COMMENT | Fresh faces on County Board executive can help Louth GAA's stadium funding push

It was interesting to witness an exchange between a club delegate and Aidan Berrill, grounds committee head, shortly before the Charlie McAllister conference room emptied last Wednesday night.

The former was quite apologetic, having pressed the attractively big red button mid-meeting, asking where exactly the self-funding for the new stadium is going to come from. To quote another member of Mr Berrill’s committee, Peter Fitzpatrick TD, €4 million is to be required from Louth GAA, with roughly double that expected to be looked after by the GAA and government.

“This is a good news story,” said another of the grounds committee, to yours truly. To which I unequivocally agreed. The other positive, I threw out, was that “the media got the full match tonight”. Responding, the other party laughed and winked. A worthy occasion all round, it seemed.

But back to the elephant in the room, the one prodded by the brave delegate, who only asked what the rest of the congregation were thinking. Berrill conceded that his committee would have to be added to, involving people with fundraising expertise.

Somewhat more joltingly, he also said that the project is starting from a scratch base of funding. In a subsequent chat with The Democrat, he clarified the situation, referencing the grants’ hold-up, etc.

The committee certainly can’t be accused of being out of tune with the relevant stages of such a project, or unwilling to compromise given their unanimous welcome to anyone who would provide a suitable offering.

Berrill expects his group to grow in numbers before the new year, in advance of Convention and the incoming of new County Board executive members, and that a separate finance committee, similar to the one that brought so much to the Darver venture, wasn’t being considered.

There can be no doubting Berrill and co’s workrate and enthusiasm, but the dubious delegate’s reservations remain inherently apropos. Take a look at the present County Board, their fundraising efforts have been nothing shy of shambolic. Next to nothing was raised last year, practically nothing so far this - albeit a car draw is planned which is yet to get off the ground, and the campaign before last saw a measly, low-thousands sum taken in.

It is a fact that Louth have the worst record of fundraising in the country - and that has been the way for a number of years now, as per figures released in the Irish Independent. But, in many ways, this funding deficit has been self-inflicted by a regime that has been consistent for the majority of the decade.

There were revenue streams serving a purpose cut-off. The Louth Supporters’ Club, who did stirring work in ensuring a following at every match, organising nights of celebration and gathering coffers for the overall fund, were disbanded and treated shamefully.

Why?

Clubs are now being levied over a 15-year period to repay the cost of the Centre of Excellence when a perfectly capable ‘Darver committee’ was done away with a number of years back, with the debt down to a manageable sum which they had a plan to clear.

Why?

The point was made in another personal conversation that some of the richest people in the country are living in, and natives of, Louth, the implication being that they’d be interested in putting fees forward out of good will.

Berrill, in his address to the meeting, said there were a number of ways in which the stadium could attract backing, in the form of sponsorship. Advertising boarding, naming rights, seat names, light pylon boarding, scoreboard sponsorship and charity schemes were all potential revenue ideas thrown into the open.

Another delegate asked if plans were afoot to open the stadium for musical events or the like, as is the case with other GAA grounds? This would act as another earner. The answer: ‘yes’, but, of course, such concerts are subject to Croke Park’s green light.

Berrill insisted that clubs will not be levied for the cost of the stadium, but suggested that their help would be required in a fundraising capacity.

Mr Fitzpatrick said that the amount of “good will” that exists in the county would blow you away, but that generosity hasn’t extended itself to Louth GAA recently, possibly as a result of how volunteers have been treated in the past.

Maybe having something as vivid as a stadium development will attract people back and achieve what the grounds committee want, which is for “everyone to put their shoulder to the wheel”. Time will tell.

This year’s Convention, which will see a number of high-ranking officials complete their terms, is crucial. The right people need to be put in place, with no recycling, if Louth GAA is to move forward.