My Dad has been dedicated to GAA his entire life. At 24 and he took over the chairmanship of the Cloyne club when it was in dire trouble – all while he was still playing.
From an early age, he always enjoyed the politics of the GAA and had the ambition to be involved at the top table.
He’s put his hat in the ring now and as I said to him “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. He’s always said, “if you don’t take a chance at something, you’ll never know.”
He’s the right man to lead the GAA
He spent a lot of time deliberating over whether he should go for it or not but he deserves the chance we’re delighted he’s going for it.
I don’t like bringing this up, but he was also involved in some of the debacles in the Cork players disputes through the years. I believe he’s come through them brilliantly. He dealt with them in a very capable manner.
He’s overseen change in the Munster Council as chairman and he’s dealt with some of the harder issues in terms of player welfare in Cork, so the man is well versed in what he needs to do.
Dad has served his time right through from being the chairman of Cloyne to Imokilly (East Cork board) then Cork and eventually, the Munster Council. He’s worked his way up the ladder, it’s not like he jumped from zero to 100 here!
He’s sat, bided his time and learned other roles within the system.
All we can do is support him in this venture and do that as much we can. It’s his dream to do it.
Stadium issue needs to be put to bed for now
We know there are problems with Páirc Uí Chaoimh, you were always going to have sniping and bitching about it.
People have been appointed now to sort those problems out though.
It needs to be put to rest. Leave these guys who have been appointed to solve the issues, get on with their business.
In 12 months’ time if these issues aren’t sorted, then everyone is entitled to ask questions and all bets are off.
Howlett’s an interesting call, but why was Keegan let go?
Gary Keegan is one of the most sought-after guys in the country in relation to sports performance.
My question is why Cork failed to secure Keegan’s services again?
As for Doug Howlett, he’s going to bring his experience to the table. He’s still the record leading try-scorer for the All-Blacks.
What he’s done for Munster since he came to this country has been nothing short of phenomenal and he’s held in very high esteem throughout the world.
It will be interesting to see his role with Cork become more defined and more involved as the summer rolls on.
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