AN emergency meeting of the Clare Ladies Football County Board, held on Tuesday evening, unanimously backed the recently elected county board in their plans to appeal Munster Council’s Appeals Committee decision to uphold outgoing chairman, Davy Browne’s appeal to them.
At the county convention in December, Bernie Regan comprehensively ousted Browne from the chairperson’s role. The Doonbeg man was also beaten in his efforts to be elected as county minor manager.
He subsequently appealed the way in which the annual convention was technically conducted to a Munster Council Appeals Committee. They ruled in his favour last Friday but that does not mean the former chairman is automatically returned.
“Munster Council are aware that until this process is finished, the existing board remains in position. From everyone’s point of view, Bernie Regan is the chairperson,” recently elected county board secretary, Paul McKenna, told The Clare Champion.
This week’s emergency meeting was attended by 39 delegates. The meeting voted, 31 votes to eight, to support the board and appeal the decision to Munster Council.
“Davy Browne spoke at the meeting and obviously spoke against the appeal, as did delegates from the Kilmurry Ibrickane and Kilmihil clubs. Bernie Regan, as the current chairperson of the county board, which was ratified by Croke Park, chaired the meeting. We have posted the appeal. Munster Council hasn’t received it yet. It will be the next week or 10 days before the appeal is heard,” McKenna explained on Wednesday.
The Clare County Board didn’t attend last Friday’s appeal in Limerick because they felt they weren’t properly notified.
“We felt that if we attended, we were giving credence to that committee. The best thing was to appeal to the actual Munster Council and that was the advice we got from Croke Park,” the board secretary stated.
McKenna is not certain if peace will return to Clare ladies football following the board’s appeal to Munster Council.
“I have no idea but I think if you’re going for a position and you lose a vote 35 to eight at your AGM and you lose a second vote, 31-8, it’s very clear-cut what the clubs want. Davy might have been upset that he didn’t win the vote but you have to accept democracy.
“Bernie Regan was elected as the new chairperson. It’s time to get on with it. If someone wants to come back and put their name into the hat next year, go and do that. But I think trying to seek out technicalities when a clear majority voted otherwise is not on. If it was a split 50/50 decision, fair enough,” he asserted.
“If the current board doesn’t make a good job of it, we’re up for re-election next year. It’s not doing anybody any good at the moment to have this thing ongoing. Nothing can be put in place really. Everything is under a cloud of ‘what if’ and the board is broke. The elected officers need to get up and running and sort this out,” the board secretary suggested.
Browne could not be contacted on Wednesday for a comment.
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.