FEBRUARY 2018 NUACHTLITIRFEABHRA 2018 FOR NEWS, VIDEOS AND FIXTURES www.gaa.ie Football Hurling Club General JOHN HORAN WILL PUT THE CLUB AT THE HEART OF HIS GAA PRESIDENCY By John Harrington, GAA.ie ewly appointed GAA President, we getting it right or are we creating elite John Horan, sat down with GAA. young lads at far to early a stage in their ie to discuss his hopes and life. We need to review that and address it. objectives for his three-year NPresidency, and the challenges he’s likely But I think critical to the whole organisation to face along the way. is the club. I’m putting a committee in place called the National Club Committee and Over the course of a wide-ranging the idea and background to that committee interview, he spoke about his plans for is to engage with the clubs and see how putting GAA clubs at the heart of his can we make the operation of our clubs Presidency by forming a National Club easier and how can we make sure there’s a Committee, his intention to tackle creeping strong connect to the club all the way up elitism in Gaelic Games, the challenge through the organisation and that we can Ireland’s urbanisation represents for the bring volunteers into the actual clubs to GAA, and his desire for more support for perform their roles without making their Gaelic Games at a Governmental level. tasks onerous. Q: John, What do you think will be the I think society has changed in the last main challenges you’ll face as GAA few years, even in my own profession of President? teaching. I talked to a principal the other Newly appointed Uachtarán Cumann Lúthchelas Gael, John Horan, night and he referenced the amount of pictured at Croke Park. A: I think the GAA, because of the legislative paperwork landing on their desk. complex nature of the organisation, faces A lot of that is creeping into club as well challenges on a number of fronts. People and making the tasks of being a club officer talk about the amateur status, and I think more difficult. that’s key to the continued success of our Clubs to me are key to the future. about where our development squads and organisation. So we’ve got to see how can we make academies are going. that position easier for those people on Q: Are you concerned about creeping I think we need to look at trying to address the ground because they’re key. They’re elitism and an erosion of the volunteer Are we making some of our younger players that and hold back the tide there that the bottom of the pyramid of the this ethos in the GAA? too elite too early? Are we really servicing might erode the value that the amateur organisation and without that bottom part them well? Are we losing them? The pyramid status is to us as an organisation. of the pyramid being strong and secure, A: Yeah, there is an old saying ‘don’t close gets narrower, it is only 15 lads playing minor then the rest of the pyramid becomes very the door after the horse is bolted’ and I and only a small number go on to play senior. I think we’ve got to look at our development fragile. think we have to be conscious about all We have got to be careful, the ideals in programmes of young players and see are those issues. I’d have a grave concern education at the moment are mixed ability, it Football Hurling Club General It may sound like cheap talk on my part and see can we help put in place and put training A: That Committee has been appointed and that I’m passing the buck to somebody else. in place. will be up and running. Hopefully they will If we start passing rules at Central Council have a forum. We have a Youth forum, we have level I’m quite certain people will start All the people in the GAA are all ultimately Congress, I think a club forum wouldn’t be any finding ways to circumvent them. Really linked back to their club. To get a direct line harm in terms of getting people in from around people in clubs have to decide it, that ‘we from the people in their clubs up to national the country, giving them an opportunity. You shouldn’t be paying a manager’. level to see how can we send back an extra never know from that club forum we could support. If that means we put a club support probably create new leaders within clubs, I think we should look at succession stakes desk in place to get a direct line into people to County Board, and at national level. within clubs and County Boards. People get advice. should be identifying people to manage Q: Have you have sensed that some ordinary teams and to look at a pathway through You would find in a lot of clubs people are club members feel slightly disenfranchised? for managers, not alone just for players. re-inventing the wheel here and here and County Boards should be the same. here when, in actual fact, with a sharing of A: There is an element of that. Fixtures are one information or guidance or advice the re- critical part of the problem, but we will have a Your U-16 or minor manager at inter- inventions don’t have to happen. They can National Fixtures Planning Committee in place county level should have the potential to just take the information from other people and as I said to them when I spoke to them on become an U-21 manager and then give where it has worked successfully. taking the role up, they face challenges on that you a pool that you can hopefully have your committee. own manager coming from within your own I was working on the Strategic Plan and county. It is something that has gathered one of the members of the Strategic Plan, If nothing else they could be a great conduit of pace, but we have to try to pull it back. The who would have good business experience information from county to county as to what pulling back comes from the membership said that when they sat down to look at a has worked in the new environment in the new is giving everybody a chance to maximise themselves, rules will be circumvented. fundraising pathway for themselves they said Championships in hurling and football. What their ability and potential. they were starting from scratch. I’m sure a has worked in a particular county and could Q: What sort of remit will the National lot of fundraising operations have gone on in it be transferred to another county for their Then people channel into different areas Club Committee have? different places, even in that sense, if we were benefit. and I think that is one key area. We have to provide that information to people. Here elitism at inter-county senior level and A: The National Club Committee are there are the ideas. We have all different types of counties. We we certainly have a concern, in my mind, to engage with clubs and hopefully they have counties where football and hurling that we don’t allow elitism to creep in at will have an Annual Forum. The idea of it is Q: So you’d like to see clubs sharing are equally strong. We have counties where juvenile and youth level. to gather the information, to create a link knowledge? football or hurling is strong. It is to get the between clubs on the ground and National balance between all of them, but I’m quite The other aspect is our amateur status Committees to see what can be put in place A: Shared knowledge to me would make sure all County Boards have been working at it. has always been under threat. I don’t to make the operation of the clubs easier life an awful lot easier. If the National Club Some solutions that are good have come up. think ruling from Central Council or Ard on the ground. Committee can pull in all of that knowledge Comhairle is going to necessarily address and then dissipate it out to the membership That committee will be tasked with that job that matter. I think this has to be tackled There are big challenges getting people to I would think we could make life easier for to share that information to smooth out the by a groundswell of opinion on the step forward to become officers in clubs everybody. difficulties that are probably ahead of us in ground, that everybody in their club and and at County Board level. It is becoming terms of the new proposals in hurling and the County Board resist payment to their more and more difficult. For that reason I Q: When would you hope to have that in football when they come into effect. managers. think we need to focus in on that area, to place? Football Hurling Club General Q: When you were Leinster Council maxed out in its use. It isn’t just being areas outside of Dublin where you only have appointed two committees, one was to Chairman the Leinster Council did a lot of used by Dublin, it is Kildare and Meath and one club in an area. People look at it and look to 2034, they came in with a report good work in analysing the urbanisation other clubs from outside of Dublin and think there could be two clubs here.