Open book policy just makes cents

LAST year the wise old men from Crossmaglen tabled a motion at the Armagh convention calling for the Gaelic Players’ Association (GPA) to publish a detailed account of how GAA funding for their organisation was spent in 2010. Crossmaglen asked that these accounts be made available to all clubs in the GAA.

This is an eminently sensible proposal. But why should such measures be limited to the GPA but not Armagh, and indeed every other county board in the country? When you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, and this is what makes the GAA’s guarded accounting so annoying.

Every December county boards email their annual reports to the media. They are generally awash with perennial musings about indiscipline and weepy laments about Scór.

Accounts are almost never sent to the newspapers. It goes without saying that a few pages of revenue and expenditure provide more interesting reading than an entire annual report.

And the wall of silence is difficult to penetrate. I certainly got a very mixed response when I asked a few county boards to send their treasurer’s report and accounts.

Only one county obliged. Two counties produced an A4 sheet with a random selection of figures that would put you in mind of a maths homework done on the back of the bus. Other counties just refused. A contact sent me Derry’s accounts.

It’s worth noting that I had no hidden agenda. My main objective was to find out how counties had coped with the recession.

From the information that I did obtain, the lack of transparency was even more infuriating because most county boards should have been shouting their figures from the rooftops.

Politicians would pay huge sums of money to find out how GAA officials implement stringent cuts without suffering a murmur of discontent.

For instance in 2010, Monaghan reduced their team expenses by €27,521 (£23,695). Tyrone more than doubled that figure, cutting their county team expenses by £57,994. Cavan, acting true to stereotype, were even more frugal.

Responding to a reduction in income of €60,000, Breffni officials cut their overall expenditure by €140,000. A massive €97,695 (£84,114) was saved on the preparation of county teams. This prudent approach in austere times allowed Cavan to report a profit of around €40,000.

In politics, cost-cutting automatically means dissent, rancour, and sometimes revolt. Yet despite considerable cuts there wasn’t a whimper of protest from the Monaghan, Tyrone, and Cavan players – or their representatives in the GPA.

And it wasn’t just the players who tightened their belts. Seamus McCloy always kept a firm grip on the purse strings when he was the Derry chairman and in John Keenan he appears to have a worthy successor.

In 2009 the expenses of Derry county board officers totalled £20,510. Last year that sum was reduced to £5,237, a staggering decrease of £15,273 — or nearly 75 per cent. (This might explain why the Board failed to fill two posts at last year’s convention).

While other boards saved money by spending less on the preparation of teams, Derry’s outlay on their players was relatively unchanged. In fact there were increases as medical and physio expenses went up £2,373 (from £53,269 to £55,642) and players’ travelling and overnight expenses went up £3,466 (from £84,771 to £88,237).

Derry’s most significant savings were made in administration. The postage and telephone bill came down by £3,346 while printing and stationery costs were reduced from £12,235 to £4,661, a saving of £7,574.

Again, county board officials felt the pinch. In 2009 the cost of sending delegates to Annual Congress cost the Oak Leaf Board £4,833. Last year that figure was reduced to £3,073, a saving of £1,760.

Despite the added cost of hosting Féile (£60,000), Derry managed to stay in the black.

The balance sheets of the county boards that have managed to stay afloat should be a source of pride to them. There is absolutely no reason why they should be withheld from the media.

Indeed, this circumspect behaviour in dealing with accounts runs contrary to the examples set by the Ulster Council and Croke Park.

One of Páraic Duffy’s first objectives on becoming director-general was to demolish the constant refrain that the initials GAA stood for the Grab All Association.’ In his first year, Duffy called a press conference that publicised the GAA’s annual accounts.

The message rammed home was that upwards of 80 per cent of all GAA income at central level is redistributed.

The Ulster Council has reaped huge rewards from its transparent accountancy. Because it can show where every penny is spent, it is one of a limited number of bodies to which the British government will award 80 per cent capital grants.

Unfortunately most of the county boards are not following the example set at provincial and central level, which is a pity because the evidence shows there is more to be gained than lost from operating an open book policy.

In saying that, the publication of accounts will always lead to some interesting questions.

Take the example of the Cavan referees who were paid expenses of €15,399 in 2009. A year later, their bill had almost doubled to €31,423. Has the cost of petrol doubled in Cavan? Or were there just twice as many games? A similar trend occurred in Monaghan as referee expenses went up by a hefty €10,613.

Or think about Derry’s bill for sympathy notices. The cost of £996 in 2009 rose to £2,241 in 2010. More deaths? Or more words?

Another unnamed county might also consider shopping around for a cheaper laundry service as their annual bill for washing jerseys in 2010 came to £5,025. It seems a tad excessive because most launderettes will wash and dry a set of jerseys for £7. At that fairly standard rate, £5,025 pays for 717 washes. That’s a lot of games.

Then again, the easiest way to save money is to persuade your managers to stay off the grass.

Last year Monaghan were forced to cough up an eye-watering €7,835 in fines, a reduction on the previous year’s bill of €9,806. In contrast, the well-behaved Derry management and players accrued a more manageable penalty of £739.

Of course, unlike Derry, Monaghan stayed in Division One and qualified for the Ulster final. And success as they say comes at price, but judging by Down’s accounts it should never be feared.

The Mourne County’s fundraising efforts last year yielded a whopping £260,000.

All-Ireland finals must be one of those recession-proof industries.