The Mayo GAA annual Convention took place at the Broadhaven Bay Hotel in Belmullet this afternoon. Here’s a quick rundown on what was decided at the Convention.
For those looking in from the outside, the major issue of interest was the contest for Chairman of the County Board Executive. Listeners to the podcast will have heard in advance the plans Seamus Tuohy and Liam Moffatt had for the role and, following today’s vote, it will be Liam Moffatt who gets the opportunity to put those plans into action.
The Crossmolina clubman takes over from Mike Connelly who today ended his tenure as Chairman. Also stepping down today was Treasurer Kevin O’Toole, with Valerie Murphy elected unopposed to this key Executive role.
The day’s other head-to-head contest saw current PRO Paul Cunnane see off the challenge of Michael Gallagher to retain the post again in 2020. There was also a contest, this time a four-cornered one, for the two positions on the Connacht Council. The two who came out on top there were Vincent Neary and Johnny O’Malley.
Several other positions were filled on an unopposed basis. Here’s the full list of positions filled today.
- PRESIDENT: Seán Feeney (unopposed)
- CHAIRMAN: Liam Moffatt (beat Seamus Tuohy)
- VICE-CHAIRMAN: Con Moynihan (unopposed)
- SECRETARY: Dermot Butler (unopposed)
- ASSISTANT SECRETARY: Ronan Kirrane (unopposed)
- TREASURER: Valerie Murphy (unopposed)
- ASSISTANT TREASURER: Michael Diskin (unopposed)
- PRO: Paul Cunnane (beat Michael Gallagher)
- CENTRAL COUNCIL DELEGATE: Paddy McNicholas (unopposed)
- CONNACHT COUNCIL DELEGATES: Vincent Neary and Johnny O’Malley (beat Ger McHugh and John Hopkins)
Secretary Dermot Butler presented his annual report to the Convention. You can read it here.
Outgoing Treasurer Kevin O’Toole presented the Mayo GAA 2019 Accounts to the Convention. They’re here.
A number of motions were considered at today’s meeting – full details on the Motions down for discussion are here. Motions 1, 2 and 5 were passed, Motions 3 and 4 were lost.
That’s about it. Congrats to all who were elected today and commiserations to those who weren’t. Best wishes to those standing down from their positions at today’s gathering.
I’m delighted for Liam Moffat, he presented his vision for the future of Mayo GAA and I buy it, I look forward to It, Good luck to everyone in their roles and we can all go back to our role as mayo GAA fans, FBD League won’t support itself you know Maigheo abú
Congrats to Liam Moffitt and Valerie Murphy. Two welcome additions to the top table who will bring youth, vitality and a willingness to move things in the right direction. 2020 is starting to look a bit more promising.
Congratulations to Liam Moffatt, and commiserations to Seamus Tuohy; I listened to both candidates this morning on the podcast and there is no doubt that they both had the best interests of the county at heart.
I am really interested to see Liam taking over – not just because of his promise to replace the ‘personality effect’ with policies and procedures (which will serve to safeguard against and prevent events like this winter’s taking place again), but because of his track record, and more interestingly, because of the wider view he takes of GAA in terms of the community, socially and economically. I think there is massive potential there and look forward to seeing what’s in store.
Let’s not forget either that Liam has been a member of the county board for quite a while now, so is not going in there cold, which is not a bad thing. I wouldn’t be expecting radical change, but instead, strong, decisive and fair leadership and a solidifying of all that is good in there – and contrary to what we might be led to believe, there are good things happening and those who have been working on the ground, day in day out for years both on the board and in clubs have been the ones to make those good things happen.
Congrats to the other officers too. A special word of congrats to trailblazer Valerie Murphy who takes over as treasurer and I think the board will be better for having female representation on there.
Ultimately the call for greater governance – while a challenging process, as those of us who are familiar with it in our working lives can attest – is for the good not just of the wider GAA public but for the officers on the board and it will leave them less open to criticism and abuse in future as well as encouraging other donors to come forward. I hope this realisation encourages them to engage with the process because it will be worth it in the long run.
Here’s hoping come January we will just be talking about football and hurling once again.
@Anne Marie, well said.
They say there is a Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”. I am not sure is it really a Chinese curse at all, but Mayo GAA admin Has had more than it’s fair share of interesting times in recent months, so a bit of boredom would be welcome on that front.
The removal of personality politics and replacing it with policy and procedures is not likely to be as entertaining, but it will lead to greater effectiveness. Corporate governance is a reality for any sort of medium to large business so it must be embraced. The same policies and procedures will make corporate governance easier.
I think having an accountant as treasurer, whether by accident or design is a great move.
Best wishes to the new board and lets hope their times won’t be overly interesting.
Good luck to Liam. He has a formidable job ahead of him and while it’s unfair to expect sweeping changes, the culture of the CB must evolve in terms of transparency and accountability. That’s the minimum I would expect from this new tenure.
I won’t say too much on the other appointments, save for expressing some surprise at the reappointment of the PRO.
Well that’s that out of the way, thank God.
Two honest and committed candidates went for the Chairmans role in a fair and respectful manner and that is to be commended. Given the negative landscape that the convention was played out in, it would have been easy for things to get snide and nasty but credit to both men, they loosed the neck and fought fair.
Having listened to both candidates on the Podcast, I have to admit to being impressed with Moffatt. Nothing against Touhy, but it is well past time for fresh blood and ideas to be in more prominent roles on the cb executive. Liams work on underage development should help to keep the conveyor belt of talent coming through, and his connections with Horan will hopefully ensure close communication will be easily maintained.
Onwards and upwards and time to focus on football again.
Good luck to Liam moffatt. I certainly hope he displays some degree of diplomacy when speaking to media. Stephen rochford who at the time took over a poisoned chalice and took us to within a ducks breathe of an all ireland was treated harshly enough. If things dont change they stay the same. Over to u Liam.
I think this is a big step forward.New thinking new standards fresh approach.
Can’t wait for 2020
Based on the interviews conducted on the podcast I was hoping that Liam Moffatt would prevail in this and he did. Congrats to him. So onward and upward…there may now be a way forward, while the football starts in a few weeks. Hup Mayo
Tonight 8PM, TnaG4 ‘Cluichí na Bliana’ The FootballLeague Final, Kerry v Mayo!..Best day following Mayo in the past year beyond a doubt!
Excellent.
Delighted for Moffat. Time for a new beginning.
Goiing to tape it and wallow again in blissfull hopw of things to come.
I had a great day leaving Croke Park and all the stewarts congratulating us.
Also had great craic slagging the Kerry supporters on the train.
Great day.
Thanks for the heads up Leantimes
Set to record!
Best wishes to Liam and the rest of the county board. They deserve our full support.
Apart from the regular challenges in managing the affairs of any county like Mayo the executive also face some awkward and potentially compromising dilemmas.
The first is how to manage the cost of team management, which is becoming increasingly professional, in a way that is in keeping with good governance practice. There is an increasing demand for higher standards of governance. Informal or irregular financial arrangements in relation to expenses, which in the past were fairly acceptable and generally ignored, even by the Revenue Comissioners, are now becoming more problematic for county officials.
The second dilemma is how to manage the relationship with individuals or organisations who raise large funds for the county without being compromised in any way.
And all of this is done in an environment of intense scrutiny on social media some of which can be ill-informed, some of it downright malicious. As supporters we need to give this county committee every chance and to understand that they are volunteers doing a complex and demanding job.
Best wishes for 2020.