Convention 2017, takes place this evening Thursday, December 1st in the Hillgrove Hotel starting with registration at 7.00 PM and the convention itself getting under way sometime around 7:30pm.

Gone are the days when County Convention occupied a whole Sunday or even taking a second gathering to sort matters out but whether that is progress or not is down to personal opinion.

County Convention is a time for reflection, to review the happenings and the events and perhaps even the mishaps of 2016 and look ahead and plan ahead for 2017 and the following years.

From a financial point of view Monaghan county board will be the envy of quite a few others in that they are going to Convention with a surplus of income over expenditure but there will be elements of the annual accounts where income and expenditure will be analysed in detail.

County secretary Anita Finnegan will be presenting a very detailed, analytical report on all of the happenings on the GAA front in Monaghan during the past year with particular reference to county teams. Her report includes a detailed analysis of all county teams on a game by game basis and while no silverware came to the county at senior level she expresses great hope for the future based on the success of the County U21 football team in winning the Ulster U21 championship and coming so close to reaching the All Ireland U21 final.

The report also reviews the activities of all subcommittees and there are detailed reports from most of those subcommittees, one in particular that of the Competitions Control Committee highlighting the high level of activity at club level.

Convention will see a number of changes in officerships and a couple of contests in prospect, but the biggest change will see county treasurer Marion Donnelly stepping down after an illustrious career at county level, 12 years in office as county treasurer, 17 years in total as an officer of Monaghan county board and an involvement of over quarter of a century when one adds in her involvement as a County Committee delegate and a member of a number of subcommittees.

The other major change sees Padraig Sherry stepping down as chairman after three years and taking over the role of Monaghan's representative on Central Council, replacing Declan Flanagan, who steps down under the five-year rule.

It looks like there will be contests also for the positions of county secretary and for the two places for Monaghan delegates on the Ulster Council.

A total of 14 motions in all have been submitted, 12 of which come from the County Committee seeking changes to bylaws, one from the Clones club regarding County Regulations and one from the Currin club which will probably go forward as a recommendation to the incoming CCC.

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