Byrne v Duignan

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.

Next County Board Chairman?

Tommy Byrne
22
54%
Michael Duignan
19
46%
 
Total votes: 41

ryot
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by ryot »

I wish the new County Committee well[/size]l...…..

Pity that 4 stepped down,,

BUT after all the criticism here and elsewhere and the vocal call by the New Group for new people, new thinking etc had to have been taken by all the outgoing members as a cut at them.

So no surprise that they walked and especially as the New Group were all prepared to walk if the Number 1 did not get elected.

Four vacancies shows a serious lack of planning by the New Group and Michael already talking about trying to get some, he spoke against, to come back....

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the Untouchable
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by the Untouchable »

So now that Michael Duignan & his group have got into power what will be the benchmark in the next 3 years to prove that they were the right people to take over and
have done an amazing job in progressing Offaly forward!!
I suppose some milestones should be:
1) Offaly senior footballers qualify for the Super 8’s and become widely considered the 2nd best team in Leinster.
2) Offaly hurlers make it back to contesting for the Liam McCarthy by 2022
3) Offaly minor hurlers and footballers win a Leinster title by 2022!!
4) Offaly senior footballers become a well established Division 2 team pushing for Division 1 football.

If not, then what are they going to do?
The Untouchable

greenairfield
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by greenairfield »

Untouchable if I seen a much better plan in place for the future of Offaly hurling over the next 5 years and results at underage improves I think that would be much more valuable than your benchmarks which arent realistic at the moment.
I have no doubt things will improve ten fold but to say Offaly hurlers for example should be competing in the liam mccarthy in 2 years is complete nonsense considering where we are at the minute.

private joker
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by private joker »

Id say success for this new group will be mainly internal. Can't see Offaly winning anything at minor or u20 in hurling or football for the foreseeable future. Senior teams won't contest any Sam McGuire or Liam McCarthy competitions in any meaningful way for at least the next 5 years.
1. Proper club fixtures. Think there was a 6 week gap for the minor b hurling final replay.
2. More GPO s in with clubs. Ideally Tullamore, ferbane and in Birr and their surrounding area.
3. One more GDA employed to help out in football.
4. Offaly development squads to get a higher base of player coming through from clubs. That means a better level of coaching happening in clubs
5. Liam McCarthy hurling by 2022
6. Footballers winning more than 2 games a year. Maintaining Div 3 status. Pushing for Div 2.

biffinbanner
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by biffinbanner »

best of luck to the new county board

mary dunne, brian flynn, and john maloney are huge losses though . very capable people and will be hard to match.

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by Bord na Mona man »

I echo the congratulations for Michael Duignan and the other newly elected officers and wish them every success in their roles. MD went out on a limb to go for the position but he did a lot of ground work to meet clubs to set out his plans.
His fundraising work for Faithful Fields was massive and he is hugely proud Offaly man.

Whatever his plans and changes are, we shouldn’t rush to judge the results. Any changes to structures will take 5 or 10 years to fully be reflected in senior team results.

A word of caution too. The Twitter (not so much here) warriors who have been demanding a complete clear out of the board may see that it isn’t such a winning strategy after all.

Greenairfield’s view that people who step away will be easily replaced is very optimistic. For example, prior to Mary Dunne’s stint as PRO it was a role that was difficult to fill. It was often vacant or temporarily occupied. I hope that Michael Duignan is able to keep outgoing people involved, as he has indicated he wants to do.

Drive it out
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by Drive it out »

I really hope this works out, 3 of the 4 top positions filled by people with no experience at this level. Its hard to blame the officers that stood down for doing so. Duignan and Co have gone around for the last couple of months saying change was needed and not enough work being done,what were they expected to do. Mary Dunne as PRO is a huge loss, she has given her life to Offaly GAA and has been a breath of fresh air as PRO, Niall Gleeson from what I have heard was an excellent worker to, only there 2 years but seemed to have a good handle on the CCC and fixtures, Brian Flynn delivered on all his promises to the clubs and apparently brought the finance system within the county board to the 21st century, John Maloney apparently invigorated Scor Na nOg within the county again, Nora Kavanagh as children's officer brought a wealth of information when it came to vetting, safeguarding etc. which is not easy with clubs as a lot still dont seem to buy into how important it is.

These roles will be hard filled, hopefully there are people out there who maybe wouldnt work with the last committee but will do so with the incumbant. Lets wait and see.

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the Untouchable
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by the Untouchable »

Just to clarify, i’m not saying Offaly to win Liam McCarthy
by 2022...but at least be back in the All Ireland hurling championship and be competitive!!
Plus i’m talking about the end of the 2022 championship which is 3 championship years away...that’s
3 years potentially of Michael Fennelly managing his group of players...or John Maughan managing the footballers, so why do people act like it’s ridiculous to expect us to make any strides forward?

I’m excited to see what Duignan and his team can do, but I do wonder if the apathy amount supporters will mean that little or no progress by our teams will he seems as acceptable because in some people’s eyes it’s all Tommy Byrne’s fault.
The Untouchable

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Lone Shark
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by Lone Shark »

First and foremost, congratulations and well done to Michael and everyone elected last night. I'm mildly surprised by the result even allowing for the late surge that there was in support for him, much of it on the back of the Tullamore members giving him such a public endorsement at their AGM. If there was a key moment in this race, for me that was it.

However to illustrate the scale of the challenge facing the new group, here's the management committee as it stands.

Chairman - Michael Duignan
Vice chair - James Murphy
Secretary - Pat Horan
Assistant/Fixtures Secretary - vacant
Treasurer - Dervill Dolan
Assistant Treasurer - vacant
PRO - vacant
Coaching Officer - Martin Cashin
Central Council - Paddy Scales
Leinster Council 1 - Joe Higgins
Leinster Council 2 - Brian Gavin
Cultural Officer - vacant
Children's Officer - vacant
Development Officer - vacant
Coiste na nÓg Chair - Currently Ger Maher, but will be appointed by the new committee

That's 15 roles. Six of them are vacant, three are complete new people at the top table, with James Murphy not new to the management committee but now in a new and much more elevated role. Someone pointed out to me that five of the seven team secretaries for 2019 have stepped aside. I know first hand that the roles of PRO and Fixtures secretary are incredibly busy, where you might have anything up to 200 calls/texts/emails to deal with on a busy week. Mary Dunne lives, eats and breathes Offaly GAA, and made it the central focus in her life for as long as I've known her. There's a very small group of people with the space in their lives to make that sort of commitment, never mind someone with the incredible passion and understanding of GAA in general and Offaly GAA in particular that she brought to the role.

In the case of Fixtures secretary, that is an area that Michael Duignan put a huge emphasis in his campaign, and there's no doubt he struck a chord with clubs by doing so. Addressing this is going to be very difficult, as it's the most thankless role in the GAA - everybody complains because of their own narrow view on things, everybody comes with problems rather than practical solutions, and there are a mountain of aspects to be considered that people don't realise (pitch availability, referee availability etc).

Again, a big part of Michael Duignan's pitch was that he had a lot of people behind him, people he brought on board in his involvement with the OCP redevelopment and the Faithful Fields development. I have to say he came across as quite humble in that regard, he genuinely didn't try to take a huge amount of credit for those achievements, but instead made it clear that it was just his ability to get people to be part of the project that was crucial. This will really put him to the test.

I commend him for taking on the challenge though, and while as a supporter I'm nervous, I'm excited too. For a long time the Offaly county board was too heavily inclined towards what I would consider a "public servant" mentality. I don't mean that as a criticism - a good CB should have a balance of both. Public sector people to ensure that the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted, private sector to have the bigger vision. Or to put it another way, the private sector guys to look three, five and ten years down the road, and the public sector people watch their back by ensuring the ship stays afloat past next Tuesday. We'll have to be careful not to trip up on the small hurdles now that we have so many people who are there because they are thinking big picture. It's a pity Pat Teehan is tied up with Leinster, because he'd be an ideal addition to this group - though no doubt someone like Padraig Boland could get a call either.

Finally, to Tommy Byrne, and those that stepped aside, thank you for everything. To Tommy and Mary in particular, who have put in a huge body of work in the last two decades; I wouldn't have agreed with everything they did, but I never doubted that it was always in service to Offaly GAA, and it was always with every ounce of energy and commitment they had. This supporter is very grateful.
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by Hasselhoff »

Is Coiste na og chair elected at agm or is appointed by the committee.

oneshot
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by oneshot »

the Untouchable wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:38 am So now that Michael Duignan & his group have got into power what will be the benchmark in the next 3 years to prove that they were the right people to take over and
have done an amazing job in progressing Offaly forward!!
I suppose some milestones should be:
1) Offaly senior footballers qualify for the Super 8’s and become widely considered the 2nd best team in Leinster.
2) Offaly hurlers make it back to contesting for the Liam McCarthy by 2022
3) Offaly minor hurlers and footballers win a Leinster title by 2022!!
4) Offaly senior footballers become a well established Division 2 team pushing for Division 1 football.

If not, then what are they going to do?


well look at the mess the last county board left hurling. christy ring cup and division 2b hurling and keogh cup so. so winning keogh cup division 2b and christ ring will be an improvemeant in the last 2 years. as for football awin over carlow will do unlike the shambles in portlaoise again wicklow two years ago.

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Lone Shark
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by Lone Shark »

Hasselhoff wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:55 pm Is Coiste na og chair elected at agm or is appointed by the committee.
My mistake - that is an appointed role.
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

offalys future2
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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by offalys future2 »

Lone Shark wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:52 pm For a long time the Offaly county board was too heavily inclined towards what I would consider a "public servant" mentality. I don't mean that as a criticism - a good CB should have a balance of both. Public sector people to ensure that the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted, private sector to have the bigger vision. Or to put it another way, the private sector guys to look three, five and ten years down the road, and the public sector people watch their back by ensuring the ship stays afloat past next Tuesday.
Can you advise on what research you have done nationally that makes you come to the statement that " a good county board should have a balance of both"

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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by private joker »

Don't about any research, but balance is good I would 've thought.

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Re: Byrne v Duignan

Post by Lone Shark »

That would be a career of covering local and national GAA. Ongoing involvement in GAA administration. Involvement in two large sponsorship deals, dealing directly with county boards from the other side.

If you disagree, disagree, but it's hardly a controversial view to say that different ways of working, different ways of thinking and a diversity of skills and strengths is a positive thing.
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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