New CEO gives Mayo GAA a chance to break old habits

Given the weight the Mayo senior football team carries in hearts and minds across the county, the appointment of Andy Moran as senior manager last summer drew far more reaction than last week’s news that Mayo GAA has appointed its first-ever CEO.

Ruairí Conroy from CLG Tuar Mhic Éadaigh is a milestone appointment – Mayo GAA’s first ever CEO – and his CV in senior multinational roles confirms he is a serious operator.

But in Mayo while we often concern ourselves more with on-field than off-field matters, this has the potential to be much more significant than any senior management appointment – and that is with the greatest of respect to Andy Moran and wherever he may bring the Mayo senior football team.

We all hope to see that day of days when a Mayo senior captain climbs the steps of the Hogan Stand, lifts Sam Maguire and ends one of the most famous sporting famines in the world.

But putting all your eggs in the basket of the senior team and not looking at Mayo GAA holistically is to condemn ourselves to history repeating.

The Mayo senior manager is but one part of the jigsaw and we don’t look at the wider picture nearly enough.

Structures, administration, coaching, finance and infrastructure all deserve far greater attention than they usually receive.

The relationship between clubs, schools, county teams and committees also deserves more attention – not only for elite success but so improvement reaches every level.

It is easy to fling the brickbats at the county board and they have been at the root of plenty of criticism over the years. Some of it warranted, some less so, and, increasingly, far too much has become personal and abusive, something which should never be entertained.

But there is a tendency among those under fire to sometimes conflate abuse with well-intentioned criticism.

Fundamentally with an organisation like Mayo GAA, honest reflection and introspection is vital.

Therefore, it was encouraging to hear at the outset of the process to appoint a first-ever CEO of Mayo GAA last November a few very honest admissions by the two men who explored the need for a CEO and led the process.

Donal Walsh from Kilmaine, chairperson of the South Mayo GAA Board and Daithí Gallagher from Castlebar, Cultural Officer with Mayo GAA, admitted that by starting this search now, Mayo GAA are ‘playing catch-up’ with counties who have already appointed full-time CEOs or similar leading professional roles.

Donal Walsh asked the pointed question: ‘with all the effort we put into our teams, are we putting the same effort in with our administration?’ Daithí Gallagher highlighted the need to ‘entice some younger, newer volunteers’. In terms of commercial development, Gallagher said Mayo are one of the most recognised sporting brands in the country but ‘our commercial activity has been underdeveloped’.

Coaching and strength and conditioning work across various grades are ‘at times fragmented’, something which Andy Moran has actively sought to assist. There is no specific ‘footballing ethos’.

All too often, Mayo GAA at an administrative level have been in the news for the wrong reasons. The cack-handed sacking of Kevin McStay last summer was the latest in a long line of self-inflicted blows.

It was encouraging to hear those admissions from Walsh and Gallagher and to hear county board chairman Séamus Tuohy describe the ‘cultural change’ as being the most important element of Conroy’s role.

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but the Mayo GAA Board are to be commended for taking this step. Now, the key part is to suitably empower and assist Conroy.

Daithí Gallagher described the appointment as ‘setting the direction for the next generation of the organisation’ and it could prove transformative. So many woes across the decades have been self-inflicted all the way back to the challenges the heroes of 1950 and ‘51 faced.

Most people involved at the coalface of Mayo GAA do so with the best of intentions – players, coaches, administrators. But any organisation which has had repeated issues cropping up needs introspection and to ask itself: how can it be better? How can we learn from the past? Are there deep-rooted cultural issues?

Mayo GAA is now at a genuine crossroads.

To use the Kevin McStay removal as an example, taken in isolation it can be just assigned to human error and poor judgment.

But when it is the latest in a long list of poorly handled appointments or removals, it is very fair to ask about the culture that allows this to happen and the failure to learn from previous mistakes.

Most feedback around the process suggests there is an appetite to embrace change. The fact such a high-calibre candidate came through is reassuring.

While Ruairí Conroy’s CV is very impressive, Donal Walsh made a very telling point. He is ‘a top level executive’ but also has ‘a genuine Mayo GAA heart’. Conroy’s understanding of Mayo GAA, his knowledge of how things work (whether that be well or otherwise) and, from talking to those who know him, a great grá for his club and his county gives him a massive head start.

The 45-year-old has been appointed to a four-year role, which we are told will be cost-neutral by the end of year two.

Séamus Tuohy said that for plans for a Centre of Excellence in Bohola to be successful, the appointment of a CEO was ‘going to be crucial’. This writer remains unconvinced about the suitability of the location and the wisdom of the likely projected spend, but the financial viability of the project is certainly stronger now.

One of the greatest failures of Mayo GAA in modern history was the scale of the €18 million spend on the MacHale Park redevelopment. It has been a noose around the neck of every board since. When we speak of learning from the past, one hopes that a Bohola Centre of Excellence does not fall into the same category.

The appointment of a CEO, especially one with such strong commercial experience, ought to help to offset that. However, it would also be a waste of a wonderful opportunity to transform the organisation in the county if Conroy spends the vast majority of his work on this project.

How much latitude he is given and how the role operates structurally will be crucial to its success or otherwise.

It looks like Mayo GAA has found the right man for the job. The work begins now, and Ruairí Conroy will ultimately be judged on whether real change follows – though not all of that responsibility will rest with him alone.

We wish him well.