County executive prepares to name new full-time secretary

LIMERICK GAA’s new full-time secretary could be appointed by the weekend.
The Leader Sport has learned that the newly-created paid position is to be offered to the successful candidate in the coming days. Six applicants were offered interviews, but only five individuals accepted.
Leader Sport has learned the identity of the candidates and can reveal that two current members of the County Board executive were among those interviewed. Another two Limerick men sat before the interview board while the fifth individual was a female candidate from Kerry.
Among the interview board was Limerick GAA chairman Liam Lenihan, Croke Park’s Human Resources Officer Fiona O’Rourke and former Munster Council Secretary Simon Moroney.
The appointment will bring to an end a two and a half year saga. Back at annual convention in 2005 Limerick GAA was among the most progressive counties when club delegates voted in favour of creating the paid post of County Board Secretary.
West Limerick GAA club St. Kieran’s proposed the change which received almost unanimous backing from the club delegates.
The initial job advert appeared in newspapers prior to Christmas 2006.
Three people applied for the job and in March 2007, the position was offered to long-serving secretary Jimmy Hartigan.
However, the Ballybrown man performed a surprise u-turn and declined the job.
The idea of a full-time official was then shelved for over 12 months.
That was until last August’s County Board meeting when chairman Liam Lenihan sought approval from the club delegates to push ahead and “put the structures in place to get a full-time secretary”.
Limerick got Croke Park approval in December to proceed and the job advert appeared in newspapers earlier this year and the interviews took place last Friday.
Limerick will become the last of the Munster counties to appoint a paid full-time official.

Jerome O’Connell