Latest news with #MayoGAA
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Nicola O'Malley confident Mayo can turn around their fortunes
Mayo defender Nicola O'Malley says she is confident Mayo can turn their season around ahead of the Ladies All-Ireland football championship. Following relegation from Division One, Mayo lost back-to-back games against rivals Galway, including the Connacht final. Advertisement Life will not get any easier for Mayo, as they face All-Ireland champions Kerry and Cork in their group. With a young squad that has seen a lot of turnover in the last 12 months, O'Malley says consistency has been an issue for the team this season. "They is probably phases during games where we play quite well, we just don't do it consistently enough", says O'Malley. "It is very easy to look at the negatives, and that is what people tend to do. We are trying to focus on the positives, and how we can build more of those into games. Advertisement "We have a very young panel at the moment, so it is very important we don't just look at the negatives, there has to be positivity looking towards what we are trying to do. "There is a lot of girls who would be in their first year of the senior panel, it is a different level of performance and a big step up to the senior level. You do have to keep that in mind." Led by someone who experienced plenty of ups and downs in a Mayo jersey, Liam McHale will not panic. For O'Malley, the encouragement he gives the team on the pitch and allowing freedom for younger players has been important to the squad. Advertisement "He encourages us to play our brand of football and try things, which I think is great. We don't want players to be afraid or worried about what style of play they engage in. "He has been there himself in the lead up to games. In the Connacht final, he has been in the dressing room, he knows what it is like. "It is great to have someone of his experience and help the younger girls through that." With three different winners in the last three years, and several contenders for the All-Ireland this season, it could not be more open. Advertisement They may not be talked about as potential winners, but Mayo going about their business under the radar, particularly under a period of transition, may suit this squad better. "I do think that the underdog title would suit the younger girls on the team, that there isn't that level of expectation on them. "You are free to go out and play. I think if you look at all three divisions, there is a number of teams in contention. It keeps that excitement in the games, and hopefully can hlep draw support in crowds at the games. "The last thing you want is having one team that is dominating, it keeps the excitment out of the games."
The 42
2 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Rochford climbs on top of the Mayo volcano as they face yet another last stand
INTERCOUNTY MANAGEMENT IN the modern era is a game of bluff. To appear to the outside world that you are so chilled you might look around yourself for another layer, all the while sitting on top of a volcano. Or at least a Bunsen burner, turning your backside to tan leather. Take yourself back to the first round of the National Football League in 2023. Paddy Carr had just brought Donegal to a win over Kerry. He struggled to hold back tears as he talked about how much it meant to bring a little happiness to the people of the county. Having taken over in late October, and then having to deal with the retirement of Michael Murphy, Carr was a man under pressure, so the win came as a huge relief. Yet before the league was out, he was gone after a meeting with some key players who made it clear they did not think he was the man for the job. Occurrences of managers leaving a post mid-season were once unheard of. Nowadays, they crop up every couple of seasons. It has been a strange last fortnight in the world of Mayo GAA. Defeat to Cavan has left them facing a last stand this Saturday night against Tyrone in Omagh. In the middle of it all, manager Kevin McStay took unwell at the team training session in Castlebar last Saturday. While his health is now stable, he has had to step down as the county team manager. Inherently decent and hugely respected in the GAA, McStay doesn't strike us as one of the Teflon individuals at the very top end of Gaelic football management. Having a life and a career outside the game has granted him a more rounded personality but the stress of the last number of weeks cannot have been easy for him to bear. Kevin McStay with Rochford on the line. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO Writing in the Mayo News this week, journalist Michael Gallagher was present at the defeat to Cavan and recalls: 'In the last few minutes of that game, some of the vitriol directed towards him from a small band of humans had to be heard to be believed. How this could occur defies belief, but it doesn't surprise me.' Advertisement Despite all, the Mayo show goes on and rolls into Omagh. It will now be led by Stephen Rochford, who had a previous spell as manager a decade ago. Back then, it was a fairly daunting challenge. Like it or not, the dressing room he walked into could be seen as anything from 'strong' to 'difficult', given how the previous management team of Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly were pushed out of their roles. Within Mayo, the support were still digesting how they let Dublin wriggle off the hook over two All-Ireland semi-finals. But there was a sense that the same players who had been shaped into credible All-Ireland contenders under James Horan might have their opinions taken into consideration. Stephen Rochford with the Mayo players. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO After a typically long, drawn-out appointment process, it was 30 November before the county board confirmed Rochford's appointment. Naturally, how it ended for the previous guys was among the first questions he was asked. His answer was illustrative. It could have been scripted by a PR company to give a little bit of jam to everyone. Classic rugby-speak. 'It is unfortunate what happened. There is a mediation process ongoing between the player and county board and we will take on board any significant learnings from that.' With that done and put to bed, he got on with the job. What style of play he had with Mayo wasn't quite what he had as manager of Corofin, whom he coached to an All-Ireland club title. He knew he had the meanest half-back line in Ireland, fashioned in the ways of Horanball, and he kept that unit intact. While they may have lost two All-Ireland finals in 2016 and 2017, both performances were as good as it ever got for Mayo in the modern age. Conceding two own goals in the drawn 2016 final was freakish. Limiting the Dublin attack to 0-6 from play however was incredible. For the replay, it was a mere 0-8 from play for Dublin as they edged it by a point. It was another single point margin in the following year's final. Rochford with Declan Bonner during his time in Donegal. Evan Logan / INPHO Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO While 'Newbridge or Nowhere' was the end of Rochford's first Mayo spell, he was always going to be in demand. Declan Bonner made a move and brought in Rochford to the Donegal management, where he remained for four seasons. 'There's no time to dwell too much on it,' Bonner says of Rochford's current transition from Mayo's Maoir Foirne to Bainisteoir. 'I'm sure the guys are back in training since they were on Saturday morning when the incident happened. He's getting the side ready against Tyrone and they are a side who will be bouyed up by how they got on in Ballybofey.' 'There's no doubt, it's a pressured situation and the demands are huge,' Bonner says, reflecting on his own two spells over Donegal, from 1998 to 2000 and again from 2018 to 2022. 'But you don't have to do it if you don't want to do it and a lot of people decide they don't want to do it. That's just the way it is. The good days are good and the bad days are pretty low. And of course, the bad days definitely outweigh the good days. 'Unless you are winning provincial championships or All-Irelands year in, year out, there's a lot to put up with.' Read Next Related Reads Mayo GAA address financial situation at special delegates meeting 201 not out: How Aidan O'Shea has kept the Mayo faith over 17 seasons Galway have plenty reasons to be cheerful, but can 2025 provide payback for recent hurt? Rochford isn't one for the gap year with a metaphoric spell away travelling. A high-ranking bank official with AIB, he has been coaching since he was still playing for Crossmolina and this year marks a full decade in the county game. After his time at Donegal wrapped up, he was named as a coach for Bernard Flynn's potential management team of Meath before the county board gave the job to Colm O'Rourke. A couple of months later, he joined McStay's set-up. At the time, it looked a crowded house alongside Donie Buckley and Liam McHale as well as selector Damian Mulligan. If it looked top-heavy, that was revealed after the first year when McHale left, citing, 'The four lads had a completely different philosophy on how this team should play than I had… I just felt there is no point in me being there when I am so removed from their thinking.' As the seasons rolled on, Rochford assumed a greater control, running the sessions with input from Buckley. Now, they are faced with a shot to nothing. Same old Mayo. Different Mayo. Nothing changes. Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Mayo GAA finances Q&A: Why were the GAA's top officials in Westport?
Even by Mayo's standards, it was an eventful few days. As the county came to terms with their footballers' unexpected home defeat by Cavan on the first weekend of the All-Ireland series , word emerged on the Friday of last week that GAA president Jarlath Burns and director general Tom Ryan would be arriving in Westport's Knockranny House Hotel the following Monday to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Mayo county committee. Speculation was that they would be addressing financial issues, believed to centre on allegations that included a charge that Croke Park had not passed a reduction negotiated with the bank after it had assumed responsibility for loans taken out by Mayo. By then football manager Kevin McStay had suffered a medical episode at training last Saturday and it was announced just before Monday's meeting that he would be stepping back from his involvement with the team, leaving assistant and coach Stephen Rochford in charge of affairs for this weekend's critical group match against Tyrone in Omagh . How did we get here? The problem began with the redevelopment of MacHale Park in Castlebar, which was completed at a cost of €18 million and opened in 2009, not great timing in financial terms. READ MORE By 2014, Croke Park had loaned Mayo €5 million and taken over an additional, consolidated €5 million as part of a scheme to alleviate distressed loans to GAA units. Last Monday, the GAA's most senior officials were attending the meeting in Westport to deal, inter alia, with allegations that a debt 'haircut' of 50 per cent had not been passed on to the county. What happened? GAA director general (DG) Tom Ryan dealt with the matter of the loan – eventually – after the meeting had opened with condemnation of the intimidatory treatment suffered on social media by county officers and others in the GAA. Ryan, previously the association's director of finance, explained that the outstanding loan, confirmed at €7.8 million, was based on the original total of €10 million – two loans at €5 million each, the second, Loan B, of which had been taken over from Ulster Bank. He strenuously denied that Croke Park had failed to extend the whole reduction to Mayo, saying that it in fact represented 'one of the highest single-value discounts' obtained by any GAA unit. But what does that mean? Ryan outlined that a €1 million reduction on Loan B had been secured, in other words 20 per cent, as opposed to the alleged 50 per cent. The €1 million remains on the balance sheet but reduces as the rest of the loan is paid. Repayments have been brought down over the past 10 years from €46,000 per month to the current €25,000, now payable over 32 years at 1.9 per cent. The DG has a reputation for measured presentation and was very effective, for instance, when the GAA were before the Oireachtas committee on sport and media for its hearings on the 'future of sports broadcasting' and more specifically the GAAGO streaming service. Those present were largely convinced by what he had to say on the loan and the passing on of the discount. Everyone is happy, so? GAA president Jarlath Burns with GAA director general Tom Ryan. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Although there was no counting of hands, there is believed to have been more or less unanimous support for the officers at a vote taken afterwards. Delegates, who were looking for dissent, report that they didn't see hands not raised and no objections were raised. There is a difference of opinion though between those who attended the meeting, who were impressed and persuaded by Ryan's presentation, and those who weren't present, some of whom felt unconvinced by what they heard back and viewed as vague details. As one said, the priority should have been to equip members with the tools to refute the rumours, which they felt hadn't been done. One delegate acknowledged that financial details can be hard for delegates. 'They come from clubs, which have a different approach. You fundraise – you build. You're not dealing with balance sheets. You're dealing with a set of accounts,' the delegate said. This isn't peculiar to Mayo but a fact of life in a voluntary organisation where there is a growing list of demands on the time of officers given the expanding governance requirement. To cope with this, counties are now required to have an audit and risk committee to advise the treasurer on governance matters and to report back at least annually to provincial and national equivalents. How did abusive social media activity become an issue? After this year's league final in which Kerry beat Mayo, Burns in his presentation speech expressed support for and solidarity with Mayo officers, who had been under fire because of these allegations. At Monday night's meeting, this online hostility was highlighted with examples shown to delegates in an unexpected presentation by county secretary Ronan Kirrane. County chairman Seamus Tuohy said: 'The nature of this campaign includes threatening and abusive emails targeted at individual members of the county board, social media posts making a raft of false accusations about officers of the county board as well as inaccurate and defamatory articles that were published online.' Burns added that the communications had 'gone way beyond' anything that could be 'considered acceptable.' Was the initial emphasis on the abuse of officers counterproductive? Even by Mayo's standards, it was an eventful few days. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Inpho For some outside the meeting it was unhelpful, generating too much smoke and giving the opportunity to depict it as deflection. For others in attendance, it was of sufficient scale and gravity to merit being raised. Not everyone would have been familiar with what had happened. 'It was shocking,' according to one of those present. What about the five players? A strange addendum to the presentation on abuse of officers came from Burns. 'I'll tell you one example of toxic activity,' he said. 'I received an email saying 'are you aware that there are five members of the Mayo senior football panel living in Dublin in an area where it is not laid out for residential use? I am reporting those five players to Dublin City Council .'' The players under threat left what is believed to have been a customised warehouse space but for some of those present, it was an odd line to take. After all, in this case the whistle-blowing appeared to be justified. 'If I were Mayo GAA, I'd be ashamed that our players were living in those conditions,' said one, 'and not drawing attention to it.' What now? Nobody is quite sure whether enough has been done to quell any disquiet but delegates and officers clearly want to move on. There have been recent suggestions that the county might commit €15 million to a centre of excellence, the lack of which former Mayo manager James Horan recently lamented on the Examiner football podcast. Presumably, with a legacy debt hanging around – albeit with flattened repayments – for another three decades, a major infrastructural project would have to be funded in advance.
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘Sent by angels' – Tyrone GAA star and wife overjoyed after birth of baby daughter with rare name
DARREN McCurry and wife Ria welcomed baby daughter Renn into the world earlier this month. They did by sharing a cute close-up image on Advertisement 2 The couple shared her name alongside this heartwarming image Credit: @riamccurry and @dazzlerdarrenmc 2 McCurry will be in action tomorrow when Tyrone take on Mayo in Omagh The caption revealed Renn's date of birth as it read: "Renn McCurry 08.05.2025. Truly sent by angels above." The post generated a tonne of well-wishers from friends and family alike. Dee hailed: "Massive congratulations to you both, delighted for yous!" Meanwhile Cathryn added: "Ah Ria I am just over the moon for you!! Your perfect little bestie for life! Congrats girl." Advertisement Read More On GAA Finally, Michelle gushed: "Congratulations to you both on your precious new arrival!" The 2021 All-Ireland winner will be lining out for the Red Hand this weekend as they look to build on They're now in a commanding position to get out of their group as this weekend sees their designated home game come against a Mayo side at a low ebb after Unfortunately, Mayo will also be without boss Kevin McStay for the foreseeable future as Advertisement Most read in GAA Football On Monday the Mayo county board confirmed he would be handing over control to assistant and former manager Stephen Rochford. In a unified statement, McStay said: 'Mayo GAA Board and I are in strong agreement that current Assistant Manager / Head Coach Stephen Rochford will lead our preparations for upcoming games. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - "We are blessed to have a man of Stephen's calibre and, as a valued member of the management team for the past three seasons, he ensures continuity. "While I will not be on the training field or on the sideline on match day, I will be with management and players in spirit every step of the way." Advertisement Mayo GAA chairman Seamus Tuohy expressed support for the 63-year-old. He said: 'We extend our best wishes to Kevin and thank him for all his work to date. "We look forward to him returning to the role as soon as it is practical for him to do so. "We also stand fully behind Stephen and everyone involved in the set-up." Advertisement "Mayo GAA will be making no further statement on this matter and would ask that Kevin and his family be afforded privacy at this time." Prior to that shock loss to the Breffni, Mayo had come very close to winning the Connacht final against neighbours Galway. However, their old failing of not being able to close out games from winning positions reared its ugly head once again as
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Mayo executive suffering criticism for matters that pre-existed them
With overwhelming 96.7% support, the GAA endorsed a new adult safeguarding motion at their Annual Congress in February. The top table were keen to see the proposal to sail through, the presentation precise and choreographed. Julia Galbraith, chairperson of the association's adult safeguarding and cultural review taskforce, pressed it upon delegates that the GAA has a responsibility for the well-being of adults involved in its activities. A partner in Eversheds Sutherland law firm, Buncrana woman Galbraith was followed by outgoing Ulster chairman Ciarán McLaughlin who said province has experienced cases that necessitated the rule change. Ex-Armagh chairman Paul McArdle said it was needed so that the GAA could defend decisions. Read More Mayo GAA reveals €7.8m debt and garda complaints over online abuse at heated county board meeting A review of the GAA's safeguarding policies preceded Ulster GAA's debarment of former Derry manager Rory Gallagher in 2023, which was later ruled out of order by the Disputes Resolution Authority. Gareth McGibbon was commissioned to conduct the probe and Galbraith now leads the implementation of its recommendations. In Westport on Monday evening, adult safeguarding came to the fore again when it was revealed the online abuse some members of the Mayo GAA executive have been subjected to. 'Given the seriousness of the situation, a decision was taken to inform club delegates of the nature of the campaign against Mayo GAA, which constitutes an adult safety issue for all Co Board officers,' read the county board statement. 'The Co Board confirmed it has reported the matter to An Garda Síochána and that it intends to seek legal advice on the matter in the next week.' Serious matters indeed and potential serious repercussions. However, what has been thrown at the Mayo executive shouldn't and doesn't hide the fact that off the field as well as on it the county has been underperforming. On the Irish Examiner Gaelic football podcast last week, two-time Mayo manager James Horan spoke of how the infrastructure for the county teams are 'farcical' and so far behind others. A centre of excellence was supposed to be in planning stages eight years ago. For a 'big brand' which Horan describes Mayo as which they most certainly are, the inertia is unacceptable. On Monday, there was a tacit acknowledgement by GAA president Jarlath Burns that how the GAA used to handle money was not okay as it was 'inauditable'. As a prime example of that, he would cite the financial mismanagement that existed in Galway GAA in the mid-2010s, a matter which the Irish Examiner covered extensively. Unapproved credit card use, unsupported expenses and unaccounted for complimentary tickets were among the findings of one of a number of audits carried out. There was no formal reconciliation of payments received per the ticketing system and payments received per the accounting system. Commissioned by the GAA, Mazars made a total of 39 findings and adjoining recommendations were provided, 17 were listed. There are some mitigating factors but in the financial year of 2017 gate receipts were €609,051. In 2019, they were recorded as €977,662 and last year came in at €982,482 having been €1.13m in 2023. As they did Galway, Mazars visited Mayo in 2020 and provided a list of recommendations that basically spelt out the county's oversight protocols left a lot to be desired. It was another Connacht county where post-Covid gate receipts ballooned. Several of the claims now being made about the handling of money in Mayo are historical and predate some of the current executive. Since the pandemic, the GAA's governance controls have undoubtedly improved with the advent of cashless policy at matches as much as they have been discommoding for older people. There remains problems for the current Mayo executive such as the aforementioned dearth of facilities and tax liabilities but they appear to be suffering excessive criticism largely for matters that pre-existed them. In a time-poor world, volunteers willing to put in the hours are becoming harder to find never mind those who continue to do so under fire. In the face of intimidation, the GAA can't afford not to take care of its own.
