Tipperary GAA: Secretary defends ticketing and cashless gates

Outgoing County Tipperary GAA Board Secretary Tim Floyd has defended the decision to go to a cashless system at the entry gates for GAA games in the county, by outlining the many advantages of the new system.

In a comprehensive account of the controversial move detailed in his final Secretary’s Report, the Newport man appealed to patrons to embrace what he described as a very simple and straightforward process.

He told delegates at the Convention held in the Dome: “Covid 19 forced us away from handling cash at gates and despite reservations from some patrons it is now the way forward into the future. Many of the reasons dictating this policy during Covid still apply and we must always seek better and more efficient ways of carrying out our business.

Tim Floyd, pictured above left, with former PRO Joe Bracken

The following are some of the reasons for justifying the change to cashless gates:
1. Security/Safety:
For many years gate checkers, treasurers and voluntary people carried large sums of cash in their cars or kept it in their homes before lodging it in a bank or handing it over to someone else. We now live in an age where such people are targeted even for the smallest sums of cash, and we cannot justify putting our workers at risk.

2. Hygiene:
We were led to believe during Covid 19 that this highly contagious disease was transferred from person to person through handshaking plus the passing of cash amongst many other ways. The same still applies for all contagious diseases even though Covid might be curtailed.

I still see some patrons coming to gates with unwashed hands and habits too rude to mention, putting their hands in their pocket and then handing cash to someone at a stile or gate. I’m sure that many of those who object to cashless gates might have a different outlook if they observed the same.

One of the dislikes I’ve had to endure in my time was counting cash after a fundraiser or match. Crunched up and torn notes as well as soiled coins must be counted and put in order before any bank will accept them. Counting cash is very time consuming especially for voluntary people and can be avoided now with new methods.

Obtaining large cash floats from banks is getting more and more difficult as banks are themselves steering away from cash transactions at the counter apart from charging large fees for handling cash lodgments.

3. Control:
It’s getting more and more difficult to secure personnel to control our gates and the handling of large sums of cash is partly responsible. This has led to the GAA seeking alternative systems. Tipperary Co Board in 2022 provided two options at most gates with a scanner for checking the barcode on tickets purchased in advanced online or a” tap and go” terminal to allow payment at the gate with a bank card.

Both these systems give instant results for monitoring attendance and crowd control for health and safety at restricted venues.

“We take a lot of criticism for not accepting cash at our gates but the reasons I have outlined outweigh the justification for returning to cash. Everyone now has a bank account and access to a card for tap and go was never as easy. It reduces the necessity for patrons to carry cash which is safer and less likely to be a victim of theft.

We are also told our policy is discriminating against the older generation but surely encouraging a safer system is to their advantage and once they are shown how to obtain a bank card and use it once, they rarely need to carry cash again.

“We also get criticism for removing the OAP concession price. When deciding our gate prices for 2022 we took into account all those hard-pressed earners, and this included low income parents and all sectors suffering from the current rising prices. We decided to keep our admission prices low across the board without applying any price increase. The student concession was retained as it was felt this sector was being financed by hard pressed parents.

“We also offered an annual match pass for €150 plus a selection of weekend package prices. We appeal to all patrons to embrace the policy of cashless gates and consider the safety, security and health issues for those at the receiving end. It’s a simple process to learn how to use a bank card or purchase a ticket in advance or even show to older generations and those less familiar,” he said.