Burke wants to put the club at heart of the GAA

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

On the last weekend of February, Ardrahan native Frank Burke will put himself before GAA Congress in a bid to become only the third person from the county (Peter J Kelly in 1889; Joe McDonagh in 1997) to be voted in as GAA President-elect. With four others also contesting the position, the outcome is anything but clear cut.

What Congress delegates will be most interested in will be each of the five candidates’ vision for the GAA going forward and, consequently, each must be armed with a strong policy manifesto. On this front, former Connacht Council President Burke is not found wanting and he has laid down his strategy in a succinct manner. In all, his policy consists of 11 key points, to the fore of which is ‘the club’.

“A priority for me is care and support for the clubs,” insists the experienced coach and administrator. “There is nothing more important. The club volunteer has made the GAA the great organisation that it is, and I would like to, if elected, drive a new recruitment programme.

“New volunteers would be given an opportunity and space to participate in administration, in the general operation and coaching within the clubs. If they are willing to continue, they would be empowered through workshops and mentoring to take on further roles, driving self-sufficiency within the clubs and ensuring clubs’ long-term sustainability.”

No doubt, since the Celtic Tiger era, it has become harder for clubs – be they GAA or otherwise – to recruit volunteers to selflessly give their time. As a result, he notes the GAA needs to change its thinking on this, and he points to events like Féile in hurling and football as offering a solution.

With Féile, the clubs do seem to find it easier to recruit volunteers to drive these U-14 competitions forward, mainly because the commitment for the volunteer, usually a parent, is short-term – six to eight weeks. This they can fit into an already demanding lifestyle of work, drop-offs, pick-ups and so on.

“So, those things like Féile and the Cúl Camps are opportunities to involve new parents, and it gives them space to do something. Once they are involved, it is equally important that we acknowledge them and respect them and value the contributions made by these volunteers.”

As a retired national school principal, who taught in Abbey NS, Duniry NS and St Brendan’s Boy NS (Loughrea), Burke endeavoured to not only apply and nurture these fundamentals inside the classroom, but also in the vast array of positions he has served at local, provincial and national level in the GAA.

These have included serving as Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary of Galway County Board; as President and Vice President of Connacht Council; and, in his present role, as Chairman of the National Games Development Committee.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.