Battle lines drawn for FAI top job
Drama as Heraghty goes for presidency
THE race to succeed Donal Conway as FAI president took a dramatic twist yesterday with the late entry of Martin Heraghty into the succession stakes.
The FAI board member, an increasingly influential figure since his election last July, will be favourite to edge out Gerry McAnaney, the retired Army Commandant who represents Football For All on the FAI council. It means a straight fight at the EGM, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on January 25, a fortnight before the General Election.
McAnaney is aware of one or two question marks about his eligibility as he only rejoined the FAI council on December 31, having spent 19 years as the Defences Forces representative.
But he received assurances from Rhea Walsh, the FAI’s chief operating officer, that his nomination had been received and noted by the board, and was in order.
As a former Army man, McAnaney will be aware of the need to hold high ground in battle and Heraghty’s position as a director of the FAI makes him a formidable opponent.
The Sligo Rovers chairman was proposed from the League of Ireland constituency as one of their two nominees for the board, at last summer’s AGM. Dick Shakespeare was the other.
Heraghty retired from the Civil Service in 2013, where he held a senior post as assistant secretary general at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In a lengthy career at the department, he also served as head of Corporate Affairs, Dairy and Beef Divisions, Press and Information Officer as well as private secretary to various ministers, including An Tánaiste Simon Coveney.
Since his election to the board, he has won the trust of those around him, as he signed off on the accounts presented at the reconvened AGM last month, and joined executive chairman Paul Cooke when the three independent directors, including new chairman Roy Barrett, met Sports Minister Shane Ross for the first time last week.
Heraghty has also been on the frontline for strategic talks with the FAI’s other key stakeholders, UEFA and the banks. McAnaney, a Dubliner long domiciled in Cork, played for Rangers FC as a schoolboy and was capped for Ireland at Under 15 level alongside Dave O’Leary and Ashley Grimes.
On joining the Army and re-locating to Cork, he played in the Munster Senior League for Albert Rovers, Tramore Athletic and gave 18 years of service with College Corinthiians. He also had brief spells with Cobh Ramblers and Cork City. He initiated the international expansion of football in the Defence Forces and travelled with teams that competed in the World and European Games. He also founded the Defence Forces Women’s team and forged links with Football For All when the Irish Amputee team played in Custume Barracks in Athlone in 2014. This is McAnaney’s third sortie for high office. He had expressed an interest in the Honorary Secretary position after Michael Cody resigned in April but that post was scrapped under the Governance Review.
At the AGM, he went toe to toe with Cooke for the post of vice-president, only to lose 80-57.
It will all come down to numbers on the day and McAnaney, a doughty character, will not go down without a fight.
Should Heraghty secure election, his place on the board will be filled by another League of Ireland representative. Either way, Conway’s exit will complete a full clear-out of the 10 members who worked with former CEO John Delaney on the board, as called for by Minister Ross last April.
Conway decided to stay on as president but his lengthy links with the old regime counted against him and he agreed to fall on his sword last month, prompting a vacancy for the President until the AGM in Galway on July 25.
The next step for new chairman Barrett is to oversee the appointment of a new CEO. As executive lead, Cook has effectively filled that role on an interim basis since early December.
Meanwhile, discussions aimed at resolving Limerick FC’s legal action against the FAI over what the club claims is its exclusion from participating in the League of Ireland, are on-going, the High Court was told yesterday.
The case was adjourned until today to see if matters could be resolved.
“Heraghty will be favourite to take top post”
“Third sortie for ex-Army man McAnaney”