Provincial venues can host major championship games, says Kerry chairman
At last night’s county convention in Ballyroe Heights in Tralee, O’Sullivan’s praise for the Kerry senior team and manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice included a mention of the semi-final replay against Mayo, held in Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds on the evening of Saturday, August 30.
“Their performances in Páírc Uí Chaoimh, Croke Park and their unforgettable display in the semi-final replay at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick will live long in our memories,” O’Sullivan said.
“The decision to stage the replay in Limerick was, at the time, controversial, but the atmosphere there that evening proved conclusively that a provincial venue is more than capable of successfully hosting a major championship game.”
O’Sullivan also stressed the importance of club volunteers and called on local and national politicians to do what they could to help stop the flow of emigration.
“As our clubs prepare for the challenges of 2015, it is important for everybody to realise clubs need volunteers now more than ever before to help them achieve their goals,” he said.
“Emigration is still the most major threat to the GAA in Kerry and it is vital that employment opportunities for our young people become a priority for our national and local politicians.”
O’Sullivan also echoed the comments of county secretary Peter Twiss with regard to Central Council proposals to contain the club championship season within the calendar year.
Twiss’s report, circulated last week, expressed grave reservations about this. O’Sullivan expressed the opinion that people like Twiss had a better idea of the practicalities of organising club championships than anyone.
“I often wonder do committees and individuals who make proposals on fixtures and competition structures ever consult the people at the coal face of fixtures management,” he said.
“If they did, I very much doubt that we would have so many ill-thought-out proposals on fixtures and competition structures up for debate year-in, year-out.
“Club teams in Kerry will always have a game, either championship or league. League games are mostly played without county players. Championships are played when county players are available to their clubs. In this county we are satisfied with our fixtures and we are equally satisfied that the adult club players are provided with a satisfactory number of games each year.”
In his report, county treasurer Dermot Lynch sought to clarify reports last week which suggested that it cost almost €1m to prepare the county senior football team. The figure for team administration expenses of €972,613 related to all seven inter-county teams, Lynch revealed, with the figure for the Sam Maguire winners closer to €300,000.
Diarmuid Ó Sé of Dromid Pearses was elected vice-chairman, beating Stephen Wallace (Ardfert), while John Joe Carroll of Asdee overcame Spa’s Ger Galvin to become the county’s Central Council delegate. Stephen O’Sullivan from Gneeveguilla was elected unopposed as assistant secretary.
Carroll’s predecessor, Eamon O’Sullivan, received a standing ovation after his retirement speech, relating his experiences since first coming onto the board in 1986.
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