Tyrone GAA clubs receive their share of JP donation

By Niall Gartland

THE Tyrone County Board has posted cheques of at least €9,000 to local GAA clubs following the decision to allocate its share of the much-publicised donation from JP McManus along exact affiliation lines.

The body that oversees Tyrone GAA matters has determined that there are, in effect, 108 ‘clubs’ across the three governing codes in the county (the GAA, Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association) and have allocated the €1 million donation accordingly.

In real terms, it means that a Tyrone GAA club affiliated with one of the above associations has received a gift of exactly €9,259.26. A club that caters for all three associations, meanwhile, receives nearly €28 thousand.

It follows on from the eye-catching news before Christmas that billionaire Limerick businessman JP McManus had donated a whopping €32 million to the GAA with every county getting €1 million each.

The hand-out came with a superficially straightforward instruction that it was to be divided equally among the clubs in each county and that it should incorporate all three associations.

That still left a bit of ambiguity as not all GAA clubs cater for the same number of codes – indeed, different counties have taken slightly different approaches to the allocation of funds.

With the imposed January 31 deadline looming, in recent weeks the Tyrone County Board ironed out the details of how many active clubs exist within the county across the GAA, LGFA and camogie.

And with that done, they took the decision to distribute the €1 million donation according to the number of affiliations that come under the umbrella of any given club, and the final step was taken this week with cheques and explanatory letters sent out to clubs across the county.