Fogarty to tackle Tipp football stand-off
Tipperary football manager Andy Shortall and selectors Noel Byrne and Jim Cahill resigned their positions over the scheduling of a senior hurling championship match days before Tipperary were to play Fermanagh in the All-Ireland football qualifiers.
The football squad subsequently declared themselves unavailable for selection and the Tipperary county board withdrew the team from the All-Ireland series. There were harsh words, angry recriminations, a €5,000 fine from Croke Park and wild rumours about Declan Browne decamping to another county.
Subsequently, Tipp GAA chiefs last month recommended that none of the football team management be accepted as a selector for two years, but this was appealed to the Munster Council; it ruled the trio could be nominated.
Following activity behind the scenes, chairman Donal Shanahan announced at this week’s board meeting that the GAA President had asked Fogarty - himself a former chairman of the Tipperary Board - to appoint a mediator, as efforts within the county to solve the crux had not been successful.
Fogarty is hopeful of a resolution: “I believe there’s goodwill on both sides. No matter how bitter the dispute we have to have a resolution.”
He’s understandably slow to be drawn on who the identify of the ideal candidate to resolve the stand-off.
“I have some people in mind, obviously,” he says. “I’d prefer to stay within the province, if not the county, because I think you need people who are familiar with the set-up and the personalities involved.”
Fogarty himself is familiar with that set-up: “People need to realise the realities involved in fixing so many games in the era of the back door, qualifiers and county league systems tied to championships.
“Last Tuesday night we had to play a county senior hurling quarter-final at 5pm to clear the backlog, and those players will be out again next Sunday in the semi-final.”
Fogarty is expected to report on developments at the county board’s October meeting, but even now he’s anxious to put the dispute in context, pointing out last season’s controversy was over the new sliothar.
“This year, it’s the number of games or the Croke Park surface, and next year it’ll be something else again.”
However, he says arranging games is a problem.
“On fixtures, the county board’s hands are tied to a large extent, but then again, that’s democracy.
“One problem we have is timing - we tend to hold our conventions at the wrong time of the year, in December and January, and people seem to think that when the clock goes forward there’ll be unlimited time. However, there are still only 52 weeks in the year for matches.
“Alongside that, players and administrators have to keep up with families, jobs and studies, which all add to the pressure. We’ll have to have a rethink, not so much on the number of games, but the number of important games, because clubs just won’t play those matches without their top players.”
Fogarty also points out that those problems aren’t restricted to Tipperary, suggesting that when counties like Cork go on strike, the entire structure, fixtures included, has to be examined, not just an inter-county side’s back- up.
As for Moyle Rovers’ finest, Fogarty plays it straight: “Declan Browne has had ample opportunity to leave Tipperary over the years, but Mick O’Dwyer once said to me he’d never met a man more dedicated to his county, and that he respected Declan for that. I think Declan will see out his career with Tipperary.”
