Give us the money and fuck off and buy a headband for yourself.
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Dublin have it nailed all the same. Mayo need someone like Mossy to keep a handle on all the money slushing into the county and plahmassing the eejits* doing it.
*Eejits include Croke Park.
I thought the majority of costs for Mayo were on travel expenses shipping players back and forth from Dublin during the week. Surely they can be easily vouched?
If you’re lucky you might get a ticket
By email secretary.mayo@gaa.ie
Mr. Dermot Butler, Secretary Mayo GAA, Elverys MacHale Park, Castlebar,
Co. Mayo.
24th September 2019
Re: Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation
Dear Mr Butler,
It has come to our attention that there is misinformation in circulation in relation to the breakdown of the relationship between the Foundation and the County Board.
Given the significant money raised by the Foundation and the commitments provided to Donors it is critical that we clarify the Foundations position.
We attach for your attention a Statement issued to all Clubs in Mayo.
We would ask that our Statement is read out at the County Board Meeting scheduled for Wednesday
th September 25 .
We remain committed to engaging with the County Board in a professional manner. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation
c.c. All Mayo GAA Clubs & Divisional Boards
STATEMENT
Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation’s has ceased Funding to Mayo County Board until appropriate Governance Structures are put in place.
24th September 2019
Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation’s has ceased Funding to Mayo County Board until appropriate Governance Structures are put in place. The lack of financial governance is at the centre of the ongoing dispute between the Foundation and the County Board which led to the Foundation withdrawing its support. It is clear to the Foundation that Mayo GAA need significant financial support to sustain and develop GAA games in the county. The Foundations support is now at risk due to the serious deficits in financial governance at Board level. Over the course of the last few weeks a number of creditors of Mayo GAA have contacted the Foundation confirming that they are owed money, some of these creditors are due payments for over 2 years. The Foundation are also informed that there is limited financial reporting presented at County Board Executive meetings so the issue of non-payment of creditors would not be known to all Board members.
Background
After the initial meetings between Mr Tim O’Leary (Foundation Chairman & Founder) and members of the County Board, Mr O’Leary made a personal donation of €150,000 to the Senior Team in early 2018 on the understanding that appropriate receipts would be forthcoming to support how the €150,000 was spent. When the information finally arrived in early September 2019 (18 months later) it included copies of multiple invoices and receipts seemingly randomly picked from the financial files. Most worrying it also included sensitive and confidential information that was totally inappropriate to share.
Academy
On August 5th 2018, Mr O’Leary met with representatives of Mayo County Board along with some ex- players. Mr O’Leary was impressed by the vision and professional presentation and by the input of the ex-players. It was clear from the presentation that significant investment was required to employ professional leaders to provide for a sustainable Academy model which would protect the future of Mayo GAA. Mr O’Leary offered to support the Academy and requested that the County Board prepare and deliver a supporting business plan for the proposed initiative, the plan has not yet arrived.
Centre of Excellence
In 2018 the County Board announced that it was going to develop a Centre of Excellence at Lough Lanagh which the Foundation is interested in supporting.
Despite numerous requests for a Business Plan to support the initiative it still has not arrived.
Worldwide Mayo Supporters’ Club
Following his initial donation Mr O’Leary engaged with the County Board in relation to the concept of setting up the Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation. Seed Capital and Human Resources were required to progress such a concept and Mr O’Leary committed to funding and resourcing the setup of the Foundation privately on the understanding that the County Board would put forward detailed business plans to demonstrate how funding would be used. These business plans never transpired.
Gala Ball – New York
The plan was to launch the Foundation at a Gala Dinner in New York on the weekend Mayo were due to play New York in May 2019.
The Foundation states that Donors agreed to support Mayo GAA on the condition that money would only be released to projects which were properly planned and resourced, and most importantly which were strategic in nature to Mayo GAA. On the 9th of April 2019 the Foundation emailed a senior officer of Mayo County Board setting out the terms by which the Foundation would fundraise to support Mayo to which no formal reply was ever received.
Subsequent conversations along with a visit to New York by a member of the County Board confirmed that the Board understood the terms and that the Foundation should proceed with the event. The Foundation progressed the Gala Ball on the understanding that they had an agreement with the County Board based on the email of April 9th. Assurances were given to the Donors and a very successful event took place in New York in May 2019.
As part of the Foundations promotional work for the New York Gala Event it committed to providing funding to a number of Strategic Partners who are New York GAA, Mayo Roscommon Hospice, Mayo GAA Club New York and Rockland GAA. The Foundation can confirm that these commitments totalling €55,000 are now honoured in full.
The Foundation also paid for the Mayo Senior teams training camp at Rocklands, New York at a cost of €60,000.
Following the successful Gala Dinner numerous requests came from the Mayo County Board to ‘please send on the money’. When asked if they could provide business plans as per the April 9th email, confusion set in. It then transpired that the April 9th email was never shared with the other Board Officers or indeed the Executive of the County Board.
On July 11th the Foundation wrote to the County Board Secretary setting out its position and enclosing
th
the email of April 9 . The Foundation understands that the correspondence was read out at the
th Executive Meeting of the County Board on July 11 .
th Once again, no formal response was received from the County Board to the letter of July 10 .
Recent developments
Since July 11th phone calls and meetings took place with a view to resolving matters and the Foundation held firm to its position that it could not release funds if the business plans were not forthcoming.
The straw which ultimately broke the camel’s back was the County Boards refusal to provide the 10 All Ireland final tickets it had committed to provide for the Gala Auction. These tickets were bought and paid for by a Donor on the night of the Gala. In the end the Foundation had to pay €5,000 to the County Board to secure the 10 tickets which had a face value of €950.
The Foundation can also confirm that no formal communication has been received from the County Board since the breakdown in the relationship in late August.
Donors
Speaking on behalf of the Foundation Mr Terry Gallagher (Foundation Trustee) confirmed that Mr O’Leary has made financial contributions of €415,000 to Mayo GAA and the Foundation during a 12- month period. Mr Gallagher also confirmed that a number of other Donors have made contributions totalling €350,000 to the Foundation in 2019. Mr Gallagher went on to state that the Foundation is a representation of successful Mayo people from all over the world who are very proud of their Mayo heritage and who want to continue to support Mayo GAA.
Conclusion
The Foundation currently holds €250,000 in cash which it wishes to release to Mayo GAA in line with its April 9th email and we very much look forward to engaging with the County Board at their earliest convenience.
The Foundation can also confirm that it has received significant financial pledges from its Donors to help provide Mayo GAA with a sustainable funding source into the future.
Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation’s
Email: enquiries@mayogaafoundation.org
By email secretary.mayo@gaa.ie
Mr. Dermot Butler, Secretary Mayo GAA, Elverys MacHale Park, Castlebar,
Co. Mayo
11th July 2019
Re: Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation
Dear Mr Butler,
On behalf of Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation, we set out as follows a status of our work and fundraising todate.
Financial Summary
The following is a high-level summary of the Foundations financials which in due course will be audited in line with our Governance Structure;
Income
Mr Tim O’Leary – personal contribution 2019
Mr Tim O’Leary – personal contribution towards organising the New York Event (fee paid to Heather Blond)
Amount raised at the New York Gala Event to include ticket sales, advertising and auction
Total Income
Expenditure
Cost associated with the Gala Event
Fee for organising the Gala Event (Heather Blond) New York GAA
Mayo Roscommon Hospice
Rockland GAA
Mayo New York GAA
Training Camp in Rocklands
Team meal & night out in New York
Total Expenditure
Summary Position
$
250,000
50,000
370,000
$ 670,000
(210,000) (50,000) (30,000) (10,000) (20,000) (30,000) (52,000) (15,000)
($ 417,000) $ 253,000
Note: In 2018 Mr Tim O’Leary made a payment of €150,000 directly to Mayo GAA. In total Mr O’Leary’s contribution to the Foundation and Mayo GAA stands at €415,000 ($300,000 to the Foundation)
Foundation Governance
Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation is a 501©(3) not-for-profit corporation in the USA and it is fully accredited by The Ireland Funds https://irelandfunds.org/
The following is a link to our internal governance https://mayogaafoundation.org/ethics-code-%26- governance-2
Foundation Partners
As part of our promotional work for the New York Gala Event we committed to providing funding to a number of Strategic Partners and we can confirm that these commitments are now honoured in full. Our Partners were New York GAA, Mayo Roscommon Hospice, Mayo GAA Club New York and Rockland GAA.
Gala Event
We had 317 total attendees at the Gala Event which we summarise as follows;
- 239 (75%) were paying guests
- 64 (20%) were concessions to the Players and their wives/partners, to the County
Board representatives and to Mayo County Council representatives - 14 (4%) were concessions to volunteers and individuals who hosted the event
Donors
Over the course of the last 9 months the Foundation contacted many of Mayo’s successful business people who reside outside the county. The Foundations primary objective was to secure their financial support for the Foundation and its objectives to support Mayo GAA. A key outcome of this engagement was the feedback we received from the Donors and their concerns around governance and how the money would be released to Mayo GAA. Personal commitments were provided to these Donors on how money would be released and this was set out in an email to Mayo GAA on April 9th last. Copy of email attached for ease of reference.
Foundations Commitment to Mayo GAA
Our purpose is to support Mayo GAA and in particular the following key projects;
- Proposed Training Facility
- Underage Academy
- Player welfare at all levels
Conclusion
We hope this communication will help clarify the status of the Foundation and we would appreciate if you can update the Executive of Mayo GAA accordingly.
We very much look forward to working with the Executive with a view to agreeing a process as to how we can all work together in the best interest of Mayo GAA.
Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation
From: Tim O’Leary tim@mayogaafoundation.org Sent: Tuesday 9 April 2019 19:49
To: Michael Connolly
Subject: Reply for Mayo GAA county board
Hi Mike
Here is the email requested for the benefit of the county board explaining our intentions from our efforts in New York
Further to our recent communications re the Mayo GAA Foundation Gala Ball on the 3rd May in NY and the proposed distribution of the subsequent proceeds, below are our intentions. Sorry if this email is a bit long winded but I need to be very clear on the matters below for the avoidance of any doubt going forward.
As per our initial flyers and promotional launch we have committed small percentages to Mayo GAA New York and New York GAA itself as well as the Mayo Roscommon Hospice. This commitment will be honoured. We have to support local initiatives.
The remainder of funds collected will then be allocated to Mayo GAA projects back home in Mayo as promised. Supporters have bought tables on the expectation that the major benefactors within Mayo GAA would be;
ï the proposed new Training Facility
ï the new underage Academy Initiative and
ï other general player welfare and development initiatives for all players at all levels and
codes and not just the senior football team
Rest assured Mike, all of these commitments will be honoured.
The mechanics of allocating the monies will be agreed by all parties but I need to make this clear around the following;
4. To secure backing and tickets sales for this event we have given personal commitments that the highest level of Corporate Governance will be followed by the Foundation
5. Our Accounts will be audited annually and these accounts will be made available to all supporters who have made a contribution
6. Those supporters who have contributed wanted to ensure that there is full transparency in how their contributions are making an impact on these related projects
7. Before funds are released, the Foundation will need to review the Plan (template to be agreed) related to each specific project and will need to see that their is full transparency in how the funds are allocated, that their is also strong governance around each individual project e.g. independent auditors etc
8. Once the Foundation has reviewed each Plan, conducted its due diligence and the trustees are satisfied that best value has been applied to each related project, then a contribution will be made directly to the projects specific account
9. These protocols will be applied to all projects both big and small.
I know you will understand this approach Mike, given all of the scrutiny on boards and other sporting organisations, its absolutely paramount for our supporters that we avoid any such issues. Adherence to these standards is critical for the long-term success of the Foundation.
The Foundation trustees are answerable in the first instance to the donors and supporters who have come on board in good faith in the belief that best value, best practices and proper governance will be applied at all times. Secondly and more importantly the behaviour and required conduct standards of the Foundation are
governed by its affiliation to The Ireland Funds. We must also adhere to their strict Ireland Funds governance guidelines at all times.
I hope this email clears up any queries that you or any concerned delegates may have in this matter. We are here to help, we are volunteers like them.
We can discuss this in more detail Mike, for now all of our energies must now focus on the event itself and making it a success.
We look forward to continue working with yourselves and all the other fantastic volunteers at all levels who are committed to the whole Mayo project.
Maigh Eo Abu
Tim O’Leary
Chairman of Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation Tim@mayogaafoundation.org
UK Mobile +44 7769 693259
US Cell +1 646 244 0068
Www.mayogaafoundation.org
“The banking sector” 
Fuck me, that’s utterly appalling.
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What a shit show. The day of the amateur administrator is gone, the county boards are dealing in big sums these days
would love to see an investigation into the mayo county board. They have guys involved in the finance committee who have been convicted of tax fraud. Chairman gave his own brother the managers job at one stage.
Laois are able to afford to pay Derek McGrath to coach their minor Hurlers. You are going to struggle to play the poor mouth around here with that shite going on.
We robbed a bank, it’s the only way to keep up.
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Jimmy Sloyan knew
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A seer
In recent days sources within GAA circles in the county claimed Mr O’Leary had been asked to leave the team bus during the trip.
But Mr O’Leary flatly denied this happened.
The same sources also highlighted a tabloid newspaper story which detailed how Mr O’Leary dropped his trousers while cheering on England at their Euro 2012 quarter-final clash with Italy in Kiev, Ukraine, in a vain effort to put off an Italian penalty taker.
Responding to the spreading of such stories, Mr O’Leary said: "That is absolutely irrelevant to this situation”
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Another US based loudmouth with financial interests in a west coast of Ireland county gets caught out in a lie about trying to exert corrupt influence in Ukraine
Michael does a lovely match report
Sounds like that could be his last.
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