Clare GAA review: Centre of excellence 'not fit for purpose' amid outdated governance structure

The Clare centre of excellence in Caherlohan, Tulla.

A wide-ranging review of Clare GAA, circulated to clubs on Wednesday, pulls no punches, describing the county’s centre of excellence at Caherlohan as “not fit for purpose” and claiming the administrative structure in Clare is “not reflective of a vastly changed operational environment”.

The strategic plan group (SPG) made many recommendations in its ‘Saffron & Blue Plan: Clare GAA Five Year Plan’ based on responses received while consulting widely within the county.

Regarding the centre of excellence, the SPG document states: “The focus is for Caherlohan to provide excellent training facilities for all teams of both codes.

“Existing facility lacks the most basic training infrastructure that is needed to prepare a team.

“What is built is not fit for purpose. Grass pitches are unplayable for large portions of the year. Dressing rooms are too small. It takes two of the existing dressing rooms to accommodate either of the senior panels. The gym is too small. At 130m sq it can’t accommodate a full panel.

“The non-training aspects including meeting rooms, catering, video analysis, etc —can probably be greatly improved. The whole site is completely under-developed with gravel roads, no landscaping, or tree planting.”

The document recommends that “Caherlohan becomes the headquarters of Clare GAA and all staff and volunteers are based there. This will only be possible when the facilities are developed to accommodate them.”

It also recommends recruiting a facilities manager.

The document states that “42% of the Clare GAA public and Clare GAA club members rated governance as the priority area for attention within the plan”.

Recent controversies at board level in Clare, including the treasurer apologising for comments about fundraising for the U20 hurlers, have put officials and administrative structures in the spotlight.

In its assessment of “Clare GAA governance and structures”, the SPG document states that those “to date have been largely based on a traditional approach to managing operations. They are not reflective of a vastly changed operational environment.”

“This operational shift is now manifestly evident in how the business of sport functions, financial requirements, games development focus, and the facilities required to operate a ‘tier one’ GAA county.”

The document adds: “The current duration of a role held by a full-time officer is limited to five years except for the role of county secretary where the expiry date of a second signed contract is June 2023... there are no formal reporting procedures, terms of reference, or agreed project/work plans for any Clare GAA committee. There is no evidence of reporting available in order to monitor or assess the effectiveness of committees.”

The SPG recommendations include the appointment of a full-time CEO, a commercial manager, and an independent commercial advisory board.

Comparisons are made with similar counties regarding coaching and games officers: “Each of our C&G games employees — including our games manager — trying to cover 14 clubs on average… whilst counties we will be trying to compete against in years to come, such as Meath and Kildare, have one employee per three club units, on average.”

The SPG was chaired by Enda Connolly and included Eoin Conroy (Doora-Barefield), Eoin Doohan (Eire ÓG), Conor Gilligan (Parteen), Roisin Glynn (Kilrush), Colin Kelly (Ogonelloe), Kieran Keating (Naomh Eoin), Mark O’Connell (Clarecastle), and Enda O’Flaherty (Doora-Barefield).