Mulvihill calls time on long and fine tenure

GAELIC GAMES:The director general of the GAA, Liam Mulvihill, will announce his retirement at a press conference in Croke Park today. It brings an end to a 28-year tenure that is second in duration only to that of Paddy O'Keefe, who held the office from 1929 to 1964.

Mulvihill is to remain in the position until a successor is appointed early in 2008.

The 61-year-old is the fourth director general (or general secretary) since 1901, following in the footsteps of Luke O'Toole, O'Keefe and Seán Ó Síocháin.

Before this remarkable period of continuity, 13 men filled the role in a 16-year stretch from the GAA's official formation in 1884 to the dawn of the 20th century.

One reasons for this longevity has been the strict adherence to bureaucratic principle; GAA directors general administer policy in public and keep their own views private. Mulvihill saved his insights for his annual reports, leaving the GAA president of the time to speak on his behalf and be the most visible face of the association.

Mulvihill has been in the job through 11 GAA presidencies - including that of the current uachtarán, Nickey Brennan, and that of the late Con Murphy, who stepped down the year Mulvihill became DG.

When asked by The Irish Times GAA correspondent Seán Moran in March 2004 to define his role, Mulvihill replied, "If the director general wanted to be front of shop, it would cause a lot of conflicts and a reappraisal of the office of president.

"The GAA has always been pragmatic that way and would probably come to terms with it. But I've always seen my role as long-term, doing the background planning and putting the structures in place, sowing the seeds, and that presidents have a much shorter time to influence so they tend to have a narrower focus and be in more of a hurry to get things done.

"I'm very much the wide angle on affairs. The president has to focus on the tighter angle.

"At times you'd wish that things would move a little bit more quickly but I suppose I'm a disciplined sort of person and I've never spoken out of place.

"That's not to say I might not have thought out of place and said things to my friends but I would never rock the boat. That would be very much my style.

"I've always seen my duty as the association deciding on policy - and there have often been occasions when I was very annoyed with some of the policy decisions - but from the moment that decision is taken, it's my policy from there on."

A native of Kenagh, Co Longford, Mulvihill was educated at St Mel's College, where he won Leinster and All-Ireland senior college football medals before representing Longford at all age grades.

Off the field he quickly gained a reputation as a highly efficient administrator by becoming vice-chairman of the Longford board aged just 23. Within 12 months he was chairman.

His talents were soon transferred to the national stage; he held a central council seat until being appointed director general while still in his early 30s.

His contract expired in 2006 but he remained for a further two years to work alongside Brennan.

Further education came at St Patrick's College Drumcondra, UCD, Maynooth and UCG. Away from the GAA, he worked as a primary teacher and inspector. He also held positions with the RTÉ Authority, Bord na Gaeilge and the Irish Sports Council and was on the board of Sports Campus Ireland at Abbotstown.

Mulvihill's legacy is secure. During his tenure the GAA needed strong guidance through the Troubles, when GAA members in the North were often under attack. But perhaps his most lasting achievement was to oversee the development of Croke Park into a magnificent stadium and conference centre.

The explosion of media coverage and sponsorship are other areas where he has helped guide the GAA from behind the scenes.

On the subject of the amateur ethos he told The Irish Times in March 2004, "If our games were to go professional it would make things worse because it would be another organisation digging into the same pot, which is so limited that it's not able to support what's there already.

"Both from the principled point of view and from the point of view of resources it doesn't add up."