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Funds have not been misappropriated, says new chairman By Deirdre Kelly No misappropriation of funds has taken place by members of the Mayo County GAA Board, a meeting of the organisation was told on Monday night, after revelations the board was £200,000 in the red. Now a rescue package based on a £100,000 bank overdraft, a slash in team administration expenses and monthly financial reports is planned to overturn the deficit. At the annual convention of the organisation the total liabilities were £126,000 however the deficit today is some £200,000. Mr. P.J. McGrath, chairman, said the deficit of £126,000 was the accumulation of a deficit that has been growing over the last few years. The total liability of £200,000 was due to a number of factors such as the claiming of expenses at the end of the year, following the convention. The situation was now at a stage that it has to be tackled, he said. "It is serious but manageable." He added: "There was no misappropriation of funds by any member of the County Board at any time of even one penny." When the new board took over one of the first thing they did was to examine the deficit and other bills. At an executive meeting on December 22 there was "little or no income but the bills were coming in. At that stage we did need the bones of £200,000 to pay all our bills at Christmas." Mr. McGrath said he had brought the executive together "because I need a commitment that this will be an open and transparent year. It is wide open and the executive know what is happening." The total liabilities now stand at £200,000 and this was due to a number of factors such as the claiming of expenses at the end of the year. The accumulation of expenses to the end of the year was "bad practice." A total of £176,026 was owed to Croke Park for All Ireland tickets and that amount was accounted for in the £200,000 debt. A new system will be introduced with the county board demanding expenses sheets from players on a monthly basis. "We will know what it cost to run the County Board on a month to month basis." Mr. McGrath told the meeting: "This business has got big over the last couple of years. It has to be handled differently and it will. The board will be told of finances at the monthly board meetings. "Next time we get a check in here it will be cashed immediately. Checks put in tonight will be lodged by next Wednesday." Discussing the projected accounts for 1998 Mr. McGrath said the county board "will have to increase our income and cut down on our expenses." It was based on this commitment the bank were prepared to give the organisation a £100,000 term loan. The Supporters Club had given a commitment to raise £50,000 and £20,000 of that figure was raised to date. In 1998 all gates from county championship matches will be collected by the board and he estimated funding from commercial sponsorship at £95,000. The main area for cutbacks is the area of team administration which includes complimentary tickets. Revenue in this area is to be slashed from £305,069 in 1997 to £235,180 this year. "Based on these proposals the banks did give is our overdraft. The bank have come up with this rescue package if you could call it that," added Mr. McGrath.
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