Murphy breaks Wexford referees’ strike

WEXFORD GAA referees have been left in an embarrassing situation following the decision of leading official Dickie Murphy to break their strike action.

Murphy, a top hurling referee countrywide, has been appointed by the Games Administration Committee to take charge of Sunday's Tipperary-Kilkenny All-Ireland senior hurling championship semi-final at Croke Park.

The appointment comes as the Wexford referees' board enters its second week of strike action, the third time it has withdrawn its services this year.

However, Murphy has confirmed that he will take charge of Sunday's game, despite the fact that Wexford's domestic programme is in chaos, with all of last weekend's action and some midweek fixtures postponed.

Murphy confirmed yesterday that he would officiate the meeting of the Leinster champions and the beaten Munster finalists.

He said that "local efforts are continuing in an effort to bring about a solution to the Wexford strike action".

The Wexford referees are in dispute over the disciplinary committee decision to overturn the report of referee Syl Doyle in relation to two sending-offs in a county league game involving Pierce Donoghoe and Robert Swan.

A marathon county board meeting last Tuesday night, lasting some seven hours, failed to break the deadlock, while behind the scenes, moves all week have also failed to progress the situation.

The board will meet again tonight to try to find a solution to prevent the postponement of next weekend's championship games.

However, Murphy's decision to break the dispute has embarrassed the Wexford referees, who feel their position has been weakened by the move.

Meanwhile, Croke Park, the home of the GAA, may be somewhat slow in opening its doors to foreign codes, but wedding receptions are a completely different matter, it emerged over the weekend.

Since the first phase of the multi-million pound redevelopment work was completed, two or three weddings have taken place at the stadium.

"It hasn't exactly been advertised but like many other venues, couples can hold their reception at the Corporate level in Croke Park," GAA PRO Danny Lynch admitted yesterday.

Mr Lynch said the idea appealed to couples who wanted a venue with a difference, and usually tempted those who were staunch GAA followers.

"In fact, the very first wedding we did was a guy who had been let down by a hotel," he said.