Timahoe man officially sworn in as new Laois GAA Chairman at County convention

Laois GAA held their annual convention on Monday night in the Midlands Park Hotel and as expected, Timahoe man PJ Kelly was sworn in as the new Chairman following Peter O'Neill's decision to step down.

It was known from a few weeks back that PJ Kelly would be the new man in the hot seat after it emerged he would be the only candidate for the job but it wasn't official until Monday night when the reigns were handed over at convention.

With limited numbers allowed to attend the event, it was still an improvement as last years convention had to take place on digital platforms.

While there was no vote for the Chairman's role, there was a contest for Vice Chairman where the outgoing Tom Clear of Clough-Ballacolla was successful and was returned, beating off competition from Mary Whelan of Ballypickas GAA and Jody Conway from Clonaslee St Manmans.

With attendance limited to one delegate from each club as opposed the normal three, the positions that required a vote to take place were done through a postal vote in advance of the meeting with Clear landing a comprehensive victory over his two challengers.

The other vote required was for the two seats on the Laois GAA executive as Leinster Council delegates. There were four nominees, namely the sitting delegate Richie Kennedy along with former Laois GAA chairman Brian Allen and the aforementioned Mrs Whelan and Mr Conway.

Richie Kennedy was elected comfortably on the first vote while on the re-allocation of his extra votes, Brian Allen took the other seat.

There is still one position to the filled and that will be on the agenda for the first meeting of the new executive in January. Outgoing PRO Paul Dargan has stepped down from his role leaving a void to be filled.

That role is an extremely important one and it will be in everyone's best interests if the position is filled sooner rather than later.

On the financial front, Laois GAA recorded a surplus of 505,132 euro for an 11 month period in 2021 and with the gate receipts for both senior County finals not included in these figures, it is a healthy figure to be starting off 2022 with.

Laois champions set to dominate live RTE GAA coverage over next two weeks