“You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations” Stevie Wonder once said.
It’s true but when it comes to the incoming GAA president, there is a feeling that a lot of people have very high expectations of him and what he will achieve.
Jarlath Burns will become the 41st President of the GAA on Saturday.
It will be a very proud day for him, his family and his club Silverbridge.
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In his election and acceptance speech in February 2023, he spoke of “the enormous privilege, but it carries with it, an immense responsibility”.
The former Armagh captain has been unequivocal in his belief that the job of the GAA President is to defend the values of the GAA.
These values are community identity, amateur status, inclusiveness, respect, player welfare, team work and volunteerism.
There is a lot to defend at the moment.
The recent numbers from Ard Stiúrthóir Tom Ryan in his annual report showed that the sum of €40 million is being spent by counties on their inter-county teams.
It’s a staggering amount of money and it is only increasing.
County boards and clubs are under increased financial pressure trying to raise this money with volunteers increasingly annoyed and dispirited that hard earned fundraising, for the most part, is funding the senior club and inter-county players.
Payments are being made but publicly they are not being admitted to. It’s a bit like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Everyone is going along with the pretence but no-one is shouting stop or calling out publicly the absurdity of it all.
This has been identified as one of the key challenges of the GAA as it has a knock-on effect to the amateur status of the organisation.
If everyone else is getting paid, why aren’t the players?
Payment to some management and backroom teams means that there are increased sessions for players which impedes on the player welfare value of the organisation.
“Every GAA president has been tasked with managing this financial environment” said Nickey Brennan, who was president of the association between 2006 and 2009.
“It is not possible to manage if you don’t have the co-operation of the 32 chairpeople and secretaries”.
Nicky Brennan was GAA President between 2006 and 2009
Here lies the challenge. Payments are being made but publicly they are not being admitted to.
It’s a bit like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Everyone is going along with the pretence but no-one is shouting stop or calling out publicly the absurdity of it all.
Burns has spoken about his plans to commission a report into the amateur status of the GAA involving the GPA as well as the county boards.
It would be a welcome step but unless counties wholeheartedly embrace it, very little will change.
How commercial and financial transparency will look takes on greater meaning in relation to the value of inclusiveness as the LGFA, Camogie Association and the GAA look to integrate.
If some of the managers and backroom staff of the mens’ teams are being paid, should the same not apply for the female codes?
What will that €40m sum look like or be when you have ladies football and camógie teams in the mix?
If we are real about equality, that means all teams get the same amount of money.
It’s a very sobering thought for all county boards.
The amount of money intercounty teams seek will continue to rise but how county boards and fundraisers deal with this has to change.
There is not a bottomless pit of money and hard decisions will have to be made about spending and accountability for this spending.
“He will have to address different problems that he didn’t see coming but that is the nature of every presidency” said Brennan.
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One of those challenges will be the role of hurling and the leadership Croke Park shows on this.
“If money solved the hurling problem, we would have solved it a long time ago” the Kilkenny native said.
“The challenge has been that hurling has to fit into a dominant football environment and it has struggled, as football has struggled here in Kilkenny in a dominant hurling environment.”
The will and energy to change this will be needed from Burns and who he appoints to deliver on this.
There is no shortage of challenges and what people would like to see looked at during his tenure ranging from a review of the rules of Gaelic football, depopulation of rural clubs, migration to urban clubs, infrastructure, hurling, integration, commercial, sponsorship, Scór agus an Ghaeilge /the Irish language.
There is a long list of expectations.
Jarlath Burns practises his hurling skills at St Mary's CBS, Belfast Picture: Kevin Heron. The incoming GAA President will have to find a way to preserve hurling in a football-dominated environment according to one of his predecessors Nickey Brennan
“I am loath to give Jarlath any advice as he is a smart person who has been heavily involved in the club and intercounty scene. He has walked the walk so he won’t need my advice” said Nickey.
“It is a seven-day-a-week, 16-hour day job a lot of the time and can be an exhausting schedule in terms of travelling inside and outside the country.
“Perhaps one thing stands out for me is that when I met Queen Elizabeth on her visit to Croke Park in 2011, I placed my hand on her back while introducing her to people.
“I got a royal telling off from her security about this. Maybe don’t do that to any dignitaries that you meet” he told me with a laugh.
It’s the highest administrative accolade that can be achieved in the GAA and a journey we wish him well on.
Go n-éirí go geal leis.
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