Tyrone GAA’s new five-year strategic plan, covering the years 2023 – 2027, was launched last week in the Tyrone County Centre at Garvaghey.
‘Raising the Red Hand to New Heights | Ag Tógáil na Laimhe Deirge go hArda Nua’ covers all aspects of the GAA at County level in Tyrone.
It ranges across the games, infrastructure, communities, well-being and heritage, and also looks at how the work needed in these areas can best be structured and resourced.
“This is our fourth five-year Plan since we first set out on this important road back in 2007,” County Chair Martin Sludden explained.
“Plans alone don’t make things happen, but if we don’t plan, we leave too much to chance. And if we do that, we just sell our people and our County short.”
“Equally, if we don’t plan for ourselves, we’ll quickly find that others will plan for us. And that has not tended to serve Tyrone well.”
“Our first five-year Plan, launched back in 2007, flagged up our intention to build a Tyrone County GAA Centre”, Martin continued.
“Tyrone took that part of the Plan so seriously that we’ve now been able to launch our following three Plans here in Garvaghey. So, if anyone wants to see the benefits of good, committed, and well-founded GAA planning, then just look around you here.”
‘Raising the Red Hand to New Heights’ emerged from a process that began in mid-2022. It is heavily based on consultation across Tyrone GAA and beyond, as well as analysis of the numbers and of other plans, policies and reviews.
All the while it holds onto significant content from Tyrone’s previous Plans.
“A lot of the Plan is about keeping a ‘steady-as-she-goes’ approach” County Secretary Michael Kerr pointed out.
“It’s vital that we don’t let our core GAA business drift. But we need too to challenge ourselves with new ambitions and projects. And this Plan does that.”
“We’ve put our Plan in place”, Martin Sludden concluded. “Now it’s up to us all to make it happen.”
By Rory Cox Fri 14th Apr
