Three members of the DCU Sigerson Cup management team were allocated money in the club’s grant allocation in a breach of the Club Life Committee funding policy.
The CLC funding policy states that they will cover only two coaches per team. The Men’s football Club are consequently in breach of this policy.
Figures obtained by The College View show that the club was allocated €40,433.60 for coaching expenses, amounting to 88% of their CLC grant allocation.
The Sigerson Cup management team of Niall Moyna, Tony Diamond and Mick Bohan all received funding for their roles with the defeated semi-finalists.
€3,369.60 was set aside for Manager Niall Moyna, who is also a professor in the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU. Selectors Tony Diamond and Mick Bohan were both allocated €2,527.
Moreover, former DCU student and Dublin inter-county footballer Paul Casey was drafted into the college’s Sigerson Cup backroom team during the league but withdrew prior to Christmas. €2,527 was earmarked for Casey in the club’s grant allocation.
In a further violation of policy, funding was also set aside for three members of the Fresher A management team. Manager Ross Munnelly, a student recruitment officer in the college, was apportioned €3,369.60. Two other members of the Fresher A set-up, Ken Robinson, CEO of DCU Sport, and Paul O’Connor were both allocated €2,527.
Office of Student Life Manager, Una Redmond said that it had come to her knowledge recently that certain teams may have received funding for three coaches. “This is something we’ll need to look into and this will not be allowed under the new coaching policy coming into effect from next September.”
CLC Chairperson Killian Martin added that the current funding policy was rolled out in October and the Men’s Football Club had their management teams in place long before that because they start training by the first week of college.
The Men’s Football Club were allocated funding for fourteen coaches, despite fielding only six teams. Una Redmond told the College View that they [the CLC] were of the understanding that the Men’s Football Club fielded more than six teams.
“If it is the case that they field six teams and have received funding for more coaches than they should have, then this is something we will need to correct next year.”
“There is a huge amount of trust involved between the CLC and each club. We don’t go ringing Croke Park, the Tennis Federation or the Athletics Association etc., to see how many teams each club is fielding. When we allocate money to each club, we don’t have the resources to monitor every red cent,” she continues.
Christopher Farrell, who has worked as a video analyst with the Sigerson team in previous years, was earmarked money under the ‘coaching’ heading on the Men’s Football Club allocation list. Mr Farrell was assigned €2,527.
John Downey, another on the list, was also allocated €2,527. The College View has learned that Mr Downey was earmarked a further €2,527 in the CLC grant allocation of the GAA Ladies Football Club. Ms. Redmond says this is a practice that is permitted by the CLC as long as there is no ‘doubling up’.
“A person is entitled to receive payment for their work with two different clubs, so long as they are putting in the hours and not doubling up, as in training the two teams at the same time.”
The Hurling Club is the second highest recipient of the CLC grant allocations, pocketing €20,031.20, and figures show that 84% of their budget – €16,847.60 – goes towards covering the expenses of six coaches.
The Soccer Club was allocated €10,872 for coaching, 60% of their CLC budget, while the Athletics Club received €14,320.80 for coaching expenses. This amounts to 85% of the figure – €16,768 – that they were allocated by the CLC.
In total, €190,087 was distributed by the CLC in funding the various coaches of the 43 clubs.
The CLC determine a coaches pay by working out the amount of hours they are putting in with their respective team on the pitch and in the sports centre. That figure is then multiplied by 24 as the CLC allocate funding for 24 weeks. The head coach on a team is entitled to up to €26 an hour, while the assistant coach is entitled to up to €19.50.
Several calls to Men’s Football Club Chairperson, Josh Warde for comment on the allocation of funding, went unreturned.
Eoghan Cormican
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