Silent night as cost of running Mayo GAA raises no questions

You could have been forgiven for thinking you were boarding a flight to Knock when before takeoff at last Wednesday’s Mayo GAA County Convention, Michael McKenzie asked the rows of delegates to note their nearest exit in case of emergency.

The North Board chairman needn’t have worried; there was no fire, proverbial or otherwise, nor any rough landing for officials at the top table. In fact, despite Mayo GAA chief Seamus Tuohy’s admission that the county board was on a “lonely and stressful journey” because of Revenue’s current interest in their financial affairs, that journey, on Wednesday night at least, felt more Driving Home for Christmas in feeling than Chris Rea’s other big hit, The Road to Hell.

Those behind the wheel must surely have felt Christmas had come early when not a single one of the 167 delegates in attendance at the Great National Hotel in Ballina had a question for the executive officers about the circumstances of Revenue’s ongoing audit of Mayo GAA – a story that has attracted massive national attention due to its possible implications for the wider association – or about Mayo GAA’s financial situation in general.

The overview is that a surplus of €78,442 was reported for the year ending September 30. That represents a massive drop from the €776,357 surplus recorded in the 2023 accounts. It’s not to suggest there are not some plausible explanations for that – for example, the accounting year is not aligned with the club season so some figures can become skewed – but where’s the curiosity of the clubs (who are tasked with raising around €280,000 for Mayo County Board each year through sale of Club Development Draw tickets) to at least seek what those reasons are and also, how some of their money is being used?

The €697,915 difference between the surpluses of the past two years was due to €286,687 less income in 2024 and increased expenditure of €411,228.

There was a drop of over €56k in club championship ticket sales, which includes a €19k drop in season tickets. Moneys received through royalties and sponsorship was also down by a combined €56k, income from Cúl Camps dropped by €23k while two big losses compared to 2023 were Mayo’s National Football League share and team expenses received from Central Council.

In ’23, Mayo’s NFL share was more than €100,000 more than this year, in part due to them winning Division 1, while Central Council’s contribution to team expenses in 2024 is down by just over €76k. Mayo GAA also received over €69k from Sport Ireland in 2023 compared to just €3,884 this year.

There were some gains however, with Mayo GAA TV showing a turnover of €156,467, which is in excess of €31k more than it generated in 2023, while the fundraising activities of Cairde Maigh Eo added €86k more to the pot than the year before, with a total figure for the year of €299,426.

An increase of €140,108 was reported in the administration expenses associated to running the Mayo inter-county football and hurling teams. The senior football team, unlike the year before, did not reach the National League final and exited the championship a round earlier, but their costs in 2024 increased by €60,563. However, much of that can be attributed to their Connacht SFC game in New York, with travel and accommodation expenses in 2024 almost €59k more than in 2023.

The total amount spent on the Mayo senior football team (€870,435) is more than four times that spent on the Mayo senior hurling team (€205,567), with the hurlers claiming over €167k less in the cost of the backroom team, over €66k less in management expenses, almost €90k less in meals, catering and nutrition, and over €100k less in players mileage. This is despite their seasons ending just 20 days apart, with the hurlers’ defeat to Donegal in the Nicky Rackard Cup final played on June 2 at Croke Park and the footballers losing a penalty shoot-out to Derry on June 22 in Castlebar.

And when you consider the amount of money that was spent on the medical expenses of the Mayo senior football panel (€36,791) was more than eight times that which was spent on the Mayo senior hurling panel (€4,558), it’d make you wonder which is the more dangerous game. It might also explain where the hurling fraternity feel in the Mayo GAA food chain, given that of the 52 clubs with seats at Convention, the only three absent last Wednesday night – Ballyvary, Caiseal Gaels and Moytura – are all hurling entities.

Elsewhere, there was a 100% increase in referees expenses in 2024, with €191,600 paid out by Mayo County Board in 2024 compared to €95,811 in the year previous.

“Has anyone any questions?” asked Valerie Murphy, the Mayo GAA treasurer, who had stayed true to her promise of giving a “whistlestop tour of the accounts”. Silence.

She had, however, already confirmed that Mayo GAA’s auditors, O’Mara Loftus & Co, were in agreement with the board’s approach of not signing off on the accounts due to Revenue’s ongoing review.

“Based on the books and records presented to us by Mayo GAA and our audit work completed to date, based on financial statements for the year ending September 30, 2024, we do not anticipate any material change to the operating surplus of €78,442 as presented in the draft financial statement other than to adjust what may be required following the conclusion of the review referred to above,” read a statement from the auditors, adding that the accounts would remain unsigned due to the inability at this time to accurately assess potential liabilities arising from the current Revenue Commissioners Level 2 Risk Review for 2018 and 2019 and Mayo GAA’s own voluntary review from 2020 to 2024.

Let’s hope there remains no need to run for those emergency exits.