Fermanagh GAA could be looking for a new centre of Excellence to replace Lissan. That is one of the options to be put forward by Development Secretary Tiernach Mahon at the Fermanagh convention next Monday night. In his report Mahon explained that ‘we cannot just go on year after year crying about’ Lissan and that ‘serious consideration’ needed to be given to what was to be done.
Mahon urged people to be ‘realistic’ and to consider three options: 1. Leave as currently is and try to maintain the pitches as best we can. 2. Redevelop the whole Lissan site. 3. Consider a completely new site/option.
In his report Mahon argues that having only two pitches at Lissan is not sufficient to deal with the demand while he states that the number of changing facilities will have to be increased. He accepts the widely held notion that the facility is exposed to the elements but argues that it is much less exposed than Garvahey in Tyrone.
He will also reveal to convention that a full plan has been developed by Engineers with a view to developing a five pitch site at Lissan.
Mahon will urge delegates of the need to act swiftly; “Serious questions need to be asked in 2017 and more importantly, serious answers need to be given and whatever is decided, acted upon sooner rather than later.”
Elsewhere at convention Deirdre Donnelly, in her Coaching and Games Development report, welcomed the additional coaching appointments of Shaun Doherty and Eoin Bradley but lamented the fact that no financial support had been forthcoming as yet from Croke Park due to an ongoing review of coaching structures within the GAA. She stated that the county were “fortunate that we have Club Eírne to step in and support these two new posts in the interim. We are very grateful for this support as we simply would not be in a position to fund these posts from existing income.”
Donnelly also alluded to the perceived imbalance in coaching fund distribution between counties. “It is important that we continue to seek financial support from central funds and I urge our Central Council representative to keep the pressure on to ensure the review is completed quickly and funds can be reassigned from the larger self-sufficient counties to smaller counties like ourselves, to enable us to keep competing and succeed at the high levels that our Senior team are at.”
Hugh Kelly, in his CCC secretary’s report, commended the clubs on their foresight. Kelly along with CCC Chairman Greg Kelly, has overseen vast changes to the club fixture list in an effort to ensure more games for the club player and the secretary was quick to pay tribute to the clubs; “The clubs in the county have shown principled leadership in the changes to both league and championship structures in recent years,” but he also stated that “the lot of all the club players will not improve until a shortened inter-county season is introduced.”