New GAA Director General wants 'team effort'

Glowing tributes were paid today to GAA Player Welfare Officer Paraic Duffy who was confirmed as the Association's new Director General, taking up office on February 1 next.

GAA President Nickey Brennan was delighted with the appointment and he believes that the Monaghan native is well suited to his new position.

"When I assumed the presidency I knew that one of the things that I was going to be involved in was appointing a successor to Liam (Mulvihill) as Director General.

"Work has been ongoing and it has taken up a lot of my time in addition to my normal duties at this stage," Brennan said.

"The process has been a tough one but I can say that the calibre of candidates who applied for the position was high and the manner in which we carried out the process was very fair and professional.

"Last night our management committee accepted the nomination and proposal that Paraic Duffy would be elected as the new Ard Stiúrthóir. I want to say that I am delighted with decision.

"Paraic is a person of outstanding qualities. The Association has made a good decision and we will be in good hands over the next seven years."

Current Ard Stiúrthóir Liam Mulvihill was also high in his praise of Duffy, and indeed it was Paraic's father who seconded Mulvihill's nomination to the Director General's position 28 years ago.

Mulvihill said: "I'm delighted for Paraic personally and also for the Association that we have reached a stage where my successor has been announced.

"I think this is a very exciting time for the Association and I wish Paraic all the best in his new role. I would also like to add that I had no involvement in the process of appointing my successor."

Along with trying to resolve the current grants issue, the club will be major priority for Paraic in his early days of office as there will be a Club Forum at Croke Park on February 9.

"I would like to hit the ground running. My priority would be that we would develop a National Strategic Plan very quickly and when I say quickly I would hope that we would be in a position to present it to Congress in Sligo next April," Duffy said.

"If that plan was in place, it would spell out our priorities for the next three to five years. It would spell out how we intend to deliver them, whose responsibility it will and who will set my agenda."

Initially Duffy was not going to apply for the job as he was content to continue his role as Player Welfare Manager but he confessed that Mulvihill was one of those who pushed him into applying for the job.

"Liam would have encouraged me to let my name go forward. My view was that the Association wanted someone who may have been from a business background but Liam said that isn't for you to decide, let the association make that decision," he added.

"He would have encouraged me to put my name into the ring and he may have encouraged other people as well.

"I suppose I didn't want to run away from the job and it was easier to say I should apply than let down many of the people I respect greatly. I said if I got it that I would be fine and if I didn't I would continue the work which I'm doing and enjoying."

And although Duffy felt that a person with a business background may have been better suited to the role, he also believes that no one has all of the skills needed to succeed Mulvihill.

"I think that no matter who was appointed to this job, you aren't going to have every single skill that's required. If someone with a business background was appointed, they might be lacking a little bit in terms of the GAA side of it.

"At least I have the GAA administrative experience. I realise that there are certain deficiencies in the set of skills that I bring but I strongly believe that the staff we have in Croke Park can compensate for that.

"I see this as a team effort and as leading the team and I want to go forward very much on that basis," he explained.