THE treatment of a number of high profile disciplinary cases involving inter-county players over the past year is indicative of the GAA’s attitude to the county playing tier. Tyrone’s Ryan McMenamin was subjected to a barrage of almost unprecedented criticism in a number of newspapers following an incident in a recent league game against Kerry. Ironically, Paul Galvin was subjected to something similar last summer.

While he may have failed at the first attempt, McMenamin is justifiably appealing the severity of the sentence – he is after all entitled to be treated like any other player. What seems to have been lost in the wash, however, is that the Tyrone man has accepted his transgression; he has faced up to what he did. This stance has done nothing to stem the tide of moral outrage awash in papers, outrage which doesn’t take long to filter through to the disciplinary committee room.

There is one reason why the actions of Ryan McMenamin have been seized up with such furious zeal – television. The growth in television coverage of Gaelic games has been constant. From the early days of highlights and finals to saturation coverage of pre-season provincial competitions, many inter-county players now find themselves in the spotlight throughout the season. Form, performance, discipline. . . all are scrutinised forensically.

And this has, without doubt, led to ‘special treatment’ in high profile disciplinary cases where the influence of the media is palpable in the actions of the GAA’s committees. No one condones foul play but if televised games are going to be subjected to a different level of disciplinary scrutiny than non-televised games or even club games, then the GAA needs to articulate these distinctions. A county player, in the eyes of the GAA, does not differ from any other member of the organisation and thus deserves identical treatment in terms of punishment. This is patently not the case, as decisions reached by the DRA last year would seem to bear out.

When the GPA was lobbying intensely for the introduction of Government funding, there was a constituency within the GAA which was bemoaning the granting of a ‘special’ status on this tier of players, despite the fact that the GAA’s commercial existence hinges on this body of players. Yet that same constituency is completely silent when inter-county players are being ‘made examples of’ by the Association’s disciplinary process.

While the GAA’s amateur ethos is held up as being sacrosanct, something continually endorsed by the playing body, the treatment of McMenamin in the media is somewhat at odds with that ethos. This is not to say that bad behaviour should go unchecked because players are amateur but neither should bad on-field behaviour give licence to commentators to dismantle a player’s character. GAA officials should not be influenced by the transient outrage of a commentator nor the by the need to make examples of high profile players.

The GAA’s attitude to county players is increasingly ambiguous. While there is an acceptance that the inter-county player is a role model and helps promote Gaelic games, the GAA has been reluctant to embrace change in the relationship with the player, as is evident by the fact that, 10 years after its foundation, the GPA has still not been formally recognised by the parent body. It is also becoming increasingly evident in the rise of player disputes.

Disciplinary procedures also reflect this strain. Statements about ‘getting tough on discipline’ have only led to high profile witch-hunts and have done nothing to improve the disciplinary problems at grass roots level. To be fair, elements of the print media have been at pains to highlight serious indiscipline at club level, but if a broad culture needs to be tackled in the GAA, then the Association must do so across the board.

Players are aware of their responsibilities in front of cameras and they know that they can’t afford to transgress. Of course, in the heat of battle, they sometimes do and it would be naive to think that isolated incidents would cease to occur from time to time. Yet the level of opprobrium meted out to county players who do offend is directly linked to the fact that the GAA has sold the rights to show these games on air.

And after entering this commercial arrangement on the backs of players, they then subject them to a different disciplinary regime, simply because incidents are highlighted on television. If ever there was a case of having your cake and trying to eat it.
The GAA sells its games to television stations and by doing so, subjects players to an acute level of scrutiny. This scrutiny has, in turn, influenced general media analysis to a huge extent, so much so that a player can find his private life effectively under siege due to his amateur commitment to his county.

All of which, of course, might be somewhat more palatable for players if the GAA acknowledged, clearly, the specific role of the inter-county player, perhaps starting with formal recognition of the GPA. It would also help if the disciplinary procedures were seen to the playing body to be beyond the influence of the media.

Unfortunately, like many other facets of the relationship between the GAA and its inter-county players at present, the administration of discipline is but another element feeling the strain in a rapidly changing environment.