Parlon to lead new look Offaly GAA County Board as Minnock and Fitzpatrick step forward for big roles

A NEW look County Board management committee will bid to steer the Offaly GAA ship on the same voyage that Michael Duignan, Colm Cummins, Dervill Dolan et al embarked on five years ago.

Coolderry man Tom Parlon was the only proposal for chairman when nominations for December's Convention closed on Tuesday night. News that Parlon was willing to go forward to replace Durrow club man, Michael Duignan, who has to step down under the GAA, broke at the weekend. With vice chairman James Murphy, Rhode ruling himself out several weeks ago and long time St Rynagh's stalwart Paddy Scales ending speculation about his intentions last week, a sense of crisis was developing.

Duignan, treasurer Dervill Dolan (Clara) and James Murphy must also step down this year under the five year rule while secretary Colm Cummins (Edenderry) told delegates weeks ago that he would not be going forward – Cummins was an absolutely crucial part of the package that sent shockwaves through the Offaly GAA world when they challenged long serving incumbents five years ago, stating that change was needed at the top in Offaly GAA. With Michael Duignan and Dervill Dolan winning their contests, Cummins was beaten by James Murphy in a contest for vice chairman but replaced St Rynagh's Pat Horan as secretary a year later – he could have done another year but explained that he would be departing with his fellow officers and had done a year as Development Officer and Covid Officer before becoming secretary.

With Offaly enjoying spectacular success under their watch and the bar being raised across the board, with a dramatic jump is the volume of money being raised and spent, there had been fears that people would not come forward to replace those men.

These fears grew in the past two months with no one putting their head on the block, subsided last week as word emerged that both established officials and men from the left field, like Duignan and Dolan five years ago, and Parlon this year, were entering the fray. They have now disappeared following the close of nominations.

Shamrocks club man, Brendan Minnock has been nominated as secretary with Doon's Frank Fitzpatrick treasurer, Carrig-Riverstown's Denis Hoctor vice chairman and Coolderry's Pat Teehan assistant secretary. Minnock, Hoctor and Teehan have plenty of experience at County Board level while Fitzpatrick is a newcomer.

Minnock was assistant secretary this year and has previously served as PRO and Development Officer as well as Leinster GAA PRO and he has been on other provincial and national committees. A former Shamrocks secretary, he was the Offaly senior football secretary in 2024 but is not doing that role in 2025. He had been urged to go forward in recent days, agreed to be nominated on Tuesday afternoon and his big role will be to ensure Offaly does everything correctly procedurally and from an administration point of view – with full time back up in Operations Manager John Hackett and Administrator Carina Carroll, the role of secretary is different and not as onerous as it was some years ago but is still crucially important.

Frank Fitzpatrick is a surprise nominee and would not be known to the wider GAA community in Offaly but he looks to be an ideal candidate for treasurer. A senior manager with Bank of Ireland for years, the Doon man lives in Laois and has retained a great passion for his native county, regularly attending games in both codes as well as supporting fundraising ventures.

Denis Hoctor has been a hard working referee's administrator in recent years. While this is his first time to serve on the county management committee, he has worked on the Competitions Control Committee in his role as referees' administrator and he knows the way the County Board operates. As vice chairman, he will now chair the influential Competitions Control Committee, who run the Offaly club competitions and come up with structures. He is a familiar sight at games in O'Connor Park and throughout the county.

Pat Teehan is one of Offaly's most famous administrators. A former PRO and chairman, he has served the board in several capacities before doing three years as Leinster GAA chairman. He ran unsuccessfully against Jarlath Burns for GAA president three years ago and quickly returned to his home bosom after that rejection. He was a great help to the new officers when they were initially elected as he is an expert on GAA rules and procedures. While Brendan Minnock was assistant secretary last year and that role normally entails being secretary to the Competitions Control Committee, Teehan took that job on and the fixtures programme was completed very smoothly in 2024, with only the U20 championships to be completed.

Most of the other outgoing officers are nominated unopposed but the news that the big vacancies will be filled comes as a great relief to all, especially the outgoing officers who were facing the nightmare scenario of being forced to stay on until January in an interim capacity.

Parlon's late entry into the fray came as a big surprise and was a big help in other people stepping forward. It means that the new County Board management committee has a very healthy look about it and the work started by Michael Duignan etc should continue.

The Coolderry man's emergence solved the single biggest problem facing Offaly GAA. While it is doubtful if he will serve for a full five years and his term is more likely to be a two to four year one, his ability to lead, make hard calls, attract sponsors and do the work is beyond question.

Parlon is one of Offaly's best known individuals with a diverse range of achievements in politics, business and farming. 71 years of age, he is a former chairman of Coolderry GAA Club and first came to national prominence when he served as president of the Irish Farmers' Association from 1997 to 2001, having previously been vice president from 1991 to 1993.

His achievements in the farming world drew interest from political parties in Laois-Offaly, especially the now defunct Progressive Democrats and Fine Gael. He opted to run for the Progressive Democrats in the 2002 General Election and did tremendously well to upset the local dynamic in Offaly and Laois by being elected at the first attempt.

For years, apart from the very odd upset, Laois-Offaly generally returned 3 Fianna Fail and 2 Fine Gael TDs. Laois Fine Gael minister Charlie Flanagan was a high profile casualty as Fine Fail kept three and Olwyn Enright was elected for Fine Gael in Offaly. In a stunning success, Parlon came second in the poll with 14.4% of the vote, over three thousands votes behind a then unassailable Brian Cowen, who was approaching his political zenith.

The Progressive Democrats came in as the junior coalition partners with Fianna Fail for those five years and Parlon's profile was enhanced by serving as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach and PD leader Mary Harney as Tanaiste. Parlon's remit included responsibility for the Office of Public Works.

In 2007, however, the PD vote collapsed nationally and Parlon was caught in the cross-fire as Charlie Flanagan won back his seat – Parlon received just 5.9% of the vote and that defeat ended his political life. The PD party leader Michael McDowell also lost his seat in that election and despite his own loss, Parlon was linked with taking over the vacancy as leader.

He soon confirmed he would not be seeking this role or election to the Seanad and instead, he returned to the private business world, taking up another high profile role as Director General of the Irish Construction Industry Federation (CIF). He was linked with returning to politics as a Fine Gael candidate when Olwyn Enright stepped down for the 2011 General Election but didn't bite and continued to serve as leader of the CIF until 2023.

With Michael Duignan, Colm Cummins and Dervill Dolan at the helm, Offaly enjoyed some wildly unexpected success, taking the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship in 2021 and winning U20 hurling this year while losing All-Ireland minor and U20 hurling finals in 2022 and 2023.

They were a fundraising juggernaut with golfing hero Shane Lowry coming on board as a financial backer and Killeigh based Glenisk taking over as the county's main sponsors as well as securing naming rights for O'Connor Park. They also secured a renegotiated lease with Tullamore GAA Club for O'Connor Park after a furious row in the early days of their term.

With the end of their term looming, Michael Duignan and fellow officers have continued to work hard to tie down long term sponsorship deals. In recent days, Condron Concrete, Tullamore have signed up as a major and significant backer of the Offaly Coaching and Games Development programme and other firms have also committed to various sponsorship deals for terms up to five years.

Michael Duignan will stay on the Offaly GAA Management Committee as Central Council delegate. He will continue to liaise with sponsors and help deal with team managements while Dervill Dolan and Colm Cummins have promised to help out the new officers.

Michael Duignan et-al have brought things to a new level in the county with record levels of money being raised and spent. This is having a positive impact across the county in a variety of ways but the downside is that it reduces the pool of people willing to and capable of taking on lead roles. Like Michael Duignan, Tom Parlon has not previously served as a board officer but his wealth of experience and obvious passion for Offaly GAA ticks a lot of the same boxes and he will try and drive the county on down the same road.