Burke has ‘fighting chance’ of taking GAA’s highest position

IT will be a crowded battlefield when Galway’s Frank Burke bids to become the next President of the GAA at the Association’s annual Congress in February – the former County Board Chairman will be one of five candidates seeking to succeed Aogán Ó Fearghaill.

In that sense, Burke’s timing could have been better. Three years ago, Ó Fearghaill was only opposed by Wexford’s Seamus Howlin and Kerry’s Sean Walsh when he won the approval of county delegates; his predecessor Liam O’Neill was actually elected without a contest; while in 2009 it was a three-runner race when O’Neill and Tipperary’s Sean Fogarty lost out to Cork’s Christy Cooney.

Joining Burke on the canvass trail over the coming months will be Walsh again, Longford’s Martin Skelly, Clare’s Robert Frost, and the perceived front-runner, John Horan, who is coming to the end of his term as Leinster Council Chairman.

Attempting to become the first Galway GAA President since the late Joe McDonagh in 2007, Burke has given long and distinguished service to the Association at county, provincial and national level. The Ardrahan native is currently Chairman of the National Coaching and Games Development Committee, and was also one of the driving forces in the redevelopment and financing of Pearse Stadium. The former school principal has also served as Chairman of the Connacht Council and on a host of GAA Committees in Croke Park.

Carrying out an admittedly unscientific straw poll of some other counties’ perspective on the merits of Burke’s candidature, feedback ranged from being ‘able, astute, experienced, respected’ to ‘lacking a big personality’. In fact, none of the contenders were, unsurprisingly, all things to all people, even if there was a kind of consensus that Burke was the biggest threat to Horan and had a ‘fighting chance’.

One thing for sure, Burke (63) will not be found wanting on is the campaign trail. He knows how the system works and what buttons to press. An excellent orator who has served a protracted apprenticeship, he is well entitled to have a crack at the big job. Burke could pick up ‘sympathy support’ over the treatment of Galway hurling teams by the Leinster Council but, ironically, could also lose out on votes over the same issue as the likes of Offaly and Wexford, for instance, are hardly enamoured by the Tribesmen’s continued bellyaching.

The fact that Connacht haven’t had a GAA President since McDonagh won’t do Burke’s election prospects any harm, but he has to positon himself as a forward-thinking individual and also needs to rally strong support from the Ulster counties who don’t have a candidate to support from their own province. It won’t be easy to stand out from the pack, but Burke can’t afford to play safe either in the weeks ahead.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.