OUTGOING Carbery GAA Chairman Aidan O’Rourke has expressed his disappointment at the low turnout at the division’s convention in Bandon on Sunday.
The Newcestown clubman, who stepped down as chairman, appealed to clubs to support the centenary celebrations, but he also expressed his disappointment at the low attendance at the convention and opening ceremony to launch the centenary year.
‘The coming year is a very significant year for the Carbery Board as today we’re starting our centenary celebrations. The people who began it all are to be thanked for the wonderful sacrifices they made and all the people that followed on down the years,’ O’Rourke said.
‘We’ve had some sterling people taking up officerships at different levels to ensure that our games carried on and went from strength to strength and I certainly hope that after my three-year term, the board is in as good a position, if not better, on leaving it. For our centenary, a lot of celebrations are being organised and a lot more to be organised. We will have a huge ending to the year with the gala ball in Bantry, a black tie affair.
‘I must say, I’m disappointed with the crowd who turned up here today. It begs the question: do clubs want divisional boards anymore? Or what is the problem? We have to look at this in a serious manner.
‘If we’re going into a centenary, celebrating 100 years of keeping the GAA going here in West Cork, the people who started it deserve better. Clubs must look within and ask themselves, what do we want as clubs? Do we want to move forward together and help each other out or do we want to let it all slip away? Other codes will quickly take over, I don’t think that’s what the people inside this room want.’
The problems attached to running the U21 grades, football and hurling, received a good airing at convention, all clubs anxious to have proper championships but nobody coming up with a solution as to fitting those championships into the present split-season fixtures programme. O’Rourke warned that neglecting this grade could lead to a serious drop-out of young players.
‘Our U21 is a huge worry and what can be done?’ asked the Newcestown man.
‘Something has to be done to protect that particular group. It’s not good enough, and will never be good enough, if clubs are going to lose players to other codes by we failing to provide games for them. It just has to be looked at and how it’s going to be solved, I don’t know.
‘We have to put our thinking caps on and, instead of always criticising, come up with ideas and bring them to the county board, get around the table and talk about it. We, as a division, with the other divisions, have had some great meetings with the county board and they were always fruitful, very open and frank. We have a clearer picture of what is going on. The U21 hurlers and footballers cannot be thrown on the scrap heap, it just can’t happen.’
