Cooney rails against outside managers

GAA President Christy Cooney is sticking to his belief that club and county teams should have local people in charge. The Cork man, who is now in the third year of his presidency, was in Miltown Malbay last Sunday for the official opening of St Joseph’s 1,200-seater stand. He told The Clare Champion that funds raised by clubs should not be spent on employing outside managers or coaches.
“I look at it in a very simple way. Club members are out fundraising to keep the club going and I would hate to see a situation where that funding, which is there for the development of the club, is used to pay an outside manager.
That’s not what our association is about. An example of that is the voluntary movement that exists in this club,” he said, pointing to the stand development in Miltown.
Cooney is adamant that GAA identity is linked to having club members in charge of their flagship teams.
“I was in the Barr’s club (St Finbarr’s, Cork) the other day and you see that people in the club are all from the Barr’s. I saw the same down in Clonakilty on Saturday and the same in Na Piarsiagh on Saturday night. That’s what it’s about at the end of the day. Clubs can’t afford to pay big money to bring people in from the outside to train their teams when they have wonderful people within their clubs themselves,” he said.
“It’s not about being unfair to people. If people want to do it, they do it on a voluntary basis. They are entitled to their expenses fair enough, once it’s not abused,” the he clarified.
He is equally forthright in his views regarding the addresses of county managers. Cooney feels that Clare people should manage Clare and so on around the country.
“Absolutely. No doubt about that. It has been proven that bringing in outside managers doesn’t guarantee success. I think a person from within your own county, that is competent and capable of doing it, should be the obvious person to do the job. They have the pride in the jersey and they have the pride in the community that they represent,” he suggested.
Ironically, Anthony Daly, who is definitely not a Dub, led Dublin to their first national hurling league title since 1939 last Sunday week.
Regarding the development work in Hennessy Memorial Park, Christy Cooney was effusive in his praise of the local club.
“Today is extra special for the club, the community and it shows the tremendous voluntary movement that exists in the GAA that they can raise close to €250,000, with a small debt. It’s remarkable. That’s down to leadership in the club. It shows the strength of the GAA in the community. It’s a wonderful day and a great day for the club,” he said.
With the Irish economy in a chronic downturn, Cooney suggested that development work in clubs needed to be prudent but that the will was there to main progression within most clubs.
“It’s a massive challenge for clubs but I still see tremendous commitment. It might mean holding back on development that they had planned during the good years because the same funding is no longer available at national level. But there’s still great commitment in the community.
“Maybe they’re cutting their cloth a little bit to make sure they can deliver on it and not taking on massive debt. That’s what we say to clubs. ‘Do what you can within the means of what you have. Don’t take on a debt that you can’t manage or deliver on’. Clubs are doing that and are doing it very well. We still have tremendous support at community level. An example of that is here today,” he said. 
Having shaken sufficient hands and completed the speech making the GAA president was due to head for Holycross in Tipperary for the opening of a community centre dedicated to the memory of John Doyle. The day before he had attended two GAA functions at clubs in Cork.
“Every club you go to in every county, you’re treated so royally. You’re treated with such respect. The position is probably one of the most honoured positions within the country. My job is to give it as much energy, commitment and time as I can for the GAA. And that’s what I want to do,” he explained.
Christy Cooney didn’t deny though that the high profile nature of his post brings some pressures with it.
“You’ve no private life. You have to be very careful of what you say and to be fair to people on an ongoing basis. But the most important thing is, I’m there to serve the association for three years and to give it what I can. To try and make the association that little bit stronger when I leave it, than it was when I came in,” he concluded.