Long read: The challenges that lie ahead for new GAA President Jarlath Burns

Amongst them, he spoke about how to proceed with the GAA’s amateur status in an era where inter-county teams are more and more resembling professional set-ups.

He also discussed the issues around the redevelopment of Casement Park in time for Euro 2028 and his expert Football Review panel, which will look at how the sport of Gaelic football can be improved.

What does success look like?

With just three years to enact his changes, Burns was asked to what success will look like at the end of his term as President.

“Three Years is a very short term,” he conceded.

“I have done 10 years as Principal of St Paul’s High School and I wonder how much that I changed the dial even in my own school. Three years in the GAA is a tiny amount of time.

“Remember we have a strategic plan there that has two years to go on. My number one priority will be to remain faithful to that, and yesterday at the management meeting on virtually every single thing that we have put into that strategic plan we are on green or amber in everything apart from one and I think that is a great success story for us.

“After three years, when I stand at Congress and talk about how I did, I might not made all that much impact in any of those because we will not know whether the football review will have succeeded until we see it being played for a few years.

“We will see how coaches get around the new rules that we bring in, the same with hurling, that is a very long-term project and then the cost of county teams, year one and everyone might adhere to it, year two it might slip, so it is the upkeep of all of those, the adherence of the principals of all of those is going to be the real challenge.”

Amateur status

Burns hopes to retain the amateur status of the organisation, despite the ever-increasing difficulty in doing so, as inter-county teams seek to become more ‘professional’ in their approaches to training and matchdays, in order to get a competitive advantage.

Burns was asked as to whether the battle is already lost in that regard, but he refused to accept that.

“I think that would be a console of despair if we approach it from that angle,” he said.

“I don’t think we have a choice here and I think that, as I said during my speech, there is no one really to blame here but everybody is to blame.

“In a high-performance culture, you’ll do everything that you can to try and get one over your opponents and I think that we have to be the adults in the room here. We have to be the people who are leading, and our counties are asking us to lead.

“I think that if every county knew that there was a very robust system of ensuring that every county was doing as we told to do, that this can succeed.

“The key people I think here are the GPA (Gaelic Players’ Association). The GPA have been telling us for years that there is an intolerable cardiovascular load on our county players who all have to go to their work in the morning and it’s impacting them.

“All of the reports, forget the cost, the ESRI reports, all of those that have come out, the latest one in the last few months, are telling us that as well. The GPA are the players’ union, they’re the representatives of the players and I will work very closely with Tom Parsons (CEO of the GPA).

“I have met Tom on a number of occasions and Tom Parsons and the GPA are totally behind us on this, and I think they can be the key here.

“Like in amateur sports, in American college sports, where they have officers in every college making sure the amateur status is being adhered to, we don’t have that, oversight officers and I think that the GPA can do that.

“I think the panels are too large, I think that there’s too much training going on and I think that would be a good start because we do have to slim ourselves down as we prepare for integration (with the Camogie Association and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association).”

Will it be difficult to change the way things are at the moment, regarding amateur status?

“It will be, because at the moment we are the only sport in the world that doesn’t have a licence system to adhere to, to compete,” he explained.

“You look at the English Premier League and Everton lost 10 league points because they went beyond their financial ceiling.

“Chelsea are afraid to sack their manager because if they do, they will have to compensate him and that will tip them beyond the threshold.

“We don’t have that. We more than anyone should have a final ceiling.

“I think if one of the things we need to do in terms of governance, audit and risk, that we should have a certain amount of governance principles, which you adhere to within your county in terms of your accounting and modes operandi (translation: a particular way or method of doing something), before you can get a license to compete.

“This was an idea that John Horan (39th President of the GAA) brought in and Feargal McGill (Director of Club, Player and Games Administration at GAA) did a lot of work on it and then Covid came in and it was shelved, but it is almost oven ready dare I say that, and that is something I am going to build on.

“We really do need a proper license system for all of our counties to make sure that they are adhering to the best practice with governance and expenditure.

“When we see that there is out of control expenditure on anything infrastructure or county teams or in any areas where they shouldn’t be spending that money then it will give us the power in Central Council to address that.”

Casement Park

Another issue facing Jarlath Burns is ensuring that Casement Park in Belfast is sufficiently redeveloped in time to host matches at the UEFA European Championships tournament in 2028.

When redeveloped, the stadium will have a capacity of approximately 34,500 seats, and is expected to be used primarily for Gaelic games. It will likely host the Ulster final annually, and may also host games such as All-Ireland quarter-finals.

It is estimated that the stadium – which has been left dormant since 2013 - will cost over £200m to fully redevelop, and it has been ringfenced for funding by the Northern Ireland Executive, who have declared to spend £62.5m on the stadium’s redevelopment, before last week, the Irish government committed £42m of funding.

The GAA are committed to spending £15m on the stadium, and are awaiting to hear how much the Westminister government is willing to spend.

“The one thing that we need first is certainty,” said Burns regarding the funding coming from the British government.

“I’m surprised that they haven’t come out with a statement already to say exactly how much they are giving.

“I welcome so much, the money that has been given to us from the Irish government and we are on the threshold of an incredible experience if everything falls into place and the Euros can take place.

“It’s a race against time at this stage, and as we approach the situation where tenders have gone in, we need to know exactly how much these companies are tendering for, not us, but the strategic investment board that has taken over the tender process.

“I’m not going to say any more about that because it’s a very sensitive process at this stage.

“All we can say is that we deserve to have that stadium, we’ve waited long enough for it and the Euros gives us an enhanced opportunity at one of the best stadiums in Europe in west Belfast.”

There are some controversies around the building of Casement Park, as despite the Irish Football Association welcoming its redevelopment, the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs, as Irish League clubs have waited for more than a decade for the second tranche of investment that it was promised for the upgrading of local football club’s facilities.

Furthermore, the DUP stated last week that they wouldn’t be willing to pledge any additional funding from the Stormont Executive, on top of the £62.5m figure already pledged, ‘at a time when hospitals and schools need additional and necessary resources’.

However, Burns says that all stadium developments come with controversy and debate, but the long term benefits of Casement Park will prove that the decision was worth it.

“I would say that stadiums everywhere are controversial. It doesn’t matter where a stadium is rebuilt, Croke Park was controversial,” he said.

“I remember at the time people saying we shouldn’t build where Croke Park is and we should build a smaller stadium, we shouldn’t spend the amount of money on it.

“But Peter Quinn, my predecessor, had great vision and said we needed Croke Park and when you look at Croke Park now, you look back and think that it was the right decision.

“I just think that we in the GAA in Ulster do deserve this stadium. Soccer got a stadium, Rugby got a stadium, they deserved it and now it’s the GAA’s turn.

“But I would not be deaf to those people who would say that it’s a lot of money to be spending on a stadium considering all the other physical priorities that there are in Northern Ireland, and I do understand the people who would make that point.”

Burns was then asked, that if the money doesn’t come from Westminister, whether the project would be blown off course.

“If the money doesn't come, the Euro’s don’t come, and it goes back to being a GAA ground again,” he answered.

“We would have to take the money that has been promised and then build a stadium with that money.

“Whether or not we can build a provincial stadium that is going to be able to take an Ulster final, 34,000 in that space, or maybe just a smaller stadium.

“But those are things that I don’t even want to consider as we wait for this announcement from the British government on how much they are going to give us.

“They have promised that they are going to give us this money and there are so many positive elements to this that I think it would be really, really poor of them if they don’t deliver on that promise.”

Football Review Committee

Modern day Gaelic football is full of debate about where the game is headed.

Some pundits and supporters feel the game is too tactical and defensive-minded, leading to less exciting games.

However, there has been push back, including from Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney in recent weeks, who feels as though the on-field product of Gaelic football is better than it is given credit for.

Regardless, as in any sport, there are always improvements to be made, and consequently, Burns has recruited a team of Gaelic football ‘experts’ who will make up the Football Review Committee, and analyse where things can get better.

Six-time All-Ireland winning manager Jim Gavin is the marquee name, but he is joined by a team of accomplished Gaelic football managers and coaches.

“Jim isn’t the only big name on it, Malachy O’Rourke is on it, Eamon Fitzmaurice, Colm Collins, Colm Nally is on it,” said Burns.

“As somebody who played county football and somebody involved with a club and somebody who goes to matches all the time, you listen to what people are saying as well.

“I think Tom (Ryan) spoke very well on his report about it. You can go to 10 matches, and you’ll see ten incredible football matches and you’ll think this game is brilliant. Then you’ll go to two or three matches and they’re not so.

“And as well as that for example, the match between Derry and Donegal, the Ulster final two years ago, an awful lot of people including myself watched that game as an incredible game of attrition.

“A lot of people really enjoyed that and then there were a lot of people that said that’s not what this game should be. I suppose one of the first things we’re going to have to do is to work out what does constitute a really good game of football.”