Gavin defends Dubs' funding

February 08, 2016

Dublin manager Jim Gavin.
©INPHO/Andrew Paton.

Jim Gavin has defended the level of funding Dublin GAA receives from Croke Park.

The recently-published GAA financial report for 2015 showed that Dublin had received €1.34 million for games development, which was more than the other 31 counties combined.

Speaking after the Dubs' win over Mayo on Saturday night, Gavin praised Dublin GAA chiefs for investing the money wisely and also urged other counties to make their case for increased funding.

"The funding has gone into the clubs" he said.

"The intelligent thing that Dublin GAA did is invest in people. And that's what they are doing. There is very little capital investment going on in Dublin clubs at the moment. The county board, with that funding, matches it on parity - there's a 50:50 split. The bedrock of the Association is volunteerism.

"I was out with my young fella, the U8s and the games promotion officer was there. He was co-ordinating five coaches with the 20 kids that were there. Myself and the other guys were all volunteering our time - you need someone to co-ordinate it.

"Having experienced Cumann na mBuncsol, there is still a cohort of teachers there to promote Gaelic Games in our schools but the reality is that that is beginning to wane. There is a battle ground being fought by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Dublin.

"There are plenty of other outdoor activities that kids can get involved in. We want them to play Gaelic games. It's no different here in Castlebar than in Clondalkin. We need to get out there and invest in our people."

The double All-Ireland winning manager continued: "One of the aims of the Gaelic Athletic Association is to promote and foster Gaelic Games.

"We're very fortunate in the county of Dublin that we have got some bright and forward thinking and visionary executives on the management committee. They've had a long term plan. They had to present it to the finance committee that is represented by all counties and they had to sell their business plan for Gaelic Games in Dublin."


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