*Bernard Keane. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARE GAA recorded a €50,000 increase in its share from this season’s National Leagues while the County Board is keen that GAA members attending Cúl Camps get reduced rates and the decision to seed Cork and Kerry was lambasted by a long-serving official.
Tuesday’s meeting of the County Board was held online and also included the appointment of Paul Madden as Clare senior football manager and Joe Hayes’ reappointment as minor manager.
Munster Grants:
The closing date for clubs to apply to the Munster GAA council for development grants is August 29, Provincial Council delegate Bernard Keane told this week’s Clare board meeting.
“It’s very important for clubs to get their applications in, they are all online”, the St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield clubman told the meeting. There is money there and we learned at the last meeting that it was a very very good year and X amount of that money goes back out on grants .If we are not in to apply, the cute boys from Cork and Kerry will be in there in our place”, he said.
Continuing he reminded the meeting that “the corporate trustee process has to be in order. There is a grant for that and its very important that clubs move quickly on that. We have a 65% completion record in Clare which is good but we also need to keep moving on that. Those grant applications will be vetted in September and there will be spot checks done”.
Finance:
Clare’s share from this season’s national league is up €50,000 to €215,000, treasurer Brian Fitzpatrick advised the August meeting of Clare GAA.
“The main driver behind it are the home gates, the Cork match was huge and we had a lot of money that came in on the away gates, particularly, Galway, Limerick and Tipperary. The Limerick one was a huge take. We are awaiting more detail from Croke Park”, the Clooney/Quin clubman said
He added that “last year’s figure included getting to and winning the league final. It does change from high to low but it;s good for now”.
Commenting, board chairman Kieran Keating said “as we said at an officers meeting it will be down more that €50,000 next year because of our opponents in the hurling league and obviously we won’t be reigning All-Ireland champions. We won’t draw the same home crowds”.
Facilities:
Following chairman Kieran Keating’s compliments to all involved with the presentation of playing facilities Corofin delegate Fergal Neylon said “the whole country has seen one of the goals conceded in the hurling at the weekend where a ball went through the back net. I am not debating whether it was a goal or not, it was a goal clearly enough but I presume the net will be looked at. The ball went through the net and hit the hoarding at the back”.
“We have someone that goes around every two to three weeks and checks up on our netting in all our venues and is very adept at making repairs. We have new nets in a couple of pitches at Caherlohan. We are always trying to keep an eye on that. It will be right for the rest of the championship”, Head of Operations Deirdre Murphy replied.
Cúl Camps:
Noting that the costs involved in attending Cul camps has increased, Clare chairman Kieran Keating told this week’s meeting that “Clare GAA are going to ask for discounts for children who are GAA members. They are the same people who are supporting the lotto, supporting the club all year round, and paying membership. The Cúl camp should not be prohibitive in terms of costs. The vibes we are getting is that the costs are going to increase further”.
Sixmilebridge delegate P.J. Fitzpatrick asked if there was a 20% increase in the costs. The chairman replied that it went from €70 to €82.50 which is 18%.
Fitzpatrick told the meeting that he was “speaking to somebody who said they paid €185 for three kids last year and that was €230 something, €37 euros of an increase. It would be a shame if we are pricing ourselves out as there is a lot of competition out there from other camps”.
Chairman Keating said “the increased cost this year wasn’t well received. Numbers attending are still quite strong this year, nearly similar to last year. We would like bigger numbers and they would cover their costs by getting more and more kids to the camps”.
Options on the gear given should also be explored, Fitzpatrick suggested. “If kids are going to the camps year on year they end up getting beautiful jerseys and a top but they also get a bag and a person I was talking to said she is inundated with bags. Could there be some option to get a pair of shorts or a top rather than a bag”. Keating responded, “We will give that feedback”.
Munster football seeding:
Last week’s decision by the Munster Council to change the seeding for the Provincial senior football championship “is an appaling decision on every level and will do nothing for football in Munster, will do nothing for football in the weaker counties and it is an insult to the players in the weaker counties who are trying as hard as the successful teams in the province,” said Munster Council delegate Bernard Keane.
“They spoke at length about the profile the Munster championship needs and my argument to that was aren’t the players from Clare, Limerick, Waterford and Tipperary entitled to that profile as well. They are putting the work in at winter time and doing the very best they can. I see no justification for this decision and we fought it all the way at Munster level. This is my 30th year involved as an officer of the Clare County Board and I have never been as frustrated and disappointed with any decision that was taken in the last 29 years. I see no merit in it, I see it doing nothing for football within the province. Everybody knows at this stage the shock by Limerick voting for it especially when the management and players stated categorically that they did not support this. I also had a problem with a couple of officers in the Council who voted for it when their county voted against it. If they did abstain, we would have carried this through. There are a few things we can do but at the moment the GPA are talking to the four counties and we will let that process continue”, he said
Keane’s fellow Munster council delegate John Callinan noted that the chairman’s letter was “read verbatim to the Munster meeting. Bernard spoke factually, logically, passionately against the proposal. Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Tipperary stayed quiet. Limerick were worried about the money and that seemed to swing them. I was very proud and impressed by Bernard’s contribution. He had no fear about taking on the might of Kerry and Cork. Well done to him. The fight was fought but they had the numbers”.
Replying to St Joseph’s Miltown delegate Gerry Curtin the chairman said “it’s for Limerick to explain to their own members why they voted the way they did. We deal with our own affairs. We canvassed them and we thought they were aligned with our view”.
Fixture clash:
Tubber official Andrew Monahan raised the possibility of a number of Tubber players being in a position to have to play three championship games in a week. “I raised this issue last year and I also raised I earlier this year when the masters fixtures plan was being discussed.
“We have no game now for three weeks and then players could have to play three games in a week. We have players from Ballyvaughan and Michael Cusacks who play with us. Our next game is on August 29th and then we are to play again on September 6th. Ballyvaughan are down to play on September 1. Cusacks could be involved that weekend and what we are asking is that they be scheduled for September 1st”.
Kieran Harvey, Ennistymon hurling club noted that “we could be in the same position if Ennistymon footballers are involved”.
“There’s not much I can do. The weekend in question is a dual weekend for junior”, according to fixtures secretary Deirdre Chaplin.
Repeating that he had raised this last year and earlier this year, Tubber official Monahan said “there are eight players involved and that’s half of our team. We are not asking for a postponement but we don’t want a situation where they will be asked to play a day after our game on August 29. We have three weeks off now and then we could have players having to play three games in seven days”.
“We will know more after this weekend’s results”, commented Deirdre Chaplin
Under 17 or 18, under 20 or 21:
Munster delegate John Callinan told the meeting that the question of age limits, under 17 or 18, under 20 or 21, was raised as a recent Munster Council meeting when it was decided that Council officials will consult with counties as to their view and will report back.
Clare Under 21 draws:
Clubs have been asked to correspond with fixtures secretary Deirdre Chaplin by this Friday regarding the upcoming under 21 championship, the draw for which will take place in September.
