This article is from page 84 of the 2009-01-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 84 JPG
FEARS have been expressed that the Clare County Board’s desire to em- brace technology through having an up-to-date website could lead to the board being held to ransom by un- scrupulous web designers.
That was the claim made by county board secretary Pat Fitzgerald af- ter Wolfe Tones delegate Joe Kelly requested that for the coming sea- son up-to-date league tables posted weekly on claregaa.ie.
However, in response Fitzgerald pointed out that this could prove too costly in the short-term, while he also claimed that handing over the responsibility for updating the web- site to an outside authority could ex- pose the board to longterm financial loss.
“My concern is that if you hand something like that to a company
that in two years time it could cost this board about €10,000,” said Fit- zgerald.
“Tt would be irresponsible for me to
put a board or a group in the future in the hands of somebody that can hold you to ransom. Our view, it 1s a bit over the top to give that money
to build the software, but it does give you independence, it does give the Clare County Board jurisdiction over their future going forward.
“We could hand over control of it to an outside body who in my opin- ion, when they get it all up and run- ning, could charge telephone figures. It would be irresponsible for us as a board to allow that to happen,” he added.
The new Clare GAA website only went online early last year, but since then has had many teething prob- lems. The site fails to provide contact details and information relating to club secretaries, something that was included in the original claregaa.ie site that was taken down off the web last year.