Kerry GAA confirms payment made to Revenue after self-review

Kerry GAA treasurer Paudie Healy said they were "were well ahead of the game" in conducting their self-review. It was also revealed that the Kingdom's commercial income for 2025 reached €1.365m, a 5.79% increase. 

Two new pitches will be added to Kerry GAA's centre of excellence later this year. A 3G pitch, and a grass pitch for Kerry LGFA. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Kerry GAA treasurer Paudie Healy has confirmed that the county board has made a payment to Revenue following a self-review audit of its finances, carried out under the guidance of Croke Park.

Healy and county secretary Peter Twiss met local media on Saturday to flesh out some of the key financial results for 2025.

In his report, Healy stated that during the year work was undertaken under a framework from Croke Park, where all counties were asked to carry out a self-review audit for the years 2020/21 to 2023/24. Self-corrections were identified and a payment has been made to Revenue in relation to these historic years.

Explaining the process, Healy said: “All counties were asked by Croke Park to do a self-review audit for the years 20/21 to 23/24. We started that last year, we finished it off earlier this year, self-corrections were identified, and a payment has been made to Revenue in relation to those historic years. Engagement is ongoing on that, just to finish it out.

“We can’t really give any more comment because it’s ongoing, but what I’ll say is that it’s done. It wasn’t Kerry GAA, it was every county. We had started pre-Croke Park, so we were well ahead of the game. It’s normal for governance.

“It was never a Revenue thing. This was a self-review that we did, under the framework from Croke Park. They set the framework on what you had to do your checks against, across the whole organisation, and we did them, with our professionals.

“If we identified any self-corrections, we made those adjustments and payments, and disclosed them to Revenue, and that’s why it’s ongoing from there.” 

Commercial income for 2025 reached €1,365,668, representing a 5.79% increase. Why did Kerry GAA think it needed a Commercial Director? 

“We’re an amateur organisation measured as a commercial entity. All our costs are commercial so, to do that, we have to drive in a commercial sense,” Healy explained.

“The commercial director’s role will be to expand partnerships, look for new partnerships, look for new commercial opportunities right across the organisation, and to maximise the Kerry brand.

“For the future, obviously it’s very hard when going from an amateur sporting organisation into the commercial world, that will take time to bed down, but in the future you would be hoping for full maximising out of that.” 

Despite the increase in fundraising and commercial income, Twiss believes Kerry remains vulnerable.

“My own view would be that we’re vulnerable," he said. "We’re depending on the likes of our chairman, who has great connections in America and London but, going forward, that’s vulnerability as well. The way I see the commercial side is that we have three columns at the moment.

“We have Kerry Group, we have our gates, we have O’Neills and the commercial sponsorship, but I think we’re missing a fourth column and that column, to me, needs to be built. At the moment, we are depending on personal connections and relationships, which make us a bit vulnerable.

“If you’re putting a big weight on a building, it’s better to have four columns holding it than three. That, to me, is extremely important going forward. If we’re going to be at the very best all the time, we need that. I would see the role of the commercial director as building that column. It might take years to do it.

“If you’re at the very highest level, which Kerry is, you need that. There’s no point in saying otherwise. That’s not taking from the great work of Patrick. You would always hope that is there, but it’s based on personal relationships, which is fantastic. I would visualise this as another pillar or column to hold the whole thing up.”

Helay believes that Kerry GAA's centre of excellence in Currans will have two extra pitches in 2026.

 “2026 will see the delivery of the new 3G pitch at Currans," he said, "the additional grass pitch for the LGFA, and the completion of the Austin Stack Park development."

Twiss added that a 3G pitch should be ready by June 2026 at the latest, which will be welcome news given the current difficulties in finding pitches for colleges games.

“That will be up and running by the summer," he said. "The hard work is done there. What’s left is the most expensive, but the easiest part of it. It’s basically putting in the carpet. Putting in a 3G pitch is a very technical thing, and I wouldn’t have huge experience of it.

“We’re being very, very thorough in making sure that whatever goes in there is absolutely of the best quality. It’s being almost over-cautious. Obviously when you’re then doing it, you don’t need very good weather, but you don’t want very bad weather. After that, it’s a very quick process.

“I would expect by June anyway. The only reason I wouldn’t say April or May is that the weather might turn bad. The ladies pitch will be ready for the winter of next year. It won’t be far behind the 3G pitch."