Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

It’s far easier to change things from the inside. Instead of giving out about your County Board to all who’ll listen, stand for election and do something about it, writes Emmet Moloney…

Conspiracy theorists are all over the place. You can hear them on the radio, ringing up Joe Duffy to blame the Government for everything. Violence on our streets? That’ll be the Government’s fault. Flooding? Yep, that’s the Government. No matter what goes on, someone, somewhere will blame the Government.

Of course, there is culpability in certain areas (OK, a lot of areas), but is it really the Government’s fault if a laptop is stolen from the backseat of someone’s car and there are some Social Welfare details on the computer? Of course the petty thief breaking into the car wants the bank details of people who need welfare payments. And he was trailing the computer for weeks on end. Remember that incident? Did all those people have their bank details used? Of course not, but it didn’t stop the calls to the radio with all that contrived anger. The list goes on.

We have these geniuses in the GAA as well. But for Government, read County Board. The match is scheduled for two o’clock instead of three o’clock, and clashes with the Munster rugby match? That’s the County Board at it again. €10 into a club quarter-final? That’s the County Board on the take again.

The wonderful thing about the Government and the County Board is that they are nameless, faceless entities. Kind of. They’re a convenient and popular scapegoat. GAA supporters reach for the County Board line as soon as anything unpalatable happens on their watch. It’s a reflex action. Over the last couple of weeks, player power has raised its head in Limerick and Clare. Management and players have reached an impasse and a breakdown in communications has ensued. Isn’t that lovely industrial relations language?

What it means is that humanity has broken out. No-one is perfect and eventually one side realises it about the other. In the middle we have the County Board. A County Board’s primary function is to organise and administer Gaelic games in its county. The treasurer will keep an eye on the money, the PRO will get the results into the local paper, etc. It has worked fairly well for the last 125 years. The Board is democratically elected by delegates, themselves elected by the club. It is the club that drives all of this. There are no coups imposing the army on us. Everyone is a member of a club, the GAA family unit.

Families fall out on occasion. Galway, for example, had a ridiculously childish dispute these last few weeks that saw a county final put back a week. That stuff still goes on and will continue to do so as long as people, and not machines, run our association. And we have to keep it that way. Some County Boards are stocked with people who are interested in themselves and their ‘position’. That’s only humanity at work again. Long-serving administrators are natural targets for ire – some of it justified, most not.

Like most of the people who phone Joe Duffy, those who fire shots at County Boards tend not to be involved in day-to-day volunteer work on behalf of the GAA. Most fire from the comfort of a bar stool. There are agendas at work. And no better place than the GAA for agendas.

The Gaelic Players’ Association’s agenda is a simple one. They want ‘respect’. A seat at the table, a few more tickets for matches, a holiday arrangement set in stone, a bit of pasta after training and gym membership. Professionalism? Money decides such things, nothing else. Right now it is a non-runner. So park it and forget about it. Meanwhile, the payments being made to managers, players and the rest will continue under the table. By treating the GPA as poorly as Croke Park has over the past ten years, the GAA is only reaping what it sowed. At the slightest hint of trouble in any inter-county squad, the GPA are at the other end of the phone. They are offering advice, practical help and a template for the players to get what they want. A bit like a union.

The GAA should have assimilated the GPA years ago. Once inside the tent and part of the establishment, revolutionary tendencies tend to fade away. That’s what should have happened. But of course the GAA have agendas too. A players’ union wasn’t their idea to begin with, so the last thing it will receive from HQ is encouragement. The wheels of progress and change grind slowly in Croke Park and that’s even when they think of something themselves! Until that relationship is put on a sounder footing, the County Boards will continue to get it in the neck on the player revolt front. They are the front line of officialdom down the country so they must be to blame.

Sure, all the County Board does for a county team is stump up the money for gear, sliotars, physios, doctors, psychologists, dieticians, gym memberships, meals, drinks, mileage for players’ expenses, etc. And that’s just for training. Don’t think for a second that sponsors cover all of that. Then there’s the management set-up. Between €100 and €200 a session. Three or four sessions a week and three or four in the managerial team. Add that up. And remember, only one county a year can win the senior hurling or football All-Ireland. Now, picture yourself on the County Board that has to stand over all of that expenditure.

Next thing, the manager comes in and tells you they are all drinking and it’s no wonder ye couldn’t win anything. He’s dropping them all. He goes out of the room and before you can digest all of that money wasted on young fellas only interested in drink, in come the players. The manager couldn’t train a suckee calf, it’s no wonder we won nothing. They’re going on strike.

So, before you take the easy way out and blame the County Board, think about this: the County Board convention is a few weeks away and all positions are up for grabs. Are you standing?

To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...