New flag initiative to honour county’s senior champions
Westmeath GAA County Convention
A motion brought to the floor of Thursday night’s Westmeath GAA convention by Tom Hunt (Mullingar Shamrocks), which proposed that the county committee presents a flag to the winners of the county’s senior championships from next year, was carried after a vote.
Mr Hunt said that he had picked up the idea from going to Central Council meetings on behalf of Westmeath GAA, where he learned that is the policy of the GAA’s governing committee to present commemorative flags to the All-Ireland champions in both codes every year.
“I thought it might be a nice idea to extend it to the local level,” he told the meeting. “I was down at St Loman’s for one of their Leinster club matches, and I saw Pat McCartan putting out flags. Suddenly it dawned on me that it would be nice if they had a county champions flag flying there.
“Now, we wouldn’t be looking forward to seeing it flying there for the next 120 years,” the Shamrocks stalwart quipped, “but I think it’s a good idea.”
There was broad agreement from delegates, but Lough Lene Gaels delegate Martin Williams wondered if it would be unfair not to extend this to the winners of lower-grade championships.
“I knew that one was going to come,” said chairman Frank Mescall. “It’s probably a bit elitist to do it for senior teams, but I think when you go all the way through intermediate and junior, it lessens the impact and the worthiness of it for the senior championships. And I’m speaking from the point of view of my club, which has never won a senior championship.”
“Don’t the players who win a senior championship already get nice medals, and the credit for winning a senior championship?” asked Tubberclair delegate Bob McGonagle, who later asked if the flag initiative would be retrospective. “Isn’t it in the records? Why fly a flag? Are we going to put stars on our jerseys next?”
Such scepticism was minimal, however, and when put to a vote, the motion was carried, meaning that Westmeath GAA’s management committee will look at commissioning designs for commemorative flags for the winning senior championship teams in 2025.