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The Leader Interview....with Mike O'Riordan, secretary Limerick County Board
MIKE O'Riordan wearing a smart/casual dark blue shirt and beige trousers strides briskly ahead of a photographer and a reporter. He's a few minutes late having travelled from the headquarters of Lonergan's Hardware in Cahir to which he will say a final say goodbye in a fortnight's time.
I'm a few minutes early so I've been waiting in the car on a sweltering spring evening putting together a few questions for the newly installed full-time secretary of Limerick GAA's County Board.
To pass another few minutes I chat with Mike the photographer who leans against a stainless steel bin at the back of the Mackey Stand. Soon both Mikes shake hands. Mike O'Riordan apologises for the delay and begins to skip up the steps.
"It's looking well alright," smiles the Kilmallock man as he stands casting a surveying glance across the pitch of the Ennis Road venue.
With a capacity of 50,000, the Gaelic Grounds is one quiet place when there are just three lonely souls standing in one spot.
Even the familiar face of Willie Mulcahy, the groundsman, is no where to be seen.
A quick snap by the lens man of the new County Board secretary looking relaxed in the revamped GAA arena and then it's back up more steps again, this time leading to an office.
It's just two weeks since Mike O'Riordan was unveiled as Limerick GAA's first full-time secretary. And already the mail is building up. Having sifted throw the office pile and having taken what's his, the former Kilmallock hurler takes a seat at a long table.
"My passion for the GAA I suppose started from a very young age really. I would have had cousins and relations involved and I started playing myself at the age of seven."
Having been brought along to Under 8 and Under 10 training in Kilmallock by either his mother Nancy or his late father Gerald, the young Mike's first taste of competitive hurling would come at Under 12 level in the South Championship.
With his appetite whetted nicely, the hunger for more was inevitable.
"When I was hitting Under 14 and Under 16 the senior team was making great inroads and there was a great buzz about the town which I feel complimented the underage structures at the time," he says.
"And the Limerick seniors were doing well also so I would have gone to all the matches especially as there was such a strong Kilmallock contingent on the team."
Mike's hurling idols ranged from the local lads who played with Limerick to the likes of Kilkennny's Liam Fennelly and Cork's John Fenton, Jimmy Barry Murphy and Tom Cashman. Growing in the stronghold of hurling that is Kilmallock, to play senior hurling with the parish was the ultimate.
And Mike achieved it. He played at the highest grade in club hurling for just short of a decade until 2002. Mid-field was his position.
He was also secretary of Kilmallock GAA club for five years up until 2005. From there he became secretary of the County Board Hearings Committee in 2007 before eventually becoming secretary of the County Board in December 2007.
Today he sits before me as the first full-time paid secretary of Limerick County Board.
"The interview process started in March. I had to do a presentation and interview in Croke Park. It was a power point presentation on basically the problems in Limerick GAA and the solutions to the problems," explains the 33-year-old.
So what are the problems, as he sees them?
"When you look at Limeric GAA, the underage structure needs to be examined. Lifting the Treaty would be a big bonus to solving the underage problems. A lot of the rural clubs are finding it hard to field teams and over the last few years when everybody has been busy during the Celtic Tiger they mightn't have enough time to dedicate to other activities."
Fresh from the Annual GAA Congress in Cork where the GAA decided to shelve the experimental rules tested during the National Football and Hurling leagues, Mike is buzzing with enthusiasm for what lies ahead of him during his seven-year tenure.
While outlining that there was a democratic decision taken by all the delegates throughout the county last Tuesday week that "we would vote against the experimental rules", Mike himself is of the opinion that the rules issue will arise again given the narrow defeat.
"I would be of the opinion that it will probably come to the clar at either a special congress or next year's congress," he points out.
Mention of the Cork hurling saga however, draws a long pause, followed by an uneasy look. "It's very hard to comment on other counties when you wouldn't know the inside track.
Obviously there are pros and cons on both sides and hopefully it will never occur in Limerick," comes the delayed response.
With the newly-installed president of the GAA, Christy Cooney, stressing that player welfare will be among his priorities during his tenure, it's an issue of which the new Limerick secretary is equally conscious.
"Basically we would feel in Limerick that to get the best out of your players they have to be happy. You have to look after them or you won't get the best out of them.
Employment would be a big factor too. With the environment that's out there at the moment we would endeavour to ensure that all our county teams are fully employed through the help of various GAA links and business links throughout the county."
The decision to award next October's first International Rules test to the Gaelic Grounds that will result in a multi million euro windfall for the city and the redevelopment of Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale are two projects set to consume much of Mike's time over the coming months.
"We have the International rules coming here on October 24 and we have planning permission got for the flood lights. We will be opening the tenders on Wednesday. The project will be finished by the end of August. Basically we have to do a bit of restructuring in the Gaelic Grounds. We will probably have to reconstruct part of both the terraces to include new dressing rooms for the International rules.
"Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale is going to be a centre of excellence. There will be five full size fields. One of the fields will be a synthetic pitch - fully floodlit as well with a stand. There will be a new building to cater for dressing rooms and catering facilities and that will be completed within 18 months.
"There is also going to be a new games manager for the county which will be announced shortly. He or she will run the games within the under age structures within the county. They are going to be installed in all the six counties in the province."
It's clear that Limerick GAA is becoming bigger business with every passing year — dramatic figures revealed at the Limerick County Convention showed that the cost to run all county teams last year was record breaking for Limerick coming in at the €1.05 million mark.
It is against these sky-rocketing figures that the Limerick County Board is exploring new commercial avenues.
"We are a small business it itself - we are turning over nearly €3 million a year. We will have to look at all avenues of income," Mike concedes before adding, "we will be opening a new GAA shop which will sell jerseys and souvenirs."
A very successful sponsorship deal with JP McManus meanwhile, has now entered its second, three-year term.
"We are very privileged in Limerick to have the calibre of a sponsor as we have in JP McManus and the McManus family," says Mike.
I put it to him that the competition from other sports for the attention of Limerick's sports-mad fans is mounting. His reply displays his love of Gaelic Games.
"With the success of Munster rugby and all the young guys wearing the Munster jersey it is essential that, in the not too distant future, we will get to an All-Ireland. Yes, there is a lot of competition out there from competitor sports, but as a county we have to show that we can compete with these sports and that we are making sure that the children are being properly looked after and that there is a proper structure in relation to coaching - that we are getting the best out of these young people playing hurling and football. Within the seven years there has to be progress made within the county and we will endeavour to get the best of what we can in Limerick."
In the meantime, there will surely be some time for Mike to relax. Married to Diane Lyons, a Staker woman and employee of Michael O'Leary -she is a Ryanair air hostess - some travel will undoubtedly features in his plans.
"We like heading off on the odd weekend away when it's possible. I also like to watch the rugby and play a small bit of golf.
And his handicap? "None, thanks be to God," he laughs. And with that the interview is over. It's back to the spring sunshine for me as the County Board Secretary begins tearing open his post.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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