Donegal man Niall Erskine was beaten in his quest to be elected as the GAA’s next president at Congress session by Jarlath Burns.
The former Armagh midfielder, an Ulster title winner in 1999, exceeded the quota on the first count, ahead of rivals Offaly’s Pat Teehan and Donegal’s Erskine.
With 277 votes available, Burns received 158 votes, an emphatic victory well ahead of Teehan on 90 votes and Erskine on 49 votes.
Burns, who will take office in 12 months time, is the first Armagh president since Alf Murray who served between 1964 and 1967 and the first from the Six Counties since Peter Quinn, president between 1991 and 1994.
He was runner up to current president Larry McCarthy three years ago when he was beaten on the last count.
Burns, a renowned midfielder through the 1990s, captained Armagh to an Ulster title in 1999 before retiring at the end of that year.His son Jarlath Óg Burns is a current member of the Armagh team.
Burns’ propensity for administration was reflected in his choice by then GAA president Sean McCague to lead the new Croke Park players’ committee at a time when the Gaelic Players Association was gaining traction.
The implementation of the Amateur Status report produced a few years earlier that paved the way for players to be free to earn commercial revenue came under his watch.
He headed the GAA’s ‘125’ committee that celebrated that anniversary with a series of events in 2009 and more recently he was chair of the Standing Committee on Playing Rules that brought in the kick-out mark. He has also been his county’s delegate to Ulster Council and Central Council.
Teehan has had a long career as an administrator, serving as his county’s PRO, vice-chair and then chair before progressing to Central Council delegate and in Leinster, PRO, vice-chair and chair, a position he vacated last month. He has served on numerous central committees, including rules advisory and the Croke Park stadium.
