The GAA has published its Annual report and Accounts for 2021 which shows a strong bouncing back from the financial and organisational turmoil that covid first laid down in 2020.

The report is also a look in-depth, through the perspective of Director General Tom Ryan, at the challenges and opportunities which the GAA has and will face.

On Friday we looked at the social impacts from clubs and youth to diversity and the burden on volunteers.

Today we look at the area of Governance and tomorrow at the road towards closer integration with the Ladies Football and Camogie Associations. On Wednesday we will analyse the Games references and on Thursday and Friday, we will take a deep dive into the numbers.

Governance

The opening line of this section stresses that “Governance remains a central theme in the GAA, this year and every year.”

That applies not only to the central activities but out through the multiple units from the powerful Provincial Councils to the smallest of the 2,600 affiliated clubs.

Statements of intent are one thing but they have to be backed up by practical templates and training for those at the officer level throughout.

Officer development at the club level is facilitated through a range of modules that give practical training on all aspects of running a club. The inclusion of a Governance module has been an important way of stressing the importance and it is detailed taking place over eight hours and providing a good grounding in the reasons behind its importance and the ways in which it needs to be implemented.

It is not the sexy side of being in the club but it is essential and the Governance Guide that underpins it is based on the Governance Code overseen by Sport Ireland.

External validation is also provided by the fact that County Officer training through 2021, in an online setting, was provided by the Institute of Public Administration.

Audit and Risk

At the Special Congress last October, the requirement was established for every County to have an Audit and Risk Committee established.

At a media briefing in Croke Park in advance of that, Finance Director Ger Mulryan confirmed to Sport for Business that ten counties at that had such a committee in place and that the remainder were working towards it.

The need for such an oversight group that will “promote and monitor good governance standards” was passed and is now a requirement.

“We are working to support counties in the establishment of these bodies at the moment,” writes Ryan in the Annual Report. “The work programme this year will include an initial review and assessment of governance practices and controls in counties.”

A governance self-assessment and risk register will be required and be subject to ongoing review.

Club AGM’s since last March have also had to adopt a revised Club Constitution which tidies and tightens some of the areas of governance that might have been a little slack in the past.

Gender Balance

The report references the challenges which the GAA will face in meeting the Government target laid down across all sporting bodies to achieve a minimum 40 per cent gender balance in leadership positions by the end of 2023.

Not only is the GAA currently one of the few remaining single-gender sporting bodies, of which more in tomorrow’s review, but its Coiste Bainistiochta or Management Committee is democratically elected across different units and is not so easily managed as other Boards which are appointed.

“There are two ways we can respond to this imperative, we can either rail against it or we can embrace the spirit of what is envisaged while being mindful of and highlighting the challenges,” says Ryan.

Clearly, at a central level, it will be the latter but there will be pockets of resistance and how they manifest and are reported on will be a major way in which the GAA is seen by those on the outside of its membership.

Ryan speaks about the importance of Governance not just as an end in itself but as a way in which performance and management can be improved across the board. That is a positive way of looking at what can be seen by some as a nuisance and an intrusion.