Three Kildare players have been chosen on this year's All Star football team which was announced in Dublin last night. This will cause surprise in many quarters - particularly in Offaly as the Leinster champions have been given only one place. The same fate has befallen Ulster champions Cavan, who have also been limited to one representative.
The county by county breakdown in the team is: Kerry (5), Kildare (3), Mayo and Meath (2) and Offaly, Derry and Cavan (1).
Only four of this year's team have previously been named as All Stars. They are Kenneth Mortimer from Mayo, Trevor Giles from Meath, Joe Brolly from Derry and Maurice Fitzgerald from Kerry.
The other four Kerrymen are Declan O'Keeffe in goal, Seamus Moynihan at right half back, Eamonn Breen at left half back and Pa Laide at right half forward. The three Kildare representatives are full back Davy Dalton, centre back Glen Ryan and midfielder Niall Buckley.
Mayo's two are Mortimer at right corner back and Pat Fallon at midfield, while the two Meath players are Trevor Giles at centre forward and Brendan Reilly at full forward. Offaly are represented by Cathal Daly at left corner back, Derry by Joe Brolly at right corner forward and Cavan by Dermot McCabe left half forward. This is the first time an Offaly player has been named since 1983, when Martin Furlong and Matt Connor were in the line-up.
The selection will inevitably provoke debate with most disagreement focusing on the fact that three of the provincial champions, Mayo, Cavan and Offaly, have fewer representatives than Kildare, who were knocked out of the Leinster championship at the semi-final stage, admittedly after a thrilling three-game saga against Meath. Indeed, they have more representatives than Meath.
In a far from vintage year for full backs, Dalton may be considered lucky to have edged out Meath's Darren Fay and Kerry's Barry O'Shea.
Kerry also have reason to feel aggrieved. Five is a low allocation for a team that won both the All-Ireland and the National League. Stephen Stack at corner back, Liam Flaherty at centre back and, possibly, William Kirby or Dara O Se at midfield all had claims for inclusion.
Beaten All-Ireland finalists Mayo will also feel they were short-changed with only two awards. Fergal Costello is their unluckiest player - a poor All-Ireland final may have cost him his place.
The positioning of some players will also raise eyebrows. Cathal Daly, outstanding at right corner back, has been selected in the opposite corner, and Cavan midfielder Dermot McCabe at left half forward The awards were sponsored for the first time this year by Eircell. The trophies were presented by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, in the Burlington Hotel last night. The All Star hurling team, which was announced earlier in the week, was also honoured last night. The ceremony was shown live on RTE.
Speaking at the presentation banquet last night, the president of the GAA, Joe McDonagh from Galway, himself an All Star hurler in 1976, said that he well understood how such an award would be cherished.
"I wish in particular to congratulate Maurice Fitzgerald of Kerry and Jamesie O'Connor of Clare already named as the Players' Players of the Year. They adorned and illuminated our games and are worthy jewels in the crown of 1997. The announcement of the teams is always eagerly awaited and very few concur fully with the selections and debate is inevitable," he said.
Since the scheme started in 1971, a total of 810 awards have been presented in football and hurling. Kerry lead the way with 80 awards, Dublin have 67, Cork 45, Meath 36, Offaly 30, Derry 21, Down and Galway 19 each, Roscommon 14, Tyrone and Donegal 12 each are the counties to get into double figures. The other counties to have featured are Armagh (7), Monaghan (6), Kildare (5), Laois, Sligo, Leitrim and Cavan (2) and Antrim, Clare, fermanagh and Wicklow (1).
In hurling, Kilkenny lead the list of award winners with 85, Cork have 72, Galway 59, Tipperary 46, Limerick 40, Offaly 32, Clare 29, Wexford 28, Antrim 5, Waterford 4, Dublin 2, and Down, Laois and Westmeath have one each.
The only counties not to have won an award in either code are Carlow, Longford and Louth.
Football selectors: Sean Moran (The Irish Times), Liam Horan (Irish Independent), Cian Murphy (Star), Eamon O'Hara (Irish News), Jim O'Sullivan (Examiner), Brian Carthy and Micheal O Muircheartaigh (RTE), Adrian Logan (UTV), Mairtin O Ciardha (Radio na Gaeltachta), Sean McGoldrick (Sunday World), Eugene McGee (Evening Herald), Micheal McGeary (Sunday Life).
Hurling All Stars: Damien Fitzhenry (Wexford); Paul Shelley (Tipperary), Brian Lohan (Clare), Willie O'Connor (Kilkenny); Liam Doyle (Clare), Sean McMahon (Clare), Liam Keoghan (LKilkenny); Colin Lynch (Clare), Tommy Dunne (Tipperary); Jamesie O'Connor (Clare), Declan Ryan (Tipperary), John Leahy (Tipperary); Kevin Broderick (Galway), Ger O'Loughlin (Clare), DJ Carey (Kilkenny).
