The appointment of a full-time CEO for Mayo GAA is one of the important decisions for the organisation in its recent history.

Bigger than any manager. Bigger than any chairman. Bigger than any player or board member who has come before.

And for many reasons.

Last week at the county board meeting, Donal Walshe and Daithí Gallagher of the Mayo Strategic Leadership Committee presented their vision for this position.

Listening to them speak on the Mayo Football Podcast, it’s clear they are very aligned in what’s required at this stage.

Mayo GAA will actively headhunt candidates for this role. That is how proper organisations operate. That is how you get the best person for the job, not just whoever applies.

The committee also made clear that cost will not hold them back. They will put together a generous package for the right candidate.

It will no doubt cause some people to balk at this. The same ones that say the GAA or any not-for-profit should not be paying big salaries to top people.

Those people are so wrong.

Look at the numbers.

According to Payscale and Glassdoor, the average salary for a CEO in Ireland for a company of Mayo GAA’s size is anywhere between €100,000 and €170,000 annually.

Mayo GAA is a multi-million euro organisation. The senior football team alone........

© The Mayo News