Barry says row hasn’t weakened him as manager

EAMONN BARRY has rejected suggestions that his managership of the Meath football team has been weakened by recent controversies.

He is also satisfied with the conditions under which his appointment was re-affirmed at the meeting of the County Board in Navan on Monday night.

“My position has not been weakened in the least’’ he stated. “I would say that from the very beginning these issues could have been discussed and possibly all sorted out.’’

Referring to the nine conditions which were formally set out in a document signed by him and Chairman Fintan Ginnity, he said: “I agree with all of them. I know exactly where I am going and I know exactly what I have to do.” Apart from insisting that the Chairman and Secretary can be present in Meath dressing rooms, meetings, games and training sessions, arguably the most noteworthy is the stipulation that jerseys and kit will be collected after each game by the kitman and a county official “for return to the County Board.” Fintan Ginnity’s view is that “everybody’s positions” have been strengthened. “We know what is facing us. The thing is football from here on,” he added.

Clearly, the reconciliation of the two principals in the drama which unfolded last week was crucial to its solution.

Acknowledging that Barry had been critical of him, Ginnity said he hadn’t been the first to do so “and wouldn’t be the last.” Barry said “it was no secret” that he and the Chairman had “their differences.”

“We said it was time to bury the hatchet for the sake of Meath football and put our shoulder to the wheel. Probably we should have sat down and done that from the very start.

“It was not my intention to bring Meath County Board and Meath football into the public domain for the wrong reasons. I regret some of those things which happened. I do not have any grievance. I am not that type that I carry grudges. ”

Barry indicated that a statement made by Armagh manager Joe Kernan at the weekend coaching conference in DCU had increased his resolve to get matters sorted out. Initially, he had hoped for a resolution after publicly apologising on local radio and on RTÉ. Eventually, he contacted Ginnity late on Sunday night.

“Joe Kernan said that if you believed in something strongly enough you must go and carry that out,’’ he explained. “And, I have very strong views on the way I manage teams, the way I coach and train players - and the way things should be done. That was why I said and did the things I did. In hindsight, it was the wrong way to do it.”

Meath play Cavan on Friday night under lights at Carnaross and a further challenge has been lined out for Navan on Sunday.