GAA dispute - Time sanity prevailed

THE dispute between the Cork County Board and the county’s senior hurlers and footballers has meant that one National League game has already been deferred and that another — next week’s hurling league tie with Kilkenny — remains in jeopardy.

Each side holds its views passionately and has shown that they are — as yet — unwilling to compromise leading to a stand-off that has polarised the GAA community.

One side cites the democratic process as the source of its mandate. The other believes that unless the situation changes that the teams representing the county will be unable to realise their full potential.

There are few enough certainties in this dispute but the most important one is that it will be resolved sooner or later. Another is that a resolution cannot be achieved if both sides put their positions before the prospect of reaching a solution.

Already Kieran Mulvey of the Labour Relations Commission has tried to bring the sides together but — again, as yet — has not been able to formulate the inevitable compromise that will bring this dispute to an end. Such intransigence does neither side any good and it’s time sanity prevailed.