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From The Examiner:

OFFALY defender James Rigney is considering an inter-county transfer to London after moving there for work.

The 25-year-old, who missed the entire 2011 campaign through injury, has been forced abroad in search of employment and has warned Offaly could lose more players to emigration.

He claims the Offaly board are not doing enough to keep the county’s best players at home.

"Of course I’d love to be at home, working, back in the gym and training for the county team again but it’s not feasible. Maybe in a few months, if something comes up," he said.

"Ollie Baker hasn’t been in touch with me yet. I was chatting to Paul Bell from the Offaly supporters’ club and he said ‘best of luck in London’.

Andy Gallagher from the county board wished me the best too but there’s no real system in Offaly at the moment. "We weren’t allowed to train in O’Connor Park last year and that’s still under the carpet.

"It’s the same thing with the footballers, they can’t even get a manager.

"And the best [football] player in Offaly, Niall McNamee, has said that he’s going to give it up if they don’t get someone. I know for a fact they have systems in place in other counties with people looking for jobs for players. I don’t know if there’s much going on in Offaly. I was chatting to Siobhan Earley from the GPA and only for them, I could be gone a long time ago out of Ireland."

Rigney has applied for a gym instructor course in Dublin, which could have him back in Ireland early next February, but his immediate future lies abroad.

"I can tell you that another player or two definitely won’t be hurling with Offaly next year.

"I won’t say their names but they have no work.

"One of the lads was in America last year – the county board said they’d look after him but they promise you so much and you don’t get anything out of them. I’d love to go back and hurl for Offaly again but it’s very hard going to training if you have no money to put diesel in the van.

"The London team over here at the moment have a lot of young hurlers from Ireland and they will be a team to be reckoned with in the next few years if the current climate continues.

"I’m meeting them next week and talking to them, to see what’s on the table. I’m not putting pen to paper on anything yet."

Rigney added: "My brother hurled out here and he told the club about me. They rang me straight away and set me up in a job and with a house to stay in. I haven’t signed for them yet but if I do sign for a club out here, it won’t be for anybody else but them.

"I left word with my club secretary that if Ollie Baker gets in touch, to give him my English mobile number.

"But I might not get in with the Offaly panel because I did feck all hurling last year. But hurling is not everything at the end of the day and you have to make a wage and a life for yourself."

http://examiner.ie/sport/gaa/offalys-ri ... 72084.html
By Jackie Cahill
Friday, October 28, 2011

If Rigney goes he will be a big loss. On the field he brings real determination, aggression and tenacity to the mix.
He is the sort of player who can front up to the smash and crash toughness of the modern game.
And that type of player isn't growing on the trees in Offaly.

he ll be a huge loss to offaly this year if he goes alright. but what do people think of his attitude in this case, but in more a general sense, to the county board and the search for work? its gone wicked hard for anyone now to dig out work for a lad now.What do people think of it in general, without getting personal? its it the remit of a county board? curious.. we had same debate on our forum a while back..

i dont think the county board should be responsible for finding the players work, so what you play for your county you should be handed a job ahead of a lad that just plays for his club or ahead of a lad that doesnt play at all and is out of work with a family to support.times are hard for everyone,what exactly can the county board do about the economy? he states that london gaa have a job lined up for him, he should be grateful that by playing with offaly that got him some pull over in london and maybe if he hadnt got a past playing with offaly they wouldnt have got him the job in the first place. a panel of 30 players on a county team,what are the county board to do ,give them all jobs to keep them playing , not going to happen.the days of giving a county player a handy number are over. dont get me wrong he is one of our best players and a hardy bit of stuff for his size but what can we do in the times we are living in now?

I had written a spiel, and then PC crashed, so I don't have the heart to rewrite it all again. But here are my quick points:
(by the way, these are general comments and not about James Rigney)


1. Why dont we set up a thread called 'Offaly jobs' - use it for people to post their skills and state their availability for work, let employers post jobs they are recruiting for and let people share discussions - could be anything from someone saying that they are looking for a quote to do their plumbing to saying that they know their company are looking for technicians, so contact them and they'll hand in your CV (as I know lots of companies pay referral money to existing employees). If anyone posts bullshit, it should be reported, that comment removed and that person blacklisted, to keep it as a useful resource.

2. I'd love to see the players take more of a collective responsibility. If they know that 5 of their panel are out of work, and it is going to affect their team for next year, then why not rally round, and help out. A top level idea I have, is to organise an event, run by the players to highlight the skills that are within a team. Invite employers from the region (big and small) and get some conversations going. a group of players have so much to offer. It may not lead to lads getting an immediate offer (but you never know) but maybe it opens up contact between the lads and the potential employers. Attract people to the event by giving incentives. For example, if you come to the event, a member of the Offaly panel, who happens to be a qualified fitness coach, will come to your work place each month and do some corporate fitness training for your staff members, etc.. Tie it in with some charity and hey presto, you've got national coverage.

By all means, get the county board to help out - Use OCP for the event, advertise it using their media contacts, get them to invite the business contacts they have built up, etc... but don't expect the guys on the county board to run it for you.

3. Because of the structure of the GAA (where county's effectively borrow a player from a club to represent the county), the CB are not obliged to, or are in any way set up for lifelong help of any player. As professional, as we think we may be, we are not Leinster Rugby (who are only really getting the hang of their obligations now - eg: support for players when they retire). Can't see that changing soon, so while I would fully agree that a player should try to leverage whatever clout they have, I wouldn't be relying on it as my jobs strategy.

4. By the way, gpajobs.com currenly has 18 jobs on it. Not too many when you consider that it is throughout the whole country and lots of them are repeats of jobs on other sites.

So, anyone else got any thoughts or suggestions for how we can help out in our little UB.com community?

I agree with the comment that Offaly County Board are not obliged to find work for players. Why is a GAA county player to be treated differently than say, a person who isn't a GAA member.
Nowadays players are too ready to give interviews to the media.
If James Rigney can get work in London, go and take it. Thousands of Irish people have to go abroad to get work in this recession.

old yellar wrote:he ll be a huge loss to offaly this year if he goes alright. but what do people think of his attitude in this case, but in more a general sense, to the county board and the search for work? its gone wicked hard for anyone now to dig out work for a lad now.What do people think of it in general, without getting personal? its it the remit of a county board? curious.. we had same debate on our forum a while back..

I was thinking along the same lines as you as i read it. Is this how all IC players who are out of work think? they are in the same boat as everyone else really.I would hope that if someone in the CB could help find a lad work they would, but i don't think it is part of their role to be some sort of employment agency.

I agree that it's not necessarily the role of the county board to find work for intercounty players and that being an intercounty player doesn't make you more entitled to employment than someone that plays no sport. That said, I think it's very unfair when playing for your county is a disadvantage in terms of getting employment. James Rigney was left unable to work for most of the summer and was left out of pocket on account of his commitment to hurling. An employer working with tight margins would most likely be worried that he would need time off for training and that there would be a good chance they'd be out of work through injury for at least a few days per year.

It seems to me that people have no issue with paying managers and building new stands and dressing rooms. That's all well and good but if we've no players then we've no game. I don't think players should be paid to play but I don't think they should be left out of pocket either. Managers across the country (for clubs and counties) are getting money under the table that people turn a blind eye to it. I don't think anybody could argue that intercounty players should be entitled to realistic travel expenses - at least enough to cover their fuel costs for training. I think they should also be paid their wage equivalent when they miss work through injury.

In terms of getting work for players, being an intercounty player shouldn't be a fast pass on the promotion ladder in a bank job for example, but I think that the county board should be able to offer something to out of work intercounty players. If the likes of James Rigney were paid to train young players or to head gym sessions I think we could improve the game of hurling on two fronts; a) we wouldn't be losing players like Rigney and b) we'd be increasing the skill levels of underage and club players.

I think reading some of the posts that some people have a negative opinion of Rigney's "attitude". I think that's very harsh. He has given a lot to Offaly hurling and I don't know what entitles anyone to question his attitude. He has said that he want's to be able to play for Offaly but basically what it boils down to is that he just can't afford it. I thinks it's a shame that money from gates at matches etc can't go towards a central fund to provide employment to the likes of Rigney as coaches or as administrators for the county board. I think that central fund should also be used to ensure that players don't lose money on account of missing work through injury. Rigney broke his wrist twice this year and was left out of pocket on account of it.

I'm disappointed Rigney had to go, but he owes nothing to Kinnitty or to Offaly - he has given great service to both teams and I think he deserves a lot of respect for what he has done for them. I'd love to see him back in an Offaly jersey next year but if he can have a better standard of living for himself elsewhere then I wouldn't begrudge it to him if he doesn't come back.

I'd like to wish James the best of luck wherever he goes!

I don't think anybody could argue that intercounty players should be entitled to realistic travel expenses - at least enough to cover their fuel costs for training. I think they should also be paid their wage equivalent when they miss work through injury.

Players are generally well looked after when it comes to getting compensated for travel and injury, so that is already taken care of.

If the likes of James Rigney were paid to train young players or to head gym sessions I think we could improve the game of hurling on two fronts; a) we wouldn't be losing players like Rigney and b) we'd be increasing the skill levels of underage and club players.

Obviously having more full time coaches would be great, but there is no point in offering it to a coach for a couple of months and then stopping it because they are not able to pay the wages. Also, I doubt the money they would be able to pay would be much, and would probably affect a lad's social welfare entitlements. Can't see that really solving too much, but might help keep 1 or 2 to tick over for a couple of months.

Best of luck to him in whatever he does. Actually, speaking of his attitude - I don't know him at all, but if he puts the same determination into everything that he does in his life as he does with his hurling on the field, I don't think he'll have too much problem in succeeding in life.

i raised the origonal point not in relation to james rigney inparticular but on the whole role of player welfare and the role of the county board. we all know of lads who ve got looked after in the past but in different times i wondered what peoples attitudes are. i think all players at that level give huge time to the sport and it often comes at a cost to their pocket. its a pity that all counties are loosing good hurlers but recession knows no boundaries..

I think Old Yellar has captured the position exactly.

I've been meaning to come into this topic for a while, but time didn't allow.


First of all, James Rigney's comments, while I don't necessarily agree entirely with the sentiment of them, are very understandable. The man is passionate about hurling and undoubtedly would prefer to stay around and hurl for his club and county, but at the same time needs to earn a living. Having to choose between these two things (albeit it's not much of a choice, unfortunately) is not a nice situation and I wouldn't wish it on any man, though God knows it's all too common nowadays.

So unlike other players who are commenting on matters where maybe they would be best advised to keep their counsel or work away in the background, I sympathise with James and completely understand that he felt the need to vent his frustration.

However as to the substantive points, I have to say that I don't agree. The responsibility of the county board executive is to the general good of GAA in Offaly. Of course if one of them happen to have a job to offer of course they should help them out and indeed that's what any of us would do if we could, it is not their primary role. The simple fact of the matter is that there is enough to do in managing games in the county - and there are many people in Offaly who feel that not everything is being managed ideally as things stand - so to ask them to act as recruitment agents as well is a bit much.

It seems to me that people have no issue with paying managers and building new stands and dressing rooms. That's all well and good but if we've no players then we've no game. I don't think players should be paid to play but I don't think they should be left out of pocket either. Managers across the country (for clubs and counties) are getting money under the table that people turn a blind eye to it. I don't think anybody could argue that intercounty players should be entitled to realistic travel expenses - at least enough to cover their fuel costs for training. I think they should also be paid their wage equivalent when they miss work through injury.

That's a very controversial opening line upon which you have based your post. A lot of people have a huge problem with paying managers, and while we all want decent facilities, there are a lot of people out there uncomfortable with the level of borrowing that the county undertook to complete the OCP project. There is certainly no consensus on either issue, and to say that "people have no problem" is downright wrong. Some don't - others do.

As for mileage and injuries, certainly that should be looked after, however as llkj has pointed out, largely, they are. However players have to appreciate too that these funds are limited, so they should make every effort to minimise liability. Of course nobody should come home from training with €50 less fuel in the tank after travelling 200 miles and not get that money back, but neither should you have this farce where players carpool and yet look for separate expense money, which has happened on a few occasions. Nobody should be out of pocket, but nobody should be better off either. I don't want to come across as bitching on players, the vast, vast majority of whom play GAA out of love for doing so and it does cost them money, however there are others out there who while they like playing intercounty, are keen to make sure they don't miss out on anything that's going either, even if it involves claiming mileage for travelling to training when all they did was sit in the passenger seat of a team-mates car. These cases are rare, but do exist.

I thinks it's a shame that money from gates at matches etc can't go towards a central fund to provide employment to the likes of Rigney as coaches or as administrators for the county board.

Classic GPA three card trick - "look at all the money coming in!!!", while ignoring everything that it's spent on. I don't doubt that there are good revenue streams in the GAA and neither do I think that it would be a bad thing to have county players working as coaches. However all income is currently accounted for. Rather than pointing out where it comes from, how about pointing out what expenditure Offaly county board now have that you would have them cut back upon to pay for this "fund"? Ideally without changing decisions that are already made, like O'Connor Park refurbishment. Right or wrong, that has been done and can't be undone.

for once i have to agree with lone sharke,what a fine job they done on o conner park , if it wasnt done everyone would be giving out probably the one thing the county board got right as for james rigney that is out of the county boards hands.if an employer in offaly would help out the county and hirer him that would solve the problem, there must be someone who could take him on inside or outside offaly.

it looks like its the sign of the times theres not much work out there don't know what the county board could do
look at JJ Delaney of kilkenny out of work as well you think the kilkenny county board could fix him up with a nice number its not there now.