Moffatt believes he's the man to deliver change to Mayo GAA
AS a candidate for the top position on the Mayo GAA County Board, Liam Moffatt has a simple question for club delegates: Are you happy with the way things are?
If they answer in the affirmative and decide not to vote him in as chairman and instead elect for his opponent in the race, current vice-chairman Seamus Tuohy, then the Crossmolina has no issue with that.
However, if they want to see changes within the organisation then he believes he’s the man to deliver.
“I’ve nothing but respect for my opponents but I have my own vision and what I’ve focused on in my campaign is policies and procedures and what that vision is, rather than any individual candidates,” Liam told The Connaught Telegraph in a wide-ranging interview.
He continued: “What motivates me to go for chairperson? There are two things: the personal, which doesn’t mean anything to anyone else – it’s just that sense of pride in where I’m from and the desire to see Mayo be all that it can be; and then from a wider context, I see huge untapped potential in Mayo GAA.
“I believe that if we can achieve our potential off the field as administrators it would mean that clubs in the county could focus more on achieving on-field success. That’s why I’ve prioritised policies and strategic vision rather than personality in speaking to clubs, divisional boards and officers.
"The reason I went down that line is because personally I’d admire anyone who volunteers to work for the club or their county, so making this a personality contest simply wasn’t on my mind.
“Ultimately I want to see a scenario where all of the board officers, and particularly the chair, are less visible to the public, where our best work is done away from the public glare, and where we are judged purely on our contributions based on policy and strategy.
“The second point in relation to that is that people are often quick to criticise those who carry out officer roles.
"Some criticism is fair, some is unfair, but the board and officers in my opinion have never been lacking in terms of commitment or desire to do what’s best for Mayo. They’ve been let down by a lack of policy to guide that energy, and I feel that lack of policy has failed Mayo too many times.
“If I was selected as chairperson by the clubs, I would want to work with clubs and county board officers to implement policies which connect our clubs and county board, which improve the playing health of our clubs, and ultimately feeding into the county team, look to improve our facilities, reduce the burden on our volunteers, and really look at how we can help communities develop economically and socially.
“Another thing is that our policies need to connect with our migrants and our emigrants. A huge amount of Mayo people live in Galway, Dublin and further afield.
"Ultimately what you’d hope for out of that process is that Mayo people have pride in the knowledge that their county board have a best-in-practice operation in how it conducts itself off the field and therefore ensures its clubs and county teams can achieve more on the field.”
Liam has been the Mayo GAA coaching officer for the past three year, a role he said he found ‘very interesting’.
He elaborated: “It was hugely insightful because I actually got to meet so many clubs and so many people working at inter-county level. I learned a lot from it. A lot of the process I learned as coaching officer I’ve applied in this campaign, where I’ve looked at facts.
“That process I began with the coaching, where I did numerous presentations, I’ve brought that into the mainstream now with the chairperson role.
“I think the coaching project has huge potential, the biggest being how we get down to support the clubs because that’s ultimately what feeds into the Mayo project and not the other way around.
"I don’t regard it as a central policy first where we focus on all the Mayo teams and the clubs catch up. Actually I believe it’s going club and school first, and Mayo second.
“For that to happen we need progress. We do have great people involved. We need to support them as much as we can. That’s why I wrote the coaching policy during the year, which all the clubs in Mayo have reviewed. Essentially it looked at the problems and the solutions, and where we’re going with them.”
To anyone who suggests that he lacks experience as an officer within the Mayo GAA organisation, Liam has this to say: “I think experience is how you look at it. If you confine your interpretation of experience as being your time on the county board, that’s a valid criticism – I’m on the county board three years.
“However, if you think of the environment we’re in, which is essentially a sports environment, and if you look at all of my experiences combined - I’ve played a every level of club, I’ve played at every level of county, I’ve coached every level of club from underage to senior, I’ve obviously coached inter-county as well, I’ve worked as a medical professional at club and inter-county level, I’ve sat on committees from my club all the way up to Croke Park, I’ve obviously been involved in a coaching review in Mayo in the last few years, and I’ve always had a connection with my club’s administration, even when I was playing - you could argue that I’m one of the most experienced candidates. It’s all a matter of opinion.”
The Mayo GAA county convention takes place on Sunday in the Broadhaven Bay Hotel, Belmullet.