The dispute involving the Cavan senior football team seems to be over after weeks of speculation and upheaval.
At a special meeting of the County Board in Crosskeys last night, County Board chairman Brendan Keaney spoke of his efforts to heal the wounds that had affected the team and the county as a whole.
He said: "I want first of all to say that it has been a very traumatic time for Cavan football over the past few days. It has also been a difficult time where a number of the county board officers, particularly those who held opposing views.
Keaney said all the views that were expressed were given in the best interest of Cavan football.
"I vehemently disagree with the statement made by Liam Austin at the team management press conference in Cabra Castle, Kingscourt on Wednesday night. I want to say that, like Martin Lynch, when we shook hands in the Hotel Kilmore on Friday 11th December 1998 after a four-hour meeting the problems that we had were solved.
"We immediately booked a meeting for Wednesday 13th December, again at Hotel Kilmore, for the players, team management and county board officers."
Keaney said he addressed the players and appealed to them to come down the road together, players, county board officers and team management.
"When I finished I left the meeting as requested by the team management along with my fellow officers, Gerry Soden and Tom Boylan. I had no further correspondence from the team management until Monday 21st December.
"At 7 p.m. I received a phone call from Liam Austin to say that they had booked a players' meeting for that same night at 8 o'clock. I asked about the meeting on 16th December and Austin replied that most of the players' complaints were against the county board.
"On Tuesday 29th December, Liam Austin talked to me at my home about a motion of no confidence by the players. He asked me had Dermot McCabe contacted me. I said he had not.
"We spoke about the matter and Liam seemed very surprised that I was not contacted. I said to him, that to me it was a great mistake to allow the players to meet on their own. We agreed to talk again and I had no further contact."
