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Tourmakeady's Kevin O'Toole was elected to the post of County Secretary at the 2011 Mayo GAA Convention held in Geesala at the High Chaparral on Monday night. The former County PRO held off the challenge of sitting assistant secretary Vincent Neary and Burrishoole delegate Margaret O'Malley when the votes were counted in north Mayo. Neary held on to his position as assistant secretary for 2012 after a vote, with Achill's Packie McGinty taking over as Mayo GAA President after he was elected unopposed alongside the majority of other returning officers. The other major position up for election was that of Croke Park delegate where the incumbent delegate Jerry Henry from Castlebar Mitchels was challenged by retiring county secretary Séan Feeney. After the votes were counted the Castlebar man held on to the position for another year.

In his last secretary’s report, outgoing county secretary Sean Feeney paraphrases a quote from Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities saying, “I have enjoyed the best of times and the worst of times,” in his opening gambit, which goes on to set out the challenges he sees coming for the association as a whole. The returning spectre of emigration as a threat to the association is something he sees becoming a major factor. “The years ahead will be challenging for the association as a new wave of emigration threatens our resilience once again. The spectre of mass unemployment and the inexperience of our young to cope with a less affluent society is a cause of concern.” But he believes the association will be able to pull through as it has in the past, saying: “The GAA has survived greater challenges in the past and I have no doubt it will survive this once again.”