Liam McCabe's election as Secretary of Cavan GAA County Board at the 2004 County Convention opens up a whole new chapter in the life of the Belturbet clubman. Kevin Carney reports. There wasn't the merest hint of triumphalism as Liam McCabe accepted the congratulations of his fellow Gaels at last December's Cavan GAA Convention. The Belturbet clubman had just been elected to the position of Secretary having out-voted the holder Gerry Soden. McCabe, the outgoing Assistant Secretary, received a strong mandate from the clubs of the county to continue on the good work of the Laragh United clubman but, typically, was quick to heap praise on his predecessor. "Gerry was a very good Secretary, put a lot of work into the job and I hope he's not lost to the Association. He'll be a hard act to follow." The new Secretary says he's looking forward to the next 12 months and hopes to do the job justice. Those privy to McCabe's modus operandi suggest that the odds are that the Rory O'Moore stalwart will take to the onerous demands of the post of Secretary like the proverbial duck does to water. For the moment, Liam says he is just pleased to have garnered such a strong vote, recognising that it's an honour for him and his club and re-iterating his determination to repay the trust put in him. One wonders though does the attainment of such a strong mandate (he won the election by 100 votes to 68) serve to put extra pressure on him to deliver in the coming year? "I wouldn't say so. I would rather have won by a clear margin than have scraped home by a vote or two. "It was said to me by several people that contests are a healthy thing and I don't for one minute believe that there won't be a contest for the post of Secretary in 12 months time. "By that stage I'll know what convention has thought of my work over the year." Was he in any way apprehensive about throwing his hat in the ring? "I knew I'd be entering the unknown but I felt it was an appropriate time to put my name forward. "I served five years with the GAC and, to be quite honest, it was getting tougher every year and I just had enough of having to maybe re-arrange venues at the last minute or ringing around at late notice for a ref to cover for someone else who hadn't turned up. "Anyway, the Secretary's position was one that I always wanted. I started off with Belturbet as Secretary at the age of 18 and I served the club in that role for 12 years. "I never saw myself as chairman material and instead always felt that my capabilities were best served as Secretary. "I later became Secretary of Cavan Minor Board and now the culmination of that is that I have taken over as Secretary of the senior board." Liam's election win duly got the thumbs up from the gracious Soden who told Convention that Liam had served his apprenticeship well as Secretary of the GAC. "I did it for seven years and it is probably the most difficult job within the structures of the County Board," said Soden at the time. "The clubs have chosen well as to my successor and someone who will be able to do the job and do it well," the defeated candidate added. With such an endorsement ringing in his ear, Liam McCabe can scarcely lack for confidence or self-belief as he breaks new ground. One way or the other, the newly-elected Secretary says that leaving his former post in the GAC won't cause him to loose any sleep. "It wasn't a case of me going stale as Fixtures Secretary - more a case of just wanting to move on from that job. "I wanted a new challenge of course but I found it increasingly difficult to combine my work on the GAC with my full-time job in the Post Office." Those au fait with Liam's record of achievement and dedication in GAA circles will testify to his competency and efficiency. It seems plain that he'll make just as much a success of his new portfolio as he has done with his other Gaelic games briefs. Looking ahead to the work that lies in waiting for him, Liam doesn't anticipate any major changes in terms of how matters will be processed via the Secretary's office in 2005. The job will be no more or no less influenced by the world of technology, he believes. Liam reckons though that there should be much less paperwork landing on his table than was the case in his time as Assistant-Secretary. Trust him though to remain as precise and as accurate as ever in his county board machinations. As the new year gathers pace, Liam intends busying himself with meeting the various heads of the sub-committees of the county board and familiarising himself with their needs and advising them of how best they and the county board can go forward in unison. Of course, one of his main roles will be that of liaising with the senior and under 21 team-managements and, in this respect, he knows that long-time co-ordinator Mickey Reilly will be one person whom he is likely to be dealing with quite a lot. "It's important that we all work together to make everything run as smoothly and as efficiently as possible. "January is traditionally one of the busiest months of the year, so it's important that things slot into place as quickly as possible but at the moment I'm still finding my feet in the job." It's often said that it's better to be thrown in at the deep end and that's been the case to a certain extent as far as Liam is concerned as his first full month in the driver's seat is arguably his busiest. He wasn't afforded the comfort of just dipping his toe in the water to ease himself into his new role. The first Monday in January alone saw the former Belturbet netminder attend two meetings and almost twenty for the month as a whole. Still Liam imagines that, in contrast to the way things sometimes panned out while he was Assistant-Secretary, he will have more matters under his own control over the course of the next eleven months or thereabouts. He's optimistic that everything will go well but he re-iterates the point that he doesn't exactly know how the job will pan out. The popular postman is hopeful that the clubs of the county will afford him the same support in his new role as they did in his five years as Assistant Secretary. "I have got to know all the secretaries and chairmen of the various clubs and I've made many friends among them. "Over the time that I'm Secretary I'd like to strengthen and develop those relationships." Understandably, Liam would love to see Cavan football strengthen its position among its peers over the course of the next year. He concedes that the senior team's McKenna Cup bow against Tyrone wasn't the ideal start to 2005. "It's better to suffer a setback like that on January 2nd than on May 29th. In the same way, if a team had to concede a goal, it's better to concede it in the first minute instead of the last minute. "Maybe in time we'll look back on the defeat to Tyrone as a timely wake-up call. "If we had beaten Tyrone, who knows but that a bit of complacency would have set in and that wouldn't have been good either. "We all know how much expectation there is among the supporters and everyone involved with the county board will be doing their very best to help the county teams get the results everyone wants in 2005." Tweet

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