Donor withholds €250,000 over governance concerns
Howard Lake | 26 September 2019 | News
Millionaire Gaelic sport supporter Tim O’Leary has withheld €250,000 in fundraising income from Mayo GAA’s county board in a row over governance, according to newspaper reports.
England based investor Tim O’Leary established the Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation to harness global support for Mayo GAA. Mr O’Leary was born in London but is of county Mayo descent.
The Foundation says its main focus is the future development of the Mayo GAA including a new Underage Academy initiative, state of the art Mayo GAA Training & Development Centre in Castlebar, and other player welfare, educational and development programs.
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The Mayo GAA International Supporters Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation in the USA.
Led by Mr O’Leary, the Foundation held a black-tie gala evening in the Cipriani Hotel, New York, which was attended by more than 300 people and raised $370,000 (€338,000). New York GAA, Mayo Roscommon Hospice, Mayo GAA club New York and Rockland GAA also benefited from the night.
A letter to Mayo officials on July 11 from the Foundation pointed out that he had made a payment of $150,000 to Mayo GAA in 2018 and that in total O’Leary’s contribution to the Foundation and Mayo GAA stands at $415,000.
According to a source quoted in the Irish Times with experience of working to raise funds for Mayo, there may be some confusion between the donor’s wishes and the needs of the recipient.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.