Banner secretary Pat Fitzgerald calls for 'unified approach' in Clare

Thu, 10 Dec, 2020 - 14:05

John Fogarty

Clare secretary Pat Fitzgerald has called for unity in the county and says he is willing to discuss any issues that individuals have with the administration of GAA in the county.

Thirty years in the role last June, Fitzgerald is open to debating with interested parties how Clare can move forward in the years ahead.

“Anyone that wants to ring me directly anytime and anything they have to say I have no problem, I will meet them at any place,” Fitzgerald told The Clare Echo.

“With some people, I have offered to go to their houses and sit down, if there is an issue and I’ve done something wrong I will say 'come and tell me and I will talk about the bloody thing'.

"Even if they don’t want to talk to me, they can talk to the chairman.

“I believe and I hope that we can work together and go on as a unified approach, that is what I’ve always been hoping for. "I’ve stretched out the hand, I may be tough in a meeting but I’ve often met people five minutes afterwards or the day after and they would look for something, you can rest assured the day I couldn’t separate those two issues I would walk away from it. Not bearing grudges or holding something against a club is a principle I’ve held since July 15, 1990. People may think differently but I will debate it with anybody.”

Sixmilebridge clubman Fitzgerald rejects the belief he has been unfair to clubs in the competitions control committee’s appointment of venues and referees.

“There is one particular club who have given me a torrid time and I’d say if people looked at it they’ve played outside Cusack Park three times in the past three years and that is a club that have not been very nice to me.

"I can assure you, I’ve probably been one of the first people that have always said because of their location that I would put them down for Cusack Park.

“I would like to think whether it is The ‘Bridge or whoever it is, I know they all say the ‘Bridge get the favoured treatment but they are at a level that they will be seen and people use that. That is one thing I would like to scratch, if someone had an argument with me today and came back tomorrow looking for €100 and I had it I’d give it to them if I trusted them.” Regarding his relationship with senior hurling manager Brian Lohan, Fitzgerald said: “I would say I’m getting on reasonably okay with Brian Lohan as far as I’m concerned. I have treated him with the courtesy he deserves and I think to be fair to him he has done the same to me.

“He might feel different, he has dealt with other officers too and I’ve no problem with that. We need more bonding and a unified approach going forward. You have enough people outside the county knocking us."

Clare delegates will hear at Tuesday night’s virtual annual convention that the county board suffered a loss of €478,359 in 2020.

Meanwhile, former Clare and Munster chairman Robert Frost is putting his name forward for one of the GAA's two trustee positions. The O'Callaghan's Mills man was a candidate for the GAA presidency three years ago.