Kelly defends abandonment of New York stadium project
He was responding to comments from former Board President Monty Moloney who branded the GAA "stupid" and "greedy".
However, Mr Kelly said the board had been "party to the decision", which the Management Committee had taken on several grounds. The most serious of these had been prohibitive costs, estimated at a minimum $35m (€29.3m), and dissatisfaction with the proposed leasing arrangement.
Mr Moloney, who was chairman of the project, made his comments in an interview to be broadcast on Clare FM's Morning Focus programme this morning.
Specifically, he refuted points outlined in a GAA statement issued yesterday which outlined the reasons for not proceeding with the project.
In his view, the GAA "had let down the Irish community in New York". And he accused them of seeking complete control of the project - something that "would not be acceptable to them or the city of New York".
"If they [the GAA] felt they couldn't enter into a for-profit situation, we had provided a not-for-profit situation for them on the field side of it where they could control their own destiny and sub-lease it from Randalls Island Gaelic Sports," he added.
According to reports, Mr Moloney took particular exception to the issue of "prohibitive costs", one of the main reasons given in the GAA statement for terminating the project.
"The ongoing rents they [the GAA] are paying in Gaelic Park would be much, much higher than what would be paid in Randalls Island. That's a huge difference - something they also knew as well," he said.
Responding, Mr Kelly said: "we looked at the terms but we just could not recommend them to the Central Council. And the New York Board were not happy with them either. It was that simple.
"Basically, it came down to private enterprise versus not-for-profit," he said.
He added that their decision had been taken after what he described as "a lengthy period of effort" in trying to broker an acceptable deal with the City of New York and the body controlling the Randalls Island project.
In the meantime, Mr Kelly stressed that the association remains totally committed to assisting the New York Board in their quest to acquire a ground of their own, but only on terms that would be acceptable to both parties.
Mr Kelly said the type of money they were talking about in Randalls Island was in the region of $35-$40m (€29.3m-€33.5m). And that was just "a low water mark". It was their belief that costs would even be higher if they had gone ahead with the venture.
"It took a long time to get to the contract stage, to see what was involved in it. We were then surprised to see how restrictive it was in terms of usage, the [short] length of the lease and then how demanding it was in terms of employment and rent. At that point, we took a decision that we could not take a risk with the GAA's money," he added.
Apart from New York Board officials, Mr Kelly was assisted in the negotiations by former GAA president Peter Quinn, who is a financial consultant, solicitor Tony Hanahoe (the former Dublin captain), incoming President Nicky Brennan and Director-General Liam Mulvihill.
The lease on offer from the City of New York authorities was for only 20 years and the GAA negotiating team quickly concluded that this offered minimal security. Additionally, pitches would not always be available for Gaelic games when they would be most required - on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The ongoing rental that would have been required from the GAA was also regarded as prohibitively high.
"The lack of response on these key issues has given Central Council no option but to initiate the termination of its interest in the project. Central Council had committed $2m [€1.6m] to the proposed Randalls Island project on the basis of an equitable and mutually acceptable investment and leasing arrangement being agreed," said a statement released from Croke Park.
"The Association fully understands the GAA facility deficiency in New York and is committed to continued support and effort in the provision of a suitable facility which will provide for its games and activities in the future."
On the latter point, Mr Kelly said that they were looking at alternatives which would be appropriate to the present and future needs of the New York Board. Currently, they still have the use of Gaelic Park but the lease for this facility continues to be held by Manhattan College.
"We are sending out feelers to see if we can get some place where we could be given conditions that the GAA would require and which would essentially be controlled by the New York Board," added Mr Kelly.
"Ideally, that is what we want."
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