They weren’t too sure about the breaking news at first, it sounded too good to be true. A gift of €1 million for every county in Ireland, to be divided equally among their GAA, LGFA and Camogie clubs, with no strings attached.
One county board chairman in Connacht, contacted before midday, described it as “like all our Christmases coming at once” – if true. But he remained sceptical.
By teatime, and with confirmation of JP McManus’s €32 million donation in the form of statements of appreciation from the three governing organisations, the story had already reached the other end of the spectrum with the words “PR stunt” uttered on one national radio station. It seems you can’t even give €32 million away these days without offending someone.
It will go down as a landmark day in the history of the three associations, with all clubs set to benefit. It will be felt most in the smallest counties with the fewest clubs as the €1 million is to be divided equally among them.
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In Longford, for example, each club could get as much as €29,000, while in Cork, which has the highest concentration of GAA clubs, and so many more LGFA and camogie outfits, it will be considerably less.
Whatever the size of the gift, it will be warmly received in the run-up to Christmas, with a number of counties holding annual conventions this week and underlining just how financially perilous their situations are.
Addressing Thursday night’s county convention, Leitrim secretary Declan Bohan spoke of the “unsustainable” costs associated with preparing county teams. “It is only a matter of time before we may have to face the reality that €1 million will have to be budgeted in any given year to compete in this madness,” stated Bohan. “Unfortunately, it may all come crashing down around us unless some magic wand is waved in our direction.”
While coming in at a neat €1 million per county, the McManus money isn’t that ‘magic wand’, as it will be funnelled down to individual clubs, but it will ease some of the headaches being felt by club officials.
[ Gordon Manning: JP McManus’s cash injection will go straight to GAA’s grassrootsOpens in new window ]
McManus made a similar gesture five years ago when, after his native Limerick’s breakthrough All-Ireland SHC success, he gifted each GAA county board €100,000. This time, the figure is 10 times that and the donation has been widened to take in LGFA and camogie clubs too.
“It’s sort of like everyone winning the Lotto in the one day, isn’t it?” said Longford GAA secretary Peter O’Reilly. “The club volunteer has an awful lot on his plate and this just takes that bit of pressure off them. That they’re not constantly worrying where the next euro will come from for the bank loan, that they’re not wondering that if they don’t sell enough club Lotto tickets this evening will it cause a problem down the line? It just takes a little bit of pressure off them and they deserve that.”
O’Reilly recalled the 2018 donations being spent on various things around his county, from reducing debt in one club to paying for playing equipment for teams in another, to finishing off a “project that was three-quarters completed” in another.
[ JP McManus profile: ‘I paid my taxes and I set up a business abroad’Opens in new window ]
The GAA thanked the South Liberties man, who was named Limerick GAA honorary life president last February, for his “incredible generosity”. The LGFA described it as an “extremely kind donation” by the McManus family while the Camogie Association said the funding will allow clubs to “continue their essential role within local communities”.
Limerick GAA secretary Mike O’Riordan confirmed his county’s receipt of the money on Thursday morning having previously noted in his annual report that McManus laid on a “generous holiday” for this year’s All-Ireland winning senior hurling group to Sandy Lane in Barbados, while a separate medals presentation earlier this month took place at his luxury Adare Manor resort.
In Meath, the gift of €1 million was described as “transformative” by county GAA secretary Ciarán Flynn. “This contribution goes beyond the immediate,” said Flynn. “It’s an investment in the future of our youth and the enduring spirit of our community games.”
Allied to his long-running and continued sponsorship of Limerick GAA teams, the €5 million gift given to his county board in 2004 to help clear debt on the Gaelic Grounds stadium, the 2018 national gift and various other donations, the McManus family’s financial contribution to the organisation stands at well over €50 million.
“He is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve and is passionate about the GAA,” said Longford official O’Reilly. “What he did for the clubs around the country in 2018, everyone was in awe of that. I don’t know what the word even is for this now, it’s incredible really.”
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