Limerick leaning on Loftus

John Loftus is obviously a glass half full character.

The newly appointed Limerick GAA Commercial Director comes into the role on the back of confirmation that the board has debts totalling €750,000 and are in desperate need of assistance. Instead of pulling his hair out at the thoughts of what lies ahead, Loftus is already rolling up his sleeves getting ready to put his county back on a sound financial footing.

“They’re bringing someone in who – they hope! – can straighten the whole thing out!” he laughs when asked about his role. “It’s a totally new position so I’ll be defining it as I go along, I have a free hand to come up with ideas. At the moment I’m feeling my way, finding out what deals are in place, what renewals are in place, but already I have a few ideas of my own.”

The first challenge is what to do with the actual €750,000 debt – a bailout from Croke Park, perhaps? “No, Croke Park doesn’t do bailouts! Donal Morrissey is the new Treasurer, a tremendous individual, chartered accountant, and what we’re trying to arrange at the moment is to put €450,000 on a long-term loan basis with Croke Park, then park the remaining €300,000 which we hope to pay off if and when we get planning for the concerts in the Gaelic Grounds. The application is in, permission granted, but appeals have been lodged by local residents. That appeal won’t be heard until July which effectively rules out anything for this year.”

It’s going to take more than a concert or two though, surely, and in the times that are in it, where is Loftus going to find the money Limerick GAA needs, not just to pay down this debt but to keep going on a day-to-day basis?

“I have ideas, plenty of ideas – there’s so much you can do. Take the Mackey Draw — I initiated that back in 1985 and it has proven very successful, but maybe it’s time to upgrade that now and freshen it up.

“Perhaps change it from a monthly draw to an annual event, take in more money with less hassle, less administration, less expense and make your money in one go.”

But there’s more. Loftus (65), had a kidney transplant a decade ago, but he’s a livewire, bursting with energy, with ideas. On the energy front, well, he’s a current double world champion, at 100m and 200m in the over 60s category at the Transplant Games. On the ideas front? Concerts and the Mackey Draw is only scratching the surface.

“There’s still a lot of money in circulation, a lot of money being spent, plenty of businesses thriving in this recession. Car dealerships are spending an absolute fortune on advertising and promotion. Barrington’s Hospital is now private and they’re sponsoring the Great Limerick Run this year. I’m identifying the areas of the economy where money is still being spent and going after those areas. There are also a lot of dyed-in-the-wool GAA supporters in businesses out there, big and small, I’ll be approaching them.”

Then you look at the Gaelic Grounds themselves, also a very valuable potential asset, concerts apart.

“There’s an opportunity there to sell 10-year seats, individually or in blocks for different companies who could then put their logos on them. There are ways of doing all this, of improving on what we’re doing at the moment. The capacity of the Gaelic Grounds is 50,000 but we’ve never had that yet, the biggest we had was just over 30,000 for the International Series. That’s an asset, we have to make better use of it.

“The GAA is a tremendous product and it’s being undersold. The commercial side has to go hand-in-hand with PR and that’s not happening. Do you know for example that in the last three years Limerick GAA spent €3m on developing the facilities in Rathkeale and a further €2.1m on the Gaelic Grounds with the new floodlighting and dressing-rooms – 90% of that money was spent on Limerick businesses, local employment.

“We must publicise that, we must have the PR highlighting stuff like this and bring the people with you.”

He’s not done yet, not by a long shot. “You have to have after-sales service and too often in the GAA a deal is made, perhaps a sponsorship sold, but then that’s it, no follow-up. You have to continuously interact with your sponsors, with all those with whom you do business, make sure that they’re happy and getting a good return. That will be a central part of what we’re doing.”

There’s competition of course; it’s not just for the minds and hearts of youngsters that the GAA goes toe-to-toe with rugby in Limerick city and county.

There’s also the little matter of that mega-monster up the road from the Gaelic Grounds, the world-famous Thomond Park, surely a Commercial Director’s dream?

“True, but I don’t see them as competition, I see them as an inspiration. I actually played rugby at school, I played with Vinnie Becker and Seamus Dennison, the guy who made the famous hit in that win over the All Blacks, around whom much of Alone It Stands (the famous play) is written.

“Vinnie was a real speedster, became a rugby international and an Irish sprint champion, but I was neck-and-neck with him in Mungret, we had many a battle!”

Hurling though is John’s first and enduring love, his native Ballybrown especially whom – alongside Tom Ryan – he coached to an All-Ireland club final in 1989.

“I still live there and wouldn’t miss even a training session. We’re in the same parish as Patrickswell but where everyone else seems to be amalgamating we’re getting stronger — in fact we had to cut back the numbers at training for the senior team recently to make it manageable, we had up to 45 there at times. The Post Office is closed but the GAA is still there, still the heartbeat of the parish.”

Before leaving, you ask the one obvious, glaring question – one stroke of a pen, one signature on one piece of paper, that of long-time sponsor JP McManus, and that entire debt would be cleared?

“Because I wouldn’t even ask. I can’t praise JP enough for what he has done, not just for the GAA but for Limerick in general, he’s a fantastic individual. But this is something we have to do for ourselves.”