Greg Kelly said the question as to whether or not he would go for the top job in Fermanagh GAA was simple; ‘was I going to step up or was I going to go away?’
The Enniskillen Gaels club man has served in a wide variety of roles within the county board and certainly could not be accused of lacking experience as he takes over the reins and to answer his own question he revealed that he has ‘never ran away from anything in his life and I wasn’t going to start now.’
Kelly was elected unopposed as Patsy Dolan stepped down following his five years at the helm. Kelly acted as vice chairman during those five years and told the Impartial Reporter that he was honoured to take up the position and is clear on what his main priority is during his tenure;
“We are a small county and it is vital that we move forward with a unity of purpose. It is so important that everyone works together and I think by in large over the last number of years that has been achieved and I want to foster that feeling moving forward.”
He also spoke about a topic that has exercised many previous Fermanagh chairman and explained that; “I suppose I am no different. I want to see that Ulster Championship come to Fermanagh and in that respect I am no different to any Fermanagh fan.”
Kelly who served three years as county secretary has also served as CCC secretary and most recently as CCC chairman. This latter role has seen Kelly develop a clear awareness of the plight of the club player and he feels that change is necessary to the length of the inter county season;
“I think it is accepted now that changes need to be made. There needs to be a tightening up of the national league season while I also think the condensing of the Ulster championship is something that needs looked at and the All Ireland final itself should come back a week or two at least. So these are all things that would help the club player,” Kelly explained before adding that he felt Fermanagh had did a good job in recent years, “But I have to say in the last few years I think we have tried very hard to get the club county conundrum right and try and be as fair as possible to the club player and the county player and I think we have managed that in the most part and certainly I think we have done it better than many counties.”
Kelly acknowledged that the preparation of inter county teams is a costly business. The accounts at the annual convention showed a healthier balance sheet that in previous years and balancing the books is something that Kelly feels is very important and he paid tribute to both the county management and the county players when elaborating on his point;
“I think we have some good personnel in our treasurer Patricia Durnien and our secretary Tom Boyle. They liaise very well with the county team and I have to say that we have a group of county players and indeed a county management who are not overly demanding.”