Larkin relayed their concerns to county board chairman Pat Kearney and there followed discussions with Croke Park in April of that year as to how the Galway executive should deal with this issue.

Croke Park, according to Pat Kearney, recommended an internal audit be conducted. The board’s auditors DHKN, however, were unable to carry out this mid-year review.

“That [internal audit] wasn’t completed because sufficient information wasn’t forthcoming from the office at the time to DHKN,” Kearney revealed.

A spokesman for DHKN, present at convention, backed up Kearney’s recount of events.

“There was to be a mid-year review done, we looked to get it done and was told there were no accounts. So you can’t do a review if there is nothing ready. We were subject to get in and were told there was nothing for us to review,” said the DHKN spokesman.

The proper financial controls, conceded Larkin, were sorely lacking.

“The simple fact is there are no procedures, no rules, no regulations. There are no systems of authorisation. So, basically, we have accounts that operate outside of the system. At the end of the day, it is almost impossible to produce the set of accounts [that were required].”

Pearses delegate Paul Bellew castigated the board for not demanding the relevant information and allowing the misuse of Galway GAA funds to go unchecked throughout 2017. “It was left alone because the information was not produced. That is scandalous,” he remarked.

Bellew was a member of the internal audit committee established earlier this year by county board treasurer Mike Burke, the latter appointed to the position of treasurer in December 2017. Burke told convention he found it “impossible” to get information during the first nine months of this year. Unlike 2017, however, he refused to be deterred, uncovering the “serious abuse” of the Galway GAA credit card for the payment of personal expenses, officer expenses totalling €45k in 2016 and the payment of bonuses without proper authorisation.

With delegates critical of DHKN for failing in recent years to highlight the poor financial practices which were in operation within Galway GAA, Burke was adamant no blame was to be laid at the doorstep of their auditors.

“I never produced a three-month or six-month financial report [this year] because I could not get any factual information from Pearse Stadium,” the treasurer alleged.

“For the last couple of weeks, I got nothing but help from DHKN. I felt sorry for them with regard to the lack of information that was coming. It is a mess. It is still a mess. It will take months and months to straighten out. It is not DHKN’s fault. It is our fault.

“I paid for my own All-Ireland tickets in late July [of this year]. I was amazed to find that my cheque, which was fairly substantial, was not cashed until mid-September. How do you run a business that way? If we were a private business, we would be in receivership.”

Burke’s internal report, which has not been published for legal reasons, contains a number of recommendations, while the independent audit carried out by Mazars, on behalf of Croke Park, carries 39 findings and recommendations.

Pearses delegate Bellew questioned the ability of the top-table to bring about the necessary change and implement these recommendations. He also described as a “farce” that the minutes of the 2017 convention could not be located.

“Only for you Mike Burke, who went through this, pulled it out and showed it to people who wanted to sweep it under the carpet, we wouldn’t be in the good position that we are going forward.

“I understand Pat [Kearney] that you inherited a mess and didn’t create it, but you haven’t dealt with it enough. And I am not confident the management committee is fit for purpose and will implement this. You can have a great product, but if you don’t have the right culture, you have nothing.”

Kearney, responding to Mike Burke’s claim that he was impeded in trying to uncover the extent of the financial mismanagement, stressed that he “blocked nothing”.

The county board treasurer informed delegates the board was “very lucky” to sell the ill-fated Mountain South site outside Athenry. The loan provided by Central Council in relation to this site stands at just over €2.5m. Kearney informed delegates there are historical costs associated with this purchase, including €17k outstanding in solicitors’ fees.