O’Moore Park to hold Laois GAA’s first in-person county board meeting in 18 months

After a year and a half of virtual meetings, Laois GAA will host their first in-person county board meeting this coming Tuesday in the stand in O’Moore Park.

It will be an unusual setting for the meeting which was previously held in the Laois GAA offices at the Centre of Excellence.

However, it is an approach that has been taken on occasion in the past year by other counties, including Tipperary and Clare.

As well as the executive members and representatives from bodies like Cumann na mBunscol and handball, Children’s Officer and Health and Wellbeing chairperson, the 48 clubs of the county are also entitled to send delegates to the meeting.

It would mean that if there was full turnout there could be close to 70 in attendance though that is rarely the case.

At the most recent meeting held on June 14 on Microsoft Teams, there was about 40 present.

Laois were due to hold six county board meetings this year plus their annual convention though all of those are unlikely to be held due to the Covid restrictions this year.

As has been the case since a decision was made to hold the meetings ‘in camera’, the local media won’t be able to attend.

Among the items up for discussion will be reports from all the executive officers – finance, coaching, development, juvenile etc – as well as on hurling and football.

With Laurence Phelan having stepped down as football chairman, there has yet to be a replacement appointed.

An executive meeting on July 8 – held primarily to discuss the current inter-county football situation following the resignation of Mike Quirke as senior manager – established a football review committee to be chaired by Ger Slevin and also include Fergal Byron, both of whom are on the executive.

It is understood that former Laois players Chris Conway and Mick Dempsey – who aren’t on the executive – are also on that committee.

The minutes of that most recent executive meeting noted that review committee should revert back “with a report and proposals within a four to five-week period”.

“Almost all members of the committee contributed to a lengthy discussion on football matters at the various intercounty grades and academies,” added the correspondence sent out to the clubs.

“It was agreed that Mike Quirke’s early resignation allowed us an opportunity ot review all aspects of our football pathway and the processes involved with our intercounty football set-up prior to the appointment of a new management team.”

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source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2021/08/02/omoore-park-to-hold-laois-gaas-first-in-person-county-board-meeting-in-18-months/