Newspaper Articles and other media bits

[LooseCannon]

https://t.co/yRKLwtgmvq

[first_touch]

Thanks for sharing that article, LC. Essential reading for anyone concerned about the direction the GAA is taking.

[LooseCannon]

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/gaeli ... rters.html

[LooseCannon]

https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-g ... 22874.html

I meant to put this in last night, but forgot. I see that POTH has highlighted it on Twitter.
Our fundraising, let’s be honest, is non-existent.

[LooseCannon]

All fundraising for the Faithful Fields was independent of the County Board. The county board were handed the keys on the day of the official opening.
It was all spearheaded by Kieran Keenaghan, with others such as Duignan, Colm Cummins, I think, etc.

[joe bloggs]

All fundraising for the Faithful Fields was independent of the County Board. The county board were handed the keys on the day of the official opening.
It was all spearheaded by Kieran Keenaghan, with others such as Duignan, Colm Cummins, I think, etc.

The well is small in Offaly, but the faithful fields committe tapped it to the max. As a result any.other fundraising ventures would have been impacted.
I would hope that now it is up and running, normal fundraising activities can resume.

[LooseCannon]

All fundraising for the Faithful Fields was independent of the County Board. The county board were handed the keys on the day of the official opening.
It was all spearheaded by Kieran Keenaghan, with others such as Duignan, Colm Cummins, I think, etc.

The well is small in Offaly, but the faithful fields committe tapped it to the max. As a result any.other fundraising ventures would have been impacted.
I would hope that now it is up and running, normal fundraising activities can resume.

I understand that, but we can do so well in raising funds, provided that effort is put in.
Look at the fundraising from Roscommon and Wexford, and that’s not including Davy’s 100 odd grand a year.
Club Faithful should look to organise something …

[Plain of the Herbs]

I want to return to this, firstly because I drew attention to the newspaper article on Twitter, and because there are suggestions that commercial and fundraising were impeded by one-off fundraising in respect of the Kilcormac project.

I don’t have recent County Board accounts to hand, but I have dug out the 2013 ones which include the 2012 comparatives. I also have the Laois 2013 ones. In 2013, Offaly's Income from sponsorships was €259k (it was €283k in 2012). That is divided between ‘All-Ireland football and hurling sponsorships’ (€178k) and ‘other sponsorships’ being €81k. I take it the former is a share of central sponsorships (Laois received something similar) while the latter is local sponsorships - presumably Carrolls and whatever else. Laois' was €123k. Though in fairness, it looks like the ‘other sponsorships’ of €81k in 2013 looks to have risen to €178k in 2017

As for fundraising, that was a mere €9k in 2013, made up of the lotto and the match draws they had back then. The Independent article states that was €36k in 2017, which presumably includes the draw they had last September (the draw that was held at half-time in the Senior hurling semi-final. Thing is, in 2013 Laois had a clubs draw, a golf classic, a dogs night AND some other ventures which netted €140k. For comparative purposes, Offaly’s 2013 accounts had €120k of fundraising posted directly to the O’Connor Park and which is separate to the above.

The issue for me is that the Irish Independent article reveals how Offaly compare unfavourably to other small counties. Don’t be looking at Dublin, Cork and Galway, look instead at Laois, Carlow, Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Leitrim and Roscommon. And with the exception of Laois and Carlow, all of the others are serious about just the one sport. It really is a massive constraint placed on team preparation and is something to be looked at.

[LooseCannon]

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/sport ... agers.html

[bracknaghboy]

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/sport ... agers.html

The chap that wrote that also makes news stories out of people finding false teeth in melting snow so might be best not to pay too much attention to it .

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/fun-- ... ffaly.html

[LooseCannon]

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/sport ... agers.html

The chap that wrote that also makes news stories out of people finding false teeth in melting snow so might be best not to pay too much attention to it .

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/fun-- ... ffaly.html

I just said that I’d throw it in, as it’s easily available on a link.

[greenairfield]

I think it's a terrfic article it highlights how much of a fraud Byrne is.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Aye, I recall he tried to stitch up the Offaly hurlers before last year's Westmeath match. And there's always a risk he'll pull something similar this week or next too.

The chap that wrote that also makes news stories out of people finding false teeth in melting snow so might be best not to pay too much attention to it .

[first_touch]

Excellent article in my opinion. It highlights two key issues - the failure of Offaly County Board to make adequate resources available for the preparation of county teams and it's treatment of county managers. Several senior football managers, including Pat Flanagan and Paul O'Kelly, have been treated appallingly in the way their vision for Offaly football was dismissed and indeed in the way they themselves were dismissed. Whatever one's view on Stephen Wallace the manner of his sacking reflected very badly on the County Board.

I am surprised there has been so little reaction to Wallace's claim that the players were up in arms about not being provided with the resources and supports needed for team preparation. Is this because nobody is surprised or is that they don't believe his version of events?

Then we had a County Board member blabbing all over the national media, lowering the reputation of the county, as if it wasn't low enough already. Some people may be of the view that the means justified the end in that we quickly acquired a new management set-up and a couple of players have returned to the panel. But this is just papering over the cracks. Without root and branch reform it will continue to be the same old merry-go-round.

Two areas that need to be taken on board urgently are fundraising for team training expenses (as referenced in another thread) and the drafting in of HR expertise. While football or hurling managers are not employees or don't appear to have a contract the County Board could learn something from the world of human resources about basic communication and how to treat people who are working on their behalf with respect.

If those at the top are either too arrogant or too blind to recognise their deficiencies and do something about them then, for the sake of Offaly GAA, they should get the hell out or be gotten rid of.

[Bord na Mona man]

Aye, I recall he tried to stitch up the Offaly hurlers before last year's Westmeath match. And there's always a risk he'll pull something similar this week or next too.

The chap that wrote that also makes news stories out of people finding false teeth in melting snow so might be best not to pay too much attention to it .

Hopefully he's not sharpening his pencil to rile up the Dublin hurlers.