Foley 'honoured' to be new president of Britain GAA
January 26, 2018
Paul Foley ©The Irish World
by Damian Dolan
Paul Foley will be ratified as the new president of the Provincial Council of Britain at Saturday's AGM at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, West London.
The St Colmcilles clubman, and former Gloucestershire chair and provincial council vice president, takes over from outgoing president Sean Hackett, who has completed his threeyear term.
Foley is unopposed for the position, having been nominated by all seven counties, as was his successor as provincial council vice president, former London chair Noel O'Sullivan.
"It's a massive, massive honour," Foley told the Irish World.
"The position itself within the organisation is unbelievable, and to be elected by your peers means an awful lot.
"I feel that with the experience I've gained along the way, and the people who are going to be around me, I can do this job.
"Having held different positions, I've got to work with an awful lot of good people over the last few years. There's a good team of people here, and I'm looking forward to working with them again.
"I want to maintain what's going on and make sure that games are provided for our members over here."
Foley has grown up with "GAA in the blood". Like his father and sister, he played for his hometown club of Castlemitchell in Kildare. His father was also a referee and took charge of the 2007 Kildare SFC final.
After leaving Ireland when he was 19 to attend college, work took him to Cardiff on a six-month contract. Seventeen years on he's still there and is a lecturer in Chemistry and Chemical Analysis at Cardiff Met University.
"When I first arrived over here I found it quite hard to settle into a new country and in our local club we find a little home-from-home," said Foley.
"I owe the GAA a lot for helping me fit in over here. It's a voluntary organisation and as a player you appreciate the volunteers on the sideline who run and organise the games, and it's only right that you pay that back and allow those coming behind the opportunity to experience what you've experienced."
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