Dessie Farrell will step down as chief executive of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) tomorrow after doling out a parting gift of his own at Croke Park yesterday.
Flanked by Enda Kenny, the taoiseach, and Shane Ross, the sports minister, the former Dublin player’s final act was to confirm that almost €7 million of government funding had been secured by the GPA for the player grants scheme.
The programme began in 2008 when €3.5 million of state money was divided up among the 2,000 or so inter-county hurlers and footballers as a reward for their amateur efforts.
“I’m happy to be involved with the under-21s, and that’s a big enough commitment as it isDessie Farrell
Economic difficulties meant that the pot dipped to as low as €900,000 in recent years, but Farrell and the government have now committed to make €6.9m available between 2017 and 2019. The funding for 2017 will be €1.7 million, with €2.3 million for 2018 and €3m for 2019.
Farrell described the extension to the deal as an exercise in “fighting your corner” and having also announced last July that €6.2 million of separate funding had been secured by the GPA from the GAA, his stock couldn’t be much higher as he leaves his position.
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His next move will be an intriguing one after 18 years with the GPA, though he insisted that he isn’t leaving for another job and isn’t interested in a senior inter-county management position either, despite his success with underage Dublin teams.
“I don’t have a new job lined up,” Farrell said. “A lot of people are surprised at that. I’m probably just going to set something up on my own initially and work on a couple of projects. That will give me the time and flexibility to figure out what career path I want to pursue in the future.
“In sport? Possibly, and maybe a little bit outside of it as well. I should have that figured out at this stage but I don’t. I’ll get to do that over Christmas.”
Farrell has guided Dublin minor and under-21 Gaelic football teams to All-Ireland successes in the last five seasons and is currently in charge of the county under-21 team.
He was viewed by many as a likely replacement for Jim Gavin, the back to back All-Ireland-winning senior manager, whenever he steps down — particularly as Gavin stepped up from the under-21 role himself in 2013 — though Farrell, surprisingly, rejected this theory.
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“No, I don’t think so,” Farrell said. “Some people have suggested that that’s the reason I might have decided to step down. It’s definitely not the reason at all.
“I’m happy to be involved with the under-21s, and that’s a big enough commitment as it is. It’s completely unrelated to the decision to step aside.
“I can’t see myself going that way, to be honest. I think the commitment is too great. I’ve been happy coaching young players and being involved with young players over the years. The under-21s is probably the limit for me.”
“We would have liked to have made more progress on Championship restructure
Farrell was a founder member of the GPA and became chairman in 2000, a position that morphed into the chief executive role three years later and which he has held since. The 1995 All-Ireland winning Dublin forward and former All-Star believes that he has left the GPA, and by extension the lot of inter-county players, in a healthy position.
“I think to get to the place we’ve got to, particularly in terms of the grants, is a very good outcome for us,” Farrell said. “It’s not where it was back then at the beginning of the scheme with the funding but it’s heading in the right direction.”
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Inevitably, there are regrets from nearly 20 years at the coalface of player representation.
“We would have liked to have made more progress on Championship restructure,” Farrell admitted, referring to calls to organise the playing season differently to improve player welfare.
“What I would say about that is that I think it’s been the players who have put it very much on the agenda. It’s very encouraging for us that, very recently, there seems to be an appetite to introduce some sort of change.”
It is expected that his replacement will be a former inter-county player and an appointment will be made early in 2017.
“After being in the chief executive role for the last 14 years, you’d have a fair handle on it and what’s involved, and possibly the type of individual who would fit the bill,” Farrell said.
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“I’ve made my views known in terms of the workload and the skills needed to a sub-group of our board, who have been charged with implementing the process and making a recommendation for the new appointment to the board itself.
“We hope to have an announcement very early in the new year as to who that replacement will be.”