Brennan leads digital revolution
The announcement was made in the Burlington Hotel. Sean McCague was about to take over from Joe McDonagh as president and Brennan himself was the chair of the IT Committee and in charge of the day’s events.
Almost 11 years later, and having served his own three-year term as Uachtarain, Brennan’s life came full circle earlier this week when, in his second stint as the IT group’s head honcho, he relaunched gaa.ie.
Harold Wilson once remarked that a week is a long time in politics. Well, 11 years is an eternity in the world of communications and the GAA’s own experiences are certainly testament to that.
The GAA has already adapted to life alongside radio and TV, of course, but its relationship with the internet and everything that has followed in its extensive wake has been a slower burn.
Until now it would seem.
Brennan doesn’t have an iPhone, he has yet to tweet on Twitter and he wary of being an ex-president on Facebook but that isn’t to say that he isn’t up-to-date with those technologies and their potential for the GAA.
His briefing during the week was littered with industry phrases such as ‘Microsoft Dynamic’ and ‘Google Chat’. Clearly, the GAA has woken up to realities which the younger generations have long taken for granted.
“We have a long way to go yet,” says Brennan. “We know that. We have launched the new website but we know that we have to embrace the whole social networking area. We have to embrace what the young people are doing.
“We have to embrace the new technology that is coming out on iPhones and the apps that can be downloaded to that which will be relevant to the GAA community. We will get there. There is not the slightest doubt about that.”
Brennan’s prediction is that the GAA will have a presence in all those areas by the time Christy Cooney’s term as president comes to an end in 13 months’ time but the IT boys have been busy already.
The association’s new electronic registration system has already accounted for over 215,000 members and Brennan’s prediction is that the finally nationwide figure will be significantly north of that.
Eleven thousand more members were added in one 24-hour period earlier this week and 100% of clubs nationwide are connected through email to Croke Park which will enable the top brass to communicate directly with every single unit.
The plan is that more and more club-specific information will be added to the online presence and a deal with Google will establish a website template which every club will be able to use for a minimal fee.
One application planned for the GAA’s own website will include a GPRS link to every club ground in the country, all of which should go some way to pleasing a section of the association which can feel overshadowed by the county game.
“Clubs will see things that are happening in HQ,” said Brennan. “They will getting communications about issues that are happening in the GAA and it’ll be explained to them a lot better. It’ll certainly be improving.”
Perhaps the most interesting development is the Games Management System. Already operational in 15 counties, it is a programme which could have significant implications for both the club and county scenes.
“The advantage of that system is – and the Uachtarain has been getting this message across through the Ag Eisteacht programme about the need to get more games for club players – we will be able to profile the number and frequency of games in each age bracket and that is why it is important.
“It will also incorporate a disciplinary aspect in that we will be able to record and log our disciplinary system. It’s not going to go away, you know, so we need to record what happens.
“If the whole concept of match bans comes in the electronic recording of that will be able to make sure that it happens correctly. We have technology to enable that to take place now.”
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