No ‘railroading’ of clubs on plan

CORK GAA chiefs have insisted that they are not going to ‘railroad’ clubs into endorsing their new strategic plan which seeks to overhaul its underage structures and resolve issues that have surfaced in conflicts in the county in recent years.

Grassroots members around the county have expressed their dissatisfaction at the level of consultation over the radical elements of the plan involving the disbandment of divisional boards at underage level and the creation of new East, North and West regions in their place. But board officials are adamant that they will allay the fears of clubs during a series of consultative meetings that are set to take place throughout the month of November.

“We are in the midst of holding divisional meetings at present”, revealed county board youth officer Marc Sheehan. “We held meetings for the Carbery and Beara divisions in Dunmanway last Wednesday night, and for the Seandun and Carrigdhoun divisions in Páirc Ui Chaoimh last Thursday night. Those meetings with divisions will continue this week. It’s very important to realise that we have then made a commitment that from November 1, we’ll start rolling out meetings with clubs on an individual basis. We’re going to work to help clubs at these meetings.

“Nothing’s going to be railroaded, we want to engage with people on this and I would stress that the plans in relation to underage matters are only to be implemented on a trial basis of two years, which would include a review after twelve months. We’ve given a lot of thought to the underage situation. Our aim is to improve the underage structures, we don’t want to create unnecessary conflict. That’s not part of our agenda. This whole process has been consultative by its nature and it will continue to be like that.”

Sheehan insisted that the board are striving to achieve consensus before implementing the plan and has not ruled out the prospect of clubs being asked to vote on the key issues at county convention on December 11.

“We belong to a democratic organisation so we are going to do this properly. We’re seeking to get consensus on these issues first and foremost. It’s premature to be focusing on votes being taken until after we’ve talked to officers at board and club level. We will see what concerns they have and then attempt to address them. After we’ve resolved the issues, there will possibly be a need for them to be rubberstamped through a vote at convention.”

Sheehan revealed that the proposed measures have received support and that there is a need to rectify existing imbalances in divisions at underage level. He also admitted the club concerns over travelling were legitimate and that there is a proposal to organise regions on a sectional basis to eliminate long travelling, while the prospect of playing certain games at neutral venues is also being considered.

“A lot of people will agree that this is worthy of discussion,” he said.