A number of new sub-committees are to be launched within Clare GAA as part of attempts to drive the organisation forward.
The Clare Echo has learned that plans are afoot to establish sub-committees focused on finance, hurling and gaelic football. Development of underage, the implementation of new structures and a bigger push to increase the amount of revenue obtained by Clare GAA will form the ethos of the respective groups.
Approximately half a dozen individuals will form the membership of each respective sub-committee, the individuals involved have yet to be named but are understood to include business personnel from a range of industries, ex county players and former managers. One Clare GAA source told The Clare Echo they are now looking at “the big picture” by designing “a vision for going forward”.
Efforts to secure funding to carry out additional drainage works at Caherlohan are also ongoing. Clare GAA officials are confident that an allocation of funding will be forthcoming for the facility. Outgoing Chairperson, Joe Cooney previously expressed his confidence that State funding would be granted for the facility.
Close to €5m had been spent on the facility up to November 2019. Criticism of Caherlohan’s standard has been voiced with Tulla tabling a motion to County Convention urging Clare GAA to complete necessary works at the facility, “It does require a lot of work. We need to bite the bullet and get the work done,” Brian Torpey stated. The Clare senior hurlers did not use the facility when preparing for the 2020 inter-county championship while Colm Collins insisted they were content with the offering at Caherlohan.
Pat Fitzgerald in his report to Convention outlined his “ambition and intention” to have the Centre of Excellence “capable of facilitating all players playing our games both football and hurling from development squad stage right up to our adult teams within the next two years”.
Work on the establishment of the committees has been ongoing for recent months with Fitzgerald and later Chaplin leading the process. A meeting of Clare GAA officers is to be held later this week where details on the personnel involved will become known. The functions and responsibilities of the groups is also to be outlined.
Since becoming Chairman, Chaplin’s message to fellow officers has been on the importance of togetherness with the need to put aside divisions and work cohesively highlighted.
