All-Ireland series have record take

The Central Council of the GAA had a record operating surplus of £3,717,777 for 1998, representing an increase of more than £500,000 on the previous year.

Gate receipts for the All-Ireland series in hurling and football almost reached the £6 million mark, also a record. Income from the sale of television rights jumped by more then £1 million. Of the operating surplus, a sum of £2,500,000 has been set aside for the redevelopment of Croke Park.

The total gate receipts at Croke Park for the All-Ireland series in hurling and football was £5,955,173, representing an increase of more than £300,000. The hurling final brought in receipts of £1,324,466 and the football final realised £1,334,077.

Revenue from the Elton John/ Billy Joel concert was £281,929. The International Rules matches between Ireland and Australia brought in £126,182.

Television rights brought in a total of £1,873,260, an increase of more than a £1 million on the previous year. Most of that increase came from the sale of world-wide rights to the Setanta TV company, with the rest coming from RTE.

A detailed account of grants to teams towards expenses for involvement in the All-Ireland series reveal that the biggest grants went to Offaly (£71,458), Galway (£56,103), Clare (£40,380), Kilkenny (£38,562) and Kildare (34,670). The annual financial report also gives details of attendances. Total attendance figures show that 1,263,228 attended championship matches last year.

The hurling final between Offaly and Kilkenny attracted a crowd of 65,491 and the football final between Galway and Kildare was watched by 65,886 fans. The other attendances to go beyond the 60,000 mark were the Leinster football final between Kildare and Meath at Croke Park which attracted 62,504 and the Kildare Kerry semi-final which attracted 65,502 spectators.

The GAA expects that its overall contribution to the fund for the victims of the Omagh bombing will reach £750,000. Already a contribution of £250,000 to the fund has been guaranteed, made up mostly of gate receipts from the All-Ireland hurling semi-final re-match in Thurles between Offaly and Clare. As well as the gate receipts from Thurles, the GAA authorities asked all its clubs and county boards to stage fund-raising activities for the fund and receipts from these are still coming in.