Bulletin following County Board Meeting on 21 September 2021
Appointment of Officers
The meeting ratified the appointment of Michael Hennessey Cullen (Gusserane-O’Rahilly’s) as the new voluntary County Secretary and Antóin Ó Díomasaigh (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy) as Oifigeach Gaeilge & Cultúrtha.
Inter County Teams
Darragh Egan was ratified as Senior Hurling Manager. Michaél Martin, Cathaoirleach CLG Loch Garman, expressed his gratitude to the selection panel for their commitment to the task which involved a significant amount of their time and effort. The backroom teams for both Senior Hurling and Football will be confirmed at the next meeting.
A subcommittee of John Kenny, Tom Cousins, Aideen Howlin and Ray Harris have been appointed to bring forward proposals respect of management teams for the Minor Hurling and Football by the end of September.
The process to appoint an U20 Hurling Manager will also commence. It is important that there is emphasis on the link to the Senior Hurling Team as part of this process.
Shane Roche (Senior Football) and David Murphy (U20 Football) will continue in their roles.
Club Championship
Michaél Martin and Bobby Goff, Leas-Cathaoirleach CLG Loch Garman, thanked all those involved in the organisation of our championships to date – players, referees, stewards, gate-people and club venues – without whom we could not run our championships. The feedback received was that the hurling championship has been very successful. Michaél Martin congratulated the Rapparees and Horeswood on their wins at the weekend in the Pettitt’s Supervalu SHC and Permanent TSB JHC respectively. He also wished the clubs competing in the coming weekend’s finals the best of luck.
The quality of the Wexford GAA TV streaming service was widely complimented – picture quality, camera work, commentary and analysis are second to none. It was confirmed that games would continue to be streamed, however, this policy would continue to be reviewed in relation to the impact on attendances.
The football championship will kick-off on 1 October 2021 with the Senior Football County Final planned for 14 November 2021.
The draws for the 2021 Leinster Club Championships will take place 28 September. It is expected that our Senior, Intermediate and Intermediate A Hurling and Football Champions will be in a position to represent Wexford in these competitions assuming that there are no delays to the completion of the Football Championship. The All Ireland Intermediate and Junior Club Finals are planned for 5/6 February 2022 with the Senior Club Finals on 12/13 February 2022.
A review of our fixtures structure will take place at the November meeting of the County Board. Clubs will be offered a chance to make proposals in advance of this meeting. Michaél Martin emphasised the importance of consultation with players by clubs in advance of proposing structures for 2022 and beyond. Other factors, such as the availability of referees will need to be considered when deciding formats.
Strategic Plan
Infrastructure
David Tobin, Development Officer, provided an update in respect of infrastructure projects.
The planning decision in respect of proposed developments in the Halo Tiles Wexford GAA Centre of Excellence is currently with An Bord Pleanála. It is hoped that this will be considered in November.
Michaél Martin outlined that prior to the commencement of our proposed infrastructure developments, a review would take place of the priority of planned developments. It was further outlined that a business plan and funding proposal would be presented in line with these plans.
Coaching and Development
An Education and Research Partnership has been agreed with IT Carlow, as announced last week, which will be of significant benefit to our High-Performance Plan.
Finance
Michaél Martin set out that he expected Wexford GAA to return a surplus for 2021 and that it is essential to our development plans that we continued to return a healthy surplus in order to fund them. An update on our financial position will be presented at the next meeting.
Ticket sales for the Club and County Draw were on a par with 2020 and Michaél Martin thanked the organising committee, coordinators and all Clubs for their work while also expressing appreciation for the loyalty of supporters of the draw.
Proposals Regarding Football Championship
Discussions in respect of the proposals for Special Congress on 23 October 2021 in respect of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, Tailteann Cup and Provincial Football Championships were deferred to the next meeting to allow delegates to get feedback from their Clubs.