John Mullins on Cork GAA levies: ‘There wasn’t a massive amount of kickback among the clubs’

Former Bord Gáis chief executive John Mullins is a member of the stadium’s board of directors and One Cork fundraising committee. On Tuesday morning, John Fogarty asked him a number of questions relating to the county’s predicament.

Wed, 29 Jan, 2025 - 16:52

John Fogarty

Cork GAA’s decision to impose levies on its clubs underlined just how stark the financial situation is for the county.

Servicing loans of €19 million with Bank of Ireland and €12m with Central Council associated with the reconstruction of SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh while ensuring ambitious inter-county teams are bankrolled is a mammoth task.

Former Bord Gáis chief executive John Mullins is a member of the stadium’s board of directors and One Cork fundraising committee. On Tuesday morning, we asked him a number of questions relating to the county’s predicament:

John Fogarty: Your reaction to the decision by Cork GAA to introduce levies for its clubs.

John Mullins: “The levies is not a matter for One Cork, it’s not a matter for Páirc Uí Chaoimh. That was absolutely raised at county executive level. In essence, what’s happening is all the finances are being consolidated in cash terms right across the whole gambit. The executive committee of the county board went down the route of raising more funds effectively for the operation of teams and as I understand the last thing they want to do is pulling back on inter-county budgets particularly when we are potentially on the cusp of something. My understanding is that there wasn’t a massive amount of kickback among the clubs. We have inflation to deal with as well. All the costs of running the operation have gone up. I wouldn’t even start on the energy costs in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, for example. Gas and electricity prices are still very elevated. In saying that, things like the naming rights and other partners that have come in have mitigated those costs.”

JF: Is a centre of excellence an aspirational objective in the context of the stadium debt?

JM: “I think it’s well documented the late objections that we got on the Kilbarry site, which is a bit unfortunate. There was plenty of interest in the site, a lot of demand for housing in the market as is well known. What we have now in essence is a delay but we have a confidence that we will get through the ultimate planning process but it has been delayed by 12 to 18 months. That would have been a significant sum to take out of the, let’s say, more expensive part of the debt. We’re in a bridging location between now and when Kilbarry does come up trumps. That will definitely assist the whole restructuring of the debt. In saying that, we have great support from Croke Park and we’re working as partners. We certainly would like to see the back of Bank of Ireland as quicky as we could but we can’t do that without Kilbarry. I’m looking at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty.”

JF: You expressed your hope in 2016 that Páirc Uí Chaoimh would start debt-free. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

JM: “Let me be clear, I wasn’t aware of the overruns. In fact, I wasn’t even party to any of those conversations. It was only when I got onto the (stadium) board that Michael [O’Flynn] and myself started to deal with the financial matters. By the way, we did struggle with premium tickets but now not alone have we sold all the premium tickets we have extended them downstairs (in the South Stand). They’re going out the door. We have a new Beamish-run bar opening up for our patrons next week. We’re expecting good attendances starting on Saturday night. We’re not in a jeopardy situation. In fact, we’re just about to sign new commercial deals in the stadium and they’re going to underpin the finances of the stadium. The problem with Páirc Uí Chaoimh is it’s too big to be a Musgrave Park in terms of concerts and too small for Taylor Swift or Coldplay. It’s stuck in the middle essentially but we might have ways around that. The Winterlee thing this year was a good start. We’re going to try everything we can to sweat the asset.”

JF: A stadium for €96 million would be considered a deal now. Does that remain a core belief?

JM: “When you look at the numbers that are being cited for Casement Park and look at what we have in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh now for the price that we got when construction was in place for 2017, there is no way Cork County Board now with any combination of the GAA and Munster Council, would have been able to afford SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. What do we have? We have a 40-year deprecating asset. It’s going to be there well past my time. Fortunately, we made the right decision to put in the best pitch in the country. All those decisions were well-taken. There could be one or two announcements in terms of events towards the end of the year, which would be a first for the Páirc. We’re trying to maximise it but what’s most important at the moment is clubs understand all our teams have to be well-funded. I don’t think my own club here in Castlemartyr paying a fee, levy or whatever they are, have a problem with that.”