Lack of playing areas is Mayo GAA’s ‘greatest area of concern’

Mayo GAA secretary Ronan Kirrane has warned that there is not sufficient space to serve Mayo’s current teams at present.

In his report as secretary ahead of this weekend’s County Convention, Kirrane said that while off-the-field advancements have been made in terms of supports for academy and county teams across all codes, there is not enough areas to serve them all and it that could become even more complicated should the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Associations eventually merge.

“With the long-awaited integration of the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Associations on the cards one would wonder how, without major capital support from the government, counties and indeed clubs throughout the association will cater to the players,” he said.

Concluding his secretary’s report, Kirrane said: “Like clubs, the role of a voluntary secretary can erode an inordinate amount of time with greater demands coming all the time. I would like to think that I have always been contactable for club officers, approachable and reliable in supporting and working with clubs in a positive manner.” Mayo GAA spent a total of €1.23 million on the senior, U20 and U17 footballers and senior hurlers for the 2023 season, up €150k from the 2022 season.

The figures were released as part of Mayo’s GAA Annual Financial Statement for the financial year ending September 30, 2023.

The figure of €644k of expenses for the senior football team breaks down to include €181k spent on player mileage, €83k on team management, €211k on backroom personnel, and €108k on meals and catering costs. The total cost of expenses for the senior hurlers was just under €193k while the combined expenses for the U20s, U17s and development squads was €229k.

The financial statement, cosigned by County Board chair Seamus Tuohy and Treasurer Valerie Murphy, shows that the overall excess of income over expenditure for Mayo GAA in the year up to September 30 was just over €776k. Total income was €4.07million and total expenditure was €3.299 million.

The annual County Convention takes place today (Sunday) at the CastleCourt Hotel, Westport. Only the role of Mayo GAA Coaching Officer is to be contested, with Hollymount-Carramore’s Michael Connolly running against the outgoing Officer Declan O’Reilly of Castlebar Mitchels.