Fitzgerald: time to move on in dual-player row

COUNTY BOARD chairman Pat Fitzgerald last night drew a line under the dual-player controversy that has Limerick GAA in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons.

Addressing the statements issued at the weekend by football manager Liam Kearns and the six dual players involved, all of whom were critical of the county board officers for having failed to implement the dual-player policy, Fitzgerald accepted that there were indeed grounds for criticism but was adamant they didn’t have any choice.

“The tone and the wording of the statements was disappointing, but I suppose the county board is always going to be an easy scapegoat. It’s a fact that Limerick had a dual-player policy, and all applicants for the senior hurling manager’s job were told that would have to be adhered to; all the applicants, each and every one of them, said they would have a difficulty with it, but they would examine how they could deal with it.

“After they were appointed, having analysed the current state of Limerick hurling, the new management team decided they needed a panel of at least 30 hurlers who would give their total commitment to what they were trying to achieve, which is to lift Limerick hurling back to where it should be. That left us with the dilemma of enunciating a dual-player policy which the hurling management team said they found impossible to implement in the current circumstances.

“What were we to do? We could dictate the policy, but how do you control it? Dismiss the hurling management team? I don’t think that would have been in the best interests of Limerick hurling or Limerick GAA.

“This was the third senior hurling management team in three years that had a problem with dual players; they’ve analysed the situation and they’ve made their call. And I’d like to emphasise, this isn’t just Padjoe Whelahan, it’s his whole management team. I’ve never seen such unity of purpose in the whole lot of them. They’ve said to us, look, the state Limerick hurling is in now, if we’re to raise its profile and make any progress, we need 30 fellas to commit 100% to it, full stop. If we can’t get that, we’re wasting our time, wasting Limerick’s time.

“That’s what they said to us. There’s a lot being made of the fact that the hurling management team refused to meet the football management team; what the hurling management said, and again we had to make a judgment call on that, was that if they met there would either be an argument or there would be a compromise, and if they were to compromise, they said, they would be compromising all of Limerick hurling. Those are their words. Look, we have a fantastic football set-up with Liam Kearns which has been developed over the last few years; the new hurling management team are approaching their job in a very professional way as well, and I am not going to dictate to either Liam Kearns or Padjoe Whelahan who they have on their panels. This is the only issue on which we have disagreement, which is a pity, but it is a difficult one.”

Fitzgerald then expressed the wish that this would be the end of the matter. “The lines are drawn at this stage, it’s time to move on. We are not ignoring the contribution made to hurling by the six players, it is appreciated, and this was a tough call. But if this is dragged on any further, Limerick GAA, hurling and football, will suffer.”