Cooney to provide ‘inspired leadership’

UNUSUALLY for the GAA Congress which can often turn into a boring, long drawn-out affairs, the weekend gathering of delegates delivered the full gamut of emotions. They ranged from the frustration of opponents of the government grant scheme in losing the final battle, to the exultation of president-elect Christy Cooney on succeeding second time round with 60 votes to spare.

The disappointment of runner-up Liam O’Neill was only exceeded by the dejection of Sean Fogarty who suffered the humiliation of receiving a mere 26 votes, while the sharply contrasting feelings of the three families who were in the hall to hear the official announcement mirrored the varying feelings of the candidates.

And, while it would not have been as high on the Congress priority, Wicklow delegates — and the other seven counties who wholeheartedly rowed in behind them — left for home with a spring in their step. They successfully changed the rule (only introduced last year) which they argued was discriminatory to counties in Division 4 of the League who could not take part in the championship qualifier series. And, as association president Nickey Brennan acknowledged later, it means that the Tommy Murphy Cup is ‘dead in the water’ next year, leaving them with the small matter of deciding on a suitable competition to perpetuate the name of an iconic Laois player of a past generation.

In Brennan’s opinion, the favourable ruling of the DRA last week ‘allayed the fears’ of a lot of counties that the grants scheme did not infringe their amateur ethos and that was to be reflected in the discussion. Delegates heard Derry chairman Seamus McCloy, Donal MacAnallen and Mark Conway condemn it in turn, with McCloy’s depiction of it as ‘grubby, cheap and wrong in that it was bending rule.’ And, he argued, it would lead to a situation of ‘sham amateurism’ and ultimately professionalism.

The GAA didn’t need to line up their big guns after Con Hogan moved the relevant motion on behalf of Central Council — insisting that it was in line with Rule 11 and European Law (in relation to employment and movement of players) — and GPA chief Dessie Farrell argued that the scheme had been ‘mis-represented’. It didn’t even need to go to a count when the hands went up, with no more than about six delegations against.

It’s good news for the GPA and good news especially for inter-county players who, on the submission of vouched expenses, will receive amounts varying between €1,400 and €2,500 at the end of the year, depending on their length of involvement in the championship. And, Director-General Paraic Duffy denied suggestions that players from the Ulster counties faced tax implications, pointing out that they had been in discussions with the revenue authorities north and south of the border.

The election for president produced its own drama when the business of Congress had been concluded and everybody waited for the official announcement. When it came, it revealed the former Cork and Munster chairman Cooney as the winner with 172 votes, with O’Neill getting 112 and Fogarty said afterwards to have been ‘gutted’ by his total of 26. O’Neill hinted he would try and again in three years, an option which Fogarty firmly ruled out. It was his first time losing an election, he said, comparing it to a horse running a great race and falling at the last fence. “And it was some fall,” he joked.

Cooney spoke of his pride at being the latest in the line of people from the Rebel county who had distinguished themselves as presidents and general secretaries — singling out the late Con Murphy, whom he said had been ‘serious mentor and strong advisor’ for him during his days in the county board.

However, for all those strong links with home, he will be very much his own man as president when he takes over in 12 months time. Clearly, the strong vote for him reflected people’s confidence in him as a very able administrator with strong and progressive views relating to the future path of the association. People should not see him as a clone of the Cork County Board. He is a long time gone from county board administration and he showed in his six years on the Munster Council that he is very much a modern man. As chairman he gained a lot of respect for his organisational ability and his efficient running of meetings.

The Croke Park issue is no longer on the agenda and while he admitted several times recently that he would favour the grant money being paid into a pool, he made it clear he would have absolutely no difficulty embracing association policy on this — or any other issue.

Cork County secretary Frank Murphy has no doubt he will give “inspired leadership,” commenting: “He has been through the mill at all levels. I think people were conscious of his ability as an administrator and his turn came.”

Stressing that he will not interfere with Brennan’s presidency — that he will not be making any policy statements for the next year — Cooney sees himself having two significant roles — one in the management of the association’s affairs and the other linked to “a massive responsibility” to the grassroots.

So, how did he manage to turn around a 17 vote deficit into a 60 vote advantage — in the process becoming the eighth man to be elected at the second attempt in eleven elections since 1978?

Murphy was adamant the (Cork) players strike was never going to damage him, believing this and the other factor which came into play three years ago ‘did not have anything to do with the outcome.’ “Elections are fought on the ability of the individual candidates,” he insisted.

Cooney commented: “You could say that people viewed it that it was my time and that I had the necessary credentials and strength of character and belief in the association to take on a leading role in the future,” he said.

Munster Secretary Simon Moroney felt Cooney had a ‘decided advantage’ after doing so well in the last election, and both the Connacht secretary John Prenty and the Ulster secretary Danny Murphy concurred.

The Ulster boss also discounted the view that Cooney could have been lost votes over the players strike, commenting: “Having attended Congress a long time, the one thing you learn is that it is full of long-term wisdom. I think people look at short-term problems and say this will impact or that will impact, but when they come to Congress delegates are a lot shrewder than we give them credit for!”