Colm O'Rourke Meath successor latest as two nominations received
Meath GAA clubs have nominated two coaches to succeed O'Rourke, but county chiefs can go and head hunt their own manager
Meath GAA have received two nominations to replace Colm O’Rourke - but County Chiefs remain free to head hunt other candidates.
County Chairman, Jason Plunkett told LMFM that Meath “can’t afford to get it wrong - we have to get it right,” but was reluctant to put a time frame on the appointment.
Asked were the two candidates nominated by the clubs Kilmacud Crokes manager Robbie Brennan and Roscommon coach Lar Wall, Plunkett said: “You are probably near enough the money.”
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Plunkett and Liam Keane - a former Chairman of Croke Park’s Central Hearings Committee (CHC) and secretary of the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) can also identify other candidates to sound out their interest.
Clonard man Plunkett indicated that they would be assisted in this process by the Meath Football Development Committee.
This includes Royal County legend Gerry McEntee, former county captain and current secretary of Jim Gavin’s Football Review Committee, Seamus Kenny and Dunboyne’s Conor O’Donoghue (Chairman).
The other members of the committee are Christy Reynolds (Walterstown) and secretary Tomás Brady from Navan O’Mahonys.
“We are working away on the process at the minute,” said Plunkett. “Myself and Liam were ratified as a selection committee along with the help from the Football Development Committee.
“So we are going to go to the depth that we need to go to, to find the right person for the job. We will be looking at names and drawing up a list who we think would be possible candidates and we will be interviewing everyone we deem fit to be in the next week or so.”
Plunkett says that the the two nominees from the clubs don’t necessarily have to be interviewed, but that they will he sounded out around a number of key criteria before a decision is made on whether or not to interview them.
That includes having a backroom team in place, which was the sticking point that led to Colm O’Rourke’s resignation after two years in charge.
“We will engage with them and we have set out a criteria for the role and if they can’t meet the criteria then look we don’t go into full interviews,” said Plunkett.
“A full backroom team with people with good credentials in coaching and all the different aspects of an inter-county set up.”
Asked if inter-county experience was necessary, Plunkett said: “It would be a bonus. I would think that’s what they would need to have.”
Wall, who led Kells club Gaeil Colmcille to a County Final in 2020 and Westmeath side the Down to a local county title and a Leinster final, where they lost to Brennan’s Kilmacud side, has that with Roscommon.
Laois man Wall joined Davy Burke’s backroom’ team in Roscommon last year. Brennan is currently involved with Kilmacud Crokes, who have qualified for the Dublin quarter-finals, where they meet Ballyboden St. Enda’s in a repeat of last year’s final.
Dunboyne native Brennan has led Kilmacud to three Dublin and three Leinster titles on the bounce, as well as one All-Ireland crown.
He was part of Bernard Flynn’s Meath under-20 ticket in 2021, which resigned after a dispute over player availability with then senior manager, Andy McEntee.
Brennan hasn’t been involved at inter-county senior level yet with Plunkett stating that the previous incident with Flynn, who is expected to be part of Brennan’s ticket, wouldn’t have any bearing on this process.
“Bernard is around a long time now,” said Plunkett. “Bernard, like the County Board, we don’t dwell on things. We move on.
“That’s something that happened. It’s gone. It’s over. Look it, I’ve met Bernard plenty of times since that and he’s never brought it up. I think he’s forgotten about it.”
Asked about when an appointment might be made, with the Meath Championship now at the quarter-final stage, Plunkett said: “I don’t know yet. I don’t want to put a timeframe on anything. We will take as long as it takes to get the right person in.
“We went through the process of a review. Now we are going through the process of the next manager. We have criteria we need to have in place. Everything has to be in place. We can’t afford to get it wrong really. We need to get this right.”
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