*Jack Hannan is among the dual-players with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
Details of dates for the domestic hurling and football championships dominated matters at the July meeting of Clare GAA which took place at Hotel Woodstock on Tuesday night.
The meeting elected a new treasurer and heard details of work being carried out at Cusack Park and at the board’s Centre of Excellence in Caherlohan. These were just some of the items discussed by delegates at this week’s meeting which also heard that Terence Fahy will be continuing as U20 hurling manager.
Club championships:
Tubber’s Andrew Monahan and St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield delegate Anthony O’Halloran expressed concerns about the proposed change of dates for some hurling fixtures in the upcoming senior and intermediate championships.
At the June meeting of the board chairman Kieran Keating told the delegates that if Clare reached the All-Ireland senior hurling semi-final only, first round games in the group of five in the senior hurling championship would go ahead on the weekend of July 22/23.
This has resulted in a change in dates for the senior and intermediate championship. Round 5 in the Clare SHC group 1 will now be on September 9/10 which is also the weekend for the play off between the third placed teams in Group 2 and 3 in the senior football championship. In the event of a dual club being involved in both, the hurling game will take place on September 6th.
Stressing that St. Joseph’s are a dual club, O’Halloran spoke against this pointing out that his club had four players in Dublin, two in Cork and two in Galway and he said it would be difficult to get them home for a midweek fixture.
Tubber’s Monahan stressed that they have dual players and without them they will not have a team. The proposed change would see these players being asked to play five games in two weeks.
Ennistymon Chairman Shane Talty also expressed concerns about the proposed dates while Corofin’s Pat Curtis said “This is a big ask of dual clubs”.
Board chairman Kieran Keating said “the CCC has looked at this in detail. A club with an isolated player is a step below dual status. We will do our best to accommodate everyone but we may not be able to”.
As no alternative proposal was put forward the suggested dates mentioned above were ratified on the proposition of Pat Keogh (Newmarket-on-Fergus) and seconded by Rory Hickey (Éire Óg).
New treasurer for Clare GAA:
Brian Fitzpatrick Clooney- Quin was ratified as the new treasurer of Clare GAA at the July meeting of the board. He was the only nominee for the position and he succeeds Rebecca Sextion from Kilmurry Ibrickane who stepped down after a year and a half in the position.
Brian is currently the juvenile secretary in Clooney/Quin and he is also on the finance development committee in the club.
A native of Dooradoyle in Limerick, he played both hurling and football with Mungret St. Pauls GAA and also represented Limerick at minor level in football. Brian’s father Martin played senior football for Mayo in the 60s. He is a
chartered accountant and is currently a commercial Sales Director of a Global Aircraft Leasing company, BoComm Leasing.
Addressing the meeting he said he was from a “very big GAA household”
He was formally proposed for the position by Clooney/Quin delegate John Skehan who told the meeting that “Brian is a very active and valuable member of our club”. His nomination was seconded by the board’s central council delegate, Michael O’Neill.
At the outset board chairman Kieran Keating explained “Rebecca (Sexton) stepped down from the role because of health reasons. We wish her well and hopefully she is recovering well. I thank her for her work, she was very easy to get on with”.
Win A House:
Chairman Kieran Keating told the meeting that 980 tickets in the win a house fundraising draw have been sold. “Our next task is to get the clubs to sell their allocations. “Promotional signs for clubs to display at their grounds are available from Clareabbey,” he said.
Championship launch:
The Clare senior and intermediate hurling and football championships will be officially launched at a function in Cusack Park on Monday evening. “It’s a step forward to have sponsorship for the championships. I met with TUS again today” Head of Operations Deirdre Murphy said when thanking Jimmy Browne, Vice President and Shane Malone Head of Marketing.
She added that a launch of the junior A championships, sponsored by Martin Murphy Building and Civil contractors will be organised and she also thanked John Callinan whose company will sponsor the under 21 championships.
Season Ticket:
A season ticket costing €180 (€100 for OAPs) will be available from Clare GAA from this week.
Cooraclare’s P.J. McGuane welcomed the move saying a lot of older people will be happy. “Up to now we seem to be forgetting about the grassroots”, he said
Deirdre Murphy told the meeting “we will also be accepting cash at the turnstiles”.
Caherlohan pitches:
Work has commenced on the upgrading of two pitches at Caherlohan. “After a very aggressive tendering process Atlantic Golf Design have got the contract and have commenced work on two pitches, one of which is floodlit, which won’t be available until this time next year,” the meeting was advised by Keating.
Re-sodding at Cusack Park:
The re-sodding of goalmouths at Cusack Park is taking place this week, chairman Kieran Keating told the meeting. “The pitch should be available again in about ten days. Hopefully this job will mean that re-sodding won’t be needed again for a few years. We are getting the material from the Croke Park farm”.
Collins congratulated:
Munster Council delegate Bernard Keane paid tribute to Colm Collins who recently stepped down after ten years as the county’s senior football manager. “We thank him for his dedication, loyalty and support. For many years we couldn’t get out of Division 4 but he got us out of 4 and out of 3 and up to 2 and we almost got to Division 1. He had some great people with him during his time in change and he brought professionalism to the scene”.
Clondegad’s Seamus O’Reilly also praised Collins’ role. “There were some exceptional games during his time in charge. He was a great ambassador and he was very approachable. He will be missed. We are very proud of the contribution of our club representatives, particularly that of Gary Brennan”.
Expressing his thanks to Collins, chairman Keating said “it was unfortunate that we slipped back to Division 3 this year but that might not be a bad thing for whoever is coming in to the role”.
Asked by Kildysart delegate John Meade about progress in the appointment of a successor to Colm Collins, the chairman said “there is work going on in the background”.
Team manager reports:
End of year reports from the minor football manager Dermot Coughlan and the under 21 hurling boss Terence Fahy were read to the meeting by the chairman.
Both detailed their seasons, the number of sessions held, the number of games (challenge and competitive) played before thanking all involved for their support.
The chairman thanked the managers and their teams for their efforts. He concluded reading Terence Fahy’s report by saying that the Whitegate man and his team were looking forward to continuing next season.
Eire Og’s Paddy Smyth complimented Terence Fahy “on an excellent report as did Feakle’s Michael Daly.
Handball success:
Two All-Ireland handball titles came to Clare at the weekend, handball delegate Mike Kelly reported to this week’s board meeting.
“The 60 x 30 season ended at the weekend with Sean Considine from Clooney/Quin winning the boys under 14 title and Chloe Minogue from Tuamgraney being crowned the girls under 15 champion”.
Integration:
The integration of the men’s and ladies gaelic games organisations is inevitable according to Cooraclare’s P.J. McGuane “It will happen because of necessity”, the Coiste na nÓg county football chairman said when adding “I would rather we be pro-active than re-active”.
“We have a good relationship but I expect that integration is two or three years down the road”, said chairman Kieran Keating while Head of Operations Deirdre Murphy told the meeting “Clare GAA will be to the fore with this”.
