Three-year term for GAA President too short for "significant change" - Whelan
February 17, 2023
RTÉ Sunday Game pundit Ciaran Whelan. ©INPHO/James Crombie.
Former Dublin star Ciaran Whelan believes the GAA President’s term is too short for the person in office to “deliver their full vision”.
Three candidates - Pat Teehan, Jarlath Burns and Niall Erskine – are currently bidding to succeed Larry McCarthy and become the 41st President of the association next year.
Speaking on the RTE GAA podcast this week, Whelan said he feels that the term for a GAA President should be longer than three years.
"It's been tradition, it's been there for a long, long time, but the three-year period is too short. It's very hard for somebody to go in and really deliver their full vision in a three-year period.
"You look at this weekend and already people will be talking about the next President. They bring their own committees and they bring their own structures and they bring in their own people.
"So they do have a significant role to play in the strategic development of the GAA. Three years is a short time for anybody to put a footprint [on it]. Any CEO going into other organisations would have a longer contract to deliver what their values of vision is.
"We're a very slow changing organisation. When it comes to radical changes you have to go back to the well a few times at Congress to bring through significant change."
Tweet"I don't think three years is enough time for anybody to carry out significant change"
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 16, 2023
Ciarán Whelan discusses what he believes the remits of a GAA presidency should be #RTEGAA #RTEGAAPodcast
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