Ard Stiúrthóir of the GAA Tom Ryan, right, during the GAA Annual Report media event at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
GAA Ard Stiúrthóir, Tom Ryan, believes a stand must be taken against the payment for roles that threatens the ethos of volunteerism so vital to the Association.
Writing in his Annual Report, which was published today, he declared his intention to put his full weight behind the Amateur Status Review Committee established by Ard Comhairle.
“Our voluntary ethos and our community values elevate us and make us unique,” wrote Ryan in his Annual Report.
“Those are our most important characteristics, and they need to be valued, protected and promoted.
“The value of volunteerism is self-evident and is threaded throughout these pages. I talk about the need to value, recruit and retain.
“There is another imperative and that is to preserve certain roles as voluntary. There is an inexorable creep towards payment – either overt or covert – for roles that were always previously unpaid.
“Of course that makes for financial pressure, but worse it erodes who we are. And even worse, again, is the collective blind spot. Any organisation that espouses one thing and does, or permits, another cannot prosper.
“What do we do? Well, we can either admit defeat and legitimise that which we previously resisted or denied. Or we can make a stand.
“My strong preference is for the latter. I don’t honestly believe that any of us want to be where we are on this issue. Collectively and honestly acknowledging that would be a great start.
“We have convened an Amateur Status Review Committee to consider this very issue. I await their conclusions with interest, and I’ll certainly put my weight behind delivering on them.”
The 2025 GAA Annual Report can be viewed HERE and also viewed and downloaded below.