GARDAÍ IN Waterford have launched an investigation after a complaint from the local GAA county board that more than €142,000 from ticket sales for last year’s championship has been misappropriated by a former member of the board.
Waterford GAA PRO, Joe Cleary, confirmed to The Irish Times that the county board had passed the matter on to the Garda and had also issued a writ against a named individual in a bid to recover the €142,000 that has gone missing.
“At a Waterford County Board meeting on Monday night, board chairman Pat Flynn informed the delegates of financial irregularities with inter-county ticket sales to the tune of €142,000. The issue has been transferred to the court system and a Garda investigation is under way.”
It’s understood that the man in question, who is in his 60s and has had a long record of service to the GAA in Waterford, resigned from his position with the eastern divisional board earlier this month.
Waterford County Board consists of two divisions – eastern and western, each with its own divisional board – and the missing money represents the proceeds of tickets sales by the Eastern Divisional Board for Waterford’s appearance in last year’s hurling championship.
Waterford played five matches in last year’s championship, including a Munster semi-final against Cork, a Munster final against Limerick, two All-Ireland quarter finals against Cork, before finally bowing out to Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final.
All five games were all-ticket affairs that attracted large crowds, with tickets being sent from the Munster Council and the Central Council to Waterford County Board, who in turn gave them to the two divisional boards for distribution to the county’s 50 clubs.
It is understood that a small number of officials learned of the alleged misappropriation of money late in 2007, but they opted to give the individual in question an opportunity to reimburse the board and only reported it to gardaí when he failed to come up with the money.
GAA officials, it is understood, received a cheque from the individual in question shortly before approving audit accounts at the county board annual convention last December, but they became concerned when the cheque later bounced.
Delegates from the 50 clubs affiliated to the Waterford County Board learned of the financial irregularities at a special meeting of the county board in Dungarvan on Monday night convened by county board chairman, Pat Flynn, and held behind closed doors.
One GAA source said the revelation had been greeted with shock and dismay in Waterford. “It’s been a real shock, not just that this could happen but at the individual involved – he’s well-respected and the last person you would expect to get involved in something like this.”
A spokeswoman for GAA headquarters in Croke Park said it was aware of the allegations but refused to comment in any detail about the circumstances. “It’s a matter for Waterford County Board and our finance committee here,” said the spokeswoman.