Cork GAA Clubs Forum issue report

The_Banker

Roll on convention!!

Clubs demand changes in county structures
By Fintan O’Toole

Thursday, July 23, 2009



GRASSROOTS clubs in Cork have called for an immediate and widespread overhaul of county GAA structures in the wake of several recent high profile stand-offs between players and the board.



The Cork GAA Clubs Forum, which was established as a result of club grievances during last winter’s bitter conflict, yesterday released its interim report, outlining the plans for the future development of Gaelic games in the county.

In a wide-ranging document, calls were made for all junior clubs to be represented at county board level, to model Cork GAA marketing plans on the successful Munster rugby brand model and to establish a supporters club to assist fundraising.

Cork GAA Clubs Forum chairman Tomás Ryan explained that the report was a result of extensive consultation with clubs around the county.

“A huge amount of work has gone into the report. There were a lot of genuine meetings with a lot of genuine GAA people.

“We met clubs from every division and there were a lot of frustrations. This is just a completely GAA report which covers areas right across the board. We e-mailed a copy of it to every club in the county on Tuesday night and to the county board executive.

“Everybody wants to avoid the chaos of last winter. What we want is our best teams going out, winning All-Ireland’s in any grade or any code. We should be the leading GAA county in the country. We’re waiting for feedback from the clubs now to see will it be implemented.”

Cork County Board chairman Jerry O’Sullivan said the board will examine the report and digest its content.

“We’ve received a copy and we’ll read it, and see what it says. But this Friday we are meeting with delegates from all junior clubs, who have no representative other than divisional delegates. The meeting is on in Páirc Uí Chaoimh at 7.30pm and we’ll listen to any issues and concerns that they have.”

The forum report deals with three main areas – democratic structures, communication issues and development issues.

The report is seeking an overhaul of the democratic structures and the way business is conducted at county board level through five motions to be brought forward to convention by clubs.

The motions are “that each junior club has similar representations at county board level as senior and intermediate clubs” and that “save in relation to routine matters of administration such as fixtures, venues etc, delegates do not vote on any matter without first obtaining direction from the executive committee of their clubs as to which way they should vote”.

Other motions include that secret ballots are no longer permitted, that every club has two votes for the election of board officers and that executive members can only serve a maximum six-year term.

The report also outlines how improvements can be made in the area of communication, citing the serious breakdown in communication as one of the prime reasons for the impasse earlier this year.

GAA merchandising is described “as almost nonexistent”, while the new board website “is inadequate but with some proper planning it possesses huge potential”.

“We need to be cognisant of how other sporting organisations, most notably the Munster Rugby Branch, market their products,” the report says.

The forum also calls for all correspondence pertaining to GAA matters to be related to clubs through email and that the constitution of the board and its bye-laws are published online.

THE final area that the report explores is development issues, calling for a 10-year rolling development plan to be implemented for Cork GAA.

To improve Cork’s underage record there have been calls for the development of a coordinated coaching and games development plan for the county, including the establishment of divisional games development committees, the creation of a centre of excellence including all-weather pitches and appointment of coaches to all schools.

It also calls for a Cork GAA Supporters Club to be established “to assist with fundraising and support for all Cork GAA activities”.

Orizio

Looks good.