John Feeney proud of progress as Muskerry GAA builds for the future

When John Feeney stepped into the Muskerry GAA chair before the 2021 season, it wasn’t part of his plan. 

He had just completed his term as secretary when the outgoing vice-chairman, who was due to take over, stepped aside for personal reasons. 

With no queue forming behind him, Feeney found himself taking on the role almost by circumstance rather than design. 

Yet, as he looks back now, he speaks of the honour of following in the footsteps of the division’s long-serving officers and the weight of responsibility that came with it.

“When you go back and you see the people who’ve been there in the past, it certainly is an honour to follow in their footsteps,” the Dripsey clubman reflects. 

“To be honest with you, it was unexpected. I had just finished my five years as secretary and the only reason I went in as chairman is because the outgoing vice-chairman had stepped down.

“It was certainly a big honour following in the footsteps of role models for me. No more so than the likes of Pat Malone, who put a huge amount of time in first as treasurer."

Feeney’s own grounding in the game influenced how he approached the job. 

“I go in there looking at it from the point of view of somebody who played the game, somebody who was involved with teams. 

"I’d been a selector with my own club Dripsey when we won the All-Ireland in 2009, so that’s the angle I’d look at it from.” 

That perspective made the struggles of the Muskerry footballers early in his tenure particularly difficult. 

“Muskerry teams had slackened off a bit, particularly the football,” he says. 

“We had gone to a new low and we had failed to field in a football championship match. We spent a lot of time getting them back up and going. 

"To be fair to Conor Hurley, who’s been manager for the last couple of years, and his selectors — they won the divisional side of the championship two years ago, and last year we got to the divisional final against Duhallow. They’ve done a lot of good work getting the players back up and running.

“Two years ago the hurlers did very well — we got to the final of the divisional section. But last year we didn’t have access to Ballincollig players for most of the championship, and to be fair Ballincollig had been the backbone of the team the year before.

“The players performed brilliantly. People dismiss divisional teams, but if you’re a player from a club who isn’t senior and never likely to be senior, it’s one great way of getting represented. 

"I think of my own club — John Carey played both senior football and hurling for Muskerry, and for a fella in a junior club, that’s huge.” 

Looking ahead, Feeney believes the division is in safe hands under new chairman Ed Warren. 

“The cooperation with the clubs is excellent. The last two meetings we’ve had this year, there’s been full attendance from clubs, which is encouraging.

“The split season is hard enough so we need everyone on board. People don’t see the work that goes into it. 

"We sat down for hours going through the championship programme. Then you’re sending it to officers, getting it ready for clubs, giving them ten days to look at it before the next board meeting and so on. 

“The clubs have been very cooperative. The board couldn’t function without them. I have full faith in Ed Warren that he will keep things going in the right direction. There’s a lot of work in it."

Feeney has now gone back to his old secretary role in Muskerry GAA.