Toner advises counties to cut expenses on teams

LEINSTER Council treasurer Pat Toner has warned counties in the province to dramatically slash their team expenditure to ensure they don’t face serious financial difficulties.

In his report to this Saturday’s annual convention in Longford, council secretary Michael Delaney suggested “one or two of our county committees” may be facing monetary issues.

Toner has supported Delaney’s point by arguing the necessity of county boards to cut the significant six and seven figure sums they are shelling out on preparing their inter-county teams.

“It’s the recession in general that has affected counties and clubs’ income whether it’s gate receipts or sponsorship,” said Toner. “They’re just not able to obtain the same amount of finances whether it’s people coming to games or attracting companies to back them financially.

“As regards expenditure, I’m not going to comment on any one county in particular but you only have to look at the amount spent by some of the counties on their inter-county (teams) to realise that’s the six-marker. We all know that they’re far more than they should be.”

Behind Dublin, Kildare spent the most on their teams in Leinster in 2010 with €741,860, an increase of over €80,000 on 2009. The board reported a loss at the end of last year and having recently opened the impressive €3.4m Hawkfield training centre, making repayments for the venture will figure prominently in their expenditure column for years to come. Board chairman Padraig Ashe insists there are no issues with the day-to-day finances of Kildare but appreciates why Delaney has raised the subject of county boards facing problems in his report.

“It’s not getting any easier, that’s for sure,” said Ashe. “In fairness, what Michael Delaney has said in his report is echoing the situation on the ground. Things are not good but we have to come up with other revenue streams. Fund-raising is one of them and I believe it’s going to be that way for the next few years. Our day-to-day spending in 2010 was fine but devaluation and depreciation would have been represented in our figures.

“A lot of our income is now being paid out on the repayments of Hawkfield. The ins and outs, everything is under control. Last year was the first time an audit was done so everything is above board and everything is clear.”

Toner repeats the messages conveyed by Delaney and GAA President Christy Cooney that counties and clubs can’t be bailed out. However, he emphasises that help is available.

“We (the Leinster finance advisory group) have met with numerous clubs but we can’t bail them out because we don’t have the money. If we were to help one financially then how could we then say no (to another)? What we can offer them is expertise in helping to reorganise their finances and how to manage them.”

Toner agrees with Ashe that fundraising remains a viable revenue stream however, he points out that this has also been hit badly. “Clubs and counties that would be known as very good fundraisers are suffering. They might have raised x amount three or four years ago but it’s now down a big percentage. Race nights are no longer as popular as they once were.”

Meanwhile, the Central Council are expected to take a decision at their next meeting in April to reduce ticket prices for all non-provincial championship (knock-out) games up to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

It is unclear what the cut in admission to games will be but the new price structure is set to be ratified when Ard Chomhairle reconvenes on the eve of Annual Congress in Mullingar.

At the moment, a general All-Ireland semi-final ticket is priced at €45 while the equivalent for quarter-finals and qualifiers cost €35 and €20 respectively. However, it looks increasingly likely that none of the four provincial councils will be reducing their championship ticket prices.

The councils are loath to see any further reduction in their gate receipts. Instead, they will be offering a variety of ticket packages and it is understood the four parties are working together to try and form a synergy between their ticket initiatives.

Central authorities, meanwhile, will be ramping up profile of their own ticket deals. Speaking to The Irish Examiner yesterday, GAA finance officer Kathy Slattery confirmed the Association intend on major promotional drives of their packages this year.