O’Neill teaching us a vital lesson
Considerable, you might think, if it weren’t for his predecessor Christy Cooney’s 9,500 words three years previous.
It’s become the standard for GAA presidents to present their longest speeches in their second and penultimate year in office.
It’s a case of identifying what has been done and what has been left to do. Nickey Brennan’s in 2008 at his halfway point fell just shy of 6,000 words.
O’Neill wasn’t patting himself on the back but he rightly had plenty to say about his stewardship, which has been punctuated by the establishment of the Football Review Committee and efforts to bring the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association under the GAA umbrella (the forthcoming hurling forum, in time, may be regarded as another).
His most remarkable comments at Croke Park, however, concerned his fellow teachers of a GAA leaning. “Voluntary extra-curricular activity deserves recognition,” he stated, “and it is a source of dismay to me that the Department of Education and Science has failed to recognise this.”
O’Neill might be accused of looking out for his own if it weren’t for the fact he was banging the pulpit in front of the converted. Were it not for teachers, just where would the GAA be? Where would the footballers of Kerry, Tyrone and Galway or Kilkenny hurlers be but for Misters O’Connor, Harte, O’Mahony and Cody?
In 2012, O’Neill became the fourth teaching president in the last 15 years; Aogán Ó Fearghail will be the fifth in 18 next February. The last two director generals, Páraic Duffy and Liam Mulvihill, come from the same background.
O’Neill, though, has already made his mark. Under no other president has so many children had the opportunity to play at Croke Park.
By opening the hallowed pitch to thousands of youngsters with activity days, he has already developed a rich legacy that simply must be carried on by his successors.
It’s the practice he preached on Saturday when he said: “We all know that if you capture the heart and mind of a child before the age of 12, you will retain his/her loyalty for life.”
His determination to unite the strands of Gaelic games under the auspices of one organisation is an entirely laudable and logical endeavour, but it’s his genuine concern that children’s experiences of Gaelic games are nourishing ones that may be his greatest turn as Uachtarán.
In Saturday’s post-Congress press conference, he spoke about the bad attitudes that stand in the way of protecting young players. “It’s worrying sometimes when you see people say ‘the club needs it, the team needs it’. We’re not putting the child first. I think parents will thank us in the long run if we did.”
O’Neill has shown a common touch to his term in office so far that appeals to people. As much as Croke Park has and had to change to a more business-like structure, is it just mere coincidence that the chatter about a disconnect between “the suits” at central level and the grassroots has quietened? However, the chief criticism of O’Neill’s tenure so far has been the perceived sanitisation of Gaelic games on his watch.
The measures to “clean up” the sidelines last year, on the back of wearing of faceguards and gumshields being made compulsory in hurling and football respectively, may have been timed better.
On top of that came the black card as well as O’Neill’s designs on taking a leaf out of rugby’s book by giving authority to just one player to speak to the referee.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed among some traditional hurling folk either that chairman of the national referees committee, Pat McEnaney, whose direction to hurling officials has been questioned, was appointed by the Laois native. Their criticisms are not fully substantiated, though, and if O’Neill’s guidance lends itself towards a safer game for future generations when rugby frightens the hell out of parents, it’ll be to the association’s gain.
Those who can’t, teach — it’s one of life’s most grating and inaccurate idioms. The GAA, the largest and most vibrant organisation in this country, is living proof of that.
Whether it’s on a sideline or in a boardroom, those who teach, lead.
* Email: john.fogarty@examiner.ie
Remember where you heard it first — Clare, Kilkenny and Tipperary will comprise three of the four Division 1 quarter-final spots when Division 1A is concluded on March 23.
We predict the trio will make the knockout stages based on nothing other than the fact they are the three teams who have three of their five round games at home this year. That and the reality home advantage is clearly something of value this month as each of the six fixtures have been won by the team on their own patch.
Last year, two out of the three counties with more home games than away ones — Galway and Waterford — finished in the top four.
In 2012, Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary, all with just two away matches, made up the top three.
Convinced yet?
Well, don’t be. Just eight of the 15 round games in 2013 were won by the hosts and only nine the previous season.
Damn statistics.
Sense should prevail next month when Central Council meet to discuss the increase of the minimum age for minor at inter-county level to 16.
With so many squads already formed, it would be cruel to inform 15-year-olds they are surplus to requirements because of a last-minute decision by GAA powerbrokers.
The thinking behind the motion is understandable, given the increased demands placed on teenagers. That said, for all the talk of it hurting the non-traditional counties, it will mean we’ve more or less seen the last of the likes of Joe Canning and Noel McGrath attempting to win three All-Ireland minor medals and emulating stars like Offaly’s John Troy.
Indeed, it was ironic that the proposal was put forward by Tipperary in light of the achievements of the county’s great Jimmy Doyle who played four seasons at minor level, winning three All-Irelands.
