Results may not have been ideal on the playing fields in 2002 for Monaghan GAA folk but the county's supporters' club in Dublin had once again a most successful year. Kevin Carney reports For the past six years, the Monaghan GAA Supporters' Club (Dublin Branch)has been staging a fundraising night of greyhound racing at Shelbourne Park in the capital. Over the years the evening's entertainment has proven to be the most successful benefit night organised at the famed venue. . .and that's saying something! The Dublin branch of the Monaghan GAA Supporters' Club has been up and running for seven years. The racenight at Shelbourne Park is its flagship fundraiser and in terms of turnover generated, sponsorship garnered and the numbers of punters attracted, it is positively peerless. "It has been a wonderful success over the years, thanks to a lot of hard work put into its organisation by the committee members, most notably, our chairman, Phil Conlon Brendan McGilly and Ted McGeough, Latton, Clones and Donaghmoyne natives respectively," Clonesman Tony Donnelly modestly informs us. Secretary of the Dublin based Supporters Club since its inception, Tony is also a regular at the coalface of fundraising affairs for the Club and his significant role in the staging of the aforementioned racenight cannot be overstated. "The most difficult thing about the organisation of the racenight is arranging the sponsorship and apart from what the Monaghan County Board itself gets, the vast majority of sponsors would emanate from Dublin. "All told, I would estimate that only about 10 percent of our race sponsors are Monaghan-based while only about 20 percent of our dog owners come from Monaghan and about 35 percent of our ticket purchasers are from the county. "We rely very heavily on the support of people based in Dublin - a lot whom have absolutely no connection with Monaghan," Tony explains. The year's highlight for the club doesn't materialise overnight though. Instead, it is the product of a lot of hard work by members of the committee from January through to early March when it is staged. And how did the 2002 extravaganza pan out? "Thankfully, this year's racenight was our most successful to date. We earned close to 20,000 euros clear profit which was well up on other years. "This year we had a total prizemoney of 22,000 euros on offer. "There are ten races in all on the night with nine of them offering prizemoney of 2,000 euros and one worth 4,000 euros to the winner," adds Tony who has been ensconced in Dublin for the past 28 years. The fact that the former Ulster champion handballer works, part-time, at Shelbourne Park as a levy collector was, of course, of huge help to the supporters' club in liasing with the bosses of Shelbourne Park on the fundraising project. "Either way, we're still talking about a hard sell - and that hard sell gets harder every year - in terms of trying to get the sort of sponsorship and overall financial support that we would like. "It's a truism to say though that the more successful Monaghan football is, the easier it is to garner sponsorship. "You can't beat a winning team to generate enthusiasm and support for the cause. The success of the county vocational school team last year in winning the All-Ireland title is a case in point. It was a great boost to Monaghan football. "Fortunately, we have a few people on the committee who can rely on business contacts and personal friends based in Dublin to come up with much needed sponsorship." So what sort of carrot is offered to the sponsors/benefactors? "More often than not there is usually more than one sponsor of each of the races. We may have four or five sponsors sharing the cost of the prizemoney. "We also sell the dogs at 150 euro apiece. There are six dogs in every race so that means we have to sell 60 dogs. "Of course, people who contribute funds to the night like to receive something back so, for instance, we put the names of each of the dog owners into a draw for 1,500 euros with four runners-up prizes of 400 euros also. "In addition, we sell tickets for the night at 30 euros each - most of them are pre-sold - and every person who buys a ticket has his or her name printed on the programme acknowledging their support as a benefactor. "Also, the names of the ticket owners go into a free draw for a top prize of 1,000 euros plus ten runners-up prizes of 150 euros. Every club in Monaghan helps us out in this regard by buying two tickets each. "We recognise that, just like running a business, you have to hold onto your support if you want them to stick with you. "In this way, we like to arrange for one of the sponsors of the races to present the winning dog owner with his prize and have a photo then taken and framed which the owner and sponsor can hang up in their office or whatever as a memento of the occasion," explains the hard-working club secretary who has eight underage provincial handball titles to his name. Although the racenight is by far and away the supporters' club's major fundraising project, it is not the only income earner. Every August, Tony and co. organise a draw for All-Ireland final tickets. Last year, the supporters club offered two Cusack Stand (football) tickets plus 150 euros as the top prize with second prize being two Cusack Stand (hurling) tickets plus 150 euros. Third prize was two Hogan Stand (football) tickets plus 100 euros and fourth prize was two Hogan Stand (hurling) tickets plus 150 euros with other consolation prizes ranging from 100 euros down to 25 euros. Tickets cost two euros each or a book of six for 10 euros. The St. Macartans College old boy is optimistic that the Monaghan GAA diaspora will continue to keep the faith and support the county's various fundraising drives. "Despite the county's lack or success in recent times, there is a hard core support there that the county can rely on every year. "It would just take an Ulster title win by the seniors to revive the sort of support we had in 1979 and the mid-eighties when we were winning Ulster championship and national league titles. "The buzz there was in the county back in those days was just incredible and although that feeling has diluted quite a lot, it wouldn't take much to rekindle it again." Fulsome in his praise for the help rendered to the supporters' club in Dublin by the Monaghan GAA County Board, doesn't begin to play down the importance of raising upwards on 30,000 euros per year in support of the various county teams. "Counties are like businesses these days. You have to make sure that your financial situation is sound enough to cover your expenses and to help you to develop your ideas and plans and to achieve your goals. 106 "Over the years, we have been able to help treat the players to better facilities, better training equipment and gear. The players are treated much better now and we have played our part in that development. "Our function as a supporters' club is to raise funds, to defray the county board's expenses regarding the running of the various county teams, mens and ladies. "The ironic thing is that the pressure will be on us to raise even more money as, hopefully, the county becomes more successful at various grades. "County treasurer Paddy O'Rourke is also our treasurer and he knows how important our fundraising work is to the county. The workload for us all on the committee has increased steadily over the years but, for me personally, it's a labour of love. "I love the GAA and I am a proud Monaghan man. It's not my fault that my daughters, Edel and Michelle support Dublin," quips Tony who is quick to acknowledge the help and patience of his wife Nancy over the course of the last seven years and more." So he wouldn't like to be the county secretary of a more successful supporters' club where, presumably, the raising of money wouldn't be as challenging a number? "Maybe being secretary of the supporters' club in Meath may be a bit easier and it mightn't be as difficult for the club there to raise money and if I had been born in Meath, I probably would be involved in their supporters' club. The fact is though that I was born in Monaghan, my heart remains in the county and I'm proud to be associated with such a vibrant and hard-working organisation like the Monaghan Supporters' Club," Tony concludes. Tweet

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