but there are differing views on how we might achieve it.  All of those views and voices will be considered.”
Gaelic Players Association
“Our relationship with the GPA needs to evolve beyond that of being purely a funder, and towards being a partner. That will require commitment on both our parts.”
AIB Club Players Awards
“In 2018, and with the assistance of sponsors AIB, we were proud to initiate a new awards scheme to recognise the outstanding performers in the senior club championships across provincial and All-Ireland level.”
Inter-County Dominance
“There is a definite feeling that policy changes leading to a greater control of the inter-county game are required. The report itself should make for interesting reading once published and will doubtless pose some difficult questions and highlight challenges that must be faced by the Association in the coming years.”
Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Casement Park
Short-term funding and management expertise has been secured from Croke Park Stadium, and plans are well advanced to see the ground operate successfully in 2019 and beyond.
On Casement Park, progress has been slow, and the project remains embedded in the planning process. It is hoped that some clarity will emerge in 2019 which will allow us to progress with this vital facility.
Ladies Football and Camogie
“40 per cent of GAA clubs currently operate as“One Club” effectively combined with Camogie and/or Ladies Football, and of those who do not currently operate on that basis, some 60 per cent expressed an interest in doing so.”
“Clearly this is a case where our clubs are taking the lead and the national body needs to follow.”
“To that end, there is one important milestone before Congress for consideration this weekend – amotion too afford LGFA and An CumannCamogaíochta representation at GAA Ard Chomhairle and Coiste Bainistíochta. I trust delegates will give these measures their careful consideration and I encourage GAA members to watch progress closely and to play your part in the process.”
Brexit
The financial and economic risks are really only secondary for the GAA. The most profound threat posed to us by a disorderly decoupling of Britain is social. The effective operation of countless clubs in the border region, and countless communities in which those clubs
are based, is our primary concern. We absolutely need free movement of our members and supporters.
Games Development
“Recent changes within the mainstream educational system mean that Junior Cycle Wellbeing, Transition Year and Leaving Certificate Physical Education (LCPE) are set to become cornerstones of the system.”
“These present opportunities to the GAA to optimise the links between the community club and the post-primary school. The Association’s commitment this year to ventures such as the Future Leader’s/TY programme and the LCPE Learning resources represent excellent progress in this regard and I have no doubt that there is further potential for similar partnerships in the future.”
Financial Support
Three significant channels of annual support will be enhanced in 2019.
The “Club Development Fund” reopened in October 2018 and submissions for the first round of new loan funding are now being accepted.
This loan fund is available to support approved club projects and initiatives up to the value of €100k per club and is open to all clubs. Equally any clubs or units with surplus funds on hand are encouraged to deposit these surplus funds securely with CLG while in turn also earning a return.
It is with these independent deposits that the overall development fund base increases. All deposits lodged to the fund are redeemable on request and within 14 days.
The annual “Club Grounds Grant Fund” is being increased from €2m to €4m over a four-year period. €500k was added to this fund in 2018 and an additional €500k in annual increments are budgeted over the coming three years.
A new ring-fenced support fund of €200k for overseas units has also been established for 2019 and again this will seek to support approved projects and initiatives in parallel with the funding required to ensure the successful hosting of the 2019 World Games in Ireland.
Communications
Digital continues on a strong upward trajectory for us. GAANOW was in its second year in 2018 and its growth in that year has been exponential, both in terms of content and viewership.
GAANOW now delivers in-game and on-demand match clips, the best of our archive’s golden moments and very strong live social programming without any barriers. These videos were viewed over 30 million times in 2018.
Community and Health
The Healthy Club Project (HCP) made significant strides in 2018. Over 200 clubs applied in January to participate in Phase 3 of the project, with capacity allowing for the selection of 92 to join the 58 clubs that successfully completed Phase 2 in November 2017.
It is intended that this will be the last closed phase of the project and that all interested clubs will be invited to join in January 2020. The growing interest in the area was highlighted by the attendance of 400 delegates at the largest to date national Healthy Club Conference in Croke Park in October.
Croke Park
Almost 900,000 people attended GAA matches at the venue, and almost 30,000 children took part in Go Games and Cumann na mBunscoil matches during the year.
Other significant events included matches staged for the Irish Defence Forces, and the remarkable Gaelic Sunday commemoration in August.
There were four concerts in the stadium during the summer with almost 250,000 attendees, and we were also privileged to welcome a number of very distinguished guests during the year, most notably Pope Francis to the World Meeting of Families – Festival of Families event in August – with 54,000 people in attendance.
Broadcasting
Against an otherwise very positive background, it is important to note that championship TV viewing numbers actually declined during the year.
This is disappointing. One single cause is difficult to discern. The volume of games broadcast, specific games not shown, scheduling, choice of channel, competing events can all have a bearing. As well of course as the attractiveness of the fixtures on offer. Clearly, this is a note of caution and needs to be evaluated.