Clare GAA’s efforts to search for the Chairman of the master fixtures committee following Colm Browne’s sudden resignation are not expected to begin until later this year.
Browne resigned from his role at the end of May in the aftermath of a stormy County Board meeting.
Tensions reached boiling point at the meeting following remarks from Treasurer Michael Gallagher on the efforts of Éire Óg’s Niall O’Connor to raise funds for the county U20 hurlers. An apology has been issued and accepted since.
A native of Kilrush, Colm is currently a member of the Banner GAA club in Ennis. He had been on the master fixtures committee for the past ten years and was its Chairman for the past five years.
He was heavily involved in the introduction of the new Clare SHC and IHC format in 2015 and also changes to the amount of teams competing in the Clare SFC.
Subsequent to Browne’s decision to step down, all of his colleagues on the committee including Padraic Boland (Broadford), Tony O’Donnell (Crusheen), Martin Hehir (Clondegad), David O’Brien (St Josephs Miltown) and Tom Duggan (St Josephs Doora/Barefield) all resigned from their roles.
The Clare Echo understands that efforts to find a successor to Browne will not intensify until the club campaign is concluded this year when discussions on the format to be used in the 2022 championships begin. The bulk of the master fixtures committee work for 2021 has already been completed with structures agreed for this year’s championships.
