Two-time All-Ireland winner Pete Finnerty believes Supermac's founder Pat McDonagh is well within his rights to want to know where his sponsorship money has been spent.
The fast-food chain and long-time Galway sponsor issued a statement on Tuesday night demanding to know whether the €1.6m it says it has provided in funding since 2015 went directly towards preparing the county's teams.
The Galway County Board has been dealing with the repercussions of a period of financial turmoil which led to seperate audits by the Mazars accounting firm and GAA authorities into spending over the period of 2015-17.
The use of an official credit card for personal expenses, officer expenses of €45,000 and a debt of €390,000 to Croke Park for All-Ireland final tickets were among the revelations.
The Galway County Board responded with its own statement today, saying it was "disappointed" by Supermac's intervention, acknowledging McDonagh's "long-standing, generous support" and vowing to discuss the matter with McDonagh directly.
Galway added that Supermac's contribution had gone towards "the preparation of all our inter-county teams in both codes", which totalled over €7.4m, and said it was currently implementing the recommendations of last December's Mazars report with a view to ensuring "the highest standards of financial and accounting practices".
Supermac's signed a new five-year sponsorship agreement with Galway GAA in May last year.
Former Galway hurler Pete Finnerty, a friend and business associate of McDonagh, told Barry Lenihan on RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime: "I think all Pat is looking for is a bit of transparency.
"There are a lot of questions not answered in Galway.
"We have no money it seems to be able to attract any of the big players in managerial roles.
"Some people are of the opinion that Supermac's and Pat have a bigger say in the selection of managers and how teams are treated in Galway than he has.
"Pat just wants it to be out there in the open, let everybody see how the money is spent and not spent, and answer a few questions as to what's happening in the hurling board.
"Why should Pat McDonagh have to pay more than any sponsor? I saw a figure of €1.6m over the last five years.
"That's an incredible amount of money. When you add that to all the gate receipts that are taken and the other sponsors that we have, there's a vast amount of money there.
"Let's see how that is being spent first before anybody goes asking anybody for any more money.
"If it's spent wisely and spent well then if there is more money needed let that be brought up in the open."
On the same programme, former Galway manager and now Senator John O'Mahony suggested that safeguards are needed to ensure sponsors have faith in how county boards spend their contributions.
"I think it's the first time that I've heard a sponsor publically calling for how money is spent. So obviously, communication lines have broken down," he observed.
"There is a need for strong structures, there always has been. You see these issues on the front pages rather than the back pages.
"We have seen from other organisations, the importance of governance and the importance of clear communication lines."
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, an official - from a different county - with previous experience in negotiating sponsorships said that it would be unusual for a sponsor to try to direct spending or demand receipts.
"That's not our experience," the official told RTÉ Sport. "There would be a level of trust there.
"There might be specific projects sponsors might be keen to be involved in, if there's a specific area that relates to their product or service, they might say 'X amount has to go on this area'.
"But in terms of the generic fee, I don't think there would be many sports where the governing bodies or teams would have to give a definitive breakdown of where it's gone.
"There needs to be transparency, clearly, but you should know your organisation better than a sponsor. If they are saying it has to go on X, Y, Z, that mightn't be the right way to do it."
