Fogarty Forum: Congress a whole new ball game for Jim Gavin
Mittee Chairperson Gavin Daly/sportsfile Pic: Review Football Jim Gaa Ball New Seb Game:
It’s 13 years since electronic voting was introduced to GAA congresses.
Coming after the most unwieldy gathering in Newcastle, Co Down in April 2010 when there were no less than 123 motions and each of those put to the floor were subject to a show of hands and decided by either a count of them or acclaim, the technology transformed procedures that had become antiquated.
Some votes like those for presidential and trustee elections are still completed with pen and paper by secret ballot. However, “the zappers” are now established as the instruments by which delegates exercise their franchise on motions.
Held the day after the General Election, the presence of such e-voting machines at Special Congress this Saturday when the Government scrapped the system 12 years ago will prove rich material for the wags in Croke Park.
There are plenty of them. At every Congress before the first motion, to ensure that the devices are in working order, either the GAA president or director general will ask delegates to answer a simple question like “are you currently in Croke Park?”
Every time, without fail, there will be a gaggle who press the number 2 on the panel for “no”.
For some, it’s a joke that doesn’t lose its flavour but for those at the top table their unruliness is a worthwhile exercise as it establishes that both buttons are operating and the debates can commence.
On Saturday, Football Review Committee (FRC) chairman Jim Gavin must prepare himself for the GAA electorate not giving him their No1 vote for the rule changes he and his party proposes.
That may be difficult for a man accustomed to successes and whose approach to this process has been incredibly exacting. When the six-time All-Ireland SFC winning manager stands in front of the 350-odd delegates, he can’t assume that his splendid record or expertise will win over a body who are known to get itchy if they vote in a succession of motions.
He can’t rely on the Frank Murphy factor. For several years as head of the rules advisory committee, the former Cork secretary presented a suite of amendments and addendums to the Official Guide. A man whose knowledge of An Treoir Oifigiúil bordered on legendary, it was almost taken for granted that what he was offering was worth endorsing.
Murphy’s success rate was close to 100% as his successor Liam Keane’s is now but what Gavin is selling isn’t something so obscure as closing a loophole or as niche as tidying up a subclause. Everybody has an opinion on his wears and while it is expected the majority of motions will be passed to become trial rules in Gaelic football next year, there is likely to be a defeat or two and some conditions attached to those that pass.
The general feeling among counties is that the game has to be improved and the FRC’s proposals must be given a full-blown trial in 2025 but at inter-county only. There is a strong consensus that a recruitment drive for match officials and improvements to club pitches will have to occur before they can be implemented at that level.
That “try before you buy” or phased implementation wouldn’t be unusual. The black card/penalty punishment for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity has yet to filter to the club game. The yellow sliotar only became the de rigeur colour ball in hurling at all levels from minor up earlier this year after it was first used in the senior inter-county championship in 2020.
Among the FRC, there is an acceptance that the chances of their rule changes passing in four days’ time will improve greatly if they are restricted to inter-county for 2025. Gavin has publicly insisted the enhancements have been devised to be launched across the board all at once, but the staggered process is a compromise he might have to make. GAA realpolitik as it lives and breathes.
One concession the FRC have already made themselves is doing away with the idea of a four-point goal. That could have a detrimental effect on the two-pointer from outside the 40-metre arc as both seemed intrinsically linked and the committee themselves have spoken so often of their proposals being co-dependent.
Of all the recommendations, it appears the most vulnerable but in the main what Gavin serves this weekend is palatable. The tap-and-go is a slam dunk as are most, if not all the disciplinary measures. The kick-out and three-v-three proposals should pass too.
Ahead of Special Congress, Gavin and his fellow committee members have canvassed strongly. They have compiled a call-list to go through to explain any queries counties and other units entitled to vote have about the motions.
Clearly, his eyes are open to the choreography needed to win votes but on GAA’s own election day more steps will have to be rehearsed. For Congress can be an unruly beast.
Pat Gilroy has never been a man to throw his toys out of the pram. When Dublin had performance or disciplinary issues during his time as manager, he called them for what they were.
He has taken charge of both of his county’s senior football and hurling teams as well as his club St Vincent’s. His GAA heritage is without question and coupled with his success as chief executive with companies like Dalkia that become Veolia it made him an ideal person to join Croke Park’s management committee.
Gilroy was also on the body that oversaw the GAA’s latest strategic plan that runs to 2026 but nowhere in that document is their mention of payments to managers. Foreseeing the passing of that Rubicon, he chose to step down from the stadium body.
“In the last three or four months, the GAA has been going down a path that I don't think is compatible with what the organisation should be,” he told the “Irish Daily Mirror” last week. “The things that are concerning me is this talk of paying managers, and the use of Croke Park.”
Gilroy is not stuck-in-the-mud fuddy-duddy. Four years ago, he suggested the GAA may need to consider amalgamating counties as a means of equalising the championships and giving every player the opportunity to win an All-Ireland.
His decision and claim that the GAA’s ethos is at stake has sent ripples around the organisation. With his background in top level management of people, he was rightly spoken of as a contender for the director general’s position in the last decade. If he is now so worried about the direction of the GAA that he has chosen to step away, it’s a big deal.
Gilroy didn’t point any fingers but his opposition to payments of managers appeared to contradict GAA president Jarlath Burns’ recent suggestions of issuing contracts to regulate that area, following on from former director general Páraic Duffy’s work.
Burns wants to grasp the nettle; Gilroy prefers the weedkiller. Two viewpoints but clearly diverging.
At this rate, it’s difficult to calculate all the returns and retirements and, who knows, Saturday’s Special Congress could decide the inter-county futures of more players (how many are hanging on in hope for the two-pointer?).
The decision by Cillian O’Connor to leave the Mayo set-up had been expected but pointedly the 32-year-old has not retired. Was it a form of constructive dismissal as O’Connor became exasperated with the impact substitute role or does he simply feel like he needs a break?
Going by Aidan O’Shea’s comments on the Football Podcast, O’Connor wasn’t for turning and yet less than 11 months ago he couldn’t have been more positive about the 2024 season ahead.
“I do feel that year I missed, in 2021, is a year I have back,” he said at the Allianz League launch. “I didn’t have the slog of a full season that year, I didn’t have the banging and trouble on the joints, the running and all that.
“I still love training, I love the game, I love the matches. And I love the buzz in the squad and the plotting and scheming with my team-mates trying to work stuff out and win matches. I’m feeling positive again about it all and as long as you’re getting asked to be there, asked to play, it’s brilliant.” O’Connor’s worth remains abundantly clear to those who analyse their games, never mind their supporters. If Paul Conroy can win a footballer of the year award at 35 and Andy Moran at 34, there is every chance Mayo’s highest ever scorer can return with vigour in 2026.
john.fogarty@examiner.ie