Offaly GAA mourns death of life president and long serving chairman

ONE of Offaly GAA's iconic administrators, their life president and a long serving chairman, Brendan Ward has passed away.

The Durrow man served as Offaly GAA chairman from 1989 to 2002 and was life president since 2003 when he won an election to replace former GAA president, John Dowling, beating Br Denis Minehane, Birr and St Rynagh's Jackie Ryland in a vote.

A straight talking, no nonsense chairman, his spell in charge co-incided with a great era for Offaly GAA. He had been a selector on the Offaly team that won the All-Ireland U-21 Football Championship in 1988, under manager Jody Gunning and alongside Cappincur's Jimmy Daly and Doon's Bill Healy.

During his term as chairman, Offaly were a great force in hurling and also enjoyed an unexpected renaissance in football. They won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1994 and 1998 along with Leinster senior titles in 1989, 1990, 1994 and 1995. Offaly came from nowhere to win the Leinster Senior Football Championship under Tommy Lyons in 1998 and followed that up a year later with the county's first and only National Football League triumph. They won Leinster U-21 hurling titles in 1989, 1991, 1992 and 2000, Leinster U-21 football in 1995, All-Ireland and Leinster minor hurling in 1989 and Leinster in 2000 and Leinster minor football in 1989.

Offaly had fantastic success in the 1990s and while it took a lot of factors to make this happen, it could not have occurred without a strong County Board, leading from the front and sorting out the many issues that invariably crop up in the GAA world.

He served alongside secretary Christy Todd (Ballycommon) for almost all of his tenure as chairman and they worked very well together – two strong personalties, they were loyal to each other and generally sang off the one hymn sheet, quickly sorting out any differences that may have arose.

Apart from GAA, he was one of the best known and popular individuals in the Durrow area. A strong, impressive man, he was a farmer and was a stalwart of several community activities in his own area. Living across the road from Durrow Church, he had a strong faith and was fiercely proud of his own area. A great neighbour and very obliging, he was fiercely proud of Durrow and all that went on there to make up the community.

Personable and courteous, he did not suffer fools gladly and did not shy away from confrontation. There were several controversies during his term as Offaly GAA chairman. The most notable came in 1998 when Babs Keating was ousted as Offaly senior hurling manager after a bad Leinster final defeat by Kilkenny. The Tipperary man had famously compared Offaly to “sheep in a heap” after the defeat.

Initially, the County Board stuck with Keating and tried to sail through the troubled waters. However, an incendiary interview by star midfielder Johnny Pilkington with the Irish Independent, when he reacted furiously to the manager's comments, threw petrol on the fire and within hours of publication things had reached boiling point. In a curt phone call, Ward informed Keating that the mood was not good in Offaly and he would have to go.

Years later, Ward revealed the bones of their discussion that day. “Eventually I said I'd ring him and I said I'll give you the opportunity of resigning or I'll have to sack you. He said is that the way it is and I said it is.”

The rest was history. Offaly produced a rabbit from the hat by appointing an unknown Galway man Michael Bond as manager and they went on to win a sensational All-Ireland title. They beat Clare in a never to be forgotten trilogy with a third meeting ordered after referee blew up time early in the first replay – Clare were leading at the time and thousands of Offaly fans sat on the Croke Park pitch in protest, resulting in a following U-21 hurling game between Kildare and Kerry being cancelled. They only left the pitch after Ward made an emotional plea on the loud speakers, thanking supporters for their backing and promising that Offaly would fight any injustice.

Ward crossed swords with several others during his long time as chairman. There were furious rows with clubs, particularly Birr, who were engaged in a bitter border dispute with their parish neighbours, Crinkle for the entire time – it was only later in the 2000s that mediation eventually secured an agreement between the warring parties; him and Offaly's most famous administrator, John Dowling exchanged angry words; he had a significant falling out with officers and some members of Durrow's parish neighbours, Ballinamere, a club they played underage with and there were many others – many that never entered the public domain.

He had to deal with some very tricky situations. Considering the success rate in the 1990s, it seems strange to recall now that it was a very volatile decade for the County Board. While Offaly lit up the 1990s in hurling, there was an undercurrent from some clubs at County Board and Ward did very well to steer the ship through all this.

The biggest tribute that can be paid to Ward is to note that he came through his term as chairman without being challenged. John Dowling had been nominated a couple of times to go against him in 1993 and 1994 and said he would run on one occasion but he opted out – as a former GAA president, the influential Tullamore man could not afford to blemish his legacy with a defeat and all the indications at that time were that Ward would have came through any contest.

His only contest was in 1989 when first elected – vice chairman for a few years before that, he had an easy win over Shinrone's Gerry Carroll in a vote.

Like most GAA officials, he came up through the tried and tested route. He played with Durrow and then became immersed in club life as an officer and a mentor. After this, he graduated to county level and once he did this, he gave his complete focus to Offaly.

Before becoming chairman, he fought the corner of his club St Columba's at County Board meetings for years. In 1977, he proposed that the powers of the Fixtures and Disciplinary Committees revert back to full County Board meetings. Those committees had been set up with a fundamental overhaul of County Board structures in 1973 – prior to that, fixtures were made and discipline cases were dealt with at full County Board meetings and as you can imagine, it was all somewhat chaotic. As County Board chairman, Ward would not have countenaced anything of this nature but in the 1970s, he felt it would suit his club best, arguing that the board was now nothing more than a “rubber stamp”. Chairman Fr Sean Heaney argued against the motion and it was lost.

Part of the reason for his success as chairman was that people knew where they stood with him. Once he ruled on an issue, he ruled and there was almost never any turning back. Even in the face of fierce criticism, hard words, he would stand his ground. He would try and meet people half way and satisfy their needs but he did not like it when ultimatums were made and a gun placed to his head.

An example of this was when Offaly senior football manager Tommy Lyons threatened to pull out in a dispute over a team holiday after the 1998 National Football League win. Ward told Lyons that he would not be able to solve it when that threat was there and it was only after this that a compromise was found – they agreed to a training holiday for the 1999 panel, and while a couple of the league winners were no longer involved at this stage, it was a compromise that satisfied both and the show went on.

In his early days as chairman, a couple of south Offaly clubs proposed motions for the setting up of separate hurling and football boards. This was an occasional source of debate at the time but Ward spoke passionately against any split – there had been separate boards briefly in the late 1950s. It was never put to a vote and the last time it came up in Ward's time was in 2000 when Birr proposed a split. “I know Birr mean well but if we want to destroy hurling and football in Offaly, we'll appoint two boards. History shows Offaly's successes came with one board,” he had said.

He also took task with the backers of a 1996 Birr meeting about Offaly hurling that was organised without County Board sanction. Some clubs as well as other individuals attended this and Ward hit out: “This was undemocratic and some clubs slated management. If this type of thing is happening, games in Offaly are not going in the right direction. The County Board is here where people can stand up and hold their head high. The people who did the slating can't hold their heads high.”

He had to deal with some real messy, emotional issues. One of the most difficult was in 1992 when Eamon Cregan was appointed as the new Offaly senior hurling manager. Kinnitty's Pat Delaney, Drumcullen's Mick Spain and Tullamore's Andy Gallagher were nominated as selectors with one more to be appointed but there was immediate opposition with St Rynagh's quickly proposing that they not be appointed. Rynagh's were not happy with Spain and Gallagher being selectors with their delegate Patsy McNally stating that two of them and been “in and out” for the past 17 years. The selectors were ratified on a vote that night but Spain and Gallagher later resigned.

Ward made an emotional plea for unity, saying: “Are we going to destroy Offaly hurling? This will make the headlines. We want a united front. We want to develop hurling and do well. We can't succeed if we continue this way. We will be splitting right, left and centre. We can go out of here tonight and have done untold damage for Offaly hurling. Do the right thing for hurling. If we go out of here tonight in this situation, we will have done a bad night's work.”

That controversry created a lot of problems for Drumcullen at that time with Mick Spain resigning as club chairman but by 1994 when Offaly won the All-Ireland, things had healed and Mick Spain and Andy Gallagher were selectors.

There were many more. In 1994, senior football manager Pat Fitzgerald came under ferocious and sustained fire from a minority of delegates at County Board meetings. He survived a vote of confidence, 34-26, with Ward speaking about the abuse board officials and management had received as he backed their man.

John Dowling had returned as Tullamore GAA chairman in the early 1990s and frequently fought with the County Board. The duo had an angry exchange in 1994 when Ward suggested in his address to Convention that a second club should be formed in Tullamore. Dowling told him to keep his nose out of Tullamore affairs but Ward insisted his suggestion merited examination.

He took on long serving Clara chairman Michael Sheridan in 1992. Sheridan was a long serving County Board treasurer at the time but Ward became exasperated at him speaking on behalf of Clara from the top table. He frequently told him not to do that and when Sheridan reacted to one row by resigning, it was immediately accepted. The Clara man subsequently tried to withdraw his resignation but Ward wouldn't accept it with Andy Gallagher beating Sheridan in a contest at a future board meeting – the Clara man never got elected onto the County Board top table after that.

There were occasional confrontations between Brendan Ward and Birr and things reached a nadir in 2001 after a delayed 2000 senior hurling final that March. The chairman had queried the gate returns from the final and Birr reacted with all guns blazing, accusing him of casting n “unjustified aspersion” on them, stating that the County Board had provided the gatesmen and they had panicked by ordering the opening of a main gate because of a rush and a lot of people had got in. Ward responded in classic style, describing the letter as “the greatest load of rubbish that could appear in print” and insisting that he had not blamed Birr.

He had a serious row with Ballinamere members in 2001, after Ballinamere-Durrow lost the Minor Hurling Championship final to Coolderry. Addressing the Bord na nOg AGM, Ward had said he hoped never to see the behaviour by some people that besmirshed that final repeated again. Ballinamere-Durrow demanded retribution, looking for an apology, claiming they had been “singled out and maligned” and accusing him of being “unfair, discriminatory and hurtful in the extreme”. St Columba's delegates disassociated themselves from the B-D letter and Ward's response was blunt and left little room for debate: ““I want to assure Ballinamere, never will I apologise, never, because what happened was a disgrace” he said. When Ballinamere's David Kelly said he had not heard the last of this, Ward ended the discussion: “I know, I expect another few letters.”

There were many other issues that he sorted out or helped sort out. Disputes with clubs over fixtures – Seir Kieran were at loggerheads over one county final as Joe Dooley was on holidays and a compromise was reached here along with many others.

There was a major furore when Hubert Rigney was left off the Offaly panel for the 2000 All-Ireland senior hurling final and it took a lot of behind the scenes work to bring this to a conclusion in the following months.

He fought Offaly's cause very well at Leinster and Central Council level when required: he tried to ensure that Offaly's dual needs were met while he sorted a lot of stuff out in the many private conversations that people never know about but cuts trouble off before it starts.

It was an eventful time for the County Board but for all of the above memtioned, there was also the extended periods when life went on very smoothly and normally. It was just an era where Offaly were very successful, expectations were sky high and people operated in this red hot environment with the result that an occasional hint of anarchy seeped through and Ward had to deal with all this.

And the biggest tribute to pay to him is to note that most of the stuff that happened during his reign had a happy ending and the County Board did not find itself generating the same level of controversy and criticism over their dealings with mangers etc that they encountered in the two decades after his departure.

Of course, there was way more to Brendan Ward than his public GAA face. There was Brendan Ward, the devoted husband to Carmel and father to his children. There was the passionate farmer, the great neighbour. There was also the Brendan Ward who battled ill health with great fortitude for several years but still managed to go the full distance.

He has made a lasting legacy to Offaly GAA, a profound and powerful contrbution but his loss will be most acutely felt by his family, friends, neighbours, community, all those who knew him on a personal level, beyond his GAA persona.