The GAA will elect a new president on Friday, with five men in the running to succeed Aogán Ó Fearghaíl, and become the 39th president of the GAA. Those five men are Frank Burke of Galway, Robert Frost of Clare, Dublin's John Horan, Sean Walsh of Kerry, and Longford's Martin Skelly.
The latter is the bookies' favourite to be elected president, and spoke to Balls.ie this week, ahead of Friday's election.
So who is he? Skelly is a member of the Newtowncashel club, nestled by the river Shannon in the south of Longford, and is currently the national chairperson of Féile, having previously chaired the Longford county board and the Leinster council. Skelly is cognisant of the importance of addressing the issue of the fixture list, but when I ask him what the GAA's biggest problem is at the moment, he has a different answer.
The greatest challenge facing the GAA is the plight of rural Ireland, and the survival of rural clubs, and those clubs holding onto their identity. Amalgamations are ok, but only up to a point.
Most of the jobs are in the major urban centres on the eastern seaboard, so people are moving from home to them. We have lots of facilities in rural Ireland, but nobody around to use them. We have to work hard on convincing people to stay at home.
Coming from Newtowncashel, I have always been keenly aware of the trials and tribulations of the rural club.
He is under no illusions that many rural clubs are dying, while clubs in Dublin have trouble accommodating hordes of underage players. Skelly is currently the national chairperson of Féile, and for the first time, last year's competition had to be adjusted to include a 13-a-side competition, to compensate for sheer lack of numbers.
The Club Players' Association and the fixture list will undoubtedly dominate the next GAA presidency, and Skelly says he will welcome their contribution, and will work to address the chaotic fixtures in place at the moment. He does sound a cautionary note, however, citing how difficult and delicate a process that will be.
I've always been very supportive of the player, and I know that without the club player, we would have no game. And if I were to win the election - and it's a big if - it's something we'll work very hard on. But it's a difficult process. No other code has players who play on so many different teams at the same time. For example, a young lad can be playing football and hurling with club, along with his county under-21 and senior teams and the Sigerson Cup.
A plan has to be worked out that puts the players at the top of the agenda, but each county has a different way of organising club fixtures, so there is no easy overnight solution.
More practically on fixtures: he favours moving the All-Ireland finals to August, and shortening the club championship season, with the All-Ireland club series concluding in December, rather than on Saint Patricks' Day.
On Pauric Duffy's contentious 'Super 8' motion to extend the Championship, Skelly is supportive of its ambition to better the lot of the club player by compressing the championship, but does admit that the structure does little for the weaker counties.
A greater focus on the weaker counties will likely feature in the Skelly presidency. He was strongly against the funding of a stadium on the M50, telling the Irish Examiner in 2015 that:
Dublin could probably initiate a stadium of its own such is the funding available to them in the county and good luck to them.
What does (another Dublin) stadium do for Newbridge and Navan and Drogheda? It irritates me. I had nailed that one on the head.
Skelly was Longford chairman in 2006, and pushed hard for Dublin to visit Longford in the Leinster Championship. Under Skelly's watch, talk of a two-tier championship may well return. He elaborated on this issue with the Irish Independent:
We have to be realistic going forward. I believe in the right of all counties to compete in the provincial championships but a structure has to be devised where, if successful, you go on and compete in the All-Ireland 'A' competitions. Alternatively there should be a second-tier competition. I see no reason to disagree with that culminating on All-Ireland final day.
It's been an exhaustive, three-year campaign, but the prospect of being the first Longford man to hold the position excites him, as he tells Balls:
There are ten counties from which there has never been a GAA president...on Friday, let's make that nine.
Longford's representation on the steps of the Hogan Stand has often been scant, but Skelly is quick to point out the role Longford has played in the GAA's administration: Peter McKenna, the Stadium Director of Croke Park, is a member of Skelly's own club in Newtowncashel, Liam Mulvihill was the second longest-serving Director-General in the GAA's history, and John Greene of Mostrim is a GAA Trustee.
We will know the identity of the next GAA president by 10pm on Friday night.
See Also: 12 Motions That We'd Love To See Brought Before GAA Congress
