Money

[thehermit]

Why oh why does that decision not surprise me! The Dublin cash cow keeps the rivers of gold flowing through Croker and with the last 2 years they need that more than ever. Who cares if all that money has just been ploughed into the county footballers and hence destroy the competitiveness of the inter-county game rather than actually bring more young people into the GAA itself.

Like it has been since 2011, the rest of us face into a new season with one hand tied behind our backs.

[Deleted]

Jan 22, 2022 11:15:55 GMT ciarraimick said:

The gaa will continue to treat Dublin differently as long as the rest of us do notbing. To be a success every county needs money.We in Kerry and Cork and the likes are lucky with great sponser and fundraising but what about the poorer counties. It's the Leitrim Sligo and Longford that need a helping hand. Not Dublin and not Cork and not Kerry. The hierarchy of the gaa won't change unless the likes of Kerry Cork object and cause a storm but the won't cos they happy enough too. No Dublin player (I live in Dublin) gets anything a Kerry player does nt. Also the hierarchy of the gaa know a successful Dublin means more money for the gaa. The Dubs are the cash cow. Their other advantage home games and super 8s was challenged by Donegal but was voted against by the likes of Kerry and Antrim(I know twas secret ballot) but that's the reliable word. Why? Money! The gaa hinted before the vote that they would be down revenue if the Dubs had less home games and they might not be able to help out with Curran in Kerry and the development of casement Park in Antrim. All this info came to me from a person that was there for the vote. He was disgusted. So my point is things will never change while we have that carry on. Kerry are not whiter than white either. Maybe my post will be deleted but I'm not telling lies. Many Kerry people had no problem with Dublin's money until they started winning all Irelands again. Dublin is not the problem. The problem is the gaa and we all are part of the gaa.

dublin players get a lot of home advantage that Kerry and Cork don't get mick, which leads to a lot of home town decisions from the reffs living and working in dublin.

[Deleted]

Jan 22, 2022 10:22:11 GMT Mickmack said:

www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/capital-pains-how-the-dubs-would-have-lost-half-a-million-euro-under-rejected-proposal-41265996.html


Capital pains: How the Dubs would have lost half a million Euro under rejected proposal

Old model that saw more than a third of funds make their way to Dublin is still up for change – focus on number of registered players would redirect more money to likes of Cork and Galway


Sean McGoldrick

January 22 2022 02:30 AM

The 15-month campaign to overhaul the way the GAA’s multi-million-euro coaching budget is distributed has ended in failure. In a controversial decision, the GAA ruled that a motion seeking to have the funds distributed on a registered player model was out of order on technical grounds.

Dublin’s share would have been cut by nearly €500,000 had the proposal been passed at next month’s Congress.

Figures compiled by the Irish Independent reveal that in 2019, the coaching grant was worth €36.68 for each registered GAA player – which refers to adult and underage male players – in the capital.

However, if the Croke Park fund was distributed equally on the basis of registered players nationally, Dublin’s share would drop to €24.05 per member.

So, instead of receiving €1,337,630, Dublin’s allocation would drop to €877,128. It would still be the largest pay-out because Dublin has more registered GAA players (36,471) than any other county.

The share-out of the GAA’s coaching and games development budget has long been a source of controversy.

Between 2007 and 2020, Dublin received €20.1m of the €57.7m allocated which represents 35pc of the total amount allocated by Croke Park.

Even though their allocation has dropped from a historical high of more than €1.6m in 2009 to €745,695 last year – when the overall budget for games development dropped from €11.6m to €3.7m due to the impact of Covid-19 – Dublin continues to receive a disproportional share.


Change is on the cards even if the motion is not up for debate next month. In a letter sent to county board chairs and treasurers before Christmas, GAA director-general Tom Ryan confirmed a task force had devised a new model and mechanism for the distribution of coaching and games funding.

“A set of principles was agreed to guide the development of the new model to ensure all counties are supported through creation of clear criteria and the application of an equitable model to support the allocation of funding,” according to Ryan.

The task force’s report is due to be considered by the association’s national finance committee as well as the management committee before being outlined to counties.


But the motion drawn up by a group headed by ex-Westmeath footballer John Connellan, specifically directed the GAA to allocate their coaching and development grants based on registered GAA players in each of the 32 counties.

Delegates at the Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Westmeath, Tyrone and Clare GAA Conventions backed the proposal.

The potential impact of what has become known as the ‘fair and equitable’ funding motion was spelled out by former Galway football manager and player Alan Mulholland in a letter he send to clubs in Galway seeking their support for the proposal.

He calculated that Galway GAA could employ at least nine additional coaches if the coaching budget from Croke Park was handed out based on a registered-player model.

However, the GAA’s rules advisory committee (RAC) ruled that the motion as worded was technically out of order.

A re-worded motion was also ruled out because “it goes beyond determining Association policy in broad outline as set down in Rule 3.36 (f) as a function of Congress.” However, the issue will be discussed by Central Council, according to correspondence sent to the counties by Croke Park.

It is unlikely the new model drawn up by the GAA’s task force for allocating coaching funds will be based solely on a registered-player model.

Aside from focusing on Dublin, Croke Park has been allocating additional resources for coaching and games development to Louth, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow since 2016, in what became known as the ‘east Leinster project’. It was overseen by former GAA president Liam O’Neill. More recently, Antrim was earmarked for extra funding.

The GAA argue that having entered into binding commitments with counties and employed games promotion officers (GPOs), they simply cannot cut the funding as it could have legal implications in terms of employment rights.

Furthermore, Dublin will oppose any moves to drastically reduce their funding.

John Costello, the chief executive of Dublin GAA, said GPOs employed by clubs are “not some crack team akin to Eastern Bloc coaches who hothouse young players and turn them into All-Ireland winners”.

Writing in his annual report to the county convention, Costello said the role of the GPO is to “work intensively with local schools and clubs by providing coaching and skill development appropriate to the age and ability of the various playing groups”.

Interestingly, despite being the recipient of more than €20m in coaching grants since 2007, the penetration of the GAA in Dublin remains poor and lags behind the majority of other counties.


The GAA’s own figures reveal that only 11pc of the total male population in Dublin between the ages of four and 37 are members of GAA clubs.

Only Antrim – with 6pc – has a lower figure. At the other end of the table, 55pc of this male cohort in Leitrim – the highest in the country – are GAA members. Any revamp of how the coaching fund is allocated will have to take account of the fact that the model used to employ GPOs in Dublin would not be sustainable in rural Ireland.

In the capital, clubs pay half the GPO’s salary but the majority of rural clubs would be unable to do that.

But the figures shown in the above table underline how inequitable the current system is, especially when you look at the allocation for the bigger counties like Cork and Galway.

For example, in 2019 the coaching grants were worth a mere €9.30 per head to the 31,059 GAA members in Cork.

Cork received €289,000 from the fund in 2019 but if it was distributed equally based on registered players, that figure would increase by more than half a million to €877,128. Similarly, Galway’s figure would jump from €239,056 to €505,505.

Dublin would not be the only county to suffer significant cuts. The Antrim allocation of €545,606, which is worth €59.47 per registered player in the county, would drop to €220,659 while Carlow’s grant would fall from €276,324 to €104,064.

Critics of the current system argue the GAA should also address legacy issues arising from inequality in the distribution of the funds since the launch of the coaching and games development project in 2007.

In the documentation sent to clubs in Galway, it was estimated, for example, Cork would be entitled to a payment of €14.4m to make up the deficit in their coaching and games development grants since 2007.

Realistically, the chances of the GAA addressing this so-called legacy issue are remote.

Under a registered-player payment system, the allocation to Fermanagh, Longford and Leitrim would drop to under €100,000.

Armagh, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Down, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Limerick, Mayo, Meath, Tipperary, Tyrone and Waterford would receive more coaching grants if they were allocated equally on the basis of playing numbers.

However, Antrim, Carlow, Cavan, Derry, Dublin, Fermanagh, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow would be worse off.

No wonder the issue is so divisive and explains why the GAA top brass did not relish the prospect of a no-holds-barred debate on the topic at Congress in the Connacht GAA’s Air Dome at the end of February.

the Gaa is rotten.

[Mickmack]

Colm Keys

GAA county boards returned a cumulative surplus of around €12m for 2021 to make a significant recovery on the previous year’s losses.

For 2020, the GAA revealed overall losses of €34.1m that included county/provincial deficits of some €7m.

But that has been turned on its head with 30 of the 31 counties (not including Antrim) whose accounts are publicly available showing considerable excesses of income over expenditure.

Galway recorded a loss but only after depreciation was deducted from a near €200,000 operating profit.


The gains were made against the backdrop of largely empty terraces for club games that were played within the 11-month financial year which ended on September 30. Most of the more lucrative fixtures at club level were played after that date.


Strong State support accounts for some of the healthy balance sheets, with Covid supports and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) drawn down for many of the Association’s full-time coaching and administration staff in counties where incomes dropped by more than 30pc.



The GAA, at central level, took over the payment of team preparation expenses too and that led to a big drop with the shortened season also a factor, though most counties had to include expenses from the 2020 championship which ran into November and December that year.


Dublin returned the biggest overall surplus, €1,115,456 on income of €5,187,295, although this is recorded as a €365,456 surplus when €750,000 was set aside for development projects. Wexford and Roscommon also had €1m-plus surpluses, reduced to six-figure sums after depreciation was factored in.


The GAA will reveal the broader financial results ahead of Congress in Mayo next month but have already been pledged a further €20m from the State as part of a package of measures to help sports organisations announced by Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers in December.

[Kerryman Randy Savage]

[thehermit]

Unfortunately Randy they already got the farcical 6 in a row so it's too little too late

[Kerryman Randy Savage]

My biggest fear is the 25% allocated to specific business needs will lead to the status quo where the bulk goes back to the capital, topping up their initial figure.

I agree that it will take an extremely long time to balance the financial doping.

[Ballyfireside]

Both my Green and Gold counties did well with sports funding with Ardfert, Bally', Beale, Brosna, Duffers and Duagh being most ambitious in NK.

Lixnaw GAA in particular caught my eye with the max €150,000 for a Ballwall/Astroturf Gaelic Games to promote 'Physical Literacy' - anyone elaborate here? Is this cognitive therapy and if so it is great, an improvement from a car tyre against a neighbours gable for sure?

I often thought Handball should be promoted, given that it would potentially benefit a bigger percentage of the population.

How about a kit type alley, they could be turned out for handy money and instantly erected in a corner of a GAA park.

Reminds of the one we had in St Michaels and which was supplied by The Dept of Education, albeit for hanging up your coat - basically a prefab cloakroom in which you couldn't swing a mouse! Still the very best investment ever made by the state and I recall a cleric reffin a match of a day, well in fact he called it off, having being arrived unannounced and getting sandwiched between two Ballydonoghoors, having already got a sucker backhander on entering 'the court' - was the game was forbidden by The Church?

[Mickmack]

Feb 12, 2022 2:24:56 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Both my Green and Gold counties did well with sports funding with Ardfert, Bally', Beale, Brosna, Duffers and Duagh being most ambitious in NK.

Lixnaw GAA in particular caught my eye with the max €150,000 for a Ballwall/Astroturf Gaelic Games to promote 'Physical Literacy' - anyone elaborate here? Is this cognitive therapy and if so it is great, an improvement from a car tyre against a neighbours gable for sure?

I often thought Handball should be promoted, given that it would potentially benefit a bigger percentage of the population.

How about a kit type alley, they could be turned out for handy money and instantly erected in a corner of a GAA park.

Reminds of the one we had in St Michaels and which was supplied by The Dept of Education, albeit for hanging up your coat - basically a prefab cloakroom in which you couldn't swing a mouse! Still the very best investment ever made by the state and I recall a cleric reffin a match of a day, well in fact he called it off, having being arrived unannounced and getting sandwiched between two Ballydonoghoors, having already got a sucker backhander on entering 'the court' - was the game was forbidden by The Church?

What do you think of this criteria for distributing funds.

No Masseys in those wealthy hurling counties with the good land.

[thehermit]

Feb 14, 2022 14:37:27 GMT Mickmack said:

Feb 12, 2022 2:24:56 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Both my Green and Gold counties did well with sports funding with Ardfert, Bally', Beale, Brosna, Duffers and Duagh being most ambitious in NK.

Lixnaw GAA in particular caught my eye with the max €150,000 for a Ballwall/Astroturf Gaelic Games to promote 'Physical Literacy' - anyone elaborate here? Is this cognitive therapy and if so it is great, an improvement from a car tyre against a neighbours gable for sure?

I often thought Handball should be promoted, given that it would potentially benefit a bigger percentage of the population.

How about a kit type alley, they could be turned out for handy money and instantly erected in a corner of a GAA park.

Reminds of the one we had in St Michaels and which was supplied by The Dept of Education, albeit for hanging up your coat - basically a prefab cloakroom in which you couldn't swing a mouse! Still the very best investment ever made by the state and I recall a cleric reffin a match of a day, well in fact he called it off, having being arrived unannounced and getting sandwiched between two Ballydonoghoors, having already got a sucker backhander on entering 'the court' - was the game was forbidden by The Church?

What do you think of this criteria for distributing funds.

No Masseys in those wealthy hurling counties with the good land.

Was always more of an International or Lambo man myself.

[Ballyfireside]

Feb 14, 2022 14:51:27 GMT thehermit said:

Feb 14, 2022 14:37:27 GMT Mickmack said:

What do you think of this criteria for distributing funds.

No Masseys in those wealthy hurling counties with the good land.

Was always more of an International or Lambo man myself.

So we have the Ballythefireside theory on a correlation between tractor brand and GAA code.

But it is hurling counties as opposed to hurlers and who would be the poor relation of the kickers of the bigger ball, albeit with some notable exceptions, e.g. what tractors do the the Powers of Kilkenny run? Now that's power farming for you!

We are in the zone of Lies, damned lies and statistics, and then we have Statistical reliability, Standard deviations, etc.

Still that map is awesome and also franks the correlation with soil types, with the exception of say Kildare and which has horses more so than tillage on the limestone ground. Do Rebels still remain loyal to the Blue, Henry Ford's family traced back to is it West Cork and then the big factory they had there?

I am doing a work on The Beatles (VW, not the Scousers!) so this makes it even more interesting - e.g. what did Beatle owners have in common?

And of course you have to be careful re drawing the wrong conclusion too, e.g. there was a John Deere laddo who's fields were supposedly so big that if he set out on a furrow after dinner he wouldn't be back 'till tea time. The it transpired he was running into town on a bit of business, well a bit on the side actually, a Non-standard Deviation, 'an away game', hence the delay, the furrow couldn't be that long, Multi tasking, double jobbing! So now we have a correlation between, well, the respective size of liarodis and in fact some say he was of the big ball code himself. Now that's The Kerry Ingredient for you - what was in the cornflakes; ah another variable, the seed he was sowing - the food chain!

And re IH, International Harvester for those who think milk comes from a carton, well they are now Case so na poor Déise are totally confused and as for the Lambo, Lamborghini for those who think milk comes from a carton, we are now adding an International dimension, what with them Italian stallions - would they be related to the Kildare wans? - have we closed the loop?

Lisselton has Hillsters and Lowsters and among the former who frequented Hegarty's Hall was 'Northern Dancer' and we even had a 'Nijinsky ' We also had our very own KGB agent, Kilcox's Golden Boy - he used to give lassies a bar home on their own bike. So useful he was then and a useful laddo to have onside these days!

[Ballyfireside]

Here's wan from the 'milk comes out of a carton' brigade, P.S. I am a scriber, not a subscriber!

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing - Philly McMahon

[Deleted]

Mar 20, 2022 1:03:27 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Here's wan from the 'milk comes out of a carton' brigade, P.S. I am a scriber, not a subscriber!

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing - Philly McMahon

and iv got soul but I'm not a soldier 🤔 only joking bally, I'd never take you on in a battle of words my friend, a man needs to know his limitations and all that jazz.

So poor Phillip was out of pocket by playing with dublin? That's a good 1, I thinks he's talking a load of old Blarney 🤔

[Ballyfireside]

Mar 20, 2022 11:34:59 GMT @asprilla said:

Mar 20, 2022 1:03:27 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Here's wan from the 'milk comes out of a carton' brigade, P.S. I am a scriber, not a subscriber!

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing - Philly McMahon

and iv got soul but I'm not a soldier 🤔 only joking bally, I'd never take you on in a battle of words my friend, a man needs to know his limitations and all that jazz.

So poor Phillip was out of pocket by playing with dublin? That's a good 1, I thinks he's talking a load of old Blarney 🤔

I only flagged it, and like everyone on here I love the auld bit of banter!

[Deleted]

Mar 20, 2022 14:14:50 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Mar 20, 2022 11:34:59 GMT @asprilla said:

and iv got soul but I'm not a soldier 🤔 only joking bally, I'd never take you on in a battle of words my friend, a man needs to know his limitations and all that jazz.

So poor Phillip was out of pocket by playing with dublin? That's a good 1, I thinks he's talking a load of old Blarney 🤔

I only flagged it, and like everyone on here I love the auld bit of banter!

ah sure you can't bate it.

[Ballyfireside]

Mar 20, 2022 19:51:19 GMT @asprilla said:

Mar 20, 2022 14:14:50 GMT Ballyfireside said:

I only flagged it, and like everyone on here I love the auld bit of banter!

ah sure you can't bate it.

thehermits Armagh match report is class and took a lot of effort, can't wait to compare to Veteran's - pity we have a few trolls among us but sure that's life, I suppose it is a fine line between banter and using the forum as a social crutch, too fine for the latter if ya with me?

Not meaning to flatter the returned emigrants have made a significant difference on here both in terms of quality and banter, I addressed the issue of further similar clusters to TCB but there was no reply.

Someone said while ago on here that all these forums were on the way out - hard to see it, there is a shift away from the major social media platforms, I suppose with trolling it isn't easy and in any event it is too time consuming to keep up with it, this forum is strikes a perfect enough balance, members can decide on their own participation across the various threads and seldom are conversations compromised.

I strongly believe we should know each others names, this would be a bit closer to what life was like when people spoke with each other - masking identity is pathetic and of course encourages trolls, *s making often thoughtless throwaway comment for the sake of it, it doesn't bother me but it is ugly and of no help to Kerry football and which this site is all about, some of us think it is about themselves, anyway sure we'll keep the show on the road and hopefully it will lead to a celebratory pint to céad míle fáilte Samuel abhaile!

[Deleted]

Mar 21, 2022 10:43:02 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Mar 20, 2022 19:51:19 GMT @asprilla said:

ah sure you can't bate it.

thehermits Armagh match report is class and took a lot of effort, can't wait to compare to Veteran's - pity we have a few trolls among us but sure that's life, I suppose it is a fine line between banter and using the forum as a social crutch, too fine for the latter if ya with me?

Not meaning to flatter the returned emigrants have made a significant difference on here both in terms of quality and banter, I addressed the issue of further similar clusters to TCB but there was no reply.

Someone said while ago on here that all these forums were on the way out - hard to see it, there is a shift away from the major social media platforms, I suppose with trolling it isn't easy and in any event it is too time consuming to keep up with it, this forum is strikes a perfect enough balance, members can decide on their own participation across the various threads and seldom are conversations compromised.

I strongly believe we should know each others names, this would be a bit closer to what life was like when people spoke with each other - masking identity is pathetic and of course encourages trolls, *s making often thoughtless throwaway comment for the sake of it, it doesn't bother me but it is ugly and of no help to Kerry football and which this site is all about, some of us think it is about themselves, anyway sure we'll keep the show on the road and hopefully it will lead to a celebratory pint to céad míle fáilte Samuel abhaile!

the hermits post was brilliant as always, himself and veteran are well able to paint a picture of a game and of the atmosphere surrounding it, it's great for the likes of myself who lacks a bit of imagination.

As for trolling, I'd wonder is it a generational communication thing? I'd say your a semilar vintage to myself bally and I enjoy reading your well written posts and and can understand them perfectly whereas a man 20 years our junior might not read them the same way, that all that I can imagine it is.

As for learning eachothers names, I'd be very wary of that especially after what happened a few weeks back when that keyboard warrior was stealing posts and putting them on hoganstand, you don't know what kind of weirdos do be hanging around these sites and what they could do if they had your personal info.

[Ballyfireside]

Mar 21, 2022 11:02:11 GMT @asprilla said:

Mar 21, 2022 10:43:02 GMT Ballyfireside said:

thehermits Armagh match report is class and took a lot of effort, can't wait to compare to Veteran's - pity we have a few trolls among us but sure that's life, I suppose it is a fine line between banter and using the forum as a social crutch, too fine for the latter if ya with me?

Not meaning to flatter the returned emigrants have made a significant difference on here both in terms of quality and banter, I addressed the issue of further similar clusters to TCB but there was no reply.

Someone said while ago on here that all these forums were on the way out - hard to see it, there is a shift away from the major social media platforms, I suppose with trolling it isn't easy and in any event it is too time consuming to keep up with it, this forum is strikes a perfect enough balance, members can decide on their own participation across the various threads and seldom are conversations compromised.

I strongly believe we should know each others names, this would be a bit closer to what life was like when people spoke with each other - masking identity is pathetic and of course encourages trolls, *s making often thoughtless throwaway comment for the sake of it, it doesn't bother me but it is ugly and of no help to Kerry football and which this site is all about, some of us think it is about themselves, anyway sure we'll keep the show on the road and hopefully it will lead to a celebratory pint to céad míle fáilte Samuel abhaile!

the hermits post was brilliant as always, himself and veteran are well able to paint a picture of a game and of the atmosphere surrounding it, it's great for the likes of myself who lacks a bit of imagination.

As for trolling, I'd wonder is it a generational communication thing? I'd say your a semilar vintage to myself bally and I enjoy reading your well written posts and and can understand them perfectly whereas a man 20 years our junior might not read them the same way, that all that I can imagine it is.

As for learning eachothers names, I'd be very wary of that especially after what happened a few weeks back when that keyboard warrior was stealing posts and putting them on hoganstand, you don't know what kind of weirdos do be hanging around these sites and what they could do if they had your personal info.

Ta re tip on generations, still don't that issue in other avenues!

Re weirdos, what can they do, well they can take offense but sure there are thousands who speak openly, we live in a democracy and their ID would also be known and they'd lose cred instantly if they were unreasonable, then again they may not reveal ID or correct one so yeah, I get it, sados!

[Deleted]

Mar 21, 2022 11:31:44 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Mar 21, 2022 11:02:11 GMT @asprilla said:

the hermits post was brilliant as always, himself and veteran are well able to paint a picture of a game and of the atmosphere surrounding it, it's great for the likes of myself who lacks a bit of imagination.

As for trolling, I'd wonder is it a generational communication thing? I'd say your a semilar vintage to myself bally and I enjoy reading your well written posts and and can understand them perfectly whereas a man 20 years our junior might not read them the same way, that all that I can imagine it is.

As for learning eachothers names, I'd be very wary of that especially after what happened a few weeks back when that keyboard warrior was stealing posts and putting them on hoganstand, you don't know what kind of weirdos do be hanging around these sites and what they could do if they had your personal info.

Ta re tip on generations, still don't that issue in other avenues!

Re weirdos, what can they do, well they can take offense but sure there are thousands who speak openly, we live in a democracy and their ID would also be known and they'd lose cred instantly if they were unreasonable, then again they may not reveal ID or correct one so yeah, I get it, sados!

it's great to have so many different characters on this forum bally, we all have our different views but we all want Kerry to be successful at the end of the day, I look forward to our many conversations and even disagreements with ye all over the next while and I will do my best to never take it personally or get personal but I suppose we're all human and we can have bad days.

[ataboy]

Mar 20, 2022 1:03:27 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Here's wan from the 'milk comes out of a carton' brigade, P.S. I am a scriber, not a subscriber!

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing - Philly McMahon

Would you have this article in full? Unable to view as it's a premium article.

[Ballyfireside]

Mar 23, 2022 11:05:02 GMT ataboy said:

Mar 20, 2022 1:03:27 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Here's wan from the 'milk comes out of a carton' brigade, P.S. I am a scriber, not a subscriber!

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing - Philly McMahon

Would you have this article in full? Unable to view as it's a premium article.

Sorry I don't - only a scriber I be, not a subscriber! Wouldn't mind a read though as it would give a city perspective on an issue I'm interested in.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Mar 26, 2022 15:48:48 GMT ciarraimick said:

Just reading back on some posts here and I'll comment on both Philly Mac and knowing people's identity. I'd be slow enough to reveal my real name as I probably would nt give honest opinions afterwards. E. G. If I gave my name and said I was from Dingle I might not give a true opinion on Tom Sull or Geaney as they might know me. However I would have no problem meeting posers before or after games and revealing all. On Philly. I don't know him personally but I've met him as I'm living in Dublin a long time. However I know for a fact he has made plenty of money through gyms etc and made alot of extra cash that he would nt have made if he was nt playing for Dublin. Philly is talking out of both sides of his mouth. I have great admiration for alot of the Dublin players but not him and I stopped buying the indo when they took him on as a scríbe.

I would say even the dog on the street knows that he wasn't out of pocket.
Do the expenses cover the costs an inter county footballer has? No, not by a long shot.
Does the young 17 year old who plays with his college in Cork get paid for the bus back to Killarney 2 nights a week to attend training sessions with his club, while the other nights he trains with the college? No.
But he might get sponsored by a car dealership and have a nice car to avail of. He might get some nutrition being cared for by the county board, he might have a free gym membership, and so on. Then there's sponsorship, which Philly knows all too well, and while they don't get paid directly they do "gifts". As someone with his own business I often raise money for good causes and I can write some of the advertising off, which means revenue helps me with the costs, but that the charities get more money.
As a business I don't mind spending a bit more money as it will be part of the marketing strategy. The same if Philly has his name on bottles of orange juice.
And there are other benefits, as he did very lucrative training sessions, don't come free, visits to schools and so on.
So while players might lose money on the expenses, there are other ways to make money and most players do.
That is if they play for a successful county.
I live in Limerick and the Limerick hurlers are well cared for. The Limerick footballers are equally well cared for, but have fewer opportunities to get sponsored.

[Mickmack]

Mar 23, 2022 11:05:02 GMT ataboy said:

Mar 20, 2022 1:03:27 GMT Ballyfireside said:

Here's wan from the 'milk comes out of a carton' brigade, P.S. I am a scriber, not a subscriber!

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing - Philly McMahon

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Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing
Philly McMahon


March 19 2022 02:30 AM

For the last few years of my Dublin career, I’d make a habit of arriving at St Clare’s an hour-and-a-half early for training, fairly smug that I was ahead of the game, only to find the place was already jammed.

I’d sit in the car and think: ‘What do all these fellas do for a living?!’

We’d train from seven to eight, have a video session or a meeting from eight until nine and then a bite to eat.

I left work at 4.30pm. I’d arrive home around 10.30pm.

A normal week at this time of year looked something like this:

Monday – gym.

Tuesday and Thursday – pitch session, as outlined above.

Saturday – match day.

Sunday – running session (for those of us who didn’t play on Saturday) or recovery session.

Technically, Wednesday and Friday were days off.



But you’d spend at least a couple of hours stretching, doing prehab, foam-rolling, sea-swimming, cryotherapy – anything to make sure you were able to train better the next day.

In my case, I’d regularly do another skills session or focused gym work to try and find something extra to help break back into the team.

An inter-county week is a six/seven-day week and Dublin aren’t the exception.

During the summer, there’d be a couple of weekend camps at somewhere like Carton House thrown in too.

You get plenty done but you’re gone all day Friday and Saturday.

Rough estimate, that’s a 40-hour hole put in your week during the season.

The deal is simple: you either do it because you want to play for your county and that’s the best way to be successful, or you don’t – and you won’t.

If you do it, it’s inevitable that other areas of your life will suffer.

I own a gym. The benefit of that is it granted flexibility.

The downside, in a purely professional sense, is that it made it easier to say ‘no’ to work and ‘yes’ to football.

I’ve never tried to calculate how much playing inter-county cost me over the years because I never, ever thought of it that way.

But given the current stand-off between the GAA and GPA over expenses for training, it might be instructive to put some shape on it.

In personal training fees and other income I turned down to put more time into football, I was probably out of pocket between €300 and €400 per week.

Generally, we’d be together for around 40 weeks per year. I played for Dublin for 13 years. I didn’t own a gym for all of that time but still, you get a rough picture.
e
Against that, I’d run up around €1,400 per season in travel expenses, paid by the Dublin County Board, get €20 a week in nutrition allowance from the GAA, and in the years we got to All-Ireland finals, around €2,400 in the form of a Government grant.

All in, was I down the price of a deposit on a house? Easily. Even by today’s prices.

Again – and I emphasise this – that’s a personal decision, one I’m thrilled and privileged to have been in a position to have to make.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Had it cost more, or even if I’d been actively aware of that while I was playing, I still wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

But that’s the reality.

Odd though this might sound, All-Ireland finals used to cost me a fortune.

You get eight free tickets for finals and an option to buy 12 more.

But in my case anyway, most of those were for friends and family, people you’d be embarrassed to ask for the €80 from and just wouldn’t.

So you’d take the hit and swear not to get caught again until the exact same thing happened the following year.

The perks?

I’ve been lucky enough to have a personal deal with Annesley Williams Skoda for the last six years so I haven’t had to buy a car.

In the seasons we won All-Irelands, we got a team holiday.

There’s also the profile that comes with being an inter-county footballer, the value of which I couldn’t begin to estimate, and the odd endorsement, some of which went into a team fund, but nobody ever got rich from.

The point I’m making here is that despite the popular depiction of the GPA, players don’t think very much about money as it pertains to their sport.

Even when they’re losing it.

It’s just not a consideration when you’re chasing a county jersey or, at the top end, an All-Ireland medal.

But still, it would be nice to think your own governing body doesn’t begrudge you the price of your expenses.

I find it amazing, insulting even, that there can be any dispute over expenses for players when it comes to training, given the money the inter-county scene spins for Croke Park.

The notion that they should – as has actually been suggested – limit the number of training sessions per week to avoid having to pay expenses is off the wall.

It might be the most backward thing I’ve ever heard. It relies on the logic that players don’t actually want to push themselves, to better their chances of success. It’s hypocritical too.

There’s a bustling industry of people making good money out of telling players what they should and shouldn’t be doing, without having any real clue what’s involved, no grasp of the science of preparation and performance.

Think about it.

Could you imagine another sport where stakeholders, former athletes, journalists and administrators suggest curtailing the number of times their athletes train?

Why do we do it in the GAA? On some level, do we consider our games to be a more recreational pursuit than other elite amateur sports?

Does it presuppose that players would prefer to train less?

Because that horse has bolted. There’s no going back. The culture has changed.

People seem almost offended that footballers and hurlers would want to train more.

They disguise it in this notion that a player’s welfare relates to them training less.

Listen, if a player’s welfare is being threatened by the frequency or type of training they’re doing, the manager hasn’t a clue what he or she is at and they shouldn’t be in that position to begin with.

Swimmers, boxers, track and field athletes. They all train most days – in some weeks every day. They’re amateurs too.

Athletes will always try and do more to improve. That’s human nature. There’s no sporting logic in the world to suggest going the other direction is the right way to go.

In my gym, there are people who don’t play any sport who train five, six, seven days a week for health, fitness or vanity reasons.

We should celebrate the fact that our elite athletes value playing for their counties so much that they strive so hard for success, that they continually raise the bar, rather than trying to clip their wings.

If there are players out there who don’t want to put it in, that’s fine. That’s life. There are players who will and I can’t see the logic in siding with the former.

The GAA is full of well-paid people. The majority of their income comes from the inter-county game where the standard – effectively their product – is being improved all the time by players and coaches.

Any other sporting organisation would recognise the value in that. What’s more, they’d see the fairness in facilitating it, rather than fighting against it.

[Ballyfireside]

Mar 26, 2022 18:44:53 GMT Mickmack said:

Mar 23, 2022 11:05:02 GMT ataboy said:

Would you have this article in full? Unable to view as it's a premium article.

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing
Philly McMahon


March 19 2022 02:30 AM

For the last few years of my Dublin career, I’d make a habit of arriving at St Clare’s an hour-and-a-half early for training, fairly smug that I was ahead of the game, only to find the place was already jammed.

I’d sit in the car and think: ‘What do all these fellas do for a living?!’

We’d train from seven to eight, have a video session or a meeting from eight until nine and then a bite to eat.

I left work at 4.30pm. I’d arrive home around 10.30pm.

A normal week at this time of year looked something like this:

Monday – gym.

Tuesday and Thursday – pitch session, as outlined above.

Saturday – match day.

Sunday – running session (for those of us who didn’t play on Saturday) or recovery session.

Technically, Wednesday and Friday were days off.



But you’d spend at least a couple of hours stretching, doing prehab, foam-rolling, sea-swimming, cryotherapy – anything to make sure you were able to train better the next day.

In my case, I’d regularly do another skills session or focused gym work to try and find something extra to help break back into the team.

An inter-county week is a six/seven-day week and Dublin aren’t the exception.

During the summer, there’d be a couple of weekend camps at somewhere like Carton House thrown in too.

You get plenty done but you’re gone all day Friday and Saturday.

Rough estimate, that’s a 40-hour hole put in your week during the season.

The deal is simple: you either do it because you want to play for your county and that’s the best way to be successful, or you don’t – and you won’t.

If you do it, it’s inevitable that other areas of your life will suffer.

I own a gym. The benefit of that is it granted flexibility.

The downside, in a purely professional sense, is that it made it easier to say ‘no’ to work and ‘yes’ to football.

I’ve never tried to calculate how much playing inter-county cost me over the years because I never, ever thought of it that way.

But given the current stand-off between the GAA and GPA over expenses for training, it might be instructive to put some shape on it.

In personal training fees and other income I turned down to put more time into football, I was probably out of pocket between €300 and €400 per week.

Generally, we’d be together for around 40 weeks per year. I played for Dublin for 13 years. I didn’t own a gym for all of that time but still, you get a rough picture.
e
Against that, I’d run up around €1,400 per season in travel expenses, paid by the Dublin County Board, get €20 a week in nutrition allowance from the GAA, and in the years we got to All-Ireland finals, around €2,400 in the form of a Government grant.

All in, was I down the price of a deposit on a house? Easily. Even by today’s prices.

Again – and I emphasise this – that’s a personal decision, one I’m thrilled and privileged to have been in a position to have to make.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Had it cost more, or even if I’d been actively aware of that while I was playing, I still wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

But that’s the reality.

Odd though this might sound, All-Ireland finals used to cost me a fortune.

You get eight free tickets for finals and an option to buy 12 more.

But in my case anyway, most of those were for friends and family, people you’d be embarrassed to ask for the €80 from and just wouldn’t.

So you’d take the hit and swear not to get caught again until the exact same thing happened the following year.

The perks?

I’ve been lucky enough to have a personal deal with Annesley Williams Skoda for the last six years so I haven’t had to buy a car.

In the seasons we won All-Irelands, we got a team holiday.

There’s also the profile that comes with being an inter-county footballer, the value of which I couldn’t begin to estimate, and the odd endorsement, some of which went into a team fund, but nobody ever got rich from.

The point I’m making here is that despite the popular depiction of the GPA, players don’t think very much about money as it pertains to their sport.

Even when they’re losing it.

It’s just not a consideration when you’re chasing a county jersey or, at the top end, an All-Ireland medal.

But still, it would be nice to think your own governing body doesn’t begrudge you the price of your expenses.

I find it amazing, insulting even, that there can be any dispute over expenses for players when it comes to training, given the money the inter-county scene spins for Croke Park.

The notion that they should – as has actually been suggested – limit the number of training sessions per week to avoid having to pay expenses is off the wall.

It might be the most backward thing I’ve ever heard. It relies on the logic that players don’t actually want to push themselves, to better their chances of success. It’s hypocritical too.

There’s a bustling industry of people making good money out of telling players what they should and shouldn’t be doing, without having any real clue what’s involved, no grasp of the science of preparation and performance.

Think about it.

Could you imagine another sport where stakeholders, former athletes, journalists and administrators suggest curtailing the number of times their athletes train?

Why do we do it in the GAA? On some level, do we consider our games to be a more recreational pursuit than other elite amateur sports?

Does it presuppose that players would prefer to train less?

Because that horse has bolted. There’s no going back. The culture has changed.

People seem almost offended that footballers and hurlers would want to train more.

They disguise it in this notion that a player’s welfare relates to them training less.

Listen, if a player’s welfare is being threatened by the frequency or type of training they’re doing, the manager hasn’t a clue what he or she is at and they shouldn’t be in that position to begin with.

Swimmers, boxers, track and field athletes. They all train most days – in some weeks every day. They’re amateurs too.

Athletes will always try and do more to improve. That’s human nature. There’s no sporting logic in the world to suggest going the other direction is the right way to go.

In my gym, there are people who don’t play any sport who train five, six, seven days a week for health, fitness or vanity reasons.

We should celebrate the fact that our elite athletes value playing for their counties so much that they strive so hard for success, that they continually raise the bar, rather than trying to clip their wings.

If there are players out there who don’t want to put it in, that’s fine. That’s life. There are players who will and I can’t see the logic in siding with the former.

The GAA is full of well-paid people. The majority of their income comes from the inter-county game where the standard – effectively their product – is being improved all the time by players and coaches.

Any other sporting organisation would recognise the value in that. What’s more, they’d see the fairness in facilitating it, rather than fighting against it.

Most of the spin-off benefits of playing top level (i.e. inter-county) GAA would apply in a professional sport, i.e. GAA is professional in all but name, in fact probably more professional than most, maybe all? Do inter-county players give as much as say jockeys, rugby and soccer players and boxers?

Of course the issue is the admin and given how crooked this country is it would be impossible to, well administer as is proving to be the case here. If it can't be done properly, i.e. credibly, then it will end up debasing smaller clubs in time.

[Deleted]

Mar 26, 2022 18:44:53 GMT Mickmack said:

Mar 23, 2022 11:05:02 GMT ataboy said:

Would you have this article in full? Unable to view as it's a premium article.

Playing for Dublin probably cost me the price of a deposit on a house – but I wouldn’t change a thing
Philly McMahon


March 19 2022 02:30 AM

For the last few years of my Dublin career, I’d make a habit of arriving at St Clare’s an hour-and-a-half early for training, fairly smug that I was ahead of the game, only to find the place was already jammed.

I’d sit in the car and think: ‘What do all these fellas do for a living?!’

We’d train from seven to eight, have a video session or a meeting from eight until nine and then a bite to eat.

I left work at 4.30pm. I’d arrive home around 10.30pm.

A normal week at this time of year looked something like this:

Monday – gym.

Tuesday and Thursday – pitch session, as outlined above.

Saturday – match day.

Sunday – running session (for those of us who didn’t play on Saturday) or recovery session.

Technically, Wednesday and Friday were days off.



But you’d spend at least a couple of hours stretching, doing prehab, foam-rolling, sea-swimming, cryotherapy – anything to make sure you were able to train better the next day.

In my case, I’d regularly do another skills session or focused gym work to try and find something extra to help break back into the team.

An inter-county week is a six/seven-day week and Dublin aren’t the exception.

During the summer, there’d be a couple of weekend camps at somewhere like Carton House thrown in too.

You get plenty done but you’re gone all day Friday and Saturday.

Rough estimate, that’s a 40-hour hole put in your week during the season.

The deal is simple: you either do it because you want to play for your county and that’s the best way to be successful, or you don’t – and you won’t.

If you do it, it’s inevitable that other areas of your life will suffer.

I own a gym. The benefit of that is it granted flexibility.

The downside, in a purely professional sense, is that it made it easier to say ‘no’ to work and ‘yes’ to football.

I’ve never tried to calculate how much playing inter-county cost me over the years because I never, ever thought of it that way.

But given the current stand-off between the GAA and GPA over expenses for training, it might be instructive to put some shape on it.

In personal training fees and other income I turned down to put more time into football, I was probably out of pocket between €300 and €400 per week.

Generally, we’d be together for around 40 weeks per year. I played for Dublin for 13 years. I didn’t own a gym for all of that time but still, you get a rough picture.
e
Against that, I’d run up around €1,400 per season in travel expenses, paid by the Dublin County Board, get €20 a week in nutrition allowance from the GAA, and in the years we got to All-Ireland finals, around €2,400 in the form of a Government grant.

All in, was I down the price of a deposit on a house? Easily. Even by today’s prices.

Again – and I emphasise this – that’s a personal decision, one I’m thrilled and privileged to have been in a position to have to make.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Had it cost more, or even if I’d been actively aware of that while I was playing, I still wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

But that’s the reality.

Odd though this might sound, All-Ireland finals used to cost me a fortune.

You get eight free tickets for finals and an option to buy 12 more.

But in my case anyway, most of those were for friends and family, people you’d be embarrassed to ask for the €80 from and just wouldn’t.

So you’d take the hit and swear not to get caught again until the exact same thing happened the following year.

The perks?

I’ve been lucky enough to have a personal deal with Annesley Williams Skoda for the last six years so I haven’t had to buy a car.

In the seasons we won All-Irelands, we got a team holiday.

There’s also the profile that comes with being an inter-county footballer, the value of which I couldn’t begin to estimate, and the odd endorsement, some of which went into a team fund, but nobody ever got rich from.

The point I’m making here is that despite the popular depiction of the GPA, players don’t think very much about money as it pertains to their sport.

Even when they’re losing it.

It’s just not a consideration when you’re chasing a county jersey or, at the top end, an All-Ireland medal.

But still, it would be nice to think your own governing body doesn’t begrudge you the price of your expenses.

I find it amazing, insulting even, that there can be any dispute over expenses for players when it comes to training, given the money the inter-county scene spins for Croke Park.

The notion that they should – as has actually been suggested – limit the number of training sessions per week to avoid having to pay expenses is off the wall.

It might be the most backward thing I’ve ever heard. It relies on the logic that players don’t actually want to push themselves, to better their chances of success. It’s hypocritical too.

There’s a bustling industry of people making good money out of telling players what they should and shouldn’t be doing, without having any real clue what’s involved, no grasp of the science of preparation and performance.

Think about it.

Could you imagine another sport where stakeholders, former athletes, journalists and administrators suggest curtailing the number of times their athletes train?

Why do we do it in the GAA? On some level, do we consider our games to be a more recreational pursuit than other elite amateur sports?

Does it presuppose that players would prefer to train less?

Because that horse has bolted. There’s no going back. The culture has changed.

People seem almost offended that footballers and hurlers would want to train more.

They disguise it in this notion that a player’s welfare relates to them training less.

Listen, if a player’s welfare is being threatened by the frequency or type of training they’re doing, the manager hasn’t a clue what he or she is at and they shouldn’t be in that position to begin with.

Swimmers, boxers, track and field athletes. They all train most days – in some weeks every day. They’re amateurs too.

Athletes will always try and do more to improve. That’s human nature. There’s no sporting logic in the world to suggest going the other direction is the right way to go.

In my gym, there are people who don’t play any sport who train five, six, seven days a week for health, fitness or vanity reasons.

We should celebrate the fact that our elite athletes value playing for their counties so much that they strive so hard for success, that they continually raise the bar, rather than trying to clip their wings.

If there are players out there who don’t want to put it in, that’s fine. That’s life. There are players who will and I can’t see the logic in siding with the former.

The GAA is full of well-paid people. The majority of their income comes from the inter-county game where the standard – effectively their product – is being improved all the time by players and coaches.

Any other sporting organisation would recognise the value in that. What’s more, they’d see the fairness in facilitating it, rather than fighting against it.

€1400 a year in expenses? Was he driving a hummer before he got the skoda?

[Ballyfireside]

13 hours ago glengael said:
www.radiokerry.ie/news/north-kerry-football-board-says-rural-depopulation-factor-in-objection-to-draft-county-development-plan-276985


Interesting and welcome to see a GAA entity making this submission.

Kerry County Council policy is in danger of continuing with lopsided development, which does not serve the county well.

-------- Above copied from another thread, pasting with the following on here just for the record ---------

You beat me to it and yes, in a strange way it answers the question of why NK is so under represented on the county panel - and remember, while this wasn't always the case, it has been so for a long period so it is not just a case of a freak dip in talent. Indeed it isn't.

Now I wouldn't begrudge Killarney but with their global tourist trade it is a bit odd that NK isn't seen as a potential location for any type of investment.

What may surprise some though is that the cause is rooted in NK itself.

For a few reasons maybe best known to myself I'll leave it at that and which is shameful but I'd only have moderators on top of me, suffice as to say whoever voted to downgrade NK to being 'of no tourist value' should get their backsides kicked - who's idea was it in the first place anyway?

Another jigsaw in Éamonn Fitzmaurice's project for TCB.

[Mickmack]

WED, 10 AUG, 2022 - 08:05
JOHN FOGARTY
Social share
The GAA's gate receipts for 2022 are expected to exceed projections with revenue from the Allianz Leagues up by 4% from 2019.

Speaking to Central Council in June, the association’s director of finance Ger Mulryan revealed gate receipts for the year were ahead of what was estimated. He was speaking just before the bumper All-Ireland senior football quarter-final double-headers, which drew over 120,000 combined.

A total of €3.2 million was distributed to units in 2019, which was an increase of over €250,000 on 2019, the last comparable financial year before the pandemic. The minimum amount to be distributed to a county will be €33,000.

Attendances for the Allianz Leagues were up by 1% from 2019, the 4% jump in gate revenue from the competitions likely due to the GAA’s decision to make available all their tickets online and changes to concessions for students and old age pensioners.

While the 2019 championship included an All-Ireland SFC final replay and Super 8s, only 33,848 were at the Kerry-Tyrone semi-final that year whereas over 140,000 were in attendance for the Galway-Derry and Kerry-Dublin last four games. However, the hurling semi-finals in 2019 attracted over 25,000 more people.

The majority of county boards are expected to return profits as many didn’t include the business end of their county championships in their gate receipt totals last year owing to the decision to change the financial year to the end of September from October 31. The fact that the 2021 accounts were 11 months and the reduction of the inter-county season is also likely to contribute to strong figures.

[Mickmack]

Louth GAA confident of having new stadium open in 2024 thanks to €14.8m ‘cash for visas’ windfall
Money from the Government Immigrant Investor Programme will help fund the stadium


Gordon Manning
Tue Oct 11 2022 - 19:13

Peter Fitzpatrick hopes the 2024 Louth senior football final will be played in the county’s perpetually stalled new stadium, after the Wee County landed a €14.8 million windfall from the Government’s cash for visas scheme.

“This has been our dream and now it is about to become a reality,” said the Louth chairman.

Louth GAA are set to benefit from 37 foreign donors each pledging €400,000 to fund the construction of the stadium in Dundalk. The funding is to be attained through the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP), for which donors receive residency in Ireland.

“We said we had a Plan B, and this was it. A huge amount of work has been put in on this over the last few months,” added Fitzpatrick. Meath GAA also went down this route last year and are believed to have raised around €2 million in funding for their stadium redevelopment, so Louth have been far more successful in securing contributions.

READ MORE


Given the escalation of building costs, Fitzpatrick estimates the overall cost of the new stadium will now be around €20 million, but Louth aim to put the job out to tender over the coming weeks and for work to start in early 2023.

“We think this will be an 18-month turnkey job and if everything goes to plan we would hope to have the 2024 Louth county final take place at the new stadium.”





WHAT IS THE IMMIGRANT INVESTOR PROGRAMME?

It is a residency by investment scheme, essentially a cash for visas programme, that is available to non-European Economic Area nationals who are willing to invest in Ireland and who fulfil certain requirements.

WHAT REQUIREMENTS?

Individuals who can prove a minimum personal net worth of €2 million. They must also prove to have a clean criminal record and not have been convicted of an offence in any jurisdiction.

WHO DETERMINES WHICH INVESTORS ARE LEGIT?

The applications are examined by an Evaluation Committee, which is made up of senior civil and public servants from various Irish Government departments.


HOW MUCH DO THEY HAVE TO INVEST?

There are four investment options available.

1: An Enterprise Investment – Committing to a minimum of €1 million in an Irish enterprise over a period of at least three years.

2: Investment Fund – To provide a minimum of €1 million to an approved investment fund, which has been approved and regulated by the Central Bank, also for a period of at least three years.

3: Real Estate Investment Trust – Committing a minimum of €2 million in an Irish Real Estate Investment Trust that is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. Again, this must be for a period of at least three years.

4: Endowment – To make a philanthropic donation of at least €400,000 to a project in Ireland which is of public benefit to the arts, sports, health, culture or education sector.



IS THIS A NEW SCHEME?

It was set up by the Irish Government in 2012.

IT ALL SOUNDS A BIT IRISH

No, such schemes for residency/citizenship are available in many countries in a bid to encourage inward investment.

WHAT DO INVESTORS GET IN RETURN?

The official fluffy stuff is that it allows investors avail of opportunities to invest and locate their business interests in Ireland. However, the bigger draw for most is the ability to acquire residency status. It is not only that the individual donor may reside, work and study in the country, but it also allows for their spouse/partner and children under the age of 18 to do so. There is also consideration given to their children between the ages of 18-24, if they are in full-time education. They do not get citizenship, just residency for 24 months, after which they can apply for it to be renewed for a further three years.


IS IT PROFITABLE FOR THE STATE?

Department of Justice figures, as reported in The Irish Times in June 2021, showed that in 2020 more than 260 donors had committed a total of €185.6 million to business and charities in Ireland through the IIP scheme. Since its inception in 2012, over €1 billion has been raised from the programme.

WHO ARE THESE INVESTORS?

Of the 267 successful investors in 2020, 254 of them were Chinese citizens. Between 2012-2019, from a total of 1,162 investors, 1,068 were from China. The investors in commercial projects must leave their money in place for at least three years when, dependent on the success or not of the venture, they will receive some or all of it back. However, those donating to charitable causes, because of its lower minimum contribution of €400,000, do not get their money back. Some of the causes/institutions to have benefited from philanthropic IIP contributions over the years include Beaumont and Tallaght hospitals, the Peter McVerry Trust and NUI Galway.

Gordon Manning
Gordon Manning
Gordon Manning is a sports journalist, specialising in Gaelic games, with The Irish Times