London manager Paul Coggins has commented on Jerry Kiernan's Newstalk interview yesterday, where he criticised the decision to award London GAA a €600,000 government grant to develop their grounds in Ruislip.
Coggins said 'I'd be quite amazed, staggered anybody would be criticising our exiles getting a few pound to try and better themselves.'
Former Irish Olympian, Kiernan is unhappy at the fact the GAA gets funding preference ahead of athletics, saying 'There is no standard applied to GAA getting money except their popularity.'
Responding to Kiernan's comments, Coggins told the Irish Daily Star:
I know of Jerry Kiernan growing up and he was a fantastic ambassador for Irish sport. I have the height of respect for him as an athlete but I think he's wrong.
It's not a well thought out statement. Give it (the grant) to us, don't begrudge us and wish us well as we wish everyone else well in whatever sport they compete in.
Why would the government not support their exiles? They are people who have supported our home country for many year and helped it regenerate.
While Kiernan's argument may have a lot of validity, he also ways seem to shoot himself in the foot by adopting a combative approach; especially in this instance, taking umbrage to a fairly underdeveloped GAA county getting a helping hand.
