The other week a supporter stopped me in the centre of Enniskillen to say "Arrah, sure all youse boys are interested in is pay for play." I've had others phoning me in the Fermanagh Herald office saying the same. Just the other day one advised me to write about "moneygrabbing county players" instead of having another "go" at the county board. Well, I'm now going to take the advice of the latter to try to convince the former I'm not interested in pay for play. Because I'm not. I'm not even interested in the grant. I don't want it. I don't think it's right. I think it's wrong.

Obviously Tom . . . not just a clubmate but a friend . . . disagrees. So do the executive of the GPA. For five years they've been pushing the argument that their commitment and skill and contribution to the social fabric of Irish life entitles them to the same aid other sports people receive. And what people tend to overlook in all of this is both the government and the GAA hierarchy obviously agree. Back in April the GAA and GPA issued a joint document on how the grant scheme would operate, outlining six sections in which players could submit for expense reimbursements.

Those sections included 'motor expenses' and 'communications'. Sorry, but I find them completely baffling.

If this grant scheme is passed, an intercounty player is entitled to claim for the tax and insurance of his car. Tax and insurance are one-off payments. They don't increase because of the extra miles incurred in playing for your county. I presume county players would drive regardless of whether they played for the county or not, so I fail to see how this is a legitimate expense to allow players to improve their standards.

There's more. Under 'communications', we can claim for phone rental and calls, mobile rentals and calls and internet access.

Are the GAA and the GPA telling us that county players wouldn't have a house phone, a mobile or internet access if they weren't county players? !

Another detail which must be challenged is the four-tier system that the GPA and the GAA have agreed should be employed to establish who gets what. All Ireland finalists will get 2,800, All Ireland semi-finalists and quarter-finalists 2,200, third-round qualifiers 1,900 and then 1,650 for those who get knocked out at round two of the qualifiers or earlier. By the GPA's admission, should the funds become available they will begin from the first week of February to correspond with the beginning of the national football league. The All Ireland hurling final is held on the first Sunday of September, 30 weeks after the first week in February. Divide 2,800 by 30 and a Limerick hurler last year was entitled to 93.33 per week. Now take the Mayo footballer who was knocked out in round two of the qualifiers on July 14, 23 weeks after the start of a league which his team lit up, and only seven weeks before the All Irelands. He only makes 71.73 a week. This system offers more per week to those who progress further. It is inherently performance-related. I find it incredible that the GAA and GPA have produced figures that clearly favour the elite counties who compete for longer in the championship, as if they don't have enough perks over the rest of us as it is. I'm amazed so few players from the lower-profile counties haven't made an issue of this. If these out-ofpocket expenses are designed to help players reach their potential, then it could be argued that this uneven distribution will only widen the gap between the strong and the weak.

There's something even bigger at stake. If the figures stay as they are, then the GAA is creating a Bosman situation for itself. This year might have been a blip for Mayo but it's typical enough for a Matty Forde and a Deccie Browne, even a Benny Coulter. Do Cork have a forward better than them? Should Cork have 10 forwards who will receive more money than the three of them? In a few years' time you might get a Deccie or a Matty from a county like Deccie's and Matty's who could take a legal case against the GAA, claiming the county system is restricting his income. The GAA won't have a leg to stand on. It would be the collapse of the county structure . . . and the GAA itself . . . as we know it.

Being a county player against grant aid is a difficult position to be in. Because I've been such an enthusiastic member and supporter of the GPA and outspoken about GAA officialdom in the past, I've been long painted in some parts as a mercenary with no respect for the GAA. Then, because I'm against the GPA on this one issue, I have GPA members wondering am I now working for the Fermanagh county board! The reality is I'm against the GPA on this one . . . but massive . . . issue and have debated it at length with Dessie Farrell, whose opinion I respect and who respects mine.

The year the GPA was formed was the same year I started playing county football . . .

1999. And God, was there a need for it. When I joined our senior panel, I was amazed at the shoddy treatment the players received. I remember thinking I was better treated by St Michael's College just months earlier when I was a member of their McRory Cup campaign. But meals after training, a better mileage rate, gear delivered on time; these things and more the GPA delivered. Now in Fermanagh we are treated very well. Without the GPA that would never have happened and throughout the country thousands of players can vouch the same.

The GPA are right to say that the county player contributes hugely to Irish society and that we're entitled to the same grant aid as other athletes receive. But just because we are entitled to it doesn't mean we should take it. And the reason we shouldn't is this . . . it is our very amateurism that makes us different and makes our association different and why our games are so loved and contribute so much to Irish society. In a nutshell, it is the fact we choose to give so much, but are prepared to receive so little, that makes the GAA so special.

We're proud of where we come from, proud of our parish, our club, our county. Success may make this pride taste a little sweeter but what's important is that we give of our free time, we make sacrifices and we do all we can because of our love of our fantastic and flawed association and games. We choose the GAA.

Because that's what it comes down to . . . playing county football and hurling is a choice, plain and simple, just like managing the under-12 club team or sweeping out the dressing rooms is a choice. I've played county football for nine years and each year the choice to play gets more difficult but I don't want the decision to commit to play for my county clouded by the fact that I could receive 2000 for my efforts. Why should I be able to tax my car for free or have my phone bill paid because I play county football? Why am I deemed more important than the guy who sweeps out the dressing room? Already we're the lucky ones. We get to play in front of the crowds, get the free gear, the mileage. How many under15 coaches get mileage?

The nuclear option of strike action is supported by some high-profile players but I doubt whether the sentiment of the majority of players is as militant. It will be interesting to see just how many of the 2,000-strong membership has bothered to vote. Even if half the inter-county playing population votes, what would that say about the other half?

That they're apathetic? Happy with the way things are? From talking to fellow players from various counties, a shortened intercounty scene that would enable them to play for their clubs is higher on the priority than grant aid. To me it's quite clear that the average GAA member is against the rationale behind the proposed strike. But if you're that member, what exactly are you annoyed about?

Is it the fact that the GPA are threatening a strike or is it the notion that the players will receive grant aid? I have a hunch you're annoyed about both. If so then I say you should have at least an equal dose of anger reserved for officials in Croke Park. It is they who conceded the principle of grant aid without ever canvassing the opinion of you, the rank and file member, and more, it is they who have created the culture for players to wonder, "Hey, where's our slice of the cake?" TV rights, including pay-per-view options, with figures of tens of millions, are currently been discussed. Managers receive payments yet the GAA haven't been able to tackle it. Ticket prices are also exorbitant and yet there's no debate about it.

From what I see, the association is lost in a world of profit and turnover. The GPA offer an easy target for GAA people to vent their frustrations but it's time that we really consider what direction the association is taking.

The ideals that made the GAA great are on life support. The greatest threat is not the GPA but a more silent attacker from within.