Aogan Farrell is the personification of everything that drives the Ulster Council of the GAA. He's the body's new Vice-President. Here he talks to Kevin Carney about his role and that of the provincial council. After the late Fr. Dan Gallogly vacated his role as one of Cavan County Board's delegates to the Ulster Council in 1989- en route to becoming President of the provincial body - an election took place at county convention to secure a replacement for the Mullagh-based priest. Aogan Farrell was nominated by his club Drumgoon and was duly successful in the subsequent election. In doing so, he linked up with Cavan's other Ulster Council delegate, Micheal Greenan. Since 1989, he has been an ever-present on the Ulster Council serving as a Cavan delegate from 1989 to 2001. In 2001, he became PRO and then in 2004 he took on the role of Treasurer before being elected to serve as Vice-President at this year's convention. His cross-over from county board to provincial board affairs provided him with both a greater insight into the GAA's corridors of power in Ulster and an opportunity to stand back and view Breffni from a different angle. "As a member of Cavan County Board, I was acutely conscious of the negative image that some GAA members in Cavan had of the Ulster Council," Aogan remarks. "I had the feeling that a lot of the time some people in the county were blaming the provincial council for Cavan's woes which was something I found difficult to understand. "Eventually I decided to follow through with a growing curiousity I had with Ulster Council affairs and said my goodbyes to the county board. "I'm not sorry I made that decision although I did miss the interaction with the clubs and the many GAA friends I met through my involvement with county board in Cavan but I was glad to avail of a new challenge all the same." With the advent of the nineties, Aogan became part of the furniture in Ulster Council administration circles and he gravitated to become, to a degree, the public face of the organisation by dint of his PRO work. Aogan took to his responsibilities on the council - which included sitting on a raft of committees - like the proverbial duck to water and, in time, he became quickly identified as a competent and passionate worker. As one would expect he has positioned himself full-square behind the various principled stances taken by the Ulster Council on issues of late such as the usage of Croke Park and St.Tighernach's Park. He is conscious that some sections of the GAA itself, the media and the body politic haven't always been enamoured by the way the Ulster Council has conducted its business. "I understand that in some quarters, the Ulster Council may be viewed in a negative manner but, then again, if someone or some organisation does nothing, they will always be looked upon in a positive manner. "You're always going to have people in a club who do nothing but criticise; who'll be the hurler on the ditch and have only negative things to say. "In my book, the Ulster Council is notable for two things; it stands by everything that is contained in the GAA's own official guide and it is incredibly active in the promotion of our national games. "The Ulster Council may be viewed in a negative way by people outside of the GAA but within the organisation we're the acknowledged leaders in a lot of aspects of the GAA's work." Known as a person of forthright views, the Eire Og club stalwart is unequivocal in his assessment of what opening up Croke Park to non-Gaelic games entails and its significance. "We're talking about a temporary arrangement here; and we're not talking about any other ground other than Croke Park and I can't see a situation arising where that arrangement will be extended to any other ground." he says. "I personally don't know any member of the GAA who would be happy to see all GAA grounds opened to soccer and rugby. "But if those games were ever to be housed in GAA grounds, I couldn't see myself being comfortable as a member of the GAA in those circumstances. "I want to be part of a GAA that provides the full canvas in terms of Gaelic games for our members and I know the Ulster Council is working on an hourly basis to encourage and promote the playing of our native games." Aogan is at pains to point out that he and his colleagues on the Ulster Council seek to work in partnership with the nine county boards for the betterment of players, clubs and the Association as a whole. He insists the Ulster Council is no "independent republic" but is, instead, "an over-arching" organisation dedicated to developing Gaelic football, hurling, rounders and handball in no particular order. For his own part, he sees his role as Vice-President as a supportive one for the President of the Ulster Council and to serve the provincial council to the best of his abilities. Apart from serving on various Council sub-committees including the Competition Controls Committee and Games Development plus Parks Committees, Aogan is also Chairman of the council's hurling development committee. He also has special responsibility also for the integration of hurling, football, ladies football, camogie, handball and rounders into single unified units at club and county level. "The GAA is an organisation responsible for the promotion of a broad sweep of games, not least hurling and, to my mind, there is no such as a Gaelic Football Club in isolation. "Clubs should aspire to be GAA clubs in the true sense and strive to promote all Gaelic games and not just Gaelic football and it's all the games we should be offering to our community, not just football. "Unfortunately there's a very strong mindset among a lot of members which considers that the GAA is all about promoting football and that games like hurling, camogie and ladies football merely get in the way of that. "GAA grounds are in place for the playing of all Gaelic games by everyone; not just the senior footballers but for the under 16 footballers as well and the hurlers and camogs. "Instead of talking about opening our grounds to non-national games, I want our pitches open more to schools and colleges and more use being made of them for the playing of all Gaelic games including rounders and hurling." Interestingly, he doesn't concur with the notion that the GAA boasts a poor record in terms of its promotion of the Irish language and that it's support amounts to little more than mere lip-service. Instead, he points out that most of the Ulster Council's official business is carried out as gaeilge and "the GAA is the only organisation, apart from the language-promotion bodies, actively promoting the lanquage." "The level of promotion afforded Irish depends on the individual club but being the Irish officer of a club can be a very lonely existence," Aogan opines. "Ultimately, our main brief or primary goal as members of the GAA is to promote and encourage the playing of Gaelic games. We should, of course, do everything we can to promote the use of Irish at the same time." Set to be Vice-President for the next three years, Aogan won't be drawn on the issue of whether or not he may be interested in becoming President of the Ulster Council in due course. Instead he quips "I might be glad to leave office after the three years!" He says he will continue to serve the Association "for as long as there is a role there for me." It was as a 14 year old that he first got involved in the machinations of the GAA via his role in the newly-formed Maudabawn Handball Club and he isn't anticipating bowing out for quite some time to come. A past pupil of Dernakesh National School (where he is now headmaster), St. Aidan's Comprehensive, Cootehill, St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra (where he played hurling), and Trinity College Dublin the 40-something gaeilgoir expresses confidence in Cavan's ability to leap to the peleton of Gaelic football in Ulster sooner than later. "I've been to every championship match in Ulster - bar a couple of replays - since 1992 and I'm convinced that there's as much talent in Cavan as there is in any other part of the province. "We still in Cavan need to do more work at schools level, primary and secondary to match what is happening in other counties. "It's been very frustrating the way our under 21s and minors have missed out on so many occasions by the odd point or two. "I definitely feel our luck will turn soon and when that happens it won't be a moment too soon." Tweet

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