Clare GAA clubs have given unanimous backing to a new committee being put in place to conduct a strategic review aimed at improving standards in the county.
It comes from an Éire Óg motion which calls for Clare GAA to “establish an independent committee to develop a five year strategic plan”. It detailed that the committee should consist of five people who are independent of the county board, and drawn from business and commercial interests with a strong record of commitment and involvement in the GAA.
The key areas identified for the committee to focus on are finance and fundraising, optimisation of the Centre of Excellence at Caherlohan and other facilities, Coaching and Games Development, Governance, Public Relations along with marketing and social media. The motion was the brainchild of former Clare minor coach Niall O’Connor.
Each club who spoke on the evening gave their backing to the motion, with chairman Jack Chaplin outlining that a member of the county board would have to be adopted onto the committee in order to ensure it is within rule. Vice chairman Kieran Keating was suggested as the person who should be the link between the committee and the board. It was agreed that the county management committee would liaise with Éire Óg in order to finalise the make up of the final committee.
A line up of high profile Clare business men had already committed to taking on the task, including Ennis native Tony Garry (former CEO of Davy Stockbrokers), Clarecastle’s Mark O’Connell (CEO of Repucon Consulting), Parteen man Conor Gilligan (CEO of Roadbridge), Ogonnelloe’s Colin Kelly (CEO of Gyrogy), Eoin Conroy of Barefield (CEO of Titan Experience), Ennis man Eoin Doohan (Managing Director of DFP Group) and Enda Connolly of Ennis (Managing Director of CMP Investment Partners).
A finance committee also appointed with Chris Ryan, Michael Gallagher, Kieran Keating & Denis Cullinan appointed. Former Munster Council CEO Simon Moroney leading the committee charged with bringing Caherlohan up to standard.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.