O'Callaghan seeks key position

As Irish athletics prepares for its biggest clear-out of officials in many years, Pierce O'Callaghan has emerged as a strong candidate for the position of international secretary. At 26 he knows inexperience may be against him but his passion for the sport has convinced him to run nonetheless.

This weekend in Galway, the Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI) will hold its first congress under its new All-Ireland constitution - approved last October after a two-year trial. The main element of congress will be the first full elections of AAI officials.

O'Callaghan will contest the closest election, for what is regarded as the highest profile position. The presidency, vice-presidency and secretary appear sorted but four are set to run for international secretary - including, it appears, Christy Wall, who has held the position since 1984.

Though rumours abound that Wall may yet drop out of the race, O'Callaghan will still face tough opposition from Liam Hennessey, current vice-president and member of the former BLE management since 1976. Hennessey's unblemished record makes him the favourite though the fourth candidate, Paddy Hayden, also has long involvement with the sport.

For O'Callaghan, however, the desire to improve the state of Irish athletics remains overriding: "From an early age I've wanted to get involved in the running of the sport," he says, "and I'm at the stage of my life now where I figured it was time to start. I've always felt Irish athletics could do a lot better, and to say we aren't fulfilling our potential is a gross understatement. We still have too much needless conflict, and to put it bluntly I want to remove the gun from Irish athletics."

Despite his age, O'Callaghan has some strong credentials. Since his juvenile years he has been one of Ireland's leading race walkers, with numerous international vests including the European Championships in Budapest in 1998 - though injury and ill health have stalled his career for now.

He was also on the BLE statistics committee at 17, and at 22 was a member of the junior management as athletes' representative.

"I've been a competitor and I've been coaching now as well and I think I know what athletes want. This is the only position where you really are on the ground and in constant contact with the athletes and that's what I'm looking for.

"And there's too much conflict at that level. You go back over the years and you'll always find problems at international level, from the team selections to the gear conflict and so on. We heard what Jerry Kiernan had to say about the Irish selection process on the weekend of the world cross country in Dublin. The timing may have been a little off but I agree with everything he was saying."

O'Callaghan is aware of the challenge but feels he can adapt. He recently returned from a period of coaching in Australia and has restarted his job with Bank Of America. "I work on American hours, from 3.0 in the evening to 11.0 at night, and that would give me the mornings to deal with the responsibilities. I know I'm two generations younger than the other candidates and the people that are voting as well, but I believed in putting my name forward because I'm passionate about the sport."

Michael Heery is a certainty for the AAI presidency as Nick Davis is stepping down. Jerry Burke is the sole opposing candidate but his support is likely to fall short.

Patsy McGonagle is unopposed for the position of vice-president, as is Georgina Drumm for the position of secretary (Dermot Nagle is also stepping down) and Paddy Marley for competitions secretary. The position of treasurer will be contested between Rita Brady and Michael Quinlan.