FAI TURN TO MAYOMAN FOR LEADERSHIP AND DIRECTION

Connaught Telegraph March 13 1996


Quigley scores spectacular personal victory

SPECIAL INTERVIEW : BY TOM KELLY

Pat Quigley stands tall. The Castlebar official survived Irish football's version of 'the night of the long knives' in glorious fashion. As a month of crisis within the Football Association of Ireland came to a climax in the luxurious surroundings of the Westbury Hotel on Friday, the Ballyheane born supremo emerged from the debacle with his reputation enhanced. He scored the biggest personal victory of his life when he was appointed acting president of the F.A.I. when the members of the organisation's senior council refused to accept his resignation.

Mr. Quigley had tendered his resignation five days earlier in a selfless bid to resolve the problems which were tearing the association apart.

He described it as the most difficult decision he ever had to make in football, but he had been left with no choice 'because of certain matters which had come into the pubic domain', matters which he had known nothing about.

It was a decision which could have cost him his chances of fulfilling a long-cherished personal ambition of becoming president of the Football Association of Ireland. But it all turned out spectacularly well for him when, following the passing of a vote of no-confidence in Louis Kilcoyne in the small hours of Saturday morning, the F.A.I. turned to a Mayoman for leadership and direction.

"I am honoured and privileged to take on the role of president of the F.A.I., even in an acting capacity. It has been a difficult few weeks for the organisation and hard lessons have been learned.

"But it is important that we move on from here and make the changes that need to be made to bring the game in Ireland into an exciting new era.

"I realise there are many challenges to be met, and I will be sitting down with my fellow officers in the coming weeks to discuss those challenge. I will also be welcoming recommendations from people involved at the game's grassroots because that is where the foundation of Irish soccer exists."

Mr. Quigley admitted he would not be rushed into any hasty decisions following the worse month in the F.A.I.'s history.

He stated: "I firmly believe that in the middle of every difficulty, lies opportunity. Opportunity for change, opportunity for achievement, and opportunity for success, both for soccer, and for the F.A.I.

"The success will happen if we have the leadership, the commitment, the honesty towards ourselves and our colleagues, the integrity of character and above all, the courage.

"I am willing to play my part to bring about badly needed change within the association. Mistakes have been made, and we must learn from those mistakes so that there will never be a repeat of them.

"We need changes in our structures. We need changes in our practice and procedures. We need changes to guarantee accountability and complete transparency in all our dealings.

"We need strong, professional, competent management which will be charged with successfully bringing the F.A.I. into the next century..

"I promise to play my part in bringing about the essential changes and implementing them, with experience, enthusiasm and commitment."

Mr. Quigley is expected to be appointed president of the F.A.I. at their annual general meeting in July. But the fact he has been appointed in an acting capacity until then represents a major honour for him, as well as for the game in Mayo and Connaught. Never has an official West of the Shannon, so to speak, held such high office in the game.

Looking back on the controversies which had enveloped Merrion Square, Mr. Quigley said he condemned wrongdoing without reservation.

"So because of Joe Delaney bringing discredit to our association by giving misleading information, I considered that it was in the best interests of the F.A.I. that he should resign his position immediately. Otherwise, this whole matter would have continued to damage us."

In regard to his own personal allocation of tickets for international matches, Mr. Quigley said it was approximately 200 tickets. "All of my tickets were fully paid for and fully accounted for without any problems whatsoever.

"I was quite shocked to read that some officers got an allocation of nearly 2,000 tickets. I still find that hard to believe. The first I knew about that was when I read it in the newspapers.

"On a number of occasions, I queried the fact that my own cheques, which were always paid promptly, seemed to be taking a long time to be lodged.

"I was told that all cheques had to be full reconciled with tickets sold, or words to that effect, before being lodged. Anybody who was given such information from people who were responsible for the finances of the F.A.I. would have accepted their answers too

"There was no apparent reason to doubt or question the general finances of our association which were in the capable hands of our accountant, our treasurer and auditor.

"However, knowing now the real situation, it was certainly bad management practice and should not have been tolerated."

He explained the reason he called on Louis Kilcoyne to resign was because the president at all times must project a good image, must inspire confidence, must show leadership and must always have the good of the Football Association of Ireland and soccer in general as his primary concern.

"In the light of Joe Delaney's admission of wrongdoing, Mr. Kilcoyne failed, in my opinion, on all four counts."

On his own behalf, Mr. Quigley said he never knowingly did wrong 'as far as my involvement with soccer is concerned.'

"My record speaks for itself. I have served soccer in Ireland for over 20 years and I am pleased and honoured to continue doing so in a changed organisation."

He said he could not stress often enough how it was 'absolutely essential' that the recommendations, which the F.A.I. would receive from the examiners, were adopted swiftly.

"We must do so in order to restore the good image of soccer in Ireland and restore the good image of the F.A.I.; re-establish confidence within our affiliate associations, leagues and clubs; regain the confidence of corporate sponsors and all others who have been part of our commercial well-being; and ensure that the associations and its leaders have an untainted image and to be seen to be beyond reproach.

"In order to guarantee that those four objectives are achieved, we all must be prepared to undertake significant changes.

"And, in the real world, most people fear change. It is more fear of the unknown, rather than fear of change itself. But, in my opinion, we must actively embrace change to ensure the future success of the game."

Mr. Quigley said a special thank you to all the well wishers who contacted him over the past number of days, in particular.

"Even on my way home from Dublin with my friend, Donald Benson, in the small hours of Saturday morning, I was recieving calls from well wishers on my mobile phone.

"The 'phone has been going non-stop since I came home. I am very thankful to everybody, people from all sporting codes.

"The support I received from my family and friends was very important to me."

Mr. Quigley is employed as a medical representative by Glaxo, the world renowed pharmaceutical firm.

Pat is married to Eleanor (nee Brady), a native of Newtown Road, Castlebar. Their daughter, Patricia, is married to Galway-based bank official Seamus Monaghan; and their son, Shane, is studying accountancy in Dublin.


Connaught Telegraph - News - Mar 1996

Connaught Telegraph - Sports - Mar 1996