Cork set to start with fourth string

HURLING STRIKE:THERE IS little optimism in Cork that a solution can be found for the ongoing dispute between the county's senior hurlers and team manager Gerald McCarthy and the county board.

Even the prospect of outside involvement by Croke Park has failed to raise realistic hopes of a solution to the situation that threatens the county’s future in senior hurling.

With the opening National Hurling League fixture against Dublin just five days away, it is now almost certain Cork will have to field what amounts to a fourth or fifth team for the first major competitive match of the season, which if the team loses will create immediate pressure of relegation to Division Two.

The offer by the GAA’s central administration to get involved was revealed at last week’s meeting of the Cork County Board but at present there are no specific plans on the table for dealing with the impasse.

In the months since McCarthy was reappointed, the original cause of the dispute has been exacerbated by statements on either side that have served to escalate tensions and make compromise all but impossible.

Last week’s public display of unity by the full panel of last year’s players also knocked on the head the notion there were cracks in the collective determination not to play for the county under the appointed management.

As things stand the players won’t play for McCarthy and the manager is not going anywhere having been appointed by the county board. Without any middle ground on which to base a compromise it’s hard to see what any intervention could achieve. Whereas the county board supported the offer of involvement from Croke Park, it is believed the players are more ambivalent about the prospects of such a move making any impact on the problem.

The players’ announcement last week that they would take their case to the clubs and to the public means there will be no-quick solution to the stand-off.

A demonstration of support for the players is being organised for Saturday in Cork city and whereas it is believed the public favours the players’ side of this argument there can be no certainty about how the clubs and their membership will break on the issue.

The planned consultation with club chairs will take time and as the officers have no direct role in the county board, club meetings would need to be organised either to change the clubs’ delegates or to mandate them to seek a solution based on a new management appointment.

The next county board meeting isn’t scheduled until this day week, ruling out any realistic prospect of being able to canvass all of the club chairs in advance. Even if everything was organised for the following meeting on February 24th, there would still be only time to table a notice of motion, meaning three league matches, against Dublin, Tipperary and Galway, would have been played before any decision had been taken.

Even then the arithmetic of the county board is forbidding from the point of view of the players, assuming they manage to persuade clubs to back their argument. With an average attendance of just over 100, any county board meeting would need around 70 votes to reverse a management appointment decision.

On those figures the total for a blocking vote would be just over 30. Already the top table commands nine votes and the divisional delegates, seen as close to the executive, another 16 – leaving those opposed to any concession to the players in a strong position to prevent any change of direction.

Whereas the rest of the country is weary of the constant bickering between Cork’s hurlers and county officials the potential damage to the association nationally would be significant, as Cork’s hurling team is one of the game’s main box-office draws. In a time of shrinking economic activity the loss of a well supported team would be particularly unwelcome.

Meanwhile, Gaelic Players Association chief executive Dessie Farrell has rejected criticism his group has failed to engage with the crisis in Cork, pointing out a statement supporting the players was issued in the early stages of the dispute and that the association’s fair play awards announcement was dominated by considerations related to the dispute.

“We’ve commented on the situation,” he said, “and see our function as advising and consulting rather than intervening. If the Cork hurlers said they wanted us to become more involved then obviously we’d talk about it, but it is their call. If we could come up with a solution we would pursue it further. Obviously, we want to see this resolved.”