O’Keeffe: Déise tighten belts but still record loss

Waterford County Board recorded a loss of €212,271 in their 2012 accounts which will be presented to tomorrow night’s annual convention in Dungarvan.

After suffering a €120,000 shortfall in 2011, county secretary Timmy O’Keeffe outlined the cash difficulties the county faces in his report.

“The management of the finances of the board continue to be a serious challenge for the county. All costs have to be scrutinised carefully. Tight control must be kept over all expenditure whether it is in administration or team preparation.

“In the current economic climate raising additional finance is a major challenge. However if we are to remain competitive at inter-county level, particularly in hurling, we must continue to prepare our teams to the highest standards.”

Income for the year was €1,087,395, which was down on the 2011 figure of over €1.3m. Fundraising incurred a loss of €16,662 after a hit of €40,387 on a concert held in July which was headlined by Jedward.

The cost of county teams fell by almost €120,000 — €534,715 this year compared with €652,635 in 2011. The cost of preparing the senior hurlers dropped from €251,391 to €209,804.

While encouraged by some of the savings, O’Keeffe believes they need to be even more thrifty.

“As our accounts show, considerable progress has been made in reducing expenditure in 2012. Our spending on the preparation of our county teams compares very favourably with any of the other Division 1 hurling counties. On the other hand, our fundraising efforts lag way behind the other five [Division 1 hurling counties] and this is an area we need to address for 2013.”

When reflecting on the fortunes of the various county teams, O’Keeffe described 2012 as a year where Waterford “stood still”. He voiced his concern about their continued failure to make an impression on both the minor and U21 football championships. “Clearly there is a crisis in underage football. The predominantly football-oriented clubs need to take ownership of the problem and come up with solutions.”

He even raised the possibility of withdrawing from the U21 championship.

“Kerry do not compete in the Munster U21 hurling championship, perhaps it is time that we considered our position in relation to the Munster U21 football championship.”

He also made reference to the heavy defeat suffered by the U21 hurlers to eventual All-Ireland champions Clare.

“Expectations were very high going into the match, but on the night Clare were physically stronger, much quicker to the ball and their first touch was way ahead. As I said in last year’s report after a similar loss to Tipperary, lessons need to be learned from this game and training methods need to change to reflect the changing nature of inter-county hurling.”

The below-par displays of intermediate and junior sides in the provincial club championships was another source of disappointment.

“Why are our intermediate and junior hurling county champions generally out of their depth in the Munster club championship, yet our senior champions are competitive? Since the Munster club intermediate and junior hurling championship was introduced in 2003 no Waterford team has won either competition.”

None of the positions on the county board executive will be contested at tomorrow night’s meeting.