 |
Gaelic Football & Hurling Association of Australasia | |
| GAELIC FOOTBALL.... NEWS |
 |
|
| HOME | NOTES ON A WEEKEND AT CONGRESS IN IRELAND I recently attended the 2008 GAA Congress in Ireland with Sligo being the venue. Travelling across from Belfast via Fermanagh was a pleasant drive in the sunshine until 3kms from Sligo when dark clouds brought rain. 2 kms out brought hailstones and on arriving in Sligo Town down came the snow!! The welcome provided by the people in Sligo and at Congress contrary to the cold weather was very warm. Meetings of the overseas units and Congress were held in the Radisson Hotel which was an imposing structure. The first gathering was an informal meeting of overseas delegates from Canada, North America, Europe, London and Australasia. This informal meeting was held for the first time in 2006 at the suggestion of Australasia and allowed for general “off the record” debate on matters that would not be raised at formal meetings such as development at various levels, problems faced, positive outcomes etc. Everyone found there was probably more benefit from this than the structured meeting and it was agreed unanimously to have the informal group meeting each year. The meeting proper was chaired by Sheamus Howlin, Chairman of the Overseas Committee with members of the committee in attendance. Two candidates for President – Elect, Christy Cooney and Liam O’Neill also attended. The President Nicky Brennan spoke for 10 minutes and was appreciative of the positive work being carried out overseas. Another interesting speaker was Ray Bassett from the Department of Foreign Affairs who outlined the criteria when seeking Departmental funding for various overseas positions/projects. All units gave reports on their activities. Australasia’s included:
A disappointing part of the meeting was the inability of the Ladies GAA to provide any information on the 2008 International Tournament set down for Dublin in September. -------------------------------------------------------- Prior to Congress there were various workshops available. I attended the “GAA Brand Union” session which was very informative and dealt with having the words GAA as part of all initiatives that the association was involved in. As well, there was the launch of the new GAA logo which was the first time in over 100 years it had changed.
-------------------------------------------------------- I was not the only representative for Australasia at Congress as I was joined by Noel Carey (brother of Steve Carey from Sydney) and his wife as well as Annie and Owen Gallagher from Auckland. Annie works in Galway and Owen flew in from London to attend.
Friday evening was taken up with many reports especially finance. There was an excellent finish to the Friday session when Sheamus Howlin gave a PowerPoint presentation on overseas units. A booklet with contacts for all overseas units was also distributed. Further information on overseas units is available at www.gaa.ie/page/gaa_abroad.html Saturday at Congress was eagerly anticipated as the next President to take over in 2009 was to be elected. In what was expected to be a close vote Christy Cooney won by a margin of 70 and he made an emotional acceptance speech. Christy had earlier intimated his continued support for the Australasian association.
Many motions were discussed with the most notable one that created passionate speeches relating to payments to players. This was subsequently passed. Others that gained support included all Counties being given a second opportunity in the All Ireland series and all hurlers being required from 2009 to wear helmets.
-------------------------------------------------------- Whilst In Ireland I also had meetings with/attended sessions with:
Gerard Roe |
||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| Australasian Council | |||||||||
| Men's Football | |||||||||
| Underage Development | |||||||||
| Hurling | |||||||||
| Coaching | |||||||||
| Coaching Tips | |||||||||
| Rules | |||||||||
| Courses | |||||||||
| Association Policies | |||||||||
| GFHAA Forms | |||||||||
| State Clubs | |||||||||
| Playing Fields | |||||||||
| Results | |||||||||
| Australasian Championships | |||||||||
| Womens World Cup | |||||||||
| Photo Gallery | |||||||||
| Links | |||||||||
