Bailey secures reappointment to front-line Dublin position

John Bailey was appointed as new Dublin county chairman at last night's annual convention in Parnell Park.

Representing Cuala, Bailey previously held the office between 1992 and 1997, and he defeated acting chairman Terry Roche and John Kirwan in the election.

Of the 272 votes, Bailey received 144, with Roche, representing St Sylvester's and who stepped in for John Egan during the summer, receiving 81.

Kirwan, representing Ballyboden, received 47. "It's too early and I'm too emotional for any big reaction," said Bailey. "But there will be changes."

The convention was attended by GAA President Sean McCague and was largely a tame affair. John Costello, the county secretary, made significant reference in his report to the state of stadium developments in the country.

With the limited capacity at Parnell Park, he felt it prudent to examine the possibility of staging games in the new national stadium.

Opinions differed on the inclusion of UCD in the senior hurling championship, who had no Dublin-born players in the team that made it to the Leinster final.

While Costello defended their inclusion, others disagreed, but it was pointed out that a number of clubs, such as Crumlin and St Vincent's, came so close to beating them in the course of the championship.

The dearth of active referees was also given attention, highlighted by Aidan Shiels. Just 16 new referees were recruited in Dublin last year, while the desired figure is closer to 30.

Shiels also pointed out that not enough referees means lower standards

The accounts showed a surplus of u £171,857, and that compared favourably to last year's figure of u £45,704. Commercial director, Barry Gavin, also dwelled on the proposal to install floodlights at Parnell Park.

This, he said, had both developmental and marketing potential, and the proposal will now go to the management committee for approval in order to begin the planning stage.

Of high concern to the county delegates was the escalating costs in property insurance. Since the mandatory inception of the GAA's property insurance scheme, claims by Dublin clubs have resulted in payments of u £2.3 million.

More worryingly, there is an increase of 68 per cent in the annual premium for the coming year.

Gardai are looking for information about the theft of a medal collection in Thurles. The medals are the property of Sean McLoughlin, the well-known Tipperary forward from the 1950s and '60s.

Included amongst the medals are five All-Ireland senior, two All-Ireland minor, seven Munster senior and five NHL.

The burglary took place at Willowmere Drive in Thurles between 9.45 p.m. and midnight on Thursday, November 30th. Anyone with information should contact the gardai in Thurles at 0504-21111.