Offaly GAA make six figure Revenue provision as accounts show 2025 loss

THE Offaly GAA County Board have made a €210,000 provision to meet any tax liability to the Revenue Commissioners in their annual accounts which will be up for discussion at annual Convention next Wednesday evening.

The provision has been made after the Revenue Commissioner targeted County Board finances in recent years and will be paid off over the coming couple of years.

After three counties were initially audited, the web was spread to cover the country and it has forced every County Board in the 26 counties to address the issue.

A figure of €140,000 covers the years from 2020/2021 to 2023/2024 as counties across the country make self assessed tax declarations on the money paid to a range of people – an estimated provision of €70,000 is also included for 2024/2025 in the 2025 accounts. The €140,000 figure includes interest of €10,000 and Offaly GAA have already paid €30,000 of it to Revenue.

The audits have been a stressful time for many people at the coalface in counties as they engage in a deep dive of their finances and strict rules will be agreed between the GAA and Revenue going forward.

The audits will net millions for the Revenue with the majority of counties allowing for six figure sums and every county is in the same boat with this issue.

Offaly's liability is bigger than some as the period covered saw fantastic, unexpected success. Offaly won the All-Ireland U20 Football and Hurling Championship in 2021 and 2024, Leinster minor football and hurling titles in 2025 and 2022. The All-Ireland wins brought the county to its feet while progress has also been made by the senior hurling and football teams – the senior hurlers won the Joe McDonagh Cup and were promoted to Division 1 while the senior footballers were promoted to Division 2, winning the Division 3 title this year.

All of this resulted in more money being spent and in a letter issued to clubs with the accounts on Tuesday evening, the board explain that the liability has occurred mainly because of the over payment of travel expenses to county management and backroom teams.

The assessment still has to be agreed by Revenue, though an initial payment has already been made – the remainder will be paid under a phased arrangement with Revenue.

The accounts show an overall deficit for the year of €162,129 but this includes a big allowance for depreciation and amortisation, the real loss is less than that.

In his finance report to Convention, treasurer Frank Fitzpatrick puts the trading loss at €48,000, not including the €70,000 Revenue tax provision which brings the figure to €118,000 – that €70,000 still has to be adjudicated on by Revenue, and it could be less or more but that is the figure Offaly are budgeting for at the moment after their own comprehensive assessment.

Referring to the €70,000 tax provision for this year, he said: “We must now focus on new approaches to managing these costs, particularly management and backroom costs while ensuring we continue to provide quality facilities and good supports for all our teams and development players in a revenue-compliant manner”.

Mr Fitzpatrick noted that income remained static for the year but there was a 4% increase in expenditure and this will have to be monitored.

He described the accounts as “somewhat disappointing in light of the modest trading loss and the significant impact of the Revenue self-audit”. The Doon man called for a continuing strategic approach to investing in teams and facilities to put the county in the best position to achieve playing success in the future.

The Board's income and expenditure account on their day to day running shows income of €2,285,407, expenditure of €2,342,467 for a deficit of €57,080 – the board showed a profit of €28,000 on their day to day running last year.

Once again, the cost of preparing county teams is the biggest source of expenditure, coming close to one and a half million euros at €1,414,625, down just over €16,000 from last year.

Income from Offaly's club games programme yielded €513,629, a drop from €543,957 last year, and this is a factor in the loss.

Both senior hurling and football finals took in less money in 2025.

The senior football final between Tullamore and Ferbane took in just €22,226 compared to €39,905 in 2024. The senior hurling decider between Kilcormac-Killoughey and Shinrone yielded just slightly more at €27,716, a big drop from €43,870 in 2024. The reasons for this are speculative but it is obvious that the pairings did not excite neutral support. It was the third senior football final in a row between Tullamore and Ferbane while it was the third meeting in four years between Kilcormac-Killoughey and Shinrone – the appearance of Ballinamere in the 2024 hurling final was a novelty and whetted the appetite of supporters across the county.

Mr Fitzpatrick referred to the drop in gate income in his report and said they need to consider live streaming arrangements and ticketing for 2026 to improve this. He didn't refer to it but Offaly's contract with Clubber is up now and this is one of the things that will come up for discussion with that as the streaming of games is having an adverse impact on attendances – and the money yielded from Clubber may not compensate this.

Another part in the deficit is an increased spend on coaching and games development, up to €574,445 from €453,445 last year.

Offaly GAA also produce separate accounts for O'Connor Park in Tullamore and Faithful Fields in Kilcormac.

O'Connor Park managed to turn an operating surplus of €21,783 with income of €457,986 and expenses of €436,203 – the expenditure includes a mandatory figure of €207,701 for depreciation.

A club levy helps meet the annual repayment on the O'Connor Park redevelopment with €1,158,813 still owed, down from €1,257,608 last year.

A deficit of €126,852 for Faithful Fields in Kilcormac contributed significantly to the overall loss. There was income of €67,480 and expenditure of €194,332. That loss is inevitable for a ground that was built to provide training facilities for county teams and is very limited in its money making capacity. Faithful Fields came on stream after 2015 and has been instrumental in the revival of Offaly's playing performances – the county's senior, U20 and minor teams train there in addition to underage development squads and the benefits of young players training near and meeting senior stars may be indefinable but it is significant nonetheless with a real feel good atmosphere there.

The cost of Faithful Fields will increase in the coming years. The County Board have secured an additional fifteen acres beside it on a 99 year lease from local landowners, Tom and Kieran Leonard and plan to construct a €1.2 million all weather pitch there. They are awaiting planning permission from Offaly County Council on that and hope to build it debt free, with support from the Government and the GAA's own governing bodies alongside a local fundraising campaign.

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The initial grounds with four floodlit playing pitches and an impressive complex with dressing rooms, gym and other facilities was provided debt free but there is still a yearly cost with it and the accounts show that €122,266 was spent in 2025 on the general maintenance of the grounds, repairs of equipment – it also includes a spend of €30,000 on initial work on the new land.