SEAN Walsh has always seen himself as a footballer first, an administrator second, but a GAA man always. After a long stretch as a footballer of some note – with Moyvane, Shannon Rangers and even a toe in the water with Kerry – Walsh has forged an even longer and more illustrious career as one of the finest and most astute administrators ever to take office in Kerry.

Now, the man who served as Moyvane club chairman for 12 years, who spent 10 years as development officer in Kerry, and another decade as Kerry county board chairman, has risen to the ranks of top dog in the province.

After three years as vice-chairman of the Munster Council, under Jimmy O'Gorman's leadership, Sean Walsh assumed the chair on Friday last, close to home, in Listowel.

It is an honour and a responsibility that Walsh doesn't take lightly, but one that is he more than capable of fulfilling.

The chairmanship of the Council isn't a full-time position, insofar as it remains a voluntary officership, but the next three years will keep Sean Walsh on the highways and byways of Munster – something he is used to and prepared for.

"It is a very time consuming role, and everything works around your diary. I work full time (in the power plant in Tarbert) as I did when I was chairman in Kerry and and vice-chairman in Munster so it's always been a case of juggling the diary, and that's the way I will continue to operate. But it's all about planning. The key dates are locked in for the year now," he explains.

In GAA administration there is never a 'honeymoon' period and Walsh gets his chairmanship underway in Killarney this weekend with a forum for delegates in which he will set out some of his plans and visions for the coming three years.

Here, he will set out the challenges ahead for the next three years to the delegates from the six Munster counties and put the committees in place to meet those challenges. Then, the real work begins.

In his ten years as chairman of the Kerry county board Sean Walsh proved himself not only to be hard-working and efficient, but forward-thinking and visionary.

So, what are the priorites for the next three years?

"First and foremost, that we would continue to support the clubs, both financially and by setting up a high-powered committee to help all clubs run their affairs," he says. "A lot of people coming into clubs have little or no experience (in administration) and we'd hope to put training programmes in place for county officers and club officers.

"Second, is the promotion of our championships. In times of recession people always flocked to our games but we have to ensure that in times of (current and future) recession that we are able to still allow them to attend our games and make them affordable and enjoyable.

"The third area is that an awful lot of physical development has taken place over the last few years of the Celtic Tiger and I don't think we can sustain that level of development. We have to be realistic about the amount of money out there and available to clubs – both the money that can be raised and that can be paid back. We will be treading carefully in all those area over the next three years.

"Whatever else we do we cannot allow the physical development to take over to the detriment of the promotion of the games," he stresses.

'A football man in a hurling province' might suitably be used to describe Sean Walsh as he takes the reins in the province, but he is clear that he will be all things to all people as far as his loyalties lie.

"There's no doubt that when you come from Kerry you are going to be labelled a football man but I think people will quickly see that I'm an administrator for all the counties and of all the games in those six counties. I hope that in three years time I won't be seen as someone who was only promoting the Munster football championship.

"I have said more in the last twelve months and in the last couple of weeks about hurling in the province than I have about football and I think that speaks for itself," is his answer to that.

As for the other bone of contention that often arises, he is no doubt about where his allegience lies in relation to the preservation of the provincial championships.

"You can look at that from the point of view of the games, and the quality of games and the entertainment they provide. And anyone whoever went to even one Munster championship match need not be told what the mean to the province.

"The other side of it is the finances that they generate. We gave € 5.6 million to the clubs of the counties over the last three years, only from our championships.

"Now, if you look at a 'Champions League' style championship then we won't be giving out € 5.6 million over the next three years, because the funds won't be there, simple as that," he says.

Finally, the question that must be asked, even if we already know the diplomatic answer. Will the chairmanship of Munster pave the way for a challenge for the GAA Presidency?

"I have three years to run as provincial chairman and I will be concentrating solely on that. I won't be letting any side issues like presidental elections or anything else be deflecting me from that.