AS THE 40TH President of the GAA eases himself into his last week of office, it’s hard to quantify what we expect, or what is possible to achieve, when you spend three years as the figurehead of a global sporting organisation.
Looking back now, Larry McCarthy’s arrival is an education in the Realpolitik of how these elections often work.
To the uninitiated, McCarthy was a virtual unknown. He spent 40 years in America, where he had served as secretary and chairman of the New York county board, but only John ‘Kerry’ O’Donnell had previously even mounted a bid from an overseas unit. McCarthy wasn’t a recognisable name or face, and certainly not by comparison to Jarlath Burns.
In the history of GAA presidential elections, it’s a safe bet to call Burns one of the highest-profile candidates ever: captain of Armagh in 1999 when they won their first Ulster title in 17 years, prominent GAA television pundit, newspaper columnist, as well as involved in a multitude of official roles.
Yet at the time of the election in February 2020, there was a split in the Association that you suspect reaches back to and through other splits; the type of attitude you just know was at play when the Irish News journalist Andy Watters reported that he heard a congress delegate say to another that it was important to “keep the Nordies out”.
At GAA Congress, the overseas units have 34 votes, Central Council has 52 votes, and the past presidents also get a vote.
You can see how this all transpired. While Burns topped the first-preference votes, the transfers proved his undoing. He was squeezed out, and McCarthy won the day.
After the result, Burns graciously conceded: “We have finally recognised a very vibrant association outside of our country.”
Anyone who has lived abroad and found their way to a GAA club would find themselves instantly brought into a community that not only provided their chosen sport, but an instant peer group with accommodation options and employment opportunities.
Undoubtedly, there was some lovely symbolism that in this significant way, the GAA diaspora were recognised. There was validation.
In America, they talk about the first 100 days of power being critical. In general, after that you are swimming in the sludge; reacting to the news cycle and keeping others away from nibbling at your bottom. It’s a rear-guard action. When McCarthy finally succeeded John Horan in February 2021, his opening months were a matter of observing events unspool rather than ramming through a suite of policy changes.
Before he could even commence his year-in-waiting, McCarthy was faced with one of the biggest crises to hit the GAA with the first recorded cases of Covid already being totted up in Ireland. Without the playing of games, GAA units pivoted to become one-stop community volunteering hubs: delivering groceries to elderly neighbours, turning over club premises and Croke Park to become Covid testing centres, and hundreds of other small acts of kindness.
While McCarthy waited to take office, an idea about a split-season — an idea that had once been debated and regarded as unworkable — was instead readily adopted and embraced. The All-Ireland series in football and hurling took place, albeit behind closed doors, and the ability to watch both competitions soothed the souls of many for those dark days.
He may have been bequeathed the new calendar, but he made sure to position himself as a strong advocate, and ensured that the change would not be shouted down by its critics before it had even been given a fair crack. At times, he was more proactive in this mission than he needed to be, answering even when nobody was asking the questions, such as hijacking inter-county All-Ireland final speeches to fluff up the upcoming club scene.
Ahead of his election, many had picked up on McCarthy’s professional background as an area which could be hugely beneficial to the GAA. An Associate Professor of Management in Seton Hall University where he lectures on Sports Marketing and Sport Management among other areas, this was an area where the Association has been historically weak.
Surely someone with the exposure of American sports, with all their sparkle and pizzazz, would come with some fresh thinking. An effort would be made to promote the games.
Instead, there was virtually nothing helpful done in that space, save for continuing conservatism. His suspicion towards an Irish media that has been largely benign towards the GAA made no sense. There’s a fine line in not promoting your games, and taking the audience for granted. With rising ticket prices and numerous controversies, they failed badly.
When it came to the big calls, there was regression. Sky Sports pulled out of broadcasting Gaelic Games in 2022 and took their millions with them. In its place came GAAGO, a project that was dogged by controversy given the structure of the company, and a board with RTÉ and GAA executives sitting side by side, leaving them open for accusations of conflict of interest.
In such circumstances, a charismatic figurehead is required: to speak to the nation, to keep the lines of communication going, to make people think they actually #Belong, rather than it being a snappy hashtag in a corporate marketing slogan.
Instead, he shrank into the role.
In an interview with Virgin Media last June, a routine question on GAA media rights led to him walking off and terminating the interview. How hard would it have been to knock out some standard answers and continue with your day?
Spoke to Larry McCarthy at the launch of the All Ireland series today, the GAA President declined to take questions on the future broadcast rights of the hurling championship from @VMSportIE pic.twitter.com/OYJYkMzNqW
— Joe Caulfield (@Joe_Caulfield_) June 13, 2023
There were other occasions that called for stronger leadership. While it wasn’t his place to sort out the impasse between 2023 All-Ireland club champions Kilmacud Crokes and Glen, some clear guidance was required when the story became part of the national conversation.
McCarthy wasn’t the man who decided Martin Fogarty’s role as National Hurling Director should be on a fixed term, but any conversations he had with those on the ground would have revealed that Fogarty had done more to rejuvenate and grow hurling in the northern half of the country than anyone else. When Fogarty said he was keen to continue in the role, it was an obvious move – yet his contract ran out and he was not replaced.
McCarthy’s introduction of a hurling rescue plan last December, two months before the end of his presidency, was the final cast of the rod of a frustrated fisherman. In all likelihood, when he moves on from office, that plan will lead nowhere.
In general, McCarthy seemed a man ill at ease with the public-facing role of his office. Instructing fans at All-Ireland finals to applaud referees provoked that most Irish of reactions: mass disobedience. Meeting it with a tut-tut as he did, you’d have to wonder if he ran that idea by anyone.
Getting Paudie Clifford’s name wrong and calling him Paudie Fitzgerald. Saying Declan Hannon’s club was Na Piarsaigh instead of Adare. Even at the Sigerson Cup final on Wednesday night, he got Ulster University Jordanstown captain Ryan Magill’s name wrong, calling him Gillespie and adding a chuckle, before wrestling the cup back and issuing a rebuke.
One or two mistakes like that are grand. Then it appears careless.
Larry McCarthy 😅😳
— Whats The Scór (@WhatstheScor) February 15, 2024
pic.twitter.com/2250O7fKx6
But maybe we expect too much. What powers does a president actually have, really?
Well, we are about to find out. Next week, four years after he was edged out by McCarthy, Burns begins his own term in the GAA’s highest office. The new incumbent will have ideas and ambitions; some conservative, some radical. We’re about to find out the true extent of the president’s remit for sure.