GAA club falls victim to 'devious' tarmac scam with a club nearby also targeted

A GAA club has fallen victim to a scam on resurfacing works at their grounds, with another club in a nearby county also approached. 

Naomh Fionbarra & St Anne's in Togher, Co Louth said the club was a victim of an "elaborate and devious" scam, as they described it.  They said the people behind the scam tried to intimidate the committee to part with an "exorbitant" amount of money for the unapproved and substandard work

It is understood that a club in Meath was also approached. 

Naomh Fionnbarra & St Anne's club chairman Mark McArdle said thousands and thousands of euro was being sought from the club for what he described as "a bit of black paint with a scattering of stones".

"This happened on January 15th and unfortunately the gates of the grounds were open because there were volunteers doing a bit of work around the club, as there normally is," he told LMFM radio's Late Lunch.

"A gentleman pulled in to the grounds in a fancy jeep and told one volunteer that he had a load of tarmac from a job up the road that was cancelled and he was going to have to dump it unless we were interested in getting the work done at a very low price.

"The volunteer said that it might be something we'd be interested in but that he wouldn't have the say so to give the go-ahead. So he started ringing around and most of us were at work so by the time we knew what was happening, a truck had arrived and the work had been started," Mr McArdle told LMFM.

The club saiad they finally paid a much less amount to bring the issue to an end. 

Meath GAA Secretary Ciaran Flynn recently advised clubs in the county to be "vigilant" and issued a step by step process for clubs to follow when looking to get any work done.

He sent out the advice after learning of the incident of the club in Louth and of an approach to a Meath club late last year.