End of the John Joe era in Galway football

EXCLUSIVE by JIM CARNEY MAJOR CHANGE is on the way in the administration of the G.A.A. in County Galway â€â€ starting with the phasing out of the Football Board and Hurling Board as we know them, while the curtain is also set to fall on the John Joe Holleran era in Galway football. Inside the next three weeks, Galway will have come into line with the rest of the country â€â€ at the insistence of Croke Park â€â€ and there will be only one officially recognised body in charge of the G.A.A. here: the County Board, under the guidance of a full-time C.E.O., John Hynes, and County Board chairman Noel Treacy. Football and Hurling Board Conventions will be held as usual, on December 10th and 12th, respectively, but there will be no election of officers at either of those two meetings, nor at the County Board Convention on Monday night, December 17th. From then on, the Hurling and Football Boards will be reduced in status to fixtures-making committees, the organisation and handling of matches, and fund-raising. They will, however, retain certain leadership positions, such as a chairperson, secretary and treasurer, but that's where a huge change is being made â€â€ those positions will not be filled by delegates' votes at Conventions; they will in future be appointments made by the County Board, headed by John Hynes. It's understood that clubs may send in nominations for these positions but the decision on who gets the high-prestige posts will be taken out of the old democratic system and transferred to a new appointments system. After serving his five-year term at the helm of Galway football, chairman John Joe Holleran will be standing down; his most likely replacement, chosen by the County Board, is current secretary Séamus O'Grady, with Tadhg Ó Conghaile the new secretary and Milo Costello retained as treasurer. A more complex, and intriguing, scenario may develop in the Hurling Board where there could be a potentially sensational development â€â€ the return to the coalface of former secretary John Fahey. The new process will be started at a special County Board Convention next Tuesday night, at the Claregalway Hotel, followed by the Football Board Convention on the following Monday night, December 10; the Hurling Board Convention on Wednesday 12th, and the County Board Convention, to give the green light to the new structures, on Monday, December 17.