New chairman Moffatt sets out to rebuild trust in Mayo GAA

THE newly-elected Mayo GAA Board chairman Liam Moffatt says that ‘building trust in the County Board’ will be one of his key objectives.

Moffatt (43), who won an All-Ireland club football medal with Crossmolina in 2001 and represented Mayo at all levels, beat vice-chairman Seamus Tuohy in a vote for the position.

He succeeds the outgoing chairman, Mike Connelly, whose five-year term had ended.

“It’s a great responsibility and one I would never take for granted,” Moffatt told club delegates after he was elected.

“The founders of the GAA foresaw a higher purpose for the Association than simply overseeing the development of Gaelic Games. They intended to better communities at home and abroad — socially, culturally and economically too.

“And this is foremost in my thoughts as I begin the work of meeting the Mayo County Board’s higher purpose.

“I and my new colleagues will heed what the clubs have told us.

“Starting today we will embrace an already great body to make it a source of pride for all our great members; players and coaches of all ages, officers, volunteers and supporters — the many great strands that create a thread in the fabric of Mayo GAA.”

Moffatt also said he was determined to try and be ‘proactive rather than reactive’, to ‘reduce volunteer burden’, and ‘make people as proud of what we do off the field as what we do on it’.

“There will certainly be pressure on us as a county and an executive, but with that comes immense opportunity for all too,” he explained. “And our key objective will be to build trust in our County Board to connect with all the Mayo GAA family, to communicate effectively and promptly, and develop policy for every aspect of the Mayo GAA operations.

“The work begins now for all of us.

“This will be a test of our character as Mayo people, the next 90 days will be vital.” Moffatt, who owns and runs the Mayo Sports Clinic and is a former lead physio with the Mayo senior footballers, concluded his acceptance speech by issuing a rallying call.

“There has been much talk in recent months about the damage done to Mayo GAA’s reputation,” he said.

“But over the last few months talking to clubs I have seen character without equal, and when that is harnessed, multiplied and combined, encouraged and directed, we will never worry about our reputation.

“Our character will tell you all you need to know about Mayo GAA.” Mayo spent a total of €1,699,409 on running all of the county’s football teams and their senior hurlers in 2019.

The flagship senior football team, which won the National League and reached the All-Ireland SFC semi-final, accounted for the bulk of the ‘Team Administration Expenses’ costing a total of €1,240,699 between travelling, catering, sportsgear and equipment and medical.

This was an increase of almost €400,000 on 2018 with outgoing Mayo GAA Treasurer, Kevin O’Toole, explaining that approximately €150,000 of the increase was down to the cost of sending the Mayo senior squad to New York for their Connacht SFC clash with the Exiles last May.

The logistics of sending ‘lock, stock and barrel over for a training camp’ in the week after the New York match accounted for the figure of €150,000, according to O’Toole.

The longstanding issue of Mayo’s senior players having to travel long distances for collective training in the Midlands and from Dublin to Mayo during the season was underlined by the fact that €696,890 was spent on travelling expenses this year.

Overall, Mayo GAA reported a loss of €83,085 in terms of income versus expenditure: they took in €3,506,259 and spent €3,589,344.

Commercial income was €463,884 while other fundraising accounted for €712,470 — meaning a combined total of €1,176,354.