Experienced Mayo GAA administrators to contest Vice-Chairman position

FORMER Secretary Dermot Butler and outgoing Assistant Treasurer Michael Diskin will contest the position of Mayo GAA Vice-Chairman at tomorrow night's (Wednesday) county convention in the Great National Hotel in Ballina.

Butler is seeking a return to the top table two years after he completed his maximum five-year term as county secretary.

The Crossmolina clubman sought the position of Central Council Delegate at the 2022 county convention but was defeated by the incumbent Paddy McNicholas.

Diskin is due to vacate the Assistant Treasurer’s position after completing the maximum five-year term. During his term, the Castlebar Mitchels man oversaw the re-seeding of Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, which was partly funded by €300,000 raised from the Mayo GAA Heroes wall.

Mayo GAA Bord na nÓg Chairman Charlie Lambert has withdrawn his nomination for the position of Vice-Chairman.

Outgoing Mayo GAA Vice-Chairman, Con Moynihan, has completed five years in the position, which also involved chairing the Mayo GAA Competitions Control Committee (CCC). The Ballaghaderreen man is set to be elected Mayo GAA’s Central Council delegate as he is the only nominee for the position.

Mayo GAA Chairman Séamus Tuohy is set to remain in situ, as are outgoing county board officers Ronan Kirrane (Secretary), Valerie Murphy (Treasurer), John Walker (PRO) and Brian O’Malley (Assistant Secretary).

Knockmore’s Sinéad McLoughlin is the only nominee for the Assistant Treasurer’s position.

Former PRO Paul Cunnane and County chairman Liam Moffat are set to remain on as Connacht Council delegates. Ballycastle’s Séamus Smyth has been nominated as Coaching Officer while Daithí Gallagher has been nominated as Culture Officer.

Nine motions will be tabled before Wednesday’s convention. Davitts have tabled three motions; including one calling for the senior and intermediate championship to be played on alternate weekends ‘where possible’ to alleviate the shortage of referees.

The south Mayo club have also proposed a motion calling for the GAA’s anti-doping policy to be ‘fully enforced’ and for the U-21 championship to be played earlier in the season and concluded within six to seven weeks.

Westport have tabled three motions; including one calling for cash to be accepted for admission to all club games, and another calling for the winners of the Primary Junior A championship to contest the following year’s ‘exclusive’ junior championship on a one-year basis. Under this proposal: “This promoted club shall name 15 (or other number to be determined by CCC) graded players (12 of whom must have played in the last senior championship match of the previous year) who shall not be eligible to play in the Exclusive Junior Championship that season.”

Kiltimagh have tabled a motion calling for twelve-team divisions in the Mayo Senior Football League while the Mayo GAA Bord na Nóg’s only motion would mandate that every club fielding a U-12 provide a Go Games referee.

Mayo GAA Chairman, Séamus Tuohy is also expected to outline to delegates the county board’s plans for a new training facility at a 40-acre site in Bohola.

At the 2022 county convention, Touhy proposed a ‘leadership academy’ with three pitches, including a 4G surface, a ball wall, and a six-lane running track at Mulvey Park in Castlebar.

The county board had engaged with the OPW and Mayo County Council to acquire land for the facility.

They unsuccessfully applied for funding for the project under the government’s Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund.