Rooney - In or Out

[Robinski]

Can a moderator make this a poll please.

Do you think Fran Rooney should remain in the FAI?

a) Yes
b) No

As the alternative is most definitely Delaney taking his place, what do people think?

[Robinski]

Thanks for that Adam.

[thejollyrodger]

Yes I think he should stay. The Genesis report is being used as a smoke screen for the FAI blood letting. It's nothing to do with implementing Genesis, its all to do with jobs for life etc.

[Robinski]

Yes I think he should stay. The Genesis report is being used as a smoke screen for the FAI blood letting. It's nothing to do with implementing Genesis, its all to do with jobs for life etc.

Exactly, and who's the only the only person in there who doesn't need a job for life? The person they are trying to shaft - Rooney!

[harpojj]

I agree with Robinski :D . I'm sure he's on a nice earner himself, but the main reason he gets my vote is that the El is much more in the spotlight since his appointment than before. Whether thats just coincidence or not remains to be seen??

[strangeirish]

Good article from the Indo (http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=94&si=1275177&issue_id=11594) or just scroll down to read :o

[harpojj]

do you need to be registered to look at that?? :confused:

[Robinski]

'Bloodbath' may change FAI's history for ever

DON'T let anyone fool you that the latest bout of self-mutilation in Merrion Square has anything remotely to do with that template for vacuous management-speak twaddle, aka the Genesis report.

The intense media spotlight on the two warring camps - "I did more of my Genesis homework than you!" - is a convenient smokescreen which shades something far more significant than a mere personality clash.

The littered debris of unpaid receipts or the shattered egos of FAI staff - bless their ol' cockles - are entirely irrelevant factors in what may, one tentatively suggests, be the seismic bloodbath which may change the course of the Association's history for ever.

Genesis was always fatally flawed, presenting as it did an unwanted digression on events completely outside its remit and, in areas where it did attempt to be novel, instead relied on re-hashing the much more focused Cass report six years earlier.

Its recommendations on the appointments of four directors has ostensibly led to the current entanglement - none of the four were publicly advertised, none have been properly filled.

The current entanglement centres not on a political joke, as the venerable statesmanlike figure of President Milo Corcoran might have it, but on whether or not the FAI's Finance Manager is allowed the opportunity to become the Director of Finance.

That the role is outlined in Genesis is mere coincidence; if the FAI were such sticklers for reform as outlined by Genesis, surely they would be glad to advertise the position?

Especially so since they have lambasted Rooney for already avoiding the public procurement process in two earlier appointments this year.

What jolly principled sorts the FAI would be, then, if they decided that after ejecting Rooney from the hot seat, they adhered to the Genesis principles he apparently disavowed, and advertised the position of Director of Finance.

We won't name the individual here - his professional integrity demands a propriety others in positions of influence haven't afforded him - but if the incumbent is qualified well enough to do the job, then why doesn't he apply like everyone else? If it's anything like most of the civil service in this country, he'll be a shoo-in.

Why exactly are Corcoran and his acolytes so wary of allowing someone from outside the doors of 80 Merrion Square getting an inside track on the FAI's financial operations? Is there something we should know?

We in the Bootroom are also curious about the position of Corcoran, the moral crusader whose unswerving commitment to Genesis ensured that his old pal Kevin Fahy bit the bullet after asking too many salient questions. Oh, and not taking minutes properly, of course.

Corcoran - whose pretext for initially putting Rooney under the spotlight was, in more ways than one, a joke - decided to make public his views on the affair last Sunday and his anger at Rooney's alleged misdeeds didn't go down at all well with FAI senior counsel.

Indeed, far be it from Corcoran to go on the offensive. His office is currently a discredited one, as his is a full-time role, contrary to the FAI's Articles of Association. The recent revelations regarding Heineken's invoice to the FAI - another unpaid bill! - should themselves be under more severe scrutiny.

The feeble Irish Sports Council, who engineered the Genesis nonsense in the first place, have given the FAI a deadline of this Friday to outline their timetable for the report to be implemented, otherwise they will withdraw funding.

One hopes they do! Because it is about time the FAI dealt directly with the Government. They may have no choice once Rooney's predicted departure is confirmed; by some remarkable chance it isn't, the Government are sure to demand a more hands-on role in any event.

Genesis should be the first thing hacked into touch. Forget the Director of Finance for one second and consider whether any international manager would want to work with a Director of Performance. Brian Kerr certainly wouldn't.

Genesis won't work. It's hard to know what will - unless the Government demonstrate a commitment to get their hands dirty and commit their own people to the Association.

Failing that, the Sports Council could be given one last shot at it once they take the kid gloves off and adopt the same attitude that they directed towards Swim Ireland in the past.

There are more important issues at stake here. The scandal surrounding the structural grants to eircom League clubs is sure to be the next item on the agenda of the Dail's Public Accounts Committee and its impressively pugnacious chairman John Curran.

Further down the line, one suspects, there will be a lot of people shifting uneasily in their chairs when the Association's summer schools receive a closer inspection. The days of regular FAI bloodbaths may soon be at an end if the PAC can locate these ticking timebombs.

[Roo69]

It's great to see people supporting Rooney on this. IMO he has beengood for the eL and has made the FAI a better place - even though a lot more work needs to be done.

Get Milo and his gimps out of the FAI is what i say !

[strangeirish]

Thank you Robinski, I forgot you may have to register to read the Indo. Apologies to all.