Dublin All-Ireland winner Kevin McManamon has dismissed rumours that players had ready-made meals delivered to their door and that match-day expenses were provided to their partners.
The advantages afforded to Dublin have been widely discussed recently after their All-Ireland triumph over Tyrone secured a four-in-row. A man involved in all four of those successes is St. Judes club man Kevin McManamon. Speaking to RTE Radio 1, he dismissed suggestions that the players' partners are given match day expenses.
"No, no. What do you mean? Going to the match? No, I can hardly get my own expenses never mind girlfriends getting expenses."
A common claim surrounding Dublin's advantages is that their meals are provided for, but McManamon also refuted this.
No, that’s one of the good ones, all these stories. I remember some dude was starting up a company, a footballer from a different county, and said that we were getting our meals delivered to us and we have our own private chef, it’s nonsense.
We don’t get the stuff that people say and because we’re winning, stories grow legs.
Much of the debate has centred on the funding allocated to Dublin both by the GAA and the government. Under Bertie Ahern, revenue was allocated specifically for Dublin GAA which worked out at almost €1 million per year since 2005. However, writing in his Herald column this week, former Dublin football Ciaran Whelan responded to accusations of an unfair system by declaring that there is "no correlation between the success that Dublin have had of late and money."
