Six new faces on the County Board

BY CHRIS MCNULTY

WHILE the Donegal County Board will have six new faces in its engine room heading into 2010, it was the topic of Club Boundaries that sparked the biggest debate at yesterday afternoon's annual Convention in Dorrian's Hotel, Ballyshannon.

Several motions on the contentious subject were put before yesterday's meeting, but after a debate that lasted over an hour it was decided to reconvene that section of the meeting until the New Year.

Clubs spoke passionately on the eight motions, with Letterkenny clubs St Eunan's and Letterkenny Gaels clashing - the latter argue that players living in the newly established parish of Aughaninshin should play for the Gaels.

Delegates heard that some players were moving freely between clubs on both sides of the border while other clubs claimed they were struggling to survive amid claims that they were being suffocated.

Damian Dowds (Burt), Liam Ward (Glenfin), Eamon Sweeney (Fanad Gaels), Cormac McGarvey (Naomh Mhuire), Naul McCole (Dungloe) and Noreen Doherty (MacCumhaills) were among the delegates who spoke passionately about the motions before an increasing number of speakers expressed concern about trying to 'rush through' such a complex issue.

It was eventually decided to postpone a vote on the matter until January with clubs to discuss the Boundaries before the reconvened sitting.

Before the Convention got underway, outgoing Chairman Sean Kelly informed delegates of the resignation of County Secretary Charlie O'Donnell.

His resignation, which was tendered to Kelly in writing on Friday, was discussed at a hastily convened meeting of the County Executive on Saturday evening before the Division One League final in Ballybofey.

It's not clear whether Donegal will opt to appoint someone on a full-time basis to replace O'Donnell, who was only 15 months into a seven-year contract.

The matter is likely to be discussed at the next meeting of the County Committee in January and in the interim, Aodh Máirtín Ó Fearraigh, the County Board's Assistant Secretary, will carry out the duties of the Secretary.

The County Board will be led into 2010 by new Chairman PJ McGowan, who was elected unopposed to succeed Sean Kelly in the position.

"We have a great organisation in Donegal, there is a tremendous will, tremendous workers and tremendous history," he told delegates after his appointment.

"I want to foster that and develop that. I say the future is bright, even though we have a number of challenges ahead."

There were a number of closely fought contests for other positions on the Executive, with just one vote separating candidates for two positions and there were just three votes between Noreen Doherty and Martin McHugh in the race for Central Council - Doherty won out in the end.

The former County Secretary and the All Ireland winner were the last two standing after Sean Kelly and Charlie Cannon were eliminated after the first two counts. It needed two other votes to determine an eventual winner, as a third vote for the seat saw three votes in excess of the total eligible cast.

Alma Kavanagh is the new PRO, defeating Mary Kelly by a single vote, which was also Seamus McAnaw's margin over Maxi Curran for the Coaching Officer slot.

Naul McCole has returned to the fold as Vice Chairman, while Mick McGrath has also come back as he and Edward Molloy were appointed the County's representatives to Ulster Council.

That meant sitting Ulster Council rep Terence McGinley and outgoing PRO Seamus O'Donnell lost out. Another newcomer to the top table is Muff's Michael McMenamin, who is the new Development Officer.