Ciarán Whelan: GAA President's term is not long enough

Ciarán Whelan says that the current term of three years for a GAA President is too short for any successful applicant to enact "significant change."

Three candidates are vying to win the race to succeed current incumbent Larry McCarthy and become the 41st President of the association in 2024.

Pat Teehan, Jarlath Burns and Niall Erskine will look to claim the most votes tomorrow night, with a PR-STV system - similar to Irish political elections - in use.

But Whelan, speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, says winning the Presidency can sometimes be a hollow victory for the candidate in a sporting body which is famed for its resistance to change.

"Everyone will ask at the end of a GAA President's term, 'what was their legacy?'", Whelan suggested.

"What is the role of the President? It's somewhere between that ambassadorial role and representing the GAA on the ground and at grassroots level.

"It also slides into strategic vision. I don't know the exact structures by they [the President] are the end of the line in terms of the ultimate decision maker for the period they are in office.

"It's been tradition, it's been there for a long, long time, but the three-year period is too short. It's very hard for somebody to go in and really deliver their full vision in a three-year period.

"You look at this weekend and already people will be talking about the next President. They bring their own committees and they bring their own structures and they bring in their own people.

"So they do have a significant role to play in the strategic development of the GAA. Three years is a short time for anybody to put a footprint [on it]. Any CEO going into other organisations would have a longer contract to deliver what their values of vision is.

"We're a very