Waterford County Board set to wipe out debt in two years

Outgoing Waterford secretary Timmy O’Keeffe claims that the county board will be debt free within two years in his report to annual convention.

Boosted by a €250,000 cash injection from the Munster Council back in March, the Déise recorded a surplus in their accounts for the second year running and reduced their overall debt to €130,000.

“I am pleased to report that the finances of the board are in a reasonably healthy state in 2015. The accounts show a small surplus of approximately €6,000 for the year as compared to €12,000 in 2014. Full credit must go to the county treasurer and Liam Cheasty in ensuring that our finances are kept under tight control.

“The contribution of €250,000 from the Munster Council was a massive boost to the county and particularly to the clubs. This money was used to pay down debts and Waterford county board’s borrowings now stand at €130,615. Taking into account that we have no overdraft, this is a major achievement and we can all look forward to being debt free within two years.”

The 2015 financial statement shows a surplus of €5,374, with income at €1,688,162 and expenditure at €1,682,788. The cost of county teams rose by €68,000, compared with 2014, to €644,485. The senior hurlers spent €362,492, while the footballers came in at €130,982. Gate receipts fell by €30,000 to €185,115, as attendances declined significantly for the senior football championship.

The board also received €35,000 for staging this year’s Munster hurling final in Thurles.

“Much more work needs to be done,” warned O’Keeffe. “Strict cost controls must be maintained and fundraising efforts will have to be redoubled. A disappointing feature of our accounts is the steady decline in gate receipts.”

He also raised concern about the future of Waterford football and highlighted the struggles at underage grades.

“I wrote in the last two years’ reports that an alarming gap has opened up between Waterford and the other five counties in Munster at underage football level and the situation has not improved at all in the past year.

“In fact, if anything the gap is getting wider. There is an urgent need to take stock of where Gaelic football is at in the county at the moment. We have no second-level college playing in the Munster A colleges competitions and, indeed, we are barely competitive in the B and C grades. Added to this is the alarming number of walkovers in the club minor and under-16 championships in the county.

“These two factors alone do not bode well for future improvement in the standard of football in the county. It is time for the football clubs to take ownership of football in the county and come up with ways to improve standards.”

In his final report before handing over to Pat Flynn, O’Keeffe acknowledged the difficulty in making the deadlines for the Munster club championship this season.

“The turnaround time in the senior and intermediate football was far from satisfactory. The fact that in Waterford all clubs have a dual involvement makes planning games very difficult and this is compounded when clubs qualify for the knockout stages of both codes.”

At Thursday night’s meeting in Dungarvan, Emer Barry (Lismore) and Gerry Whelan (Newtown/Ballydurn) vie for the post of development officer, Owen Sauvage (Mount Sion) and Niall Cronin (Kilmacthomas) battle to be PRO, while former chairman Tom Cunningham challenges incumbent Tommy Hennessy on Central Council.