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LOUTH GAA President Peter Fitzpatrick has apologized for any offense caused by the comments he made about the professionalism of the League of Ireland.
Itzpatrick angered many national football fans when he claimed in an interview with a local newspaper that most clubs in the League of Ireland “cannot pay their players.”
But the Independent TD, who was Louth’s manager when they were infamously denied a Leinster SFC title in 2010, has now claimed his comments were taken out of context. “I sincerely apologize if people took me astray,” he told LMFM radio station.
His original quote has been described as “Trumpian” by Drogheda United president Conor Hoey, but Fitzpatrick has now moved to downplay the controversy.
“When no money comes in, sponsorship is cut off and everything else, all sports, be it GAA, football or rugby, are under great pressure. All sports are struggling to pay their salaries right now,” he said on LMFM . today.
“I am a huge supporter of the League of Ireland. I regularly go to watch Dundalk play. We are very lucky in Louth to have Drogheda and Dundalk.”
In his previous interview with The Dundalk Democrat, Fitzpatrick has expressed his dismay at the Government’s decision to remove the exemption for elite GAA, allowing high-level cross-county teams to train and play under Level 5 restrictions.
“As far as I’m concerned they are elite,” he said. “They are as professional as anyone. If you look at the League of Ireland, I would say that some clubs cannot pay their players and some of them would be amateur players, so I don’t accept this statement one bit, they just do it to look good.
“For example, look at the Dubs who have coaches, dietitians, doctors and physical therapists, they have absolutely everything that an elite team would have. And even if you watch football or rugby, I can say that you won’t get anything in this professional country like Dublin. “
Drogheda President Hoey, while appreciating the apology, said: “What we really have a problem with is what we saw quoted in the newspaper, which was this comment that said most clubs in the League of Ireland cannot pay. their players – and there is not a professional player in the League of Ireland who has not cashed.
“The PFAI came out yesterday and even said that, so we were all quite offended by that and I thought it was some kind of populist nonsense that was quite Trumpian.”
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