Ten clubs gain a share of Croke Park windfall

THE 10 Clare clubs, who are to receive €25,000 each arising from the use of Croke Park for international soccer and rugby games have finally been identified.
After months of debate over the distribution of the €250,000 made available to Clare from this fund, the successful applicants were named at the April meeting of the county board on Tuesday night.
The clubs are Scariff, Parteen, Feakle, Cratloe, Kilrush, Tulla, Cooraclare, Miltown, Sixmilebridge and Kilmihil.
The announcement was met with criticism from representatives of a number of clubs who were not on the list including Clarecastle, St Joseph’s (Doora-Barefield) Tubber and Kilmaley.
When news of the scheme was first announced almost two years ago, Clare GAA decided it would give 10 grants of €25,000 each. A three-man committee of executive committee members – Johnny Hill (vice-chairman), Ger Hickey (central council delegate) and PJ Kelly (assistant treasurer) was appointed, with Hill to act as committee chairman.
The distribution of the grants was raised at every board meeting since last autumn. Over 30 applications were received and towards the end of last year, Mr Hill confirmed, “twenty-five clubs have crossed all the Ts and dotted all the Is”. He went on to suggest that a draw from a hat may be the way to decide on the 10 clubs, a suggestion which drew an angry response from a number of delegates.
The board executive was given permission earlier this year to seek a meeting with Croke Park in the hope of changing the original decision, so it could give 25 grants of €10,000 each. Croke Park refused the request.
Last month, representatives of the clubs in the running for the grants were brought to a special meeting where it emerged that the number was down to 24. At this meeting, efforts were made to get unanimous agreement that the lucky 10 would give back €15,000 each, which would then be distributed amongst the remaining clubs. Initially, three clubs objected to this suggestion. This number went up to four when those involved returned to a second meeting, where a proposal from Cooraclare to appoint ‘outside’ independent adjudicators was agreed. County secretary Pat Fitzgerald was unanimously appointed by that meeting to get somebody from outside the county to make the decision.
Stressing that he did not see the submissions, Fitzgerald told Tuesday’s meeting that he contacted the association president Christy Cooney and explained the situation.
“He agreed two days later, he would get somebody but he made it quite clear that there would be no visitation of clubs,” he said.
Fitzgerald told the delegates that the president selected the chairman and secretary of the National Infrastructure Committee, Seamus McCloy (chairman), who is also the chairman of Derry County Board and Peter McKenna, manager of Croke Park Stadium, for this task.