GAELIC GAMES LIMERICK HURLING:DESPITE CONCILIATORY statements by GAA president Christy Cooney, the association is believed to harbour reservations about getting involved in the current Limerick hurling stand-off.
As of yesterday afternoon, Croke Park had yet to receive a formal request from the Limerick County Board to get involved in brokering a potential resolution to the disagreement between senior team manager Justin McCarthy and most of last year’s panel, who have either been dropped by McCarthy or walked away in protest at his managerial style.
The letter is, however, expected to arrive today in advance of this weekend’s meeting of the GAA’s management committee at which it will be discussed.
Whereas the county board has resolutely backed the manager to date, there is the likelihood with the National Hurling League just eight days away that a sequence of heavy defeats for what is effectively a seconds team will inject more urgency into the situation.
Cooney has stressed the need for both parties in the dispute to engage fully in any resolution process, telling media this week: “The bottom line is that if all parties are serious about trying to progress a solution to the impasse that exists in Limerick, certainly we’d be happy in Croke Park, to support a solution, if we can.”
The problem for GAA headquarters is the players have made it clear they are not open to the prospect of continuing to play under McCarthy, who is in the middle of a two-year appointment. In the circumstances it is difficult to see how Croke Park could involve itself in a talks’ process in which one side has an immovable position.
Similar impasses have virtually always been broken by the manager walking away and up until now McCarthy has been unwilling to do this.
Reservations are believed to centre on a number of issues: firstly, reluctance to involve the office of the presidency in local disputes and secondly, concern that the hierarchy’s intervention might become exclusively associated with the forced departure of managers.
There is also frustration that an issue of this nature, which dates back to last autumn, was not urgently addressed as soon as it arose.
As a result, it is likely an exploratory process will be initiated to ascertain the openness of all sides to participate in meaningful discussions as opposed to ones involving preconditions.
There is a further consideration: Croke Park intervention has not been directly successful when previously deployed in the Cork disputes of recent years involving Teddy Holland’s stewardship of the footballers or Gerald McCarthy’s role with the county hurlers.
In a similar stand-off between the Clare hurling panel and manager Michael McNamara, the latter finally recognised the futility of trying to continue in the role once the players didn’t want to play for him.
The hope within the GAA is that two developments last year will contribute to the elimination of this as a recurrent problem.
One, the code of practice for the appointment of managers outlines procedures that, it is hoped, will reach such decisions on a consensus basis and according to clearly defined criteria.
Secondly, the fact that the players’ representative body, the GPA, has come under the Croke Park umbrella means the views of players will be more carefully considered and also creates a framework in which grievances can be identified and addressed before reaching the crisis point.
