Public divided in Clare hurling row

ALL-IRELAND winning manager Ger Loughnane will return to the airwaves today on Clare FM as the row which has engulfed hurling in the county stumbles into a second week.

Loughnane, who guided Clare to two All-Ireland titles in 1995 and 97, lost out to long-serving Fr Harry Bohan for the Services to Clare Hurling award, which was selected by the Clare County Board earlier this month.

He was also angered with the passing-over of some of his former players in a selection naming the best Clare team of the past 25 years.

Loughnane appeared on the local radio station last Friday and detailed a row he had last week with Clare County chairman Michael McDonagh.

Mr McDonagh subsequently heard comments Loughnane made in a follow-up phone call to former team physiotherapist Colum Flynn. The Clare chairman then made a statement regarding aspects of that call to gardaí.

Clare FM's head of news and current affairs Mark Dunphy said the reaction to the story was "overwhelming."

"The interest generated by the whole affair is unprecedented. It has all the elements of the perfect story from a talk programming point of view - the internal rows in Clare hurling circles being commented on so strongly by the former county manager. Public opinion on the matter is divided straight down the middle."