GPA to seek a rise of nearly 80% in player grants in pre-budget submission

The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) will on Thursday call for a major boost to intercounty player grants, seeking an increase from €1,400 to €2,500 per player.

If approved, the annual cost of the scheme would climb from about €5.6 million to roughly €10 million, covering around 4,000 male and female athletes.

The request is backed by an independent Indecon report released in February. That study calculated that elite Gaelic games generate an estimated €591 million in total economic impact each year, but at a personal cost to players.

Intercounty athletes were found to face average out-of-pocket expenses of €4,602, leaving them about €1,499 worse off than in 2018, even as grants have remained unchanged for male players since that year. Rising costs for travel, nutrition and other essentials were highlighted as key pressures.

The research also pointed to lost income opportunities: players are missing out on an estimated €3,500 annually in potential overtime earnings, while many reported negative effects on education and career progression. Overall, the negative annual impact on players’ income is put at about €5,200.

Currently, male players share about €3 million in grants and female players about €2.6 million. Because there are fewer women’s teams and many female athletes divert part of their allowance to team running costs, their average take-home is roughly €920—significantly below that of men.

Earlier this year the GPA also floated the idea of a tax relief scheme similar to the sportsperson’s relief available to professional athletes, though the Government has expressed doubts about how such a scheme could apply to an amateur sport.

The GPA argues that a higher grant would help offset players’ financial losses and reflect the growing economic contribution of intercounty games, which the report says support 4,212 jobs and generate €62 million for the Exchequer.