Dempsey bids for the chair

Former Meath GAA chairman Brendan Dempsey will be bidding to regain the position at next Sunday"s annual convention, a seat he vacated 12 months ago when he lost out to Rathkenny"s Barney Allen. Allen had to step down as secretary last year under the GAA"s five-year rule and was successful in his bid to oust Dempsey from the chair. The result of the contest will be eagerly awaited by delegates at what should be an interesting convention with the debacle surrounding the appointment of a new Meath senior football manager to replace Colm Coyle certain to generate some comment. Allen is a personable man and there are very few who would offer a bad word about him. Dempsey played by the rule book and applied the laws of the game stringently. That policy didn"t win him many friends, but has earned him plenty of admirers. Since losing out to Allen in the race for chairmanship at last convention, Dempsey has worked diligently for Meath GAA at Central Council, but he believes that he has 'unfinished business' to complete at Co Committee level and he is eager to regain the chair. 'When I was elected as chairman in 2005 I stated categorically that I had a three-year plan, but I lost out to Barney Allen last year and never got to finish the work I started,' said the Trim man. 'The GAA people know the structures I put in place when I was chairman for two years and they know how hard I have worked for the Co Committee. 'I will stand for the position again and I hope the delegates will return me to the position I believe I served well in the past. 'There have been many problems this year, both on and off the field. We also missed out on funding for Dunganny this year. 'The Darver project in Louth got €800,000, but we didn"t get what we needed and I believe that we should have battled harder for a greater share of the pot. I think the future of Meath GAA is very promising, but we need the correct leadership to bring us forward and I hope the delegates will see that when they cast their votes on Sunday,' concluded Dempsey.