The Sean McDermotts club has conjured up and nurtured manys a fine disciple of the GAA. Benny Kieran is one such advocate of Gaelic games as his most recent role with the Monaghan GAA Supporters association testifies. Those who know Benny Kieran of Threemilehouse will tell you that passion and pride are the hallmarks of his modus operandi. Anything he has ever tried his hand at has been nothing if not wholehearted. In GAA parlance, he's inextricably associated with the Sean McDermotts club and Monaghan GAA matters in general. One suspects that if they ever exhume his body years after its been interned, the letters GAA are likely to be found imprinted on his bones. A former senior county player, Benny has been a stalwart administrator at Seans for more years than most of his club colleagues would rightly know yet some of the greatest memories he has from operating on the sidelines have been gleaned over the last two years in his role as chairman of the Monaghan GAA supporters association. In heading the ongoing effort to raise finance for the support and development of Gaelic games across the county, Benny and his hard-working committee can feel well satisfied with their efforts. Indeed, given the relatively unsuccessful period the county is now experiencing, the Monaghan GAA Supporters association has proven its mettle in furnishing the County Board with thousands of pounds over the course of the last 12 months. "At the beginning of the year, we committed ourselves to raising the kind of sum that the county board envisaged necessary to adequately help fund the various strands of the organisation from schools right up to senior level. "We're pleased that we were able to meet all our targets in 2001 and that our efforts helped in some way to improve the standing of Monaghan football at all levels." Not that Benny and his committee have a monopoly on being wise to the ever-increasing financial pressures which come to bear on county boards nationwide. However those at the coalface of affairs at Monaghan GAA Supporters association dedicate themselves to actually being pro-active in bolstering the volume of finances available to the powers-that-be in the county. "There's nothing novel or new about the way in which we fundraise. A lot of leg-work is principally involved. "The Golf Classic is probably our most lucrative fundraising venture and then we boost our income by means of a membership scheme and the sale of various pieces of merchandise such as replica county jerseys, flags and hats." Reflecting on the merchandising aspect of the Supporters associations fundraising activities, the outgoing association chairman strongly believes that the sector offers great opportunities for committees of the future: "There's great potential for raising a good deal more money from selling replica jerseys and all sorts of other paraphernalia to do with the GAA in Monaghan. "Certainly I think everyone on the current committee who has been involved in raising money via that means has learned a great deal over the past year or so and I'd hope the incoming committee will seek to further exploit the obvious potential for development that exists in that area. "We're pleased with our efforts in that regard in 2001 although we were hampered in the early part of the year by the foot and mouth disease scare." Reflecting on his two year stint in the hot-seat, the popular high-profile Fianna Fail member says that one of his fondest memories he'll take with him from his period as chairman of the Monaghan Supporters association is the sheer goodwill, generosity and loyalty shown by so many ordinary GAA supporters towards the associations fundraising campaign. In this respect Benny says Monaghan's hard-core GAA support is as strong and as resolute as ever: "I think when GAA people in the county come to understand just how much money is needed to run the various teams in the county and when they realise that all the profit the supporters club makes is ploughed directly back into the game in Monaghan, then most people have no problem in being generous with their money. "I think the biggest challenge facing those involved in raising money for the supporters club in the coming years is the need to educate all those within the GAA fraternity in Monaghan to the need to support the activities of the supporters club and the benefits which accrue from such support. The idea of making out posters and taking out advertisements is one way of trying to educate the public." A member of the senior county team in the mid-eighties, Benny has long since hung up his boots but the sort of passion and pride he brought to bear during his time with the premier county side is still very obvious in his involvement within club and county administration circles. However, the 'oul enemy that is time has prompted the Seans' man to limit the pokers he has in the fire. "I'd probably stay on with the supporters club only for the fact that the club is about to embark on a £400,000 fundraising campaign for the development of our facilities and it's simply the time factor that that will entail which has made me decide to shelve my input into the supporters association for the coming year. Treasurer of Seans for the last five years, it is ironic that it is Benny's particular gra for his home club that sees him having to cut his ties - albeit probably only temporarily - with the supporters club. He will not, however, be staying on as a committee member. "I think I'll be leaving the chair in good hands irrespective of who comes in and I believe the supporters association is in a healthier state now thanks to the work the outgoing committee has put into the organisation. "We'll be leaving money in the bank for the incoming committee and quite a volume of merchandising stock so the new committee will have something to work with." The business of raising money brings with it all sorts of attendant hassles, frustration and sometimes criticism but one suspects that it might be slightly easier and more rewarding to be involved with, for instance, the Galway or Meath GAA supporters clubs. "Of course you can't beat success of the field of play for generating a great buzz and sense of enthusiasm in the county. Successful fundraising and successful times for the county go hand-in-hand but things are getting better in Monaghan in that respect. "The county is making progress though. Considering that the seniors won their first round Ulster championship match since they won in Ballybofey against Donegal was a welcome improvement and with our minors having reached the Ulster final and our schools success too, football is on the up and up in Monaghan and hopefully that's the way things will continue to go for a long while to come. "Morale among football people in Monaghan is good right now and if we can benefit from a wee bit of luck, we can become even more successful at the various grades and if that happens then a lot more people in the county will be willing to help in terms of raising finance and contributing to the county coffers. "Obviously if the county could recapture some of the success it enjoyed in the late seventies and mid-eighties, you'd imagine the supporters club would come in for a big windfall." Fulsome in his praise of the part played in 2001 by the Monaghan GAA Golf Society in helping organise the supporters club's Golf Classic, Benny is inclined to look at the glass as being half-full rather than half-empty in assessing the likelihood of the white and blues coming good at the highest level in the near future. "There's definitely enough talent in the county right now to achieve success and there are some very good underage players coming up through the ranks. I'd be very optimistic for the future." Monaghan seniors are capable of bringing some silverware to the county then? "I think so. The team isn't that far off the pace. There isn't a lot in it between the teams in Ulster and if the players in Monaghan can get a bit more self-belief, then success won't be that far away." Time will tell Benny, time will tell! Tweet

Most Read Stories