Aogán Ó Fearghail emphasises value of tradition but with modern concerns

Aogán Ó Fearghail began his term of office as the GAA's 38th president on Saturday in his home county of Cavan. His first address as president was characteristic: unscripted, fluently delivered and discursive, emphasising the value of tradition but also touching on more modern concerns such as the role of women in the association, urbanisation and the importance of overseas units.

"We have a complex association with so many aspects to it but at the heart of it we are about games. That is the central motion and in games development we have many challenges but we will rise to them. Urbanisation is a huge issue: small clubs working like Liam O'Neill's club with a membership of 49 and then . . . we have clubs in Ireland with a bigger population than many of our counties.

Pointing out that his own club Drumgoon Éire Óg currently has women in the offices of chair, secretary and treasurer, he added: “That is an important advancement that we need to continue in the GAA.”

Calendar year

Speaking at the media conference after the conclusion of congress, the new president was keen to emphasise the importance of consensus and denied that the GAA administration was aggressively promoting the idea of the calendar year in Gaelic games, the blueprint for which emerged from a high-profile sub-committee and has been the subject of critical remarks by county officers especially in Munster.

“We are not pushing anything; we are simply issuing a discussion document. We are not pushing anything. We are issuing a discussion document to see can we have an improved fixture calendar. That’s not pushing.

“At least two or three of the Munster chairmen have told me they favour it, but there are little issues they do not like so we will listen to them and we will address them.”

He dislikes extreme positions and dismissed a question that suggested the calendar year proposals were now "doomed" given the appetite congress had shown for increasing further the number of inter-county fixtures – by nearly accepting a motion from Leinster looking for permission to use a round-robin format in its provincial championship.

Qualifiers

Asked about his support for the traditional place of the provincial championships in the games calendar O’Farrell again placed the issue in the wider context of the membership.

“This is not about me, this is what the counties are saying and they are very comfortable with the provincial championships. I also said many of the counties are not comfortable with the format of the qualifiers where the weaker counties get beaten twice and we will listen to that. I don’t have a white rabbit to pull out of a hat in that situation but I certainly think that is an area we will listen and look for good proposals on.

“But the actual format of the provincial championships are very widely accepted within the GAA.”

The new president was also asked about references in his address to there being no elites in the GAA, he said that he had no-one in mind.

“Anyone who considers themselves elite. I don’t think there is any group within the association.

“I had no one in mind but all I was stating was a principle of the GAA that everyone matters in a positive way. The guy who opens the gate in my club is as important as the best player or as me. I had myself in mind. I am not in the elite.”

He also said that he wouldn’t be setting out a programme for his first 100 days in office.

"I don't do targets and I don't do checklists, I have to be honest. The first day – you know that – I'm going over to Abu Dhabi. That's the nature of it. I wouldn't be negative to it in the way you seem to think it's arcane. It's not a bit arcane. It's very real and very important for our young people particularly because that's where you see the young people – in the GAA clubs worldwide.

"You don't get older generations in places like Saudi Arabia but my targets are to work closely with Páraic and set down some ambitious targets, where we intend to improve and to listen constantly to our clubs and our units and to make sure whatever we're doing, that we're doing something to improve the lot of the association.

“We did publish very recently a strategic plan, which I’ve no doubt you have. I believe it’s a good, achievable plan. We’re going to start to work on that very quickly and identify who’ll do what and how it will be achieved.”

Local pride

In his speech to congress, he had earlier laid out the importance of the GAA in maintaining local pride and a sense of place.

“But the GAA is built on our attachment to our own place and that has been said repeatedly this weekend. The pride we have in our parish and that sense of place is hugely significant and important. As you drive throughout Ireland you’ll see in all kinds of little villages and little country areas that have been ravaged by emigration or economic downturn but the flags fly and that love of their own patch is very important.

“We should always value it – ‘the hedges of our first imagining’ is how Séamus Heaney described it. I believe that Cumann Lúthcheas Gael builds community and builds character and our games reveal it and it is very important that we constantly keep that love of and attachment to our own place.

"It doesn't really matter if your pitch is on an island off the west coast of Ireland or if it's in Kuala Lumpur or the desert sands of Arabia or it's in Croke Park it is all the same community of GAA and love of place for all of us."