Paddy Flanagan

Paddy Flanagan talks about his wide-ranging GAA career which spanned many years. Originally from Turin in Westmeath, he learned the basics of Gaelic football from Brother Hogan - a brother of Michael Hogan who was killed on Bloody Sunday. He later played with Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downes, and in later years was selected to play for the Westmeath minor team, and then the seniors. He also secured a job at St Loman's Hospital and played football with them. Paddy was also heavily involved in administration - he was assistant secretary of the Westmeath County Board for a number of years before taking over the position of secretary. He was also PRO and in time was appointed a Westmeath delegate to the Leinster Council, and played a big part in organising their centenary celebrations. He took to the job of PRO with gusto, setting about making radical changes to the production and quality of match programmes - an initiative that was incredibly successful and was soon imitated by other provinces. He wrote a weekly GAA column for a local newspaper and was acutely aware of the benefits of maintaining a close relationship with the media. During all this time he witnessed tremendous advances in technology and communications, made lifelong friends, suffered personal disappointments and observed major improvements in the manner in which all aspects of Gaelic games are approached. A proud GAA man, Paddy has made a long-lasting contribution to the Association.