The Sunday Game preamble to the Ulster and Leinster football finals featured a report on Dublin's recent dominance of Gaelic football.
In the studio, former Roscommon manager Kevin McStay highlighted the financial advantage, just in terms of team preparation, which Dublin have compared to other counties.
"I'll bring it back to what I know best: the rural scene where Roscommon are trying to make it to the next level," said McStay.
"You look at the level of preparation €1.5 million - €1.6 million just on team preparation - that's the Dublin figure for 2017.
"Our's [Roscommon's] was €440,000. Louth's was €150,000 that same year.
"We were involved in making a little programme with AIB - no [other] county would allow that, it just wouldn't happen. We needed that money so badly so we could get hotel stays in Dublin paid for.
"This is the piece being missed by most people, that counties don't have the ability to generate those sorts of funds. AIG are on board [with Dublin] - this is not Dublin-bashing, I know it comes across like that - but €5 million over five years, north of €5 million, we [Roscommon] could only dream of that sort of money. Without that sort of resource, you can't bring on your team.
Kevin McStay says other counties simply don't have the ability to generate funds on the scale of Dublin #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/cGOSZkuPVx
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 23, 2019
"It's an important point for us locally, we have two outstanding sponsors down in Roscommon: Sean Mulryne and Sean Hunt. Do you think Roscommon could have won two of the last four [Connacht] Championships without their help? Do you think if we were waiting for the GAA to give us that income it would have happened? It would not have happened and I can say that categorically because I know the sort of resources it takes to get a team to that level and that was only to a quarter-final level."
McStay also raised the importance of competent administrators.
"The big thing I would say straight off the bat in all this debate is if you have a good idea and you have a good plan, the way you execute is to make sure you have good people," said McStay.
"In John Costello, [Dublin have] the pre-eminent administrator, CEO, in the country. In Jim Gavin, likewise, in terms of management. Look how long they've been around it, the stability, the consistency, the strategic approach to what they want to do. You have to have good people who understand what they are doing.
"John Costello is a CEO, maybe two or three other counties have a CEO. Most of us have a volunteer officership. These are full-time, they live it, they breathe it. It is their life.
"The normal chairman or secretary can give it two or three hours a day."
