Duignan departs with powerful call to arms for Offaly GAA people to come forward and drive it on

Michael Duignan with Offaly senior football joint manager Mickey Harte.

placeholder image — Michael Duignan with Offaly senior football joint manager Mickey Harte.

THERE was a tinge of emotion in the air at Offaly GAA Convention on Tuesday evening as the three main officers stepped down.

For chairman Michael Duignan (Durrow), secretary, Colm Cummins (Edenderry) and treasurer, Dervill Dolan (Clara), it was a bitter-sweet occasion as they brought the curtain down after a few very intensive years at the helm.

Duignan and Dolan had to step down after serving their full five year term while Cummins was an integral part of the package that threw the Offaly GAA world upside down when they sought election five years ago. With Duignan unseating a long serving official in Gracefield's Tommy Byrne, Cummins came in as secretary a year later and has decided to go at the same time as his colleagues.

The three men have witnessed extraordinary success on their watch as Offaly won the All-Ireland U20 Football and Hurling Championship in 2021 and 2024. They have been a fundraising tour-de-force with record levels of finance collected and spent- the 2024 accounts showed a profit of €16,908 with income now approaching the 3 million mark and expenditure following hot on its heels.

The GAA has had a huge profile in Offaly during their term and while the three men will be looking forward to a rest, they will also miss what has been a huge part of their lives. They hand over a ship sailing on smooth waters to a new chairman in Coolderry's Tom Parlon, secretary in Shamrocks' Brendan Minnock and treasurer, Frank Fitzpatrick, Doon. There is also a new vice chairman in Carrig-Riverstown's Denis Hoctor – he replaced James Murphy of Rhode, who also had to step down under the rule limiting officers to five years in the one position.

Vacancies remain to be filled for assistant treasurer and cultural officer but Duignan et-al were very glad that personnel came forward for the main jobs, as it looked like this could create a major headache at one stage.

A former Offaly hurler and footballer, Michael Duignan was the public face of Offaly GAA for the past five years and he departed with an emotive and passionate call to arms. Tom Parlon could not be present at the meeting as he was on a prearranged family holiday but he will outline his plans to the County Board in January.

Noting that Parlon and new treasurer, Frank Fitzpatrick had come forward from outside the County Board's structures, Mr Duignan threw down the gauntlet to other people to step forward and take lead roles in the coming years. Thanking delegates and clubs for their ongoing hard work, he declared: “It is getting harder all the time as the level of compliance and governance increases. Volunteerism is under threat so the utmost respect to you all for the efforts you are putting in.”

He called on other people to give their time to Offaly GAA. Denis (Hoctor), Brendan (Minnock) and Pat (Teehan) came from within the current structure but the chairperson and treasurer had to be headhunted from outside as no one was willing to come forward. If we want to maintain the standards and grow into the future good people will have to be prepared to give a few years to the county.”

Mr Duignan recalled that he was elected as chairman on December 10 in 2019 promising to provide “leadership to bring about significant change within Offaly GAA”.

“In particular I pledged that we would develop and implement a strategic plan in conjunction with all our stakeholders. I am happy to say this evening that this has been achieved. The strategic plan was developed over many months during the Covid period and beyond and then implemented over the following number of years.

“This plan was never published as so many of these plans in the past have been and then spent an eternity gathering dust. This plan, which we called The Offaly Way Forward, was live every day and it centred on a complete culture change within Offaly GAA. In the past too much time was spent on the operational side of the house and we took our eyes off the most important side, our performance. This is not a criticism as it is a reality in many counties. There is so much emphasis on finding the money to pay the bills and balance the books that there is no time or energy left to invest in the bigger picture. In order to change we had to build our future on the proud foundations of the past.”

He outlined the five core elements of their plans:

1 – Sustainable club coverage, and he noted that 28 of their 41 clubs now have a nursery for young children.

There was one area of disappointment for the outgoing chairman, however: “I would have to say that I was very disappointed that independent clubs did not support our request earlier this year to field your own club teams at u7/8 Go Games level. All that is required is 7 boys and/or girls to field. I am not going to go into the whole argument again but can I please ask you to think of the stats we provided at the time. Our playing population is shrinking rapidly and we are not doing our children or the future of your clubs any favours by not grasping this nettle.”

2- Vibrant games programme: He revealed that they have provided 1,000 underage matches this year, 672 from U12 to 17 and 609 adult matches. “This is a huge range of activity and ensures that all our players are getting maximum opportunity to do what they train for - play matches. “

3 - High Performance Pathway - providing a clear pathway for high performers to excel at county level. Mr Duignan outlined the full time coaching staff they have on board with 14 working alongside Head of Games, Adrian Clancy and Head of Performance, Gary Flannerty. There are now 284 players in the Offaly academies and he said: “It is heartening on a Saturday to see the Faithful Fields full of ambitious young children with a dream of playing senior for Offaly some day. A critical part of this pathway is our school's activity. It has been a highlight of my term to see our schools playing such a central role. The standard has increased across the board and I would like to thank all our teachers and principals for their support.”

4 – Financial stabliity: He noted that both clubs and County Board are financially stable but warned: “Offaly GAA like all counties is now a considerable business entity. We could not concentrate on our performance and our players until we brought financial stability to the county. You will see from our Treasurer's excellent report that we managed a small surplus last year while growing both our income and expenditure year on year. We want to look after our players and be successful while also staying solvent and I feel we have managed this very well.

“We also have two fine facilities in O Connor Park and the Faithful Fields that need constant investment. Our strategy was to build a team of what I like to call Partners rather than sponsors and ask them to support us for a three to five year term. Led by Glenisk we did this and all of our main partners have agreed to stay for the next five years from January 2025. Huge thanks also to our signage sponsors in OCP which now contribute €150K per annum. This investment is worth €2.5M over this term.”

He outlined the way financial figures have grown from 2019 while they have reduced the debt to Croke Park on O'Connor Park.

Gate Income €543,000 (€359,000): +51%

Sponsorship & fundraising €794,000 (€207,000): +283%

Royalties €86,000 (€31,000): +177%

Team Costs €1,373,000 (€758,000): +67%

Coaching and Games €453,000 (€111,000): +310%

Croke Park Loans €1,257,000 (€1,866,000): -€609,000

Cash at Bank at financial year end €551,000 (€670 euro ): +€550,000

5 - Respected Brand: “The Offaly brand is synonymous with success and excellence on and off the field, said Mr Duignan, before insisting:

“In 2019, five short years ago where was the Offaly brand? In my opinion it was on its knees. We were once a great dual County who had a brilliant reputation for winning famous All Irelands at all grades. We had All Stars in every position in hurling and football and characters and great personalities in abundance. Sadly we had lost our aura and we were being pitied having been relegated to the Christy Ring in hurling and with one win in the Senior Football Championship in the previous 10 years.

“We still have a long way to go to reach the very top again but I believe we can now dream again. We are back in the Liam McCarthy Cup. We have played in four underage All Ireland Finals in the past four years. Our All Ireland u20 wins in both hurling and football were obvious highlights. The scenes at the final whistle in Nowlan Park probably sums up what this county is all about better than any words.

“Men, women and children of all ages shed tears for different reasons. Some thought we would never see these days again, some were just overjoyed, some thought of great days of the past and family and friends no longer with us. On a personal level it was great to meet so many former players on the field afterwards, many of the former teammates of mine, to a man they were emotional and overjoyed.

“In my opinion the pride is now very much back in the jersey and the Offaly Brand is once again very well respected throughout the country as a result of all that i have outlined this evening.”

Mr Duignan concluded with a wide range of thanks, including:

His fellow management committee workers; full time staff and voluntary workers in O'Connor Park and Faithful Fields; the media; team management and backroom teams; and players.

He expressed sympathy to the families of all who passed and paid a special tribute to Liam Kearns, who died while Offaly senior football manager; former County Board chairmen Brendan Ward and Ollie Daly; and former hurlers,Mick Hogan and Johnny Flaherty.

He paid an emotive tribute to his own family and friends, along with his business partner Tadgh Sheedy. He was heartfelt in his thanks to his mother and late father:

“My mother has been a huge sounding board with her practical advice and her innate ability to watch my back at all times. My father Peadar passed away in March 2020 and I regret that he wasn't around to see us winning big games again. Both my parents always encouraged us to be ambitious and give everything we do 100% so I hope I did that in their honour.”

He thanked his sons Sean and Brian and wife, Aisling, praising her for being a “rock” and organising his time and diary “to perfection”.

He sent his best wishes to Offaly senior hurling folk hero, Joachim Kelly for a speedy recovery as he gets treatment for an illness.

He wished Tom Parlon the best of luck in his job and had a special thanks to Colm Cummins and Dervill Dolan. Noting that they didn't always agree but sorted out any differences with the best interest of Offaly GAA at heart, he praised their integrity and work ethic.

“It's been my honour to lead this great County over the past five years. Uibh Fhaili Abu,” concluded Mr Duignan.

The officers elected for 2025 are:

Chairperson – Tom Parlon, Coolderry;

Vice chairperson – Denis Hoctor, Carrig-Riverstown;

Secretary – Brendan Minnock, Shamrocks;

Assistant secretary – Pat Teehan, Coolderry;

Treasurer – Frank Fitzpatrick, Doon;

Assistant treasurer – To be filled;

PRO – Padraig O'Meara, Clara;

Central Council representative – Michael Duignan, Durrow;

Leinster Council representatives – Declan Ward, Crinkill and Ciaran Groome, Bracknagh;

Cultural officer – To be filled;