LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Every year the Executive has to ratify people for various positions that become vacant on the County Board itself, on Committees and of course team managements also need to be appointed at all grades. This year seems to have been a particularly busy one for appointments as new positions have been created and there were several vacancies at Managerial level. So far the services of the existing Senior Team Football Management have been retained for 2012 while the positions of u21 and Minor manager were dealt with earlier than usual. More recently the Board was required to appoint an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Officer a role that has been filled by John Coyle the senior team Physio. Martin Cannon (Ballymote) has been ratified as the Child Protection Officer for An Coiste a position along with that of ASAP officer that each Club will have to fill in the near future.

The final managerial position to be ratified that of County Hurling Manager for 2012 has now been decided. Declan Loughnane’s name went before the Executive last week where he was proposed and seconded. Declan lives in Riverstown and plays his football with Shamrock Gaels while he hurls with Tubbercurry. He is a native of Shinroe in County Offaly where he played Senior Club hurling for 17 years. Work brought Declan to Sligo and the Sligo Senior Hurling panel which he has been a part of for several years now. He expressed an interest in the Managerial position when it became vacant and when the Clubs were contacted it became clear that he would be a popular choice. Declan will be joined by Mark Burke and Robert Molloy as selectors and with u21/Minor Manager Jerome Quinn, also involved, the Sligo Senior  hurling panel  will have a very experienced management team as they prepare for the Táin League and the Nicky Rackard Championship.

CONNACHT PR NEWS

It may have seemed a most logical step but it took the Connacht PRO Tommy Moran to implement it. Tommy’s suggestion that the County PRO’s in Connacht should be part of the Connacht PR Committee has now been accepted and should allow for the exchange of ideas along with a more streamlined approach to PR in Connacht. The recent meeting debated the standards of match programmes produced for Connacht games. The booklets are produced by Counties or Clubs but complaints about them, when they are made, are usually referred to the Connacht Council Office as Programmes bear the Connacht logo on their cover. While Leitrim and Tourlestrane received high praise for their recent productions some other publications fell short of the standards that Connacht would like to see maintained. The Connacht Office is prepared to produce Programmes for games if that is what is required but in the case of a Club or County willing to take on this work and perhaps derive income from it the Council has no objection as long as certain minimum standards are adhered to. These standards along with templates for the cover will soon be circulated to all Counties.

The news letter produced recently by the Coolaney Mullinabreena Club came in for a lot of praise at the Connacht meeting. Simply produced on A4 paper in black and white the production was very professionally put together and will be used as an example of what other Clubs might do to get their message across----take a bow! 

SOCIETY AND THE GAA

As the environment that teenagers grow up in changes so too must the GAA if the Association that  young people spend a large part of their formative years engaged with is to have a positive influence on them. Over two thirds of Clubs were represented at the information evening organised by the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Committee. Following on from the recent Seminar on the same subject it would appear that there is a thirst for knowledge among the membership about the Abuse of substances legal and illegal and an eagerness to keep ahead of the curve in an ever changing environment. Colin Regan the National coordinator of the ASAP initiative was on hand to explain where the Association was planning to go with the programme. He explained that it was the intention that every Club would have a written policy on how to react to possible problems caused by the Abuse of substances. There would be help to formulate programmes that would help younger members to cope with the undoubted peer pressure they come under to smoke, take alcoholic drink or other mind altering substances without having any particular desire to experiment with these products in the first place.

Apart from Clubs having information on the possible misuse of substances among their members it will be a requirement that every unit have a written policy statement on ASAP before indemnity is granted by the GAA’s insurers Willis. This is so that the insurers know that a clear policy exists in each Club to deal with possible problems relating to alcohol and drug abuse. Most Clubs have never encountered these types of problem but if a committee takes the time to draw up a policy statement at least they will have written guidance on how to deal with a situation if it does occur in the future.

A template on which a club can base its individual ASAP statement will be provided using the general headings Prevention, Education and Response.

In the presence of Jimmy Smyth HSE, Andrea Gallagher Foróige and Colin Regan National coordinator ASAP the Sligo policy statement was signed by Cathaoirleach Cyril Feehily and Runaí Pádraig Duffy. The statement had been prepared by Sligo’s ASAP Committee which is headed up by John Coyle.