County Board for 2010

[bracknaghboy]

Every year individuals and clubs criticise the county board however when it comes to putting up replacement officers at convention there is usually little activity. The boys below must be doing a good job

From Official Offaly site

Most County Board Officers Remain For 2010

08/12/2009

Most of the outgoing officers were returned unopposed at the Offaly GAA Convention in the Tullamore Court Hotel on Tuesday, 8th December, including Chairman, Pat Teehan (Coolderry) and Secretary, Martin Boland (Raheen).

In a relatively quiet meeting, the other main news was the selection of Clara as the Club of the Year for 2009.

There was a minor change with the two men in charge of finances. Treasurer Andy Gallagher (Tullamore) and Assistant Treasurer Jimmy Hogan (Birr) had both completed five years in those positions and were obliged to step down under GAA rules.

However, Jimmy Hogan has assumed the role of Treasurer with Andy Gallagher now the Assistant-Treasurer.

Andy Gallagher was also obliged to step down as one of Offaly’s Leinster Council delegates after over three decades in the position. Outgoing Leinster Council delegate Eamon Flynn (Ferbane) and the outgoing Secretary, Martin Boland (Raheen) will now occupy the two positions. The other nominee for the role who stood for election was Padraig Horan (St Rynagh’s).

Similarly, Paddy Scales (St Rynagh’s) could not remain in the Irish/ Cultural Officer position after serving for five years. Mary Dooley (Ballyskenagh) was elected to that role, after a vote also involving Willie Gavin (St Rynagh’s).

The members of the Management Committee for 2010 are as follows -

Chairman: Pat Teehan, Coolderry (outgoing)

Vice-Chairman: Padraig Boland, Ferbane (outgoing)

Secretary: Martin Boland, Raheen (outgoing)

Assistant Secretary: Tommy Byrne, Gracefield (outgoing)

Treasurer: Jimmy Hogan, Birr.

Assistant Treasurer: Andy Gallagher, Tullamore.

P.R.O.: Brendan Minnock, Shamrocks (outgoing)

Coaching Officer: Mary Dunne, Ballyfore (outgoing)

Development Officer: Maureen Kincaid, Shamrocks (outgoing)

Youth Officer: Eamonn Cusack, Durrow (outgoing)

Irish Officer: Mary Dooley, Ballyskenagh

Leinster Council Rep.: Eamon Flynn, Ferbane (outgoing)

Leinster Council Rep. Martin Boland, Raheen.

Central Council Rep.: Joe O’Brien, Drumcullen (outgoing)

Coiste na nOg Chairman: Joe Higgins, Tubber (re-elected at Coiste na nOg AGM)

[Lone Shark]

I saw these elections and came to a somewhat similar conclusion myself. The county board gets widely criticised (unjustifiably at times, but sometimes with some basis) and then you see something like this, and all right to criticise goes out the window. Of course the politics of the whole thing can scare off some newcomers, but even so, the message is clear - nobody else wants to take on the positions of power, and so we can hardly then turn around and complain about those who do want to administrate, even if they do so in a manner that we occasionally disagree with.

Nonetheless I do think that there is a considerable anomaly in that motions had to be submitted and alternative nominees suggested long before most clubs held their AGM. The GAA gets rightly praised for being a democracy where every member can theoretically have their say, and I accept that most moving and shaking is done away from the big meetings, nonetheless I'd suggest that an alternative timeframe should be used where club AGM's are held first, and with sufficient time to influence conventions. That way the county board delegates can genuinely vote with a mandate from the members, rather than a mandate from the club executive.

Finally, I wrote in the Independent last week that while the county board convention ran off so smoothly, with this particular executive being somewhat famous all around Ireland now for ticking the boxes of administration in record time, I do wonder if the opportunity for strategic discussion is being foregone somewhat. Link here for those so inclined....

http://www.offalyindependent.ie/sport/g ... rm-issues/

I completely appreciate that again, these officers do their job with no renumeration and can hardly be blamed for moving things along quickly, however if there is a forum where long term issues affecting clubs and county teams are discussed, I don't know of it, and I'd wager that very few others on this board do either. In that instance, one would have to worry about the usefulness of such a committee if indeed it does actually exist. Perhaps the county board would welcome new blood getting involved, however the onus is then on them to prove that there is more to what they do than following procedure and just keeping things ticking over. If this board has taught us nothing else, it's that there is energy and idealism out there. That combination in itself is a dangerous and often ineffective mix, but sometimes it could be harnessed and exploited to useful ends. Right now I get the feeling that a lot of energy is being wasted in this regard.

[Treasurer]

Nonetheless I do think that there is a considerable anomaly in that motions had to be submitted and alternative nominees suggested long before most clubs held their AGM. The GAA gets rightly praised for being a democracy where every member can theoretically have their say, and I accept that most moving and shaking is done away from the big meetings, nonetheless I'd suggest that an alternative timeframe should be used where club AGM's are held first, and with sufficient time to influence conventions. That way the county board delegates can genuinely vote with a mandate from the members, rather than a mandate from the club executive. .

I think clubs just don't take Convention seriously enough. I don't think there's necessarily much wrong with the system, but clubs just aren't using it. Convention under rule is held before the 31st of December. The rule book says clubs should "insofar as practical" hold their AGMs before the end of November, in practice I'd say that's a rare occurence.

[Bord na Mona man]

My experience of club AGMs is that they are very focussed on club business.
By the time the hot issues of the year (squabbles over expenses and team selection) have been trashed out and officers elected for the next year, there is little appetite for broader matters.

Beyond that it is difficult to bring change from the bottom. It certainly isn't impossible, but you'd want a serious amount of energy to do so.
The red tape of procedures, motions, directives, rules and bye-laws can quickly dismay you.

As mentioned taking up a position on the county board is a serious commitment to make also. Spending a huge chunk of your free time on county administration matters probably doesn't leave huge scope for strategic planning. Ideally anyone involved with strategic planning should be free of much of the time consuming administration in the county.

[bracknaghboy]

Teehan said during his address "However, the biggest problem facing us as a dual county is lack of numbers. Therefore, it is all the more important that we have the correct structures in place both at club and county level to ensure that our players are coached to the highest standard, thus giving them the preparation required for their eventual move to adult level."

Fair point, however what are the county board going to do to address the major fixture problems that exist within the county namely:

a) its becoming extremely hard for a dual player to exist. Brosna Gaels situation will be a real test of what the county board are made of in terms of proper fixtures structure during the coming year.
b) what are the county board prepared to do about the endless summer weekends that pass and no games for teams. Lads are getting fed up with training since jan/feb and then only playing their second championship group game in august. The amount of weekends (fine ones at that) that have passed in recent summers and little or no championship activity taking place and no apparent reason why has been a disgrace. Lord help us if Offaly senior footballers or hurlers were to make a bit of progress there would be club group games being played in October or later!!

[TheManFromFerbane]

I've said on another thread that I don't really think the county wants Dual players playing at senior level. I was pretty much shouted down at that time but majority rule, minority rights and all that craic!

Brosna Gaels do throw up and even more interesting twist on things with the fact that it's 4 different football teams as well that have to be caterd for. It's going to be a nightmare for them to work out and they do have my sympathies.

I will say this, I thought that the system this year actually worked well 95% of the time and I thought with some minor tweaking it could have been perfect. To be fair to the county board we were giving a master fixture list at the start of the year and in the main it was stuck to. That meant that we could plan our training to peak at the right times for the championship (I'd apprecaite all obvious jokes be ignored here )

I just think this 6 team group in the football combined with the hurling is a step back.

[Lone Shark]

I've said on another thread that I don't really think the county wants Dual players playing at senior level. I was pretty much shouted down at that time but majority rule, minority rights and all that craic!

From this poster's perspective, it's not that I disagreed with you, it's that I honestly believe they don't know what they want. In theory they love the idea of all these fabled gaels, soaring to field an O'Neills one week before lifting and striking a glorious point from eighty yards out the next, but once that theory comes into practice, it becomes too much like work. The county teams (not just in Offaly, everywhere!) are the be all and end all, and everything must bow to them. To a certain degree, there is little alternative to this system, they are the main marketing tool and still the main driver for a lot of people - however county commitments leave so little space that the ideal championship cannot be run off in both codes in the time that's left. I just wish there would be an official acknowledgement that dual players are a nuisance, and no more of this farce of pretending that we are a dual county. Even at club level, it's simply impractical at senior level, at least without a lot of co-operation between football and hurling management early on, and that simply doesn't happen. So the result is that we are a county that straddles a football and a hurling area, with the few clubs trapped in the middle likely to feel the squeeze while the evolution continues.

The saddest part about all this is that the system that has been brought in demands huge chunks of time, but it isn't even the best system. Mark my words, this time next year at least one team will be eliminated when a team that has already qualified makes little or no effort in a final round game and allows another club to sneak in, and by God there will be squeals of pain when that happens.