Experienced administrator Patrick O’Sullivan from the Dr Crokes club has announced that he hopes to replace outgoing Kerry GAA chairman Tim Murphy at the upcoming County Convention.

O’Sullivan, who previously held the role between 2012 and 2016, is set to challenge current vice-chairman Eamon Whelan of St Senan’s for Murphy’s seat. Brosna native Murphy will be standing aside at December’s Convention as he has served his term of five years, the maximum length of time permissible under official GAA guidelines.

The Bag (as O’Sullivan is affectionately known) has sampled success as Kerry GAA chair in the past; he oversaw the appointment of Eamonn Fitzmaurice as senior football manager in 2012 and two years later Kerry won the All-Ireland with O’Sullivan’s clubmates Fionn Fitzgerald and Kieran O’Leary lifting the trophy. That 2014 triumph under the Killarney man’s watch is the only one The Kingdom have managed in the past 12 years.

ENERGY

“I’ve the energy for it and I think I have something to offer, otherwise I wouldn’t be putting my name forward,” O’Sullivan said as he announced his candidacy in an interview with John Fogarty of the Irish Examiner.

“There are a couple of things that I started and didn’t get finished the last time and I’m hoping to achieve that this time around if I am successful."

“When you enter a race like this, some people mightn’t want you and some might feel you had your turn and now it’s somebody else’s turn. That’s a fair enough opinion but I wouldn’t be going again if I didn’t think I had something to bring to the table.”

O’Sullivan also revealed that he sought counsel from a number of former officials before arriving at his decision to once again run for the chair.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of past officers and their first reaction was ‘do you need to do it again?’ But when I’ve explained why I want to get involved again they have said that I should put my name forward.”

The 54-year-old proprietor of the popular Tatler Jack bar on Plunkett Street has a wealth of experience in GAA administration that stretches back to 1998. Most recently he served as chairman of Dr Crokes for three years before handing the reins to Matt O’Neill at the beginning of 2021. He is also currently overseeing Kerry GAA’s ambitious ‘Win a House’ competition.

Patrick is the son of former All-Ireland winning Kerry selector Eddie ‘Tatler’ O’Sullivan. His brother, Edmund, is the current manager of the Crokes senior football team.