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KERRY GAA
CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS TO CO. CONVENTION 2001
Óráid An Chathaoirligh
Seán Breathnach
Ag Comhdháil
Bhliantiúil Coiste Chontae Chiarraí 2001
In Óstán Ghleann
an Iolair, Cill Áirne.
11/12/2001
A dhaoine uaisle, is mór an onóir domsa mar
Chathaoirleach ar Choiste Chontae Chiarraí, bheith i láthair anseo anocht. Ba mhaith liom failte is fiche a chur roimh
gach éinne don Chomhdháil Bhliantiúil.
Impím oraibh tamall a thabhairt dom mo thuairimí a chur ós bhur
gcomhair.
Last
year I stood before you with Kerry on the crest of wave having won the 2000 All-Ireland
in football, and with Kerry Hurling having a rather turbulent year. What a difference a year can make? No National title in football and three in
Hurling.
The 11th
of September 2001 will forever have a place in World History. I can safely say that the 2nd of
September 2001 will also have a place in GAA History. Kerry people everywhere will readily remember the glorious year
of 2000 for Kerry football, they will also remember September 2001 and Kerry’s
heavy defeat by Meath. More column inches
have been written about Kerry’s defeat than any other defeat in our history,
some an accurate account of that fateful day, some conjecture about what
happened and other accounts that seemed ridiculous in the extreme.
The
Kerry team are a group of amateur players that have given a huge amount of
their time, given tremendous enjoyment to the Kerry supporters and watching
public over the last number of years.
They trained hard and were as dedicated to the cause of Kerry Football
as any team has been over the last twenty-five years. It now looks like it is totally unacceptable that a team can have
an off day on the playing field. While I would have to accept that Kerry’s
display against Meath was very disappointing on the day, and left players and
management totally deflated after the defeat, it is not the end of Kerry
Football. Kerry did not win thirty-two
All-Irelands by lying down after every defeat.
I will say that it will be difficult for this team to put that defeat
behind them. The character of the team
will now face its greatest test and I for one believe they are up to that
test. I am confident the memory of 2001
will be buried.
What I
do not accept is that some members of the National Media think it is fair game
to write what they like about players and managers, even if it has not got the
slightest hint of the truth or have not visited the county or contacted anybody
within the county to check its authenticity, the phrase “throw it out and see
where it lands” seems to be very prevalent at the moment, particularly with
some Sunday paper journalists that would require a road map to find where Kerry
is, not to mention even attending a Kerry Press Day. Players and managers have families and families can be hurt and
that is something that should never be lost in the hunt for the “real story”.
We in
Kerry are lucky with the standard of journalism that prevails throughout the
county, criticism, when it comes is fair and balanced and has to be accepted as
such when it comes. High standards and
indeed very high standards have been the norm within the media of Kerry and
none more so than Eamon Horan of The Kerryman who retired during the year. Eamon’s reporting throughout his working
life was fair and balanced and of a very high standard and his opinion was
highly regarded. Eamon, through his
writing, made a huge contribution to Gaelic Games in the county, we wish him
well in his retirement.
Last
year saw the return of winning ways for the Kerry Senior Hurling team. They were deserving winners of Division 2 of
the National League and in doing so played some excellent hurling in the final
in Croke Park. It was a great feeling
to be in Croke Park on a day when it was packed with Meath and Westmeath football
supporters to see Kerry play the quality hurling to win the final and receive a
deserving standing ovation from the Westmeath supporters. Their eventual defeat to Carlow in the
Intermediate Championship was disappointing to say the least as a number of
players chose not to travel on the day.
This is something, which is totally unacceptable, If Kerry is to succeed
at the highest level then everybody must pull his or her full weight. I am happy that commitments given at the
start of the year were honoured in full by this board. I am also happy to say that anything that
can possibly be done in relation to the promotion of hurling in the county is
being done. I am well aware that a
school of thought persists in this county that hurling should be totally
controlled by hurling people. I have no
problem with people wanting to work for the betterment of Kerry hurling and
indeed welcome it, and there are many ways that this can be done, by ensuring
that all players from their club turn out for training and games on a regular
basis for the county, that clubs not fix challenge matches on the week or the
eve of county matches, by getting involved at juvenile level and helping with
underage teams, it is not people sitting at top tables or on a committee that
will change Kerry Hurling, it is the people working on the ground, running
clubs and giving immense time and commitment to training teams at all levels
both at club and county, and transferring the levels of fervour that is seen in
the County Championship to the County Team.
I
would like to take this opportunity to thank all team managers for their work
and congratulate them on their success during the year. The challenge facing Kerry Hurling over the
next five years is to turn “B” success into “A” success. I firmly believe we have the players to do
it, but for this to happen we will all have to be in the one rowing boat and
pulling in the same direction at the same time.
In
June 1991 Kerry Group became exclusive sponsors of Kerry Inter County Teams at
all levels. Through their continued sponsorship
they are confident that the skill, commitment, sportsmanship and vision, which
have been the hallmarks of Kerry teams, will continue to be demonstrated on the
fields of play. I want to sincerely thank Kerry Group and especially Chief
Executive Denis Brosnan, Chairman Michael Hanrahan and Director of Corporate
Affairs Frank Hayes for their continued interest and support. I welcome the incoming Chief Executive Hugh
Friel and the incoming Chairman Denis Brosnan and I wish Michael Hanrahan every
good wish on his retirement.
The
steady rise in the success of Kerry Handball is not going unnoticed. The
promotion of handball around the county took on a new initiative this year when
separate Handball Camps formed part of the Kerry GAA Summer Camps. The results in winning competitions at
juvenile level are starting to mirror the work and commitment that is being put
into handball.
A lot
of the success achieved on the playing fields for Kerry Football and Hurling
has to be attributed to our schools. As
an organisation we would not want to take for granted the tremendous work being
done at all levels and in particular at Secondary level where they have the
added pressure of trying to intertwine the academic studies with sporting
life. The time and commitment shown by
teachers has been immense and in no small way has contributed to the ongoing
success of Kerry GAA. On behalf of all
teams, club and county, I want to take this opportunity to thank them for their
work and time that they have devoted and continue to devote to the promotion of
Gaelic Games within the school sector, and I would like to wish all our school
teams the best of luck in the coming months.
It behoves all of us to give them any support that is possible either
for club, divisional or County Board to make their job easier.
Recruitment to GAA clubs seems to be getting more difficult every
year. I know that a number of clubs are
finding it hard to get mentors to take underage teams every year. There are a number of contributing factors
for this, firstly there seems to be very little appreciation for underage
mentors by either club or parents, secondly players retiring from playing
either go straight to managing a senior team or playing golf. We must be mindful of the fact that people
have a right to choose whatever they want to do with their leisure time. The fact that less and less people are
choosing to get involved in the GAA is worrying to say the least. The solution to the problem is not easy, but
I believe that the continuous running of foundation level coaching courses that
will involve parents has to take place.
We now have more parents than ever before that are not coming from a
playing background and with a little training, they would be more willing to
take charge of teams and help ease the burden on mentors who have to take two
or three teams, also to show appreciation to those already involved and reward
them for their work.
At
administrative level we have to entice more young people to get involved at
club level either at Bord na nÓg or Senior level. Clubs should identify at
least two young people who would be wiling to go forward and be trained under
the Comhairle programme for training new officers. I would also urge our clubs to actively seek to involve more women
at administrative level in our clubs.
There is a greater need now than ever before to encourage and actively
support younger people to get involved at administrative level of the GAA,
bringing with them new ideas and work practices.
At
club level also over the next twelve months we will have to push forward with
our I.T programme. To that effect every
club in the county should be in a position to receive e-mail by this time next
year, which would cut down on administrative work dramatically. We should not be afraid of I.T., while it
will be very important in clubs and will help.
I would like to point out it will only be there to enhance what we
already have ant to push workers out that are not I.T. literate, if that
happened it would prove to be more of a disadvantage than a success.
I
would like to point out that vast amounts of money are being spent at the
moment by clubs on pitches and facilities.
This year alone a total of £988,000 was spent by clubs in the
county. It is nit now uncommon to see
clubs spending up to £100,000 on playing pitches alone. These pitches require a very high level of
maintenance and to ensure that a club will seek a reward for their investment,
proper care and maintenance will have to be taken and grounds men will have to
be properly trained to allow them to look after these pitches. Putting this in place is as important as
putting in the proper field.
Last
month also saw the final piece of the jigsaw in relation to our development at
Austin Stack Park fall into place. The
switching on of our floodlight system, if it does nothing else it shows the
progressive nature of this Board. This
project has immense possibilities, both for the county and club games. It is already proving to be hugely
successful in allowing a lot more people to see matches at this time of the
year that they would not normally see.
It is only fair to point out, at this time, that the floodlighting
system will only be used for games and will not be used as a venue for training
county teams under lights. To that end
we as a county will have to turn our attention to providing our own training
facility for county teams. This will
now have to be top of our agenda. We
will have to put plans and a financial package in place for county teams that
will reflect both the success of county teams in the past and the requirement
for success of county teams for the future.
This development is now overdue.
It must now form part of our thinking and planning over the next twelve
months. With winter training now taking on a more important role than ever
before this development is a must for Kerry County Board.
As an
organisation we are in times of change.
Next year will see for the first time the running of the National
Leagues in Hurling and Football in one calendar year. In a successful year it is now possible that the county could be
involved from the first Sunday in February until the last Sunday in
September. This will bring to the
forefront the debate between club and county.
There is no doubt that a successful county player will have a full
schedule with the county team alone, but the club fixture list for the coming
year will take careful examination. We
are going into the unknown with the qualifier system in football. It would almost be impossible to plan a full
fixture list and stick to it if Kerry were to be involved. Of course the fast way would be for Kerry to
stay winning but that won’t always happen. Club and county will have to run
hand in hand. We must at all times
strive during the year to ensure that clubs that have county players are not
made to suffer. The club has been the
bedrock of the Association since its foundation but the county player can’t be
all things to all men and I believe that this year will prove to be difficult
in this respect basically because we are entering the unknown. But as an Association we have to be careful
that we do not create an elitist player and a two tier system for this would
run contrary to what we are abut as organisation that draws its strength from
the club structure. But as I have
already stated we are in a time of change and we have to plan carefully for
that change. There is no doubt that the
county player will play less league football for his club but we should also
ensure that he is given a fair opportunity to perform for his club in
championship football. I would also
like to stress that the release of county players for all county teams is the
sole responsibility of the County Chairman and the message coming to me loud
and clear is that the county does not want to stay idle while the county team
is involved. It is our responsibility
to provide games for all the players during the summer months, and that is our
intention. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank the G.A.C. for the Games Programme that was run during the
year. I am glad that commitments given
in relation to continuity of our programme was upheld and we learned from the
mistakes we made in 2000.
Since our Convention last year we have had
two National Congresses to discuss major issues in relation to rule change,
namely the use of Croke Park for events other than Gaelic Games and Rule
21. In relation to Rule 21 I am happy
to report that the Kerry delegation supported the deletion of Rule 21 and in
doing so was consistent with the wishes of the vast majority of the Association
in the county as a whole and also because we felt that that the time was right
to confine the rule to history, to allow the association to look and plan to
the future without being tainted as an Association that has rule in its book
that discriminated against any section of the community.
In
relation to the opening of Croke Park and the debate that took place earlier
this year, I want to state clearly Kerry’s position. We in Kerry supported the motion that was on the clár for
Congress, which was a motion giving power to Central Council in relation to the
use of Croke Park. I firmly believe that this motion should have been
passed. Central Council are the supreme
controlling body of the Association between Congresses. The members are elected by all the clubs of
the Association through the county system and should be entrusted to make
decisions in relation to policy whether it is about Croke Park or any other
matter. I have confidence in Central
Council to make decisions that would be for the betterment of the Association
as a whole and would reflect the mood of our members at any given time, knowing
that they would have to report to Congress anyway to effect major rule change. Croke Park is the biggest single investment
that the Gaelic Athletic Association is going to make. Its earning potential in the future will
have the capability to effect all units of the Association as a whole and I
believe it should be entrusted to Central Council.
At
local level in the county we will have to look at our structures to examine and
see if they meet the requirements that we need to ensure that an Association of
our size is running efficiently and well.
We will have to take an in-depth look at sub-committee structures and
members therein to ensure that we have people on committees that will ensure
that if change is needed, the change is made. A number of sub-committees seem
to have overlapping functions, Youth, Coaching and Games Promotion and Bord na
nÓg all seem to have interactive projects.
There is an urgent need for these three bodies to sit down together, so
that we have a clear view of the individual responsibilities of each. Coaching
and Games Promotion is more important now than ever before, it is forming a big
part of budget both from ministerial and central level and we have to ensure
that our top players get extra attention at this level, but we will have to
have a clear and defined policy on it, and a plan that is followed through with
Schools of Excellence in place, but also to ensure that the best players are
part of our Schools of Excellence and that top class coaches are in place to
coach them.
Bord
na nÓg are running a massive games programme within the county. I stressed at the Bord na nÓg Convention
last week that we need to look at the structure of Bord na nÓg. The County Committee needs to sit down with
the committee to see if the games programme is adequate in relation to the time
that we run competitions, the quality of competition, but more importantly to
plan for the future, placing special emphasis on declining numbers and the
effect it will have on our games programme for the future.
The
Youth Project organised by the Youth Committee in conjunction with the Munster
Council proved a huge success for those that took part. Only eighteen clubs took part but those that
did claimed to have gained an enormous benefit from it. A point that did not go unnoticed by the
judges was that no large urban club made it to the Kerry Final. Unfortunately the majority of them declined
to take part. The committee are to be
complimented on the success of the project in it s first year, it is a project
that has endless possibilities.
It is
my intention for the coming year to have quarterly written reports from all
sub-committees under the jurisdiction of the Board, this will allow us to see
at first hand the work being done by all committees. We will also take recommendations from them in relation to
changes that they may deem necessary from time to time. The GAA has always been accused of being
slow to change, rightly or wrongly, but we are now very much part of a changing
world but we should not make changes just for the sake of change but when
changes are required that we have the courage to make them because I believe
what has served us for the last ten years may not now be sufficient for the
next ten years.
Next
year could prove a very important year for Kerry GAA, as our candidate Sean
Kelly seeks the high office of President of the Association. I would at this time like to fully endorse
the candidacy of Sean Kelly and assure him of our fullest support over the
coming months. It would be a great
honour for the county if Sean were to succeed in his quest for the Presidency,
he has both the experience and ability to lead the Association and we wish him
the best of luck.
The
year 2000 was deemed the year of the volunteer; no organisation owes more to
the volunteer than the Gaelic Athletic Association. Since its foundation we have been fortunate as an association
that a multitude of people have been prepared to give freely of their time to
help promote the aims of our association as team mentors and
administrators. It would be difficult
for our association to survive without this contribution in the future, the
reward and only reward for those people was and still is that the knowledge
that they are shaping and providing a better sporting environment for the youth
of our country, which is now far more important than it was any time in the
past. No amount of Government help
could replace the amount of work done by the GAA volunteers in shaping a future
for our younger generation, a healthy sporting life ultimately leads to a
healthy life. Shortly one of those
people, Pat Sweeney, Chairman of the East Kerry Board steps down from his
position. Pat, I want to thank you for
your work as Chairman of the East Kerry Board, member of the G.A.C. and County
Board delegate, and I know that wherever there is work to be done you won’t be
far away. Also Maurice O’Mahony for
your contribution as Chairman of Cumann na mBunscol since its formation, the
coiste has been set on a strong footing as a result of your leadership and you
can be happy in the knowledge that you have left behind you a vibrant Cumann na
mBunscol Committee.
The
announcement last week that Fitzgerald Stadium is to receive €250,000 as part
of a budget submission was indeed very welcome news. This contribution goes someway towards matching the massive
contribution made by the business community of Killarney towards clearing the
debt on Fitzgerald Stadium.
We are
indeed very grateful to the Minister for Finance Mr. McCreevy and to Minister
for Justice and Law Reform, John O’Donoghue for his intervention and making the
submission on our behalf, thank you Minister.
From now on we will have to be prudent in relation to development at
Fitzgerald Stadium and to make sure that we are not fattening a white elephant. Our peripheral position in the province of
Munster allied to home and away agreements by other counties means that the
number of games we get for Fitzgerald Stadium is limited, but the limited few
don’t seem to come our way either.
There will have to be a willingness at Munster Council level to ensure
that games to be played at neutral venues are distributed on an even basis. And
we know from experience that few venues in Munster match the atmosphere in
Killarney during the summer. Munster
Championship matches mean much more nowadays to a venue than just field rent to
the stadium. We wait in hope for
Killarney.
To
secretary Anthony O’Keeffe for his time, service and dedication and above all.
advice, I say Míle buiochas, Antóin.
To
office staff, Breda, Kate and Catherine and Peter Twiss, I say thank you for
your work and pleasantness over the last twelve months.
To my
fellow officers, I say thank you for your help, support and wok during the year
and very much look forward to working with you again next year.
To the
clubs and in particular, County Board delegates, I say thank you for your
year’s work, help and contribution at County Board level.
All
that remains for me is to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Christmas
and a very successful New Year.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.