If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If a journalist drives to Hotel Kilkenny for the 2017 FAI AGM and they're not allowed ask questions of the CEO or any of the delegates in attendance, were they really there?

The tree in the forest raises all sorts of questions concerning metaphysics, observation and perception, and the answer can be complicated.

The same complications can apply to the journalist at the FAI AGM, however, through the advent of Twitter we know unfortunately that they really did attend, and that they were greeted to the same customary reception that they've always been welcomed with.

"Security at the entrance & dotted around the hotel. One with a walkie-talkie barking instructions on press movement. It must be FAI AGM day," tweeted Irish Independent football correspondent Daniel McDonnell.

The lengths that the FAI descends to in a bid to control the narrative surrounding their 'Festival of Football' is really quite extraordinary.

A dedicated security team, monitoring and patrolling the confides of an Irish hotel to prevent members of the press from talking to just about anyone not named Fran Gavin, the FAI's Director of Competitions.

But even when the assembled media gets a brief opportunity to speak to Mr. Gavin on Saturday, they are told that the FAI could not have predicted the financial difficulties that Bray Wanderers have recently encountered, where Bray players were told earlier this month that their wages would only be covered for one more week, never mind the end of the season.

The player's wages have subsequently been covered every week since, after former club chairman Denis O'Connor secured some short-term funding prior to his resignation, but two years prior to this notice, former Bray manager Trevor Croly resigned from his position at the club after his players released a statement via the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland expressing their disappointment that a number of players' wages hadn't been paid.

Furthermore, in 2016, Bray's gate receipts totalled just €94,000 while the overall senior team costs were €560,000, with the club then deciding to increase their spending for the 2017 season on the assumption that better results would lead to better attendances and support.

Their financial meltdown was a matter of when, not if, and when news of their troubles broke earlier this month, Gavin and company stood there caught in the storm after failing to take notice of the grey clouds that had been steadily gathering for the last three seasons.

The Seagulls are still in the process of trying to convince their players, the Independent Licensing Committee and the FAI that they have the funds in place to get them through the rest of 2017, while Gavin, FAI CEO John Delaney and the rest of the FAI's board are still trying to convince the rest of us that they can competently steer Irish football through the next stage of its development.

Questions linger.

Confidence stems from competence, and if Martin O'Neill's senior side can follow up their performance at Euro 2016 by securing qualification to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, then on a periphery level, Irish football will be perceived to be in a good state.

But even if Ireland manage to qualify for their first World Cup since the 2002 finals in Japan & South Korea, the problems on the domestic front are more pertinent than ever.

What is Bray's future beyond next season and how much of a concern is it to the association given the Premier Division's imminent switch to a 10-team league?

How has a situation like this happened again after similar issues arose with Shelbourne and Drogheda United? Do the FAI support how they handled the Athlone Town FC match-fixing investigation?

How are they monitoring the potential takeover of Galway United in light of the Athlone situation?

What is the timeline for St Kevin's Boys' partnership with Bohemians FC for the new national U15 league? And what are the consequences if the two sides do not reach a formal partnership? Why are St Kevin's Boys the exemption from any other club who has had to partner with a LOI affiliate?

The FAI's Player Development Plan is a pillar of the association's 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, yet only five players from the 19-man squad named for the most recent U21 Euro qualifier came through the club underage structures in the Republic, and even at that, the U21 squad has never qualified for a UEFA European Under-21 Championship. How is this being addressed?

There's a lot of pressing questions that fall on deaf ears, and for the fourth straight year, CEO John Delaney didn't host a press conference or take any questions from the floor at the AGM.

Delaney said in his speech to the 'football family' that: "We will start a national under 13 league in March 2019 and we need the collective to be strong and unified. To make the next step, all the stakeholders need to work in tandem. We should be proud of where our game sits right now. We will continue to change and improve."

Pride would not be at the top of my mind in a year where one club has been at the centre of a match fixing investigation, another has been asked whether or not they were able to pay their players for the second time in three seasons, and the national women's team, who were forced to publicly ask for the most basic of necessities in April, such as the ability to hold on to their own tracksuits, threatened strike action.

To change and improve, at least in the eyes of the public, you need to take accountability for these issues, you can't avoid answering questions on them and countless other matters for four straight years.

The FAI's delegates may offer a standing ovation at tightly guarded, rigorously structured AGMs, but a lot of the game's supporters want genuine answers and solutions to mounting issues.

But that's under the assumption Delaney and the FAI actually intend to change and improve? Why not keep things the same?

Since the last time Delaney spoke to the media after an AGM in 2013, the latest FAI accounts showed a record turnover of €50m.

The association has reduced its debt by €11 million following the successful conclusion of a debt refinance programme.

The national men's senior side, the FAI's golden child and primary meal ticket, are in a strong position to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, in which the association could pocket at least €11m from qualification with FIFA confirming the final prize fund six months before the finals.

Delaney and the FAI have weathered worse storms with a 'bunker' mentality before, why tackle confronting issues publicly now?

Transparency, mending relationships with loyal fans and public accountability would be the most obvious reasons, but even when a top official does speak, and he comes out with "the FAI could not have predicted the financial difficulties that Bray Wanderers have encountered", for a situation that not only should have been predicted, but prevented months ago, it's easy to see how they deal with just about everything in-house.

Delaney doesn't have to speak to the media, in fact, his election to the Executive Committee of Uefa has demonstrated that he's doing just fine without speaking to the press corps.

But if the FAI want serious change and improvement, accountability is not a bad starting point. Take the next step, or even the first step, but don't walk away from it.

Online Editors