Training cap idea is backed

COUNCIL secretary Donie Nealon’s call for a cap on the number of inter-county training sessions received strong backing from delegates at last night’s annual convention in Adare.

Serious concern was expressed about the impact of the expanded inter-county programme on club activity and the drain on county finances.

Waterford chairman Paddy Joe Ryan said that with county teams now training on Saturdays, players were seeking compensation for wages lost because it was considered a working day.

“I am predicting a lot of doom and gloom for counties if this trend continues,” he added.

Limerick chairman Pat Fitzgerald said there was a need for the association to take serious stock of the impact of inter-county competitions in the way they were diminishing club programmes. If they didn’t do so, they would be asking themselves in five or 10 years where they went wrong.

Former president Con Murphy conceded that while they had an excellent inter-county programme and accompanying television coverage, they were not giving clubs their rightful place.

And in relation to the decision to defer a review of the hurling and football championships for a year, they were “long-fingering a very serious issue” affecting their clubs.

Council chairman Christy Cooney pointed out that the president will be meeting with the principal county officers in a few weeks to discuss a number of matters, including amateur status. This would give counties the opportunity to articulate their particular concerns on the club issue.

At a different level, vocational schools delegate TJ Egan highlighted the difficulties caused by the clash between schools and inter-county minor games.

Commenting that the four Saturdays in March were taken up with minor football and four Wednesdays in April with minor hurling, he said some colleges players were training up to six days a week.

And he knew of one player who is involved with the international series under-17 squad who was training seven days a week.

“We have to stop this carnage,” he said. “We are talking about the players tomorrow, and we either want schools to promote Gaelic games or we don’t.”

Cooney said that final decision on what competitions they promoted in Munster ultimately lay with the counties.

Questions were asked about the council’s investments which had lost around 250,000 last year.

The chairman said the only major loss was last year. The previous year there was “a minor loss” and 12 months earlier it had made money.

* There was no contest for any position. Officers: president, Liam McInerney; chairman, Christy Cooney; vice-chairman, Sean Fogarty; secretary, Donie Nealon; PRO, Fr Seamus Gardiner.