GAA booze and drug warning

A TOP GAA official is warning that the growth in alcohol consumption and substance abuse amongst young people could have serious consequences for clubs and even for the games themselves.

In his address to last night’s annual Waterford convention in Dungarvan, county chairman Pat Flynn said that, while the economic prosperity which the country has witnessed over the last number of years has been phenomenal, it has also brought it’s problems.

“None more so that in alcohol consumption and substance abuse”, the chairman said. “These problems are now a major threat to our parishes and our communities and before long they can have serious consequences for our GAA clubs and even for the games themselves.”

Mr Flynn said he welcomes the joint initiative aimed at tackling these major issues by the Association and the Department of Health and, as a community-based organisation, the GAA is in a unique position to take a leading role in curtailing the ever growing drugs and drink problems.

“The age at which young people start drinking has dropped alarmingly and that his why we must continue to promote sport as an important way in creating a healthy lifestyle”, said Mr. Flynn.

“While the Government has many awareness and educational programmes aimed at dealing with binge drinking and drug abuse, if it is really genuine about the importance of sport in creating a healthy society, now is the time to put extra resources into all sports before we lose an entire generation to alcohol.”

FINALS: Mr. Flynn is also calling on Croke Park to seriously consider bringing forward the dates of the All Ireland senior hurling and football finals from their present slots of the second and fourth Sundays in September. This could be done, he said, by reducing the time span between the semi-finals and finals to just two weeks instead of three and even four weeks as at present.

He said this would release vital extra weekends for club activity and he will also urge the playing off of the All Ireland club finals within the calendar year instead of having players waiting two months for a semi-final and a further month for the final.

Mr Flynn also believes that the new formats announced for the upcoming National Leagues raise more questions than answers.

“In hurling, it would surely be more logical to have the league structured on similar lines to the championship which will have teams separately in the McCarthy Cup, the Christy Ring Cup, and the Nicky Rackard Cup”, he said. “This would mean good quality, competitive, and evenly balanced league matches and would benefit not only the weaker counties but hurling in general.”

The chairman said a similar case should be made in football by playing teams of similar ability in the same groupings or divisions.

“Travelling the length and breath of the country and then being on the wrong end of a number of bad beatings does absolutely nothing for the promotion of football in the weaker counties.”

Mr Flynn said it is time for a common sense approach to the leagues, and their formats with the real interest of the games at heart.

Reflecting on the past year on the intercounty front, the chairman said it was another year of many disappointments for all of the Waterford teams. The senior hurlers had their moments, testing eventual champions Cork in both the Munster semi-final and the All Ireland quarter-final, but the bottom line was that defeat was their lot on both occasions.

RE-ELECTED: All of the outgoing officers were unanimously re-elected for the coming year. For county secretary Seamus Grant it was a very special convention as he sets out into a 34th successive year in the key post making him the longest serving county secretary in the country.

Financially, the board had another successful year returning a surplus of €35,000 on an overall expenditure of €1,060,357 which was more than €360,000 down on 2004.

Officers; Hon. Life President Pat Fanning; Patron Most Rev. Dr. William Lee, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore; Chairman Pat Flynn; Vice Chairman Pat Grant; Secretary Seamus Grant; Treasurer Michael Hogan; Development Officer John O’Leary; Youth Officer Joe Cleary; Coaching Officer Pat Moore; Irish Officer Domhnall O’Murchadha; PRO John Jackson; Munster Council Representatives Jimmy O’Gorman, Tommy Hennessy; Central Council Seamus O’Brien.