It was confirmed officially by the County Board a bit earlier on this evening that our NFL Division One clash with Dublin will, after all, go ahead as was originally planned on Sunday, 20th March. The Board did give the other side’s request for a Friday evening date a hearing but what scuppered the idea from our perspective was the possibility that the U21s could be involved in a Connacht semi-final on the Saturday (19th).
Mind you, they’ll have to beat defending champs Roscommon next weekend first but I guess it would be too late at that stage to think about shifting the date for a match the following weekend. So Sunday it is, which actually suits me far better as it does, I think, for a good number of the rest of you too. A match under lights would have been nice but sure, then again, can’t we now have floodlit matches in McHale Park whenever we want them?
It’s also been announced that John Kelly from Bohola-Moy Davitts has been appointed as the new manager of the Mayo junior team. John succeeds Billy Fitzpatrick in this role where he’ll be assisted by Vinnie Gavin from Swinford and Hollymount’s Ray Connelly. I think it’s fair to say that there hasn’t been sufficient focus on the county’s junior team in recent years and it would be good to see greater linkages between this grade and senior in future.
I know that the interplay between senior and junior was one of the issues dealt with in the Strategic Action Plan report and it’s heartening to hear that there was a lively debate on the Plan at last night’s County Board meeting. A further meeting is, I hear, to be held in a few weeks time and it’s likely that Liam Horan and members of the Steering Committee will be invited to this session.
What I’ve heard – which corroborates what’s been said already in the comments here – is that there was strong support last night for most, but not all of the proposals in the Plan, and that some kind of synthesis between the proposals put forward in the Plan and others proposed by the County Board may be needed for the initiative to progress. If this is the case, then obviously the devil lurking in the detail will be the main point at issue.
The county board are traitors to Mayo football if they knock the strategic plan back.
If they have the arrogance to dimiss the findings of the eminent people involved in putting this together on their behalf and replace it with some half-arsed ideas that they have written on the back of a beermat then we have no hope for the future.
The message would be loud and clear.
The politics and self-interest of the Mayo county board trumps the needs of the Mayo teams and fans, present and future.
Just back from the West and tired. My view is simple. The Mayo County Board requested this Review.
This Review is completed and ready for voting. At the launch night, the County Board chairman in fairness, told the assembled group that a vote would be taken at the next county board meeting. It would be rejected or accepted at that meeting.
That meeting is over and from what I gather no vote took place. I assume (that’s a hostage to fortune) that a period will be given to the clubs to digest the Review now. Then a vote has to take place. It will be passed or rejected at that meeting by the club delegates and board.
That’s democracy and all will accept its fate. Reading in this weeks Western People I note that Connacht provincial secretary Mr Prenty made sense when he said the following “Leitrim are the only county to have published their plan. Despite several reminders and meetings with the other four counties we still do not have an agreed County Strategic plan on the table”.
Mayo are in a great position. A thorough review has taken place. All that’s needed is for a vote to be taken. Once over, its either back to the drawing board for Mayo county board or full steam ahead.
Simple really.
I read the plan and most of the points in it should be already taking place if the County board was efficient and doing what it is supposed to do,
I will be very surprised if it is accepted as it will be seen as a challenge to the authority of the Board.