The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘We weren’t instructed to refuse Gooch cash’
Kerry GAA rejects Spillane’s Croker order claim
KERRY GAA has rejected a claim by football legend Pat Spillane that they were instructed by Croke Park officials not to accept funds from Colm Cooper’s controversial testimonal dinner.
Mr Spillane claimed in his Sunday World column that he was “reliably informed” the Kerry County Committee and Dr Crokes were instructed not to accept any money from the €500-a-head testimonial held in Dublin.
But this week Kerry GAA Secretary Ian Twiss told The Kerryman that no such directive was issued to Kerry GAA.
On Tuesday Mr Spillane told The Kerryman that he was informed of the GAA’s stipulation by someone close to the Kerry County Committee but he had so far failed to have this confirmed directly from the GAA.
“We’ve tried to check it out but we can’t seem to get anyone to officially confirm this,” Mr Spillane said.
GAA headquarters were contacted on Tuesday evening but no one was available to comment.
Meanwhile, Mr Spillane reiterated his view that GAA stars should put “all the money back into the club that nurtured you” – referencing the upcoming tribute to the O Sé brothers at the INEC where proceeds will go towards funding a new pitch and other facilities for their club An Ghaeltacht.
KERRY GAA has refuted Pat Spillane’s claim that they have been told by Croke Park officials that they are not to accept any donation arising from Colm Cooper’s testimonial dinner.
Writing in his Sunday World column last weekend, Spillane said he was “reliably informed” that the Kerry County Committee and Cooper’s Dr Crokes club has been instructed by the GAA’s national authorities “not to accept any money” from Cooper’s recent €500 a seat testimonial dinner, which drew 500 to the black-tie event in Dublin recently.
However, Kerry GAA Secretary Peter Twiss has said Spillane is “incorrect” in his claim, and neither Kerry GAA nor the Dr Crokes club have had any communication from Croke Park officials regarding Cooper’s testimonial.
“Pat’s article is very incorrect. I don’t know where he got that from but it’s completely incorrect as far as the Kerry County Board is concerned,” Mr Twiss told The Kerryman . “We’ve got no directive from anyone regarding any possible donation from Colm Cooper, nor would I expect we would.”
Cooper had stated on The Late Late Show a few weeks ago in advance of the testimonial dinner that Kerry GAA and Dr Crokes would benefit financially from the event, as well as two named charities.
“Other than Colm saying what he said on The Late Late (Show) we’ve had no contact with him about anything,” Mr Twiss added. “We’ll leave it take its course and let it play itself out. From our point of view Colm Cooper has been one of our greatest ever footballers and after that we wouldn’t want to make any public pronouncement about anything else beyond that.”
A source close to the Dr Crokes club also suggested that they had no directive or any contact from the GAA authorities in relation to Cooper’s testimonial.
Writing in the Sunday World, Spillane - who has been critical of Cooper benefiting financially from the testimonial dinner - said: “I am reliably informed, however, that neither the Kerry GAA Board nor Dr Crokes GAA clubs will benefit financially from the gig. They have been instructed by the powers that be not to accept any money from it. On the back of this development I assume the organising committee of the testimonial dinner will issue a new statement outlining how the proceeds will be distributed.
“Last Sunday I met several County Board officials, dozens of club officers and other die-hard GAA people. Not a single one of them was in favour of Gooch’s testimonial dinner...Kerry GAA officials are privately seething over it. The county’s GAA Centre of Excellence is now nearing completion – it will have eventually cost €7 million and there is still a shortfall of almost €3m. The issue for the County Board is that Gooch’s gig was tapping into the people and companies that they would have been looking at to provide finance for the centre.”