Waterford financial crisis ‘blown out of all proportion’

Waterford County Board chairman Tom Cunningham has described suggestions of a financial crisis in the county as being “blown out of all proportion” despite the fact they are reportedly €677,000 in debt.

Cunningham made the remarkyesterday when asked if Croke Park had been asked to lend its assistance before going on to describe the matter as “minor” and adding that it was “all being dealt with”.

“We spent a lot on development of Walsh Park and Dungarvan, but it is very controllable,” he said before adding the board hope to have the debt cleared in up to six years. “Everything is well under control.”

Croke Park declined to confirm or deny whether they were involved in stabilising the situation, as they have done with the likes of Mayo and Kildare recently.

Details of Waterford’s financial position, which were disclosed to a behind closed doors meeting of the board on Monday night, confirmed that the overall debt has now spiralled to nearly €700,000.

Nor is the situation likely to get any better by the end of the board’s official financial year on October 31 when expenditure is expected to have outstripped income by more than €200,000.

Cunningham will head up a board delegation for what he described as a routine meeting with the banking representatives today while a high-powered finance committee will also be set up after the clubs have been consulted and invited to nominate at least three representatives to serve as members.

The hope is that business experts will also become involved.

At least three representatives of the current county executive will also be represented on the new finance committee, which is likely to be presented for official ratification in October.

In the meantime, various ways of raising badly needed funding in the short-term are also likely to be considered.

One suggestion from a delegate to Monday night’s meeting was that the board should seek a voluntary contribution of €100 from at least €1,000 avid GAA supporters countywide, which would be a start towards making short-term inroads into the deficit.

Clearly, current levels of expenditure will be a top priority for any incoming finance committee and its members are certain to consider the cost of preparing the various county teams.

Waterford are far from the only county to be faced with unpalatable financial realities in recent years.

While some counties recorded profits in 2011 and others only minor losses, the fact is that over one third finished in the red for the last calendar year.