More GAA Shame

myboyblue · March 9, 2023, 8:29pm

Eh, sure

Plastic_Paddy · March 9, 2023, 8:32pm

Not one bit

myboyblue · March 9, 2023, 8:34pm

FlakeAway · March 9, 2023, 9:03pm

To play like he did with half a baseball glove on was his greatest achievement

myboyblue · March 9, 2023, 9:09pm

I know, I saw some of the most useless cunts alive playing utter shite with two of them on

Massey · March 10, 2023, 5:30am

TheUlteriorMotive · March 11, 2023, 7:08pm

BIFFOS by name

myboyblue · March 11, 2023, 7:27pm

Graham Geraghty’esque

tallback · March 13, 2023, 3:57pm

binkybarnes · March 13, 2023, 4:04pm

A teacher! He could get the sack for that.

Cheasty · March 13, 2023, 4:10pm

Him getting the sack was the problem. You can’t do that to an opponent.

Cheasty · March 13, 2023, 4:17pm

Good to see I wasn’t the only person wearing a Juventus jersey at GAA training in the 1990s.

I don’t recall anybody ever wearing a Marseille jersey, more’s the pity. A sublime effort.

Iggy · March 23, 2023, 12:05am

myboyblue · March 23, 2023, 12:17am

Kid_Curry · March 25, 2023, 11:09am

Disgraceful. I know it says Kerry FC but GAA infiltrators without any doubt.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0325/1366263-kerry-fc-condemn-racist-abuse-of-players/

Fagan_ODowd · March 25, 2023, 6:17pm

Consent

Irish News

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EXCLUSIVE Inside DJ Carey’s €10,000 US golfing trip to The Masters: ‘He didn’t seem like a man under financial stress’

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DJ Carey on US Masters trip

[

Amy Molloy

March 25 2023 02:30 AM
](Amy Molloy - Independent.ie)

On April 2, 2015, a group of 12 men from Ireland set off on the bucket list trip of a lifetime to watch the US Masters.

It was originally meant to be just two friends, but the idea soon snowballed and avid golfers from Kilkenny, Carlow and Wexford all joined in. Among them was hurling great DJ Carey, who brought along a family member as a birthday present.

Sources who were on the trip said the five-time all-Ireland winning hurler - who at that point was €9.5m in debt to AIB - showed no signs of financial stress, and spoke fondly of his other visits to America in the previous 12 months. The planned trip cost him at least €10,000 - not including spending money or the added journeys he went on himself after parting ways with the group. The two tickets he purchased for the US Masters cost €4,200 alone.

This week it was revealed how the GAA legend was one of dozens AIB customers who had more than €1m each written off their debts in private deals with the bank.

AIB received about €1.7m from the sale of Mr Carey’s properties in Mount Juliet in Kilkenny and the K Club in Kildare, and the bank subsequently agreed a payment of €60,000 in full and final settlement of the remaining debt of around €7.5m— amounting to a write-down of around 80pc.

Since 2015, over 1,900 AIB customers have secured write-downs of 90pc or more, in deals worth €533.8m. There were 83 people who had debts of €1m or more.

Just two years before he reached his settlement deal with AIB in 2017, the 52-year-old embarked on a week-long holiday which included five days golfing at some of America’s most famous courses in South Carolina and two days at Augusta to watch the US Masters.

He bought two tickets for the event which were priced at €2,131 each.

“Great day at the par 3. Irish guys all in great form,” he said in a Facebook post on April 8, 2015.

The nine-time all-star spent five nights in a 4,000sqft cottage at Berkeley Hall, a top private golf community set along the banks of the Okatie River in South Carolina. The accommodation in Berkeley Hall and the rounds of golf cost €2,800 for him and his guest. Each day they had breakfast, played golf on various courses at around 10am and then had dinner in the evenings, sometimes eating in the Berkeley Hall clubhouse.

As soon as we got to Augusta, we basically didn’t see him for the rest of the trip

He golfed at the Harbour Town Golf Links, one of the most celebrated courses on the PGA tour, and also played at the exclusive Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, where he posed for photos alongside an alligator who ventured onto the green during one of the rounds. He paid for a private caddie, which worked out at around €100. After five days in Berkeley Hall, he travelled to the Marriott Hotel in Columbia in South Carolina where he spent three nights at a cost of €500 for two people.

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The group attended the US Masters for two days and watched as Jordan Spieth was crowned champion, making him the second youngest golfer behind Tiger Woods to win the Masters.

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DJ Carey poses for a photo as an alligator ventures on to the green during a round of golf at Kiawah Island in South Carolina in 2015. Photo: Facebook

“As soon as we got to Augusta, we basically didn’t see him for the rest of the trip,” a source said.

“The rest of the group travelled back to Ireland then, but he drove on to Atlanta.”

He travelled separately to the group so paid for his own flights and car hire. Return flights from Ireland at the time were around €800 each.

Facebook posts reveal that he visited the AT&T stadium in Dallas, Texas the following month.

During the golf trip, he also alluded to previous visits to America. He mentioned that he had been in Seattle in January that year for a week.

He also checked-in on Facebook in Seattle and attended the Super Bowl in New York in 2014

On March 6, 2015, he also checked-in on Facebook in Seattle. He did so again on July 14, 2015, posting a status apologising for missing a funeral back home. He also attended the Super Bowl in New York in 2014.

The Kilkenny man has been in the headlines in recent weeks after the details of his debt write-down were revealed. AIB was subsequently invited before the Oireachtas finance committee to explain its debt write-down policies.

A total of 150,000 customers have had their debts restructured by the bank since 2015. AIB also confirmed that some 1,900 customers had 90pc of their debt written off in private deals.

When asked by the committee how many of those customers had debts of €1m or more, the bank did not have the figures to hand and has now furnished further replies to the committee.

The cohort of 83 who had over €1m written-off amounts to 0.05pc of the group of 150,000 customers.

Settlements such as this are agreed outside the formal bankruptcy and insolvency process, where borrowers have fully disclosed their financial affairs and agree to maintain a “reasonable” and “benchmarked” lifestyle.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said: “Eighty-three people received write-downs consisting of values of over €1million and over 90pc of their total debt… The experience of these people is unique. They are clearly in a special category.

“They are outliers in terms of what the vast majority of people had to go through at the time. Most people in debt distress were lucky to get a term extension, a reduced repayment break for a year or two, or maybe even a parking of a small proportion of the debt,” he added.

The bank has insisted that “there are no special deals for special people.”

AIB told the Oireachtas finance committee that when the bank is looking at making a financial settlement or debt write-off, it evaluates proposals based on a borrower’s individual circumstances.

“All such proposals must be supported by full and transparent disclosure of a customer’s financial affairs,” said AIB’s head of retail, Jim O’Keeffe.

"This disclosure will cover amongst other matters: assets owned, income earned or anticipated, and any other relevant information required by the bank.

“The customer must demonstrate a willingness to meet their contractual obligations while maintaining a reasonable and benchmarked lifestyle,” he added.

AIB declined to answer questions about Mr Carey’s write-down as it cannot comment on individual cases for legal and confidentiality reasons.

It acknowledged that recent commentary on its debt write-downs has “caused a lot of heartbreak” for customers and that a number of people have been in touch with the bank.

The Irish Independent contacted DJ Carey for comment.

More GAA Shame

EXCLUSIVE Inside DJ Carey’s €10,000 US golfing trip to The Masters: ‘He didn’t seem like a man under financial stress’

Amy Molloy

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