Calls for sanctions against clubs if tickets left unsold

There was a lengthy discussion on the Westmeath GAA’s fundraising draw, Win a Home in Spain, at last week’s County Committee meeting, and the general consensus among clubs is that sanctions will have to be imposed on those who did not sell their quota of tickets.

The fundraiser is key for the Westmeath GAA Centre of Excellence project and is the first step to ensure the land is purchased and work begins on the development.

Some clubs have been allocated up to 150 tickets, depending on their size and whether they have a sister club, such as ladies football or camogie. While a lot of clubs have sold all of their tickets, some clubs have put in a poor effort, and it was felt there will have to be a sanction from the County Committee if future fundraising is to be considered.

Initially, the target was to sell 15,000 tickets, but Westmeath are set to be well short of that number unless there is a late surge.

Westmeath County Committee chairman Frank Mescall gave a bleak overview on the state of play. “Tonight, we are at 4,500 (tickets sold). We have ten days to the draw. Huge disappointment with that. Well done to the clubs, and there are a number of clubs who have sold their full allocation of tickets. There are some, ten clubs in actual fact, who have returned zero, a big duck egg.

“Des Maguire's (Development Officer) favourite line is, ‘Frank, you’re panicking, it will improve’. That time is now; it needs to improve. The tickets you have, I think you get a weekly reminder to please return them. That appeal goes out tonight. Please return the tickets you have sold. Why keep them and keep money either in your house or in the club?

"They need to be uploaded online. We need them back. There's over 3,000 tickets out with our clubs. Hurling, football, LGFA, camogie – over 3,000. If they were to come back in (sold), which I expect most will, we'd be well on our way to it.

“The most recent group, under the guidance of Tommy Kelly, are doing brilliant work. They really hit the ground running. A number of tickets will come back in from that group also. The online (sales) will improve. Between them all, we still have the potential to get over 10,000 sold. That potential is still there.

“We're not going to reach 15,000 or 14,000. I recognise that. But we have the opportunity and the potential to get over 10,000. Clubs, say you sell 50. You have 30 left. We expect you to buy those 30 as a club. Make no mistake about it, we do expect a full return from every club. Why should a number of clubs put in an effort and the others give the two fingers to it? And that's what's happened. We do expect a full return by hook or by crook. So start getting those tickets back into us," the chairman continued.

Des Maguire felt clubs ought to have been informed from the outset that tickets needed to be sold, or they would face a sanction.

“I think from the start we should have had sanctions in place and you disagreed with me. I still think it’s not too late to put some sort of sanction in place for (clubs) who haven’t sold tickets – 50 tickets is not a huge amount to sell. If you’ve got 30 over, let (clubs) buy them and they're in a draw. The club's in a draw for the house and €50,000 in cash. Plus you are in a draw for €10,000, €5,000, €2,000."

Aiden McGuire of The Downs described the update as very disappointing and a blow to the county’s plans to have its own centre of excellence over time. The people who have it in their power to make the draw a success by selling or buying tickets have failed to step up, he felt.

“I think that if there aren’t penalties/sanctions on a club, if they fail to deliver what they were asked to – and that has to be 100% – there has to be some kind of penalty/sanction against those clubs. Now, I know you’ve said from the outset you’re reluctant to go down that route. That's fair enough because you’re operating on the principle of goodwill. But the goodwill hasn’t been coming so far. In fact, it’s the opposite," said McGuire.

"What appears to me is, if it continues like this, the clubs are about to get away scot free on this; if they don’t meet their commitments, plough ahead. ‘Anything in the future, we’ll avail of it and have a good old laugh up our sleeves’. I think that’s not on. Because it has implications on Westmeath’s ability to raise funds going into the future.

“Because let’s face it, when this centre of excellence kicks off, there’ll be more and more fundraising required. We will get grants, but we have to shoulder it up also. If people don’t live up to their responsibilities this time, what will happen the next time we launch a fundraiser? Those who didn’t contribute wouldn’t contribute in the future, and those who have contributed will be unlikely to support something if they felt let down by the rest of the Westmeath Gaels. So, Chairman, I strongly urge that sanction has to be forthcoming; has to be announced. Otherwise, we’ll be here the night before the draw, perhaps, scratching our heads and wondering.”

The chairman agreed. “We will still look for the clubs to return their full allocation. I’m going on that premise. It has repercussions for the next fundraiser, definitely,” he said.

Conleth McCormack, St Oliver Plunkett’s, supported the call for sanctions on clubs who refuse to sell their allocation of tickets.

“I think our club would have serious difficulty in fundraiser ‘mark two’ if there was no sanction on the club that didn’t live up to their responsibility. Our members would have said, ‘why would we bother again, when X, Y, and Z didn’t do it the last time’? We would really struggle with a second fundraiser when there were no sanctions on the club that didn’t do it.”

The chairman again stressed all tickets will have to be purchased. “We will look to the goodwill, that all the tickets will be purchased and we will look afterwards at what actions need to be taken.”

Patrick Doherty, Head of Operations, asked if the clubs going to buy the tickets that are unsold. Nollaig McEntegart, St Brigid’s, felt delegates would not be in a position to answer that question on the night, but he accepted clubs have a duty to support the draw.

“I wouldn’t think any club mandated their delegate to say they would or wouldn’t send in the money,” he remarked.

The chairman replied: “I think, in fairness, that’s the way the club should have been looking at this. It was mentioned way back when we started. It was even proposed that the clubs would make a contribution, a voluntary contribution to this, and I would have thought that the clubs were thinking this way from the start. I do appreciate that you cannot answer for your club and other people cannot answer, but bring this message back to your club, loud and clear.”

Kevin Dolan of Maryland asked if there was any contact with the ten clubs who hadn’t sold tickets. It was confirmed there has been ongoing communication, including weekly emails.

In response, the chairman explained: “One club chair of those ten would have made the famous comment, ‘Why should we sell them? We’re not going to sell them. Because we’re not being sanctioned or levied, why should we do it?’

“I’ve been in touch with every club chairperson. Some twice, some three times, over the last few months. And other people, the most recent group, Tommy Kelly’s group, have been in touch. They visited clubs individually to motivate them, to get them going. So, is the work being put in on this side? That’s one thing I can stand over 100%. The work is being put in here. Is the response coming from clubs? That, I can’t guarantee,” he added.