Dublin under-20 manager Tom Gray insists the funding debate surrounding the capital is a “nuanced topic” that needs to be teased out more.
Gray’s side take on Cork in the EirGrid All-Ireland under-20 football final at O’Moore Park on Saturday and he had an ally in the shape of his opposite number Keith Ricken.
Dublin’s games development funding since 2007 stands at almost €18m, with Cork the next highest recipients on €1.4m, though Ricken declared that he was “proud of the way Dublin go about their business”.
“I couldn't but be, I mean it's fantastic,” he said. “It's a huge city, it's our biggest city and it has taken off.
“I remember sometimes in the 90s that wasn't the case. So it has now taken off.
“Dublin are putting money into it too, clubs are paying a significant amount of money, each club, to bring a development officer in to do coaching and that. You take your hat off to that.
“Any success that Dublin have had, they've earned it. They haven't take it at the expense of everyone else, they've earned it.”
Gray, an accountant by profession, is underwhelmed by some of the commentary surrounding the debate.
He said: “It’s very hard to answer in a sound bite. I’d have very strong views about it, for another forum.
“First off, in terms of the Dublin [under-20] team, this team lost an All-Ireland minor semi-final two years ago to Derry, hosed by Kildare last year in a Leinster minor final, a different group but a lot of the same players.
“I don’t see the Dublin train running through this. If we were winning year after year I might have a different view.
“As regards the funding thing, it’s a source of massive annoyance and frustration to someone like me who’s been a lifelong volunteer in the GAA.
“With the greatest respect to sports journalism in Ireland, I don’t think it’s been well researched.
“I could demonstrate lots of information that would make it a lot more nuanced topic than it’s been, both in print and social media and on TV.
“The narrative has been influenced by the best team to ever play the game, the senior team now.
“If they won two in the last six this probably wouldn’t even be a topic, but the fact they’ve won five out of the last six, as a consequence, it caused all sorts of why? But sometimes it’s a confluence of a number of factors which leads to it.”
Gray accepted that the games development funding afforded to Dublin has helped to produce a better standard of player in the county though he insists that “it’s one of a multitude of factors” and referenced his own club, Na Fianna.
“We produced a social value report in early May. In that report, objective research would suggest that there’s over 2,000 volunteer hours a week. There’s 40 hours from our GPO (Games Promotion Officer) so if you want to talk about relative importance in terms of volunteer hours versus GPO hours, that’s objective research.
“When you see the club in terms of participation rates, there’s been a huge increase in participation in hurling and in ladies football at underage level.
“There’s been a modest increase in participation in football so it’s a much more nuanced topic than just ‘this is the amount of money that’s been invested’.”
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