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You are > Home > Walsh the high king of Munster
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Thursday, March 04, 2010
Walsh the high king of Munster
BY KIERAN MCCARTHY
SEÁN Walsh was always destined to achieve great success away from the football field, more so than on it.
But that’s not to say that the Moyvane man wasn’t a good footballer. It was the exact opposite really. Two county football championships with Feale Rangers tell its own story. And there was even a brief flirtation with Mick O’Dwyer’s seniors in the early 1980s.
That said, it was in the administrative side of the sport that the North Kerry man excelled in, and having worked his way up from the grassroots level of the game, Walsh will be confirmed as chairman of the Munster GAA Council this Friday night in Listowel.
It’s yet another huge honour for Walsh, who has served as vice-chairman of the provincial council for the past three years, not to mention a memorable 10year spell as Kerry County Board Chairman.
And as he prepares to settle into his new role, Walsh took time out to reflect on the great GAA adventure that he has been swept along on to date.
"There is no doubt that the one thing I loved above everything else was playing football," Walsh told The Kingdom.
"I played until I was 42 years of age. I was fortunate enough to be part of a great Moyvane team that got to a lot of North Kerry finals with little success. I also played in three county finals with Feale Rangers, winning two.
"I actually became involved in the administrative side of the sport at a very young age. I was just 18 when I was secretary of Moyvane. I was Moyvane chairman for 12 years, development officer for the Kerry County Board for another 10 years and during all that time I was a player.
"In the year I retired from playing football, I became chairman of the county board. I spent 20 years as a player and as an administrator before I became chairman of the county board."
It’s an impressive sporting CV, and it’s one that Walsh will call on, no doubt, as he prepares for the challenges that he now faces as Jimmy O’Gorman’s successor at the helm of the Munster Council.
As the former Ireland International Rules tour manager from 2008 says himself, his apprenticeship has been served.
"I am privileged and honoured to be in a position where I can accept the chairmanship of the Munster Council this Friday night," he enthused.
"I believe it comes after the long apprenticeship that I have served. I spent 12 years as chairman of my club, 10 years as chairman of the county and three years as vice-chairman of the Munster Council so after all that, I am ready for the challenges that go with being the chairman of the council.
"Also, I have been very lucky in that I have worked with some great people in my time in Kerry, who have influenced me. I hope to carry those influences on with me as chairman of the Munster Council for the next three years."
While excited about his new position within the Munster GAA Council, Walsh admits that there are plenty of challenges ahead for him and the board members in the coming weeks, months and years. Not even sport is free from the far-reaching effects of the recession, as he explains.
"We are facing into difficult times – there is no question about that – in relation to how the state of the economy will affect the GAA. Nobody is insulated from the present downturn in the economy," Walsh stated.
"We will be working together to find ways for us to promote our championships as well as trying to help the families that want to go to championship matches.
"Families form a big part of what the GAA is as an organisation and the one thing that we have to be mindful of, in these times of recession, is that supporters can still go to matches and support their teams.
"It’s up to the Council to provide value for the customer (the people that attend our matches) and particularly for families. It’s an issue that we will be looking at in the immediate short-term."
Walsh will have to continue to juggle his GAA life and his work at Tarbert Powerstation but that’s only an extra challenge for the man that will be Munster Council GAA Chairman for the next three years.
But what will make his work that bit easier is that the GAA in Munster is thriving at the moment, with competitive championship action the norm.
"Our attendances were up last year which says a lot about the healthy state of the GAA in Munster," the new chairman said.
"We are coming from a position where we have a fabulous product, more so in the hurling championship than the football championship as we have five counties that can possibly win the championship.
"The Munster provincial championships, and particularly the hurling, are known for their skill, tremendous games, sportsmanship and all that.
"They have a long history of being amongst the best in the country and long may that continue."
Having been involved in four victorious All-Ireland winning Kerry senior football teams when he was chairman of the county board, Walsh has experienced plenty of good days with his native Kingdom.
And while he hopes, like all Kerry supporters, that the future holds further glory-laden days for the county, Walsh points out that he is chairman of Munster, not just Kerry.
"It would be nice if Kerry were successful in the next couple of years," he said.
"In football, at senior level, they will be up against a very good Cork team. But that’s a side issue because when you are chairman of the council, you are chairman for the six counties.
"I have always worn my heart on my sleeve and I will never be far from the green and gold but my loyalties will be with all the counties for the three years that I will be chairman."
And so to the big question – will Walsh follow in the footsteps of Seán Kelly and set his sights on the GAA Presidency?
Remember that Kelly also served his time as chairman of both the Kerry County Board and the Munster Council – similar to Walsh – before being named as the Kingdom’s first ever GAA President in 2003.
But that’s a subject for a different day, according to Walsh.
"Obviously I am only looking at the next three years. After that, we’ll see what happens. But for the next few years, I am just concentrating on my role with the Munster Council."
With the door for the presidency left open, don’t rule Walsh out from climbing even further up the GAA ladder in future years, but for now, the new chairman of the Munster Council is concentrating on provincial matters. And Munster GAA will profit as a result.
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