Munster Council's fears for 2021 after revenue losses

The Munster GAA Council has highlighted in its annual report to Convention which taks place this Friday evening, the huge drop in revenue which has resulted in a loss of close to €850,000 - a loss which could have serious implications for the provision of Games Development Officers throughout the province.

An unprecedented year saw practically a total collapse in income through gate receipts and commerical opportunities as most championships at inter county elevl ended up behind closed doors with no money collected at the stiles. And, this will have a knock on affect for the coming seaosn too if current conditions in the country prevail with Covid-19.

Treasurer Dermot Lynch stated in his report that there were "clear, ongoing concerns in relation to how the association will perform in 2021," adding that "Central Council and government funding received, along with the support of the wage subsidies, were invaluable to the Council's operating procedures."

With most senior championship games held behind closed doors and with gate receipts usually accounting for some 90% of Council income, it was clear that the province would come under pressure financially - four of the six County Boards in Munster recorded losses for 2020, with Tipp being one of the two to end up in surplus.

There are 41 Games Development Administrators (GDA's) in Munster including seven of these located in third level colleges. And, plans for adding further GDA's could well be impacted given the precarious financial position - the Munster Council cancelled development grants to the counties in 2020 - a €1.2million loss to clubs across the province and depending on how the coming season pans out, there could well be no grant money provided in 2021 either.

Gate recepits dropped from €5.3million to €453,000 in 2020 - a 92% collapse, and Council salaries were cut across the board in a bid to keep the ship afloat.

Munster Council Secretary, Kieran Leddy, in a detailed report to Convention addressed a number of other important issues including the impact made by the Association during the pandemic.

“The enormous contribution of our Association to the National effort, through volunteering, fundraising and provision of facilities etc, not to mention the many hours of safe activity provided for hundreds of thousands of members, is what the GAA should be remembered for in 2020,” he says, though he did highlight a number of celebrations which took place after finals which went against the spirit of the national effort - these incidents, though isolated, simply should not have happened, he said.

10,000 juvenile coaches in Munster helped to keep the youth active and playing Gaelic Games through many intiatives with 2.1 million hours of training and games spent in the fields. Through a Social Return on Investment model it has shown that for every €1 spent by parents on their kids in a GAA setting, the return is €9.61 - a magnificent testimony to the work being done, most of it in a voluntary capacity, in the province.

The Secretary, in his report also touches on the issue of cynical play in hurling, which seemed to be more prevalent this year than any and has resulted in a call for black cards to be introduced.

“There is a debate at present as to whether cynicism exists in the game of hurling and at a level that warrants action by way of new rules. There can be no doubt that there were some tackles of a cynical nature in this year’s championship, and these tackles denied clear scoring opportunities.

The number of them is irrelevant in my view. It is important that the Association deals with this question now, as opposed to take a ‘wait and see’ approach. It is not a question of living with it if it is only a few incidents here and there. If a cynical tackle confers an advantage to the team of the player that commits the foul, it is unfair. Cynical fouling needs to be discussed in that context,” he says.