Ryan Revolving Door.
By Noel Dundon, Tipperary Media.
In Tipperary, we can be very poor at self-reflection. We see disasters all the time when results don’t go our way, and often don’t take the bigger picture into account. Sometimes we need other more grounded external viewpoints and influences to remind us of our standing.
That struck me this week when reading the report to Convention of Munster Council CEO, Ciaran Leddy when he commented about our run in the senior hurling championship. Yes, we despaired at the senior hurling scenario we faced, but Ciaran wrote:
“The old saying goes that the darkest hour is before the dawn. Following Tiobraid Árann’s exit from the senior hurling championship following three defeats and one draw, there was dismay expressed across the county at the state of hurling in the Premier County. However, five days later, Tiobraid Árann had secured both the Munster minor and U20 hurling titles.
The minor was a particularly emotional win, as Tiobraid Árann became the first winners of the John Doyle Munster Minor Hurling championship Cup. These wins, coupled with the Harty Cup title being won by Tipperary schools for two years in a row surely points to a bright future for Tipperary hurling and are evidence of great work going on across the county.”
He continued: ” Tipperary’s minor hurlers recorded what surely must be the most spectacular All-Ireland win at any grade, beating Cill Chainnigh in the final at Nowlan Park, despite having two players sent off in the first half, and despite the game going to extra time. Somehow, the team found the resolve to keep going and cross the line as All-Ireland champions. It was certainly a welcome win for the Premier County and a welcome boost given the disappointing year at senior level.”
Ciaran’s report had some very interesting points of note which we will explore in greater detail in up-coming iterations of THE VIEW. However, his comments on replays for Munster Finals deserve mention. “Yes, a replay could bring an extra €1million of income to provincial councils, but far more often than not, the replay weekend would lie idle and the potential financial gain, once every nine years, can hardly justify decreasing the chances of our champions progressing to the All-Ireland Final because of the five week wait.” It’s an interesting point he makes and he also suggests that replays impact hurling more than football.
Ger Ryan has done the Council some service.
The departure of Ger Ryan from his role as Munster Council Chairman having served a very distinguished term of office occasioned many tributes, none more glowing than from the CEO of the Council who said the Templederry man had served with ‘great distinction’.
Ger was the ninth Tipp man to hold the office – the others were Dick Cummins (the first ever holder of the office), Frank McGrath, Seamus Gardiner, Gerry O’Keeffe, Seamus O’Riain, Mick Frawley, Michael Maher and Sean Fogarty. Only Moneygall’s Seamus O’Riain managed to land the ultimate role as Uachtaráin CLG despite the efforts of a number of others who discovered that GAA politics can be as big a challenge as any other. Perhaps Ger will rise to the position – he certainly has the credentials and his reputation has been greatly enhanced following his roles in Munster.
“He showed great leadership and vision and was the main driver behind the development and launch of the Munster GAA Development Plan. He also led discussions with Croke Park on securing a greater slice of Games Development Funding, which has allowed the employment of an additional 20 full-time Games Development Co-Ordinators in Munster. These additional staff will have a transformative effect on the development of Gaelic Games across Munster. His term also saw record finance being made available to counties and to clubs,” said Ciaran Leddy.
Ger has also been involved in a number of committees in Croke Park and would appear to be moving in the right circles.
Separately, Johnny Ryan (Boherlahan-Dualla) has been appointed by Munster Council as a Referee Development Manager – a new innovation tasked with the onerous but exceedingly important goal of recruiting new knights of the whistle. Good luck Johnny.