Delegates feel GAA draw was successful despite 5,000 unsold tickets

The fallout from Westmeath GAA's Win A Home In Spain draw has sparked major controversy, culminating in heated exchanges between County Committee members and club delegates.

What began as a high-profile fundraising initiative has instead left the county grappling with division and strong disagreement even though over €900,000 was raised, giving a profit of around €500,000.

At the Westmeath County Committee meeting in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Tuesday July 1, Garrycastle’s Michael Mannion took the chairman to task regarding his comments on the night of the draw, claiming they had damaged Westmeath GAA.

“There were more views on your speech than there were ticket sales. Westmeath GAA is a laughing stock,” he declared, accusing the chairman of slating clubs and creating a divide between the clubs and the county committee.

“If it was a laughing stock, I apologise. In all the way during the campaign, I have not misled anyone. I did say I was disappointed, I’m still disappointed,” responded the chairman.

He likened it to training a good team and failing to win the championship or reach the knock-out stages, saying you wouldn’t go and praise them for falling short of the target. “I did not slate anybody. I did not slate any club. I thanked the clubs who sold the tickets,” he explained.

Mr Mannion accepted no club was named specifically, but clubs who failed to sell their quota were criticised.

“Each club got a quota. Some clubs sold over the quota, which I acknowledged,” remarked the chairman.

Mr Mannion said the chairman was the face of Westmeath GAA and as this was a live stream, he should not have used that platform to be critical.

“So I am to portray a picture that I don’t believe is true?” asked Mr Mescall. “For the good of Westmeath, you should, yes,” replied Mr Mannion.

The chairman replied: “For Westmeath I was very disappointed in the ticket sales, not for Frank Mescall. For the future of Westmeath, that’s what I was talking about. We left 5,000 tickets behind us. For Westmeath GAA, the plan was to clear €1m in that draw; we didn’t do it. That was my aim for Westmeath GAA. We will have to do it some other way.

“I understand people may be a little bit sore because the truth often hurts, and I was speaking to a wider audience that I would get one chance at. Not only was I referring to the draw, but I would be trying to prepare people for whatever is going to happen next year. We need to work at this. If I can’t get that message across, I am not representing Westmeath GAA.”

The chairman said he would be “just a sham” or “a puppet” if he portrayed “untruths”.

Mr Mannion said a barrier has been created between Westmeath GAA and some clubs.

The chairman responded: “If I told lies, you can almost certainly have a go at me, and ask for my resignation. You’re entitled to do that. But I told no lies. I gave a factual picture of where we are at, and we have to prepare for the future.”

Des Briody, the committee’s assistant treasurer, felt it was not appropriate to criticise the clubs on the night of the draw.

The chairman noted that vital money was raised in the draw but felt it did not get the support it should have. “It was great — we are almost half a million richer. It’s not only with the clubs, there are other groups involved that I was very disappointed with as well,” he said.

Castledaly’s Paula Finan, Westmeath LGFA secretary, said clubs are disappointed with the narrative put forward at the draw. “Just to go back to your analogy about the football team and not performing — if you want that team to come back next year and perform, you wouldn’t go into the dressing room and slate them," she remarked.

"Our clubs feel they were slated last night; a barrier has been put up. They understand fundraising has to happen. We have to go back to them. They are sore and very disappointed.”

She felt it was the first time LGFA and camogie had joined Westmeath GAA for a fundraising draw, and a positive narrative should have been put forward.

The chairman reiterated that no club was slated. “I praised the clubs for selling their quota,” he remarked.

Killucan's Derek Heffernan felt that while what was said wasn’t untrue, it ought to have been portrayed more positively.

“It was the one chance I had of reaching a wider GAA community, interested in supporting Westmeath GAA. They probably had bought a ticket and would be willing to support Westmeath GAA in the future. I just felt I couldn’t give anything but a real picture. If you don’t agree with that, I take your feelings on board and I apologise unreservedly to you,” replied Mr Mescall.

“I did not go out to slate any club — I could mention clubs who didn’t reach their quota, but did extraordinarily well. I had a small club who came in with 41 tickets; they have a fundraiser and they promised if it goes well, they would pay for their remaining ten tickets at the end of the year. To me, that’s commitment. That’s core Westmeath GAA.”

Des Cawley, the committee’s Officer of Irish Language, said: “That’s the narrative that should have been sold last night. That’s the positive narrative. Although there were no untruths, the narrative that went out has created a terrible negative."

Referring to messages he received on his phone during the draw, Mr Cawley said: “One (person) actually suggested that the stream stop, that it was embarrassing to Westmeath.”

“I’m sorry for that, but as I say, the truth hurts,” remarked the chairman.

“But Frank, that’s your perception; you're entitled to it. But you were the face of Westmeath (GAA) management, and that is the perception of Westmeath GAA last night (Monday), not your perception. And that’s the feeling,” said Mr Cawley.

“I am not in the business of misleading people,” responded the chairman. “We are not asking you to mislead,” said Mr Cawley.

“Well, if I was to get up there and paint a totally rosy picture, I think I would be misleading Westmeath GAA, misleading management, misleading the fundraising committee, LGFA and camogie,” the chairman said.

Mr Cawley insisted there is a positive story to be portrayed. “We were at 3,900 tickets less than two weeks ago. We were 9,000 on Monday night. That was a positive to be taken from it. We didn’t reach the quota we required, but there was a substantial improvement, and that is the piece that was missed,” he said.

Shane Donoghue, Milltownpass, accused the chairman of tarnishing Westmeath GAA as an institution. “Ah no; you're taking that a bit too far,” replied Mr Mescall.

Tony Robinson felt the draw was a success with 9,000 tickets sold. He said clubs with new committees won’t always have “their guns ready to fire” and felt smaller clubs with limited resources can struggle. “I thought you did extremely well; we are still a small county. We don’t have big backers in Westmeath; we struggle to get names on jerseys,” he said.

“It is a fair achievement,” agreed the chairman. “But with a fundraiser you always set out your stall and you have to appraise that and evaluate. We had many stakeholders in this; it was a huge learning experience.”

Kevin Dolan, Maryland, felt the 15,000 target was not realistic and was critical of the chairman’s comments towards clubs. He also claimed that the purchase of land in Mullingar was rushed and wrong as the land was overpriced.

Mr Mescall pointed out that the €1m required to pay for the land is not there. A loan will be required to complete the sale, he said. And he assured Mr Dolan that there is land selling in the countryside for more per acre than Westmeath is paying.

“To me, this, our first fundraiser, was the best chance we had. Each year we don’t need to raise €1m, but we will need €200,000 or €300,000 a year for a few years, and then go with a major fundraiser,” he said.

“The process wasn’t rushed, it went on for six years. I negotiated four years of that. Management would be aware of the pain and the patience it took to get that across the line. We looked at several others, but at this stage, to be going back there is really disappointing. We have made the choice to go with this, why are we going backwards?”

“I do appreciate the efforts clubs made; some of them were fantastic. And €100 is not easy. I think I sold 160 tickets; 25–30 in Lucan where I have family. I made the effort, I put myself out there. And I expected other people to do the same; good GAA people.

“We have not looked at what happens next. Maybe a levy/contribution is the way forward, I don’t know.”

The target was to complete this without putting a levy on clubs. However, it was pointed out that Club Iarmhí is nearing an end and the chairman felt he was left to lead the venture, which doesn’t happen in other counties. He pointed out that clubs with big developments underway came up trumps - clubs like Southern Gaels and St Brigid’s. However, other clubs were contacted and the feedback was just two people in the area were selling tickets. There was no enthusiasm for the draw.

Addressing the clubs and those who felt aggrieved, he added: “It certainly was not my intention to put Westmeath GAA in any bad light.”