Seeing as we’re on the topic (after a fashion) of the Cáirde Mhaigheo initiative, it’s worth mentioning that some marketing collateral in the form of a brochure has now been put together on it. The brochure provides a general overview of the initiative, sets out the benefits of membership, details the various subscription and payment options that are available and includes the forms you’ll need to fill in if you want to join.
A pdf copy of the brochure is available here.
Willie Joe, this Brochure is misleading as it fails to inform the Supporter that all the money raised will go to Croke Park. When raising funding there is a legal obligation on the entity to inform potential contributors of all the facts. This is clearly not happening here.
In Response to Mr Monaghan, at no stage did it say anywhere that all the money raised under Cairde Mhaigheo would go to Croke Park, in fact that was never stated.
PJ, the Mayo County Board only forward the cost of the NFL season ticket to Croke Park. Im not sure what they give Croke Park but it isnt the full 75. The remainder of the 200 goes to Mayo GAA.
Pj has it not been made clear in the financial plan that 500k per year goes towards the team and then rhe repayments to the creditors will be drawn from the remainder , how exactly does “Croke park” benefit?
For instance I can see how any money I give gets divided up into player-directed funds or into debt repayment but not how it makes it’s way into central GAA coffers, have I missed something here?
Personally I only care about the football, but I do like to see things done right in areas of the field, so I do have some concerns.
Some quotes from the brochure:
“The proceeds of which goes to support the GAA in Mayo”
^ This depends on your version of supporting GAA. Servicing crazy debt levels does not improve skill levels among young players, which is where resources should be targeted.
“Reward and recognise true Mayo GAA supporters”
^ If you don’t buy this, you are not to be recognised as a true Mayo supporter?
” Advertising and offers can be targeted at Ticket
Holders through the Mayo County Board emails and text messages service”
^ Are we to receive unsolicited emails from businesses when we sign up for this? Will they form part of the normal newsletter or can patrons receive them as the businesses see fit? Can we opt out of these?
“Regular and timely up-dates, by email, of Mayo
fixtures, results and team news.”
^ This should be happening anyway, you shouldn’t have to pay for a season ticket for this benefit. Getting more people interested will mean more people going to games which will mean increased gate receipts. It costs virtually 0 to set up and maintain a mailing list.
“Credit Card Details
(Please use Block caPitals)
Card Type Required
Name on Card Required
Card Number Required
Card Expire
Date
Required
Security
Number
Required
I have read, understand and agree to the Mayo County
Board’s Cáirde Mhaigheo Terms and Conditions.
n (please tick)
Signature: ”
^ Do my eyes deceive me? Are they actually taking peoples credit card numbers on paper, with full security details AND a signature? Not to mention full address and phone numbers? All they are missing is the mother’s maiden name. Data protection anyone?
A warm welcome to the County Board and delighted that you have decided to join the debate. I do hope that you remain on and answer all the questions that need answering. It will make for interesting reading and drive the hits to this website through the roof!
To begin please explain the following statement
“A letter from the aforementioned Cathy Slattery was also read to the meeting which outlined the approval, in principle, of the ‘Financial Plan’ with agreement that any funds raised would be first used to offset the debt in place, and that all future fund-raising for Mayo GAA would come under the umbrella of Cáirde Mhaigheo”
Second question, can you please explain how you forgot to include the €1.5 million in the 2010 accounts and in doing so you decided to mislead Croke Park, the Connacht Council and most importantly the Supporters of Mayo GAA.
Finally, (for tonight anyway) can you give the Supporters of Mayo GAA one good reason why we should believe anything you say?
Hi Willie Joe
I’ve admired your blog for the last few years now but have never posted on it because I am not a fan of internet forums and the anonymity that goes with them. I feel strongle about a lot of these issues and so I have decided to come on board and hope more like PJ will be brave enough to speak up as themselves.
I left West Mayo in 1977 and eventually ended up settling in Dublin. After my parents died the green and red jersey remained my connection to the west and the dream of Sam Maguire.
The Cairde Mhaigheo plan has been rushed (and this has been accepted by the Board). Instead of getting the supporters to buy into the idea it now seems doomed from the start because there are so many questions that have to be answered and so many hardworking people that have been treated like dirt by the Board.
My own involvement is very small. I am a member of Club Mayo Dublin. There have been many snide remarks by contributors to the website about this club over the last year or two and as somebody that has paid my €20 subscription every month for the last 3 or 4 years I can only say good things.
I have had one of the lads personally call to my house with my jacket. He told me that they were calling to all members to meet them after start up. I have been able to get tickets for the big matches and when I wasn’t able to collect them some of the lads went out of their way to get them to me. My son met his hero Peter Canavan at the lunch arranged last Spring and out of the blue a photo arrived of us with Peter in the post a few days later – I never asked for it but it was a nice touch. i get text updates, i get my newsletter and I know where my money is going – it is going to the players. And the players themselves were at the AGM last year and told us how important are support was to them.
I was disappointed to read the newspaper reports about how us members in Club Mayo Dublin have now been ignored by the County Board. The County Board can not get rid of Club Mayo Dublin and I will continue to support it. I see where my money goes and it was worth it all for the day against Cork last August. Some people in the London group were asking what is to happen to it – well I think it is only each group that can decide. They do not belong to the County Board but to the people that pay into it. The Board should be very grateful for these members because with household charges and health insurance increases and everything else there is little disposable income to be handed over.
PJ you raised a very good point from that Croke Park letter – agreement that any funds raised would be first used to offset the debt in place – that means to me that the money will go into a black hole in the bank. The debt payments will be paid first. Then anything after that will go on the games budget but if there is nothing extra well then it is the games that suffer but the debt comes first. I could not buy into that. This mess is not my making, or the making of the ordinary supporters and maybe there needs to be accountability first. I too would like that question answered.
We are all supposed to be on the same team but the Board have to be upfront with us ordinary supporters if they expect our support.
I too would like to welcome the spokesman for Mayo GAA onto the premises. In doing so, I think it’s necessary to confirm for the record that the same respect accorded to everyone else who posts here also extends to anyone from (or representing) the County Board who does so. That means steering clear of language such as “you forgot to include”, “you decided to mislead” and “can you give the Supporters of Mayo GAA one good reason why we should believe anything you say?” This is a forum for discussion, not a kangaroo court, so let’s keep it that way.
Hi John – thanks for your comment and welcome on board.
I too have been a member of Club Mayo since its inception and would wholeheartedly endorse what you have to say in terms of services provided to members over the past few years. I don’t think it’s correct to state, though, that the Board is aiming to “get rid of” Club Mayo. It’s important to note that the stricture that all fundraising must in future come from one single source is one that has been made by Croke Park and not by the County Board – Croke Park are, as PJ says, calling the shots now on a number of issues and on this one they’ve been very clear about how things have to be done. Personally, I’d love to see Club Mayo continue to operate under the wider ambit of Cairde Mhaigheo and I can’t see why this shouldn’t be able to happen.
Looks like I am back in the Sin Bin again Willie Joe!
I will have to get the full rule book from you at some stage.
Hi John, it is great to see that you have come out under your own name and I applaud your bravery for doing so. We need more people like you and I to come on this website and to express your feelings.
John, my issue with Club Mayo Dublin was the fact that they refused to engage with our Review Committee last year. Respect is a two way thing as Willie Joe has rightly pointed out to me over the last 24 hours. Club Mayo (who I was once a supporter and member of, but no longer am) showed totally contempt for the Strategic Review Committee. They stood shoulder to shoulder with the County Board in defiance of our attempts to investigate the financial affairs of Mayo GAA to which they are affiliated.
Wllie Joe is right, it is Croke Park and not the County Board who have pulled them into line.
No worries, PJ – the rule book (such as it is) is in that post I mentioned yesterday!
Fair to say that everyone contributing to this site has one thing in common and that is the passion and desire for Mayo football to achieve success on the field. But based on the comments coming across in this debate many questions exist about what’s going around the ‘board table’. We all know there are financial problems and questions can be asked about how we ended up here and who was responsible and so on. But looking back to find someone to blame isn’t going to solve a godamn thing. It might be ‘cleansing’ and allow us to vent some frustration but it changes nothing. Unless there is a feeling that accountability might suddenly raise its head and lead to some real changes of who sits at the table. Unlikely you have to say but that doesn’t mean that points can’t be made about the present and future.
Interesting and strong personal viewpoints have been made here over the past couple of day. One solid longtime contributor (ontheroad) has thrown his hat at it. Many of us understand the reaction but let’s hope it’s a decision that will be reviewed and he/she returns.
WJ and PJ who probably have more in common than they have differences have had their spat. Both have participated in the ill-fated review last year and safe to assume ye have a good insight of the competencies of the CB but differ on whether the Cairde Maigheo fundraising proposal is the answer. The fact that ye now beg to differ but have made up (all in the public gaze) is good and shows that even with different opinions we can all row in the same direction.
GAA Mayo has also come on board with a clarification but just as PJ says we would all like to hear a bit more as the transparency around how Cairde Maigheo fundraising will be managed and used remains unclear – to me anyway. And if this is not cleared up soon it’s not going to sell and an initiative that is crying out to be done properly is already looking like damaged goods. A real pity! If GAA Mayo are reading this give the objectives and transparency around Cairde Maigheo a serious rethink before it’s too late.
A Club Mayo member has also put a few interesting points forward. From reading between the lines it would appear they were the basically the target in what would be described in the financial world as a ‘hostile takeover’ and are saying it won’t work (I think) because they have a strictly player based agenda .Am I right there? I’m not sure. I also recall from past postings on this site that Club Mayo and PJ had their differences in the past but now find themselves on the same side to the CB – but based on your last comment PJ for different reasons and the kiss and make up is less likely in this case than it was with yourself and WJ !.
So an interesting and enlightening 2 days of postings on the excellent site WJ. It may not have all the answers but it’s certainly raising some of the problems and differences and there seem to be a lot of them. One suggested action was posted here and I would really worry about – that supporters start displaying their dis-approval at matches and boycott the new stand and so on. That would be extremely negative bordering on disaster. The players and matches should not under any circumstances be dragged into or affected in any way by all this. It’s bad enough. I said at the start we all have one thing in common and that’s success on the pitch. Can we protect that bit at least.? What chance have we got if the management and players see this nonsense being played out in on the sidelines of McHale Park ?
Keep up the good work WJ.
It’s the same as the €200 season ticket that’s on sale on the GAA’s own website lads. I got one of them before any ‘Cairde Mhaigh Eo’ entered the headlines. Only €75 is going to Croke Park. The rest is going to the Mayo County Board. The County Board will probably use that money to pay off the debt, and while I would like to see it been paid on team’s expenses and other stuff, as the saying goes, ‘we are where we are’ and this gigantic debt has to be paid off some way or other.
Good Morning Willie Joe,
I was just wondering if you can confirm if the post made by ‘Mayo GAA’ was done so by actual Representative of the County Board.
I have a couple of questions that maybe someone can clarify. I would like to say at the outset that I have no affiliation with Club Mayo Dublin or any other supporters organisation or club.
1: On what authority can Croke park or the county board enforce rules that stop Club Mayo or any entity from fundraising directly for the Mayo team?
If a benefactor came along tomorrow with a cheque for €1M and presented it to James Horan on behalf of the Mayo senior football squad with express instructions that it be spent on squad expenses only, is it the case that he would have to refuse the donation as it is not sanctioned by Croke Park and does not come through the official channel?
2: I have seen that there has been some confusion around the funding for the Mayo teams. Some are saying that €500K is ringfenced for team training but others seem unsure as Croke park is in charge and therefore this is out of our hands.
If for instance we start to fall short of targets set by Croke park, would the shortfall be taken from the training funds?
In reply to 1. above ,can I start a club – Club Mayo TWO and collect money. The G A A must have control of the money raised on its behalf. In the case of Club Mayo the money raised here must go to Mayo GAA ?. It begs the question WHO IS IN CHARGE OF MONEY RAISED ON BEHALF OF MAYO GAELIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION?
PJ I think Mayo GAA has vanished! A bit cheeky to use that username and if speaking for the County Bd they should be clearer. Calling yourself Mayo GAA is a funny one and to me means they are speaking for all of us. But the message is clear we’re being monitored!!!!!! So behave everybody
Just in that form today. Got the Cairde mayo brochure in ballinrobe yesterday. First thing I noticed is that Cairde Maigheo is incorrectly spelled on the brochure, there is no fada on the a in cairde. just being btchy
A lot of waffle takes place on this blog?
Great to see Club Mayo on the official Mayo G A A site all the time
Has Club Mayo in Dublin gone into no man’s land.
I see we have a new Club mayo in Dublin and it is not solely for the G.A.A. Did the Mayo G.A.A. Board slip up here or did it not need the sixty thousand Euro.??? It seems that amount was donated in the past.I