Tom Hayes is the new chairman of west Tipperary GAA Board

The 93rd Annual West Board Convention took place on Sunday evening last in Golden.

Chairman, Michael Ryan C addressed the Convention for the third and last time with his three year term now at an end.

He congratulated the West Hurling team on claiming the Miller Shield twenty four hours previous. His report went through the various intercounty teams on what had not been a very successful year in 2021. It congratulated the various winning teams of County titles from the division in both the delayed 2020 championships and the 2021 championships.

It also made reference to the November County Board meeting and the consequences of one of the decisions taken at this meeting on the West Division with the passing of the motion to rebrand the ‘Seamus O Riain’ competition from senior hurling to ‘premier intermediate’ with the winners of the competition being eligible to compete in the provincial championship from 2023 onwards.

“This has serious consequences for the board as once again we have only two clubs to compete for the divisional senior hurling title,” he said.
He was surprised that only two of the sixteen teams from this years ‘Seamus O Riain’ competition objected to the rebranding as many of these teams have now lost their senior status.

During the year the board were presented with a cup in memory of the late Sean Breen of Eire Og Annacarty and the chairman thanked Jacko Breen and family for this kind gesture.

Michael also addressed in his report the shortage of referees: “One black spot in all these activities is the severe shortage of referees. We have been blessed in this division for many years with having some of the best referees in the country. However, because of the condensed season, the number of matches at adult and juvenile level along with Camogie and ladies football matches there are no longer enough referees available and some matches had to be called off this year.

“Many of our current referees have been around a long time and new blood is very much needed. Every club is been asked to try and provide one new potential referee for the upcoming year.”

The chairman reported on the issue of Sky Sports having exclusive rights to some of the GAA intercounty matches. “While nobody should have any objection to Sky Sports screening matches, surely it should not be at the expense of our national stations such as RTE and TG4.”

Having completed his term as West Board Chairman he said he took “this opportunity to thank everybody who helped me during this time especially my fellow board officers past and present. It has been a pleasure to work with you and if I can be of any assistance in the future, I will be only too willing to help.”

While Michael Ryan was presenting his last report to convention, John Morrissey was presenting his first as Secretary of the Board.
In his report he said: “ With such a truncated season, there were difficulties this year to overcome but I think we managed to make a success of the year and I hope the clubs feel the same way.”

He stated that when things did get going in 2021 the board manage to finish a lot of the 2020 competitions but unfortunately some of the football competitions missed out but this was purely due to the time restrictions we were dealing with.
In relation to the West Junior B Hurling League he stated: “This league again shows that if the opportunities are there players will play the games & I would hope, if circumstances dictate, that this can continue & progress in 2022.”

As he went through the Divisions various championships he stated: “ It was great to be able to play out main divisional championships in decent conditions in high summer – with good quality games & good crowds (throughout the 4 divisions) it should serve as a reminder to all that the divisional championships have an integral part to play in championship structures going forward.”

John also paid tribute to Brian Fox who announced his retirement from Inter county football.
“A massive servant to Tipp, and his club, it was great to see him finish his career with that Munster title in 2020. More than anything else, thanks for all your service & well wishes going forward Brian.

Like the Chairman he too commented on the knock on effects of the November County Board meeting.
“Now we have a 2-tier system, which will currently have 2 teams in each. To be honest, I think we had a fantastic, fit for purpose club championship in Tipp, which has evolved over many years. You only have to look at the quality of the games at the business end of our championships for confirmation of this.

“ Some will say we have too many senior teams & there could be merit to this, but our evolved system has graded them accordingly & has shown to be working well”.

Another main talking point of the November County Board meeting was the loss of under-21 level for 2022. He went on to say: “This decision was always going to be hard to judge and, in the end, the Cappawhite motion to retain it was defeated. Given the time of year it is played at, maybe it won’t be as big a loss as feared. Again though, if the will was there could it have been saved? Sometimes the easy/simple thing isn’t always the course to take – Yes, it isn’t easy to get it played off (weather/pitches etc), but is that really a reason to discontinue something? Time will tell.”

Claire O’Brien presented her first set of accounts as she completed her first year as treasurer of the board with a profit of €2,879 to the 30th of September. Gates were up roughly €16,000 from the previous year though most games in 2020 were under restricted attendance.

Hayes is new Chairman
The convention also saw new officers elected on the night. With Michael Ryan C having completed his three year term, a vote was required to see who would take the Chair going forward. There were two candidates on the night, serving vice chairman Tom Hayes from Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams and Tom Dawson from Eire Og Annacarty Donohill. Here it was Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams, Tom Hayes winning by 23 votes to 14 to become the twenty first Chairman of the board. He becomes the fifth Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams man to hold the position.

The role of vice chairman also went to a vote on the night. There were three candidates on the night, John Hally (Rockwell Rovers), Tom O’Donnell (Golden/Kilfeacle) and Andrew Fryday (Clonoulty/Rossmore). Tom O’Donnell withdrew leaving a straight vote between the two remaining candidates. Here it was Andrew Fryday (Clonoulty/Rossmore) who prevailed by 25 votes to 14.

There was one motion on the night from the Golden/Kilfeacle club that the West Board run U21 Championships in 2022 for Hurling and Football. The motion was overwhelming passed.

Officers Elected

Hon. President: Most Rev Dermot Clifford
Life Presidents: Mick Maguire, Jerry Ring, Roger Kennedy
Chairperson: Tom Hayes (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams)
Vice Chairperson: Andrew Fryday (Clonoulty/Rossmore)
Secretary: John Morrissey (Galtee Rovers)
Assistant Secretary: Tom O’Donnell (Golden/Kilfeacle)
Treasurer: Claire O’Brien (Arravale Rovers)
Assistant Treasurer: John Currivan (Golden/Kilfeacle)
PRO: John O’Shea (Clonoulty/Rossmore)
Assistant PRO: Francis Coughlan (Arravale Rovers)

Officer Irish Language and Culture: Sean O Maoilriain (Arravale Rovers)
Coaching Officer: Tom O’Donnell (Golden/Kilfeacle)
Development Officer: Tom English (Eire Og Annacarty Donohill)
Youth Officer: Owen Doody (Cappawhite)
Bord na nOg Rep: Tommy Landers (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams)
Referee Co-Ordinator: Franny Quinn (Cappawhite)
Management Committee: Tom Hayes, Andrew Fryday, John Morrissey, Tom O’Donnell, Claire O’Brien, John Currivan, Michael Ryan (c), Michael Long, Tom English, Billy Ryan P
CCC: Tom Hayes, John Morrissey, Sean Carmody, Tom English, John O’Shea, Tom O’Donnell and Referee's Co Coordinator