No elections as Kerry GAA posts filled uncontested

THERE will be no elections at the Kerry GAA Convention next month with three new officers to be appointed uncontested.

Tim Murphy is set to succeed Patrick O’Sullivan as County Committee chairman unopposed having secured the only nomination for the position.

Murphy (top right) vacates the Development Officer after five years and will be replaced by out-going Coaching Officer Eamonn Whelan (centre right) who is also unopposed.

Terence Houlihan (bottom right), of Laune Rangers, will fill the Coaching and Games Officer position that Whelan leaves behind, having secured the only nomination for that position when nominations closed last Wednesday.

Brosna club man Murphy will take over the chair at County Convention in The Rose Hotel, Tralee on December 14, when O’Sullivan’s five-year term of office formally concludes.

Murphy, an engineer by profession, made a considerable name for himself as Kerry GAA’s Development Officer for the past five years, during which time he has led the development of the Kerry GAA Centre of Excellence at Currans which is due to become operational next spring.

He has also project led the recent redevelopment of Austin Stack Park, which is ongoing.

Murphy’s professionalism in leading both those projects was seen as integral to him being nominated and unopposed for the chairmanship of the County Committee. Prior to becoming County Development Officer in 2012 he served as chairman of the Brosna club for 11 years.

Eamonn Whelan steps into Tim Murphy’s Development Officer’s shoes having served a very successful five-year term as Coaching and Games Officer. Prior to that, the St Senans club man was involved in Bórd na nÓg.

A new face on the County Committee executive will be Killorglin man Terence Houlihan who succeeds Whelan as Coaching and Games officer. Houlihan served as secretary of Laune Rangers for five years, and has been involved in a coaching capacity with his club, with the Kerry South U-15 Development Squad for two years and with the Kerry Coaching and Games Committee for the past twelve months. All other officers on the county executive have been returned unopposed. The Secretary position is a fulltime post, presently filled by Peter Twiss, while the Children’s Officer, Bernie Breen, is appointed on the nomination of the outgoing Executive.