Spending on inter-county teams has reached an all-time high.

According to an article in the Irish Independent, a combined €23,315,284 was spent on Gaelic football, hurling and development teams in 2016. Six counties - Mayo, Dublin, Cork, Galway, Tipperary and Roscommon - spent over €1 million each on their teams, while Kerry were just below the €1 million mark. Mayo, who had a carry-over from 2015 of around €150,000, topped the spending with just over €1.6 million, which is the second highest ever accumulated by a county.

Only Dublin spent more in 2011 (€1.75 million) when they won both the Sam Maguire and the Allianz Hurling League.

Despite their huge outlay, Mayo's financial situation isn't bad. The county generated €478,141 in sponsorship, while Cairde Mayo raised €638,396.

At the other end of the scale, Louth (€295k), Wicklow (€314k), Longford (€370k), Leitrim (€378k) and Fermanagh (€398k) were the smallest spenders. 

Speaking about the spending figures on Newstalk last night, Colm Keys of the Irish Independent noted: "Since 2011, this has been going up anything between 5 and 10 per year each year.

"The overall percentage increase in five years is 25 per cent. So it's high. It did dip in the early years of the recession around 2009 and 2010 where it started to come down and there was a lot of belt tightening. But now it's full steam ahead."

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