Galway chairmen had good working relationship, insists Byrne
Byrne took Treacy to task about his attendance record at hurling meetings while he also aired concerns about hurling clubs not having a say in recommending Byrne’s replacement.
Byrne, who says he and Treacy voted for Anthony Cunningham to remain in charge as senior hurling manager, stated: “I have a very strong working relationship with Noel since he became chairman three years ago. I had been a member of management on the county board, I have been on CCCs with him, I have been on a number of committees with him.
“There was a minor difference in relation to the appointment of the chairman and other officers of the committee. The hurling clubs should have a say in them no more than the football clubs should have a say in the appointment of their chairman and secretary.
“We’ve 36 football-only clubs and 37 hurling-only clubs and we’ve 11 dual clubs. It’s important that the hurling clubs determine really who they want as their officers in that sub-committee and yet they are appointed by the county committee.”
Byrne has also addressed the state of hurling refereeing in the county, which was recently criticised. “At adult level, we have over 50 referees and I stand to be corrected but I think there are three over 60 and they are guys who have given trojan service to Galway hurling.
“In the last 12 months, we have had 12 new refs, eight at adult level. At the moment, we have five referees going into a Connacht academy in January. Four of them are under the age of 23. We have six who are inter-county at both provincial and national level.”
Byrne said there’s far too much negativity about Galway hurling. “So much good work is being done. We’ve an excellent county academy at U14, U15, U16, U17, U18. There’s a real joined up approach between minor, U21 and senior teams about the development aspects of players.”
