GAA: Ulster appoints new Performance Director

The Ulster GAA Council has taken a major step forward with the appointment

of a Performance Director to, hopefully, increase the standard of football

in the province and lay the foundations of success at All-Ireland senior

level, once again.

Eugene Young, the former Derry and Ulster star, who also played basketball

at all levels with Ireland, is the man charged with bringing the province to

the forefront once more. He has been appointed for a four-year period.

The Derry man is a Doctor of Philosophy and a sports lecturer at UUJ but has

been given a four-year sabbatical from teaching.

"For a start I will visit all the nine counties and meet with coaches,

managers and development officers. My job will not be to tell them what to

do but to be there to help them. I'm excited about this appointment and I

look forward to a positive four years.

"However, I hope that I will not be judged on whether or not the Sam Maguire

Cup comes back to Ulster. We can ask why that has not happened since the

early nineties and we must give counties the vision of success again," said

Young

He takes up the appointment, which has been made through the Sports

Institute Northern Ireland and in association with the Sports Council and

the Lottery Unit, in November.