*Seanie McMahon. Photograph: Natasha Barton
CLARE GAA’s referee administrator was “removed” from the position by the Head of Operations and Chairman without consulting the County Committee.
County Board officers questioned the solo run from Deirdre Murphy and Kieran Keating to remove Seanie McMahon from the role with club delegates following suit on Tuesday night by criticising the hierarchy for their conduct.
Newmarket-on-Fergus native McMahon was voted by the clubs in March 2022 as referees administrator defeating Rory Hickey of Éire Óg in the contest. On January 27th, he was removed from the post by Chairman Keating and Head of Operations Murphy, a move which has caused shock and upset in GAA quarters.
In correspondence read out at the February meeting of the County Board, McMahon admitted, “I’m deeply upset and hurt by the manner that I was removed from my position by the Chairman and Head of Operations of Clare GAA”. He outlined that he was elected to the role almost three years ago and thanked clubs “for placing their trust in me to improve the quality of refereeing and increase the quantity of referees in the county”.
He said he was under the impression this was for a five year term and that he was committed to completing the tenure, “however within the past fortnight I was removed from the post in a move which was done without consulting the whole County Committee or the clubs who gave me their backing”.
McMahon said he was summoned to a meeting with Keating and Murphy for January 27th after sending an email on January 20th asking to be kept informed on the payment of referees and the structure followed.
Giving his recollection of the meeting, the 2004 Munster final referee outlined that after pointing out he hadn’t been briefed on the structure of paying referees in the county, “Kieran in an aggressive manner said that if he knew I had so much interest he would have invited me to join himself and Deirdre Murphy on Christmas week to help with the payments”.
He added, “The Chairman said that he wanted to make his mark in the two and a half years that he has left in his term”. McMahon quoted comments made by the Chairman at the meeting where the Naomh Eoin clubman remarked, “I want a young and vibrant person as administrator who is highly proficient in IT and that when the CCC meet that the appointment of referees will be done automatically on the laptop”.
According to Seanie, “It was obvious to me that Kieran had his mind made up to remove me as administrator”.
Delegates were informed via the correspondence that during McMahon’s tenure, the amount of active referees in the county has increased by fourteen with six more completing a foundation course. He said the introduction of a mentoring system “is acknowledged as a huge success within the province” and he noted the strong performances of Clare referees on the inter-county front.
Serving as referee administrator was “a privilege and an honour,” he outlined before wishing his successor “the very best of luck and I wish Clare GAA continued success for many years to come”.
Speaking at the February meeting, Keating confirmed, “yes we said we wished to appoint a new referee administrator, yes I did say I wanted to improve the way we were doing things, it was important as Chairman to make some changes if I saw they were necessary, I didn’t say I had a two and a half year term left, I said I’ve to do what I do year by year”.
Keating said he was keen to leave the structures of Clare GAA “in a better state than when I came in”. He felt the meeting with McMahon in Clareabbey was “cordial”. He said, “while Seanie was disappointed we weren’t proposing to reappoint him, he left on reasonably okay terms, I had an impression he would be willing to stay on with us on the CRAC committee, he has been very good on mentoring and the training of referees”.
Holding a vote for the role in March 2022 was an unusual move, Keating acknowledged while pointing out the post is appointed on a year by year basis. “I can only say I wasn’t aggressive to him, that is not in the nature, I didn’t say anything to him in an aggressive manner”.
Ruan delegate Michael O’Regan said “it came as news to most people that it was an appointed position”. He questioned why the move to remove McMahon was done after Clare’s inter-county season had commenced when he had been involved in assisting with a new communication system used by referees in the National Leagues. “I do feel that it was unfair on Seanie McMahon, it’s difficult to comprehend for a man that was always present, always available and if he wasn’t available he made damn sure somebody was to bring the board. On behalf of my club, we’re extremely disappointed at how this was handled, we strongly feel that it should not have happened, this young vibrant proficient IT criteria what about getting the job done and doing the job,” he commented.
Responding Keating said it is not the middle of the season for Clare GAA and rather the beginning for recruiting and training referees in the county for 2025. “I want us moved away from the paper list from who the referees are to a system when I finish next year or this year that the CCC is appointing and keeping track of what games the referees has done and having the information in a database. That is part of the technology and there’s further stuff we want to do, using apps to go to and fro with the referees. I wasn’t dissing Seanie or saying he can’t do that”.
O’Regan then questioned if this approach was discussed with McMahon and if expressed an interest in upskilling where required. “I don’t think it’s fair to go into a nuance,” the Chairman replied.
Newmarket-on-Fergus chairman, Freddy McInerney noted that the meeting began with Munster GAA appealing for volunteers for stewards and “we’ve a man who shows up week in week out” that has been got rid of. “Seanie has been Vice Chairman to me in Newmarket-on-Fergus for the last number of years, he will give it you straight, surely he should have been afforded the opportunity to upskill if it was a problem. I spoke to Seanie about this and he was quite upset, it should have been handled way better, it was a mess”.
McInerney continued, “Before there was Seanie McMahon at centre back for Clare in 1995, there was this Seanie McMahon from Newmarket-on-Fergus who played for Clare at all levels, he played and refereed at the highest level, we didn’t have new referees before he came in as administrator and we’ve had fourteen new referees in two years, surely he had enough done to stay in the role”.
Following questioning from McInerney as to who the top two officers wanted to bring as referee administrator, Keating confirmed Rory Hickey was the proposed appointment to which Freddy replied, “the man he defeated in the last election” and O’Regan observed, “that is what the clubs voted”.
Hickey answered “I am” when questioned by McInerney if he was efficient and proficient in IT.
Clare GAA “want to be transparent” insisted Murphy. “I know Seanie’s achievements better than most, I played at county level with his own daughters,” she said. “We didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, we made it clear we wanted to have him active on mentoring and on the CRAC which wasn’t active during his tenure. Our ideal scenario would have been for Seanie to stay active and mentor the person we brought in”.
Murphy remarked, “We can’t control how he reacted to what we outlined, that is for him to own, no one is more disappointed than me and Kieran to read out such a statement rather than keeping him involved, it is his choice how he reacts”. She said, “We’re trying to do the right thing, if we could have brought Seanie on that journey it would have been much better but that is his decision”.
Ruan’s O’Regan replied, “It’s nearly putting so much on volunteers now that they have to be this that or the other, that could have the opposite effect and turn away volunteers”. The Head of Operations said, “that is your perspective”.
Tubber Chairman Andrew Monahan told the meeting he was a refereeing colleague of McMahons “for years” and that he bumped into him in Ennis in recent days, “he told me what happened, he is very hurt, I know Seanie, I did the mentoring thing with him, I often did runs with him when we were referees. It would remiss of me not to say he is exceptionally hurt, he fails to see the logic, it does send a wrong message to be brutally honest for us to put in our time and love the GAA, we give all the time we can, he is the same, for that to happen you have to be careful if I speak out of turn or be strong in my opinions then there’s a fear we could be told yeah we don’t like your opinions”.
Monahan said he would not be able to act like the top table did in his own club. “When I see someone as solid as Seanie and as dedicated, when he was refereeing he was superbly organised, he always had his officials with him. When he organising the mentoring, he was capable of sending out WhatsApps to have us at games, the people at the gates knew we would be there. There wasn’t an issue with his performance, he didn’t think there was an issue, he didn’t see there was any falling down, I didn’t see it coming, I think he is very capable and passionate about what he does, when you take away someone who does a pile for nothing then there will be hurt, don’t be surprised that he took it in that matter. If you pull the rug from someone there will be hurt, don’t be surprised”.
Keating told delegates, “there wasn’t any issue with Seanie, I’m only looking at how things can be better, Seanie felt he had the job for five years”. He added, “we get on well with Seanie and have done, I can’t be bound by anyone feeling they were bound to be in a role”.
Monahan interrupted the Chairman to point out, “Seanie never said anything about five years, he never said the word entitled. He felt that level of hurt by doing something he had a great passion for and is now not doing”.
Sixmilebridge delegate PJ Fitzpatrick commented, “This is awful, it is shame when you’ve volunteers who have given a lot and they end up feeling resentful”. He said the “obvious thing” was for McMahon to remain in the role. “I feel it is the wrong message going out from the Board, people who have given a lot to the GAA, it would appear there was a way around of solving the issue”.
Safety and facilities officer, Ambrose Heagney said for Keating and Murphy to carry out reviews was “understandable” and praised their performances as “second to none”. He said, “I as a good friend and a former referee, I was gutted when Seanie was asked to leave, like PJ I couldn’t understand how you couldn’t bring in the best team you have available, I’m delighted Rory Hickey is getting involved, he is a huge addition but he still would have been a huge addition if you left Seanie, if this was handled right you could have had Seanie, Rory McGann and Rory Hickey, three of the greatest inter-county referees we’ve had in Clare”.
Heagney added, “Seanie was a man of huge principle, he had no issue with you Mr Chairman, with Deirdre Murphy or Deirdre Chaplin prior to this, he was an upright man who called a spade a spade, I didn’t like when he was refereeing Corofin games because he applied the rules so strictly. It has been handled so poorly, I’m sure you will reflect and think it could have been done better”.
Clonlara’s Flan Millane questioned if the Chairman had “a right” to remove McMahon seeing as the clubs elected him. Keating said he didn’t know why the position was voted on three years ago and said it was the advice given by former secretary Pat Fitzgerald, “I don’t know if elections were held previously but there shouldn’t;’t have been”.
Lessons need to be learned, Newmarket-on-Fergus delegate Pat Keogh maintained. He suggested County Board officials meet with members of various committees and outline their ideas before Christmas each year “so you don’t end up with friction like this”.
A proposal to issue a “sincere” thanks to McMahon for the time, effort and expertise he put in his many roles was issued by O’Regan who labelled him “a fantastic GAA man”. This was seconded by Keating who commented, “I don’t feel any distaste for Seanie putting down in writing what he felt, he’s entitled to express his views that he was treated badly by us in the manner and methodology, it is up to me as Chairman, if I change nothing then nothing will change, I definitely might be wrong, vote me out next year if I am”.
Later in the meeting Hickey was officially proposed for the role by Keating and seconded by Clare GAA Vice Chairman, Michael O’Connor.
