Tiered Senior and Intermediate Hurling Championships for 2024 are set to be rubber-stamped at the February meeting of Clare GAA, it was agreed at Tuesday’s Structures Meeting in the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis. With eight motions put forward for discussion, it was the four pertaining to the format of the county senior and intermediate hurling championships for 2024 that garnered the most debate. Sixmilebridge and Feakle are seeking a return to the pre-covid championship structure of knock-out with a back door while Broadford (senior) and Newmarket-on-Fergus (intermediate) opted for a tiered approach. In the end, Sixmilebridge’s proposal was defeated, with clubs looking more favourably on Broadford’s motion to divide the 16 participating teams into Senior A and B sections (two groups of four in each) with the top three teams from each group at Senior A advancing to the Canon Hamilton Cup quarter-finals alongside the group winners at Senior B. Clubs’ Senior A or B status depended on where …
Read More »Serious injuries and inadequate responses darken Clare sports
After a sporting weekend which saw Mark Rodgers produce a spellbinding four goal display while Shane O’Donnell showcased his class once more, it is unfortunate that the biggest talking point from the weekend was in fact not the action on the field. The nasty ankle injury suffered by Inagh Kilnamona centre back Jason McCarthy, who was forced to wait almost an hour for an ambulance to arrive, overshadowed his side’s SHC quarter final encounter with Éire Óg. Meanwhile, Kilkishen Celtic AFC player Paddy McInerney broke his tibia and fibia in a game against Shannon Hibs in the FAI Junior Cup and the 38-year-old was forced to wait an hour and a half for an ambulance to arrive. A nurse from Shannon, who attended the game, helped to comfort the player until the medical personnel arrived and transported him to hospital. A freak accident saw McInerney suffer the cruel blow with both himself and Jason McCarthy left with long waits before …
Read More »Deirdre Murphy appointed head of operations for Clare GAA
Clooney’s Deirdre Murphy has been appointed as Head of Operations with Clare GAA. She will take up the role in the middle of October. In an interview with The Clare Champion, County Board Chairman Kieran Keating stated that Murphy’s previous experience both outside and within the county made her stand out from the rest of the field. “I suppose her experience and background makes her ideal for this type of role. Her work with the Camogie Association and UL speaks for itself while her natural ability on the field with Clare is well known. She knows Gaelic Games very well and has served a number of roles that have enhanced her knowledge of the games and business side.” There was an initial field of 16 candidates for the role which over time was whittled down to the final three. Keating insists there was strong competition for the role and candidates from a wide variety of disciplines interested in this position. …
Read More »Sixteen apply for job of Clare GAA chief operating officer
‘A time of change for Clare GAA’ provided equal measures of excitement and trepidation amongst delegates at the July County Board meeting in Caherlohan, Tulla this week. With outgoing full-time secretary Pat Fitzgerald opting to sidestep the ‘fuss’ and fanfare of his final county board meeting following his departure after 32 consecutive years, a new chapter for Clare GAA has consequently been accelerated much faster than originally anticipated. Based upon the Saffron & Blue Strategic Plan, a full-time COO (Chief Operating Officer) will supersede Fitzgerald’s role while the complimentary position of secretary will revert to being a voluntary appointment. With the deadline for applications exhausted last Friday, Clare GAA Chairman Kieran Keating revealed that 16 people have applied for the prestigious post, with the process now in the hands of Croke Park to sift through the eligibility of the candidates and produce a shortlist for interview. The interview process will be carried out by a committee comprised of two from …
Read More »No-one in Clare set-up lobbied for Galvin, says county board
Clare county board has said no-one connected in any capacity with it or the senior hurling camp attempted to lobby the central hearings committee on Ian Galvin’s behalf. Galvin’s appeal against the controversial red card he received against Cork was due to be heard on Monday, but it was deferred amid claims that members of the committee had been lobbied with a view to influencing the case. The committee has since imposed a one-match suspension on Galvin, who will now miss Sunday’s Munster SHC clash with All-Ireland champions Limerick in Ennis. Galvin was contesting his red card against Cork last Sunday week, in a case originally due to be heard last Monday night only to be delayed in controversial circumstances for three days. On Wednesday Clare County Board chairman Kieran Keating said that no one connected with the board had made any attempt to influence the proceedings. “It wasn’t anyone on our executive or anyone connected with us. I don’t …
Read More »GAA: Senior Hurling Relegation out the window
THE pre-Christmas decision not to relegate any team from the 2021 Clare Senior Hurling Championship and proceed with an 18 clubs format for the coming season was reaffirmed by Clare GAA in Treacy’s West County Hotel this evening, reports Eoin Brennan. Despite granting the request of Broadford, Scariff, Smith O’Brien’s and Whitegate for a special meeting of the Clare County Board seven days previously to contest the legality, procedure and consequences of the 18-16 vote on December 21, new Clare GAA Chairman Kieran Keating informed the delegates that window of opportunity to appeal had elapsed. With no dissenters on the night of the vote or any appeal within the allotted three days of the December 21st meeting, the decision to void any senior demotion stood, with the Master Fixtures Committee currently formulating a fixtures plan for 2022 to include 18 senior hurling teams. Nonetheless, there would be continued debate for over an hour before the issue that has been to …
Read More »Senior demotions relegated to history following vote
18 teams will contest the 2022 Clare Senior Hurling Championship, it was decreed following a vote at a special meeting of the Clare GAA County Board in the West County Hotel this evening, reports Eoin Brennan. Following an hour long debate on the relegation debacle that ranged from the prospect of no adult team in either football or hurling championship being relegated in 2021 to all four senior hurling relegation candidates (Clarecastle, Clooney-Quin, Crusheen and O’Callaghan’s Mills) potentially being demoted to intermediate if as, indicated, they all failed to show for any revised relegation play-offs, the clubs voted 18 to 16 in favour of scraping any trapdoor. Stemming from a successful appeal from Crusheen to deem the round robin relegation group null and void, the onus was put back on the County Board to decide how to resolve this issue. With the four teams that finished bottom of their respective groups on an equal footing once more, each one adamantly …
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