Kerry GAA confirms payment made to Revenue after self-review
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 has made a special payment to Revenue following a self-review audit of its finances, carried out under the guidance of Croke Park, Board treasurer Paudie Healy says.
Healy said 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.
The Kerry treasurer explained: “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, 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.”
With commercial income for 2025 reaching €1,365,668, a 5.79% year on year increase, Kerry will drive ahead with the appointment of its first 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, CEO 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. I would visualise this as another pillar or column to hold the whole thing up.”
Healy 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.
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