Culhane: Galway GAA 'has fallen behind in a lot of different ways'

Galway GAA has to move into the 21st century, according to Mick Culhane, who will contest the chairmanship of the Galway county board next Monday.

Businessman Culhane, who will go up against the incumbent, Pat Kearney, at Monday’s convention in Salthill, says Galway GAA “has fallen behind in a lot of different ways”. If elected, Culhane has vowed that all board activity will be “completely transparent”.

The Galway county board has been dogged by controversy and scandal in recent years. Treasurer Mike Burke revealed at the county’s 2018 convention that there had been “serious abuse” of the Galway GAA credit card for the payment of personal expenses, officer expenses totalling €45k in 2016, and the accrual of almost half a million in ticket debt.

More recently, sponsors Supermacs issued a public statement demanding to know how the €1.6m the fast-food chain pumped into Galway GAA since 2015 had been spent.

The county’s 2019 accounts show an overall deficit of €261k, significantly down on the €373k surplus from 12 months ago.

In relation to the county’s financial difficulties, Culhane, in an interview with Galway Bay FM this morning, said that if elected, “it is just something I am going to have to get to the bottom of in every different way”.

Culhane, a member of Padraic Joyce’s management team with the Galway U20 footballers this year, was reluctant to give his verdict on a turbulent few years for the county. He did, however, remark that the county’s image was damaged.

“I don’t want to dwell on the past and the negativity that is there. I’d rather concentrate on what we are going to do in the future,” he said.

“Galway GAA has to move into the 21st century. We have a lot of things to do. I and others care about these issues and key objectives. I want to make Galway GAA a better place. We’ve fallen behind in a lot of different ways.

"There are a lot of people that want to do something. There are some great people involved in Galway GAA, and there are also some great people outside Galway GAA who are more than willing to get involved in a new regime.

“It is going to be a hard job. There is going to be a lot to do. We have got to be transparent, completely transparent. We’ve got to show where we are exactly now. With the accounts coming out, it is not a pretty picture. But Galway is a fantastic GAA county, it is probably the most prominent dual county in Ireland. We have a lot going for us. Galway GAA should be a powerful brand and I aim to make sure it is.

“Galway GAA is a €4m business. It is nothing else but a business. We have to make sure it is run professionally, run with good structures, run with good governance, and we need for people to buy into it, for people to see that it is being done right. There will be huge goodwill as a result of that.”