Long-serving Tyrone GAA Secretary to retire

By Alan Rodgers

A TYRONE GAA official who is the longest serving GAA administrator in Ireland is to step down from his post at the end of 2022.

Dominic McCaughey from Trillick has been Secretary of Tyrone GAA since 1987.

He is a former teacher at Omagh CBS, but left that role in the early 2000s to become the first full-time paid official in the county.

Notice of his intention to retire has just been released to the clubs of the county. They will be required to find a successor in the role, which Mr McCaughey has held for the past 35 years.

Renowned for his efficiency, commitment and quiet but effective decision-making, Mr McCaughey took on the role just as Tyrone were celebrating reaching their first All-Ireland Final. The previous incumbent was Brendan Harkin from Killyclogher.

Over the next almost four decades, Mr McCaughey played a pivotal role in guiding the complete transformation of gaelic games in the county.

He was an ever-present figure on the sidelines during the four historic Sam Maguire Cup successes enjoyed by Tyrone. As an administrator, he was also centrally involved in the construction of the multi-million Tyrone GAA Centre at Garvaghey.

While he rarely aired his views publicly during the year, his annual reports presented to the Tyrone GAA Convention usually offered forthright views on the major GAA issues of the year.

His call in 2017 for a tiered championship for inter-county football has since led to the creation of the Tier Two Tailteann Cup. He has also questioned the introduction of the black card in 2019 expressed bewilderment with what he described as the ‘strange refeering decisions’ which he felt contributed to Tyrone’s defeat in that year’s All-Ireland sem-final against Kerry.

He also managed the Irish Team during one of the International Rules trips to Australia.