Cork greats call for end to row

FORMER All-Ireland winning captain Tomás Mulcahy has called for a mediator to help resolve the row between the Cork County Board and its two senior teams.

The Glen Rovers man, who led the county to an All-Ireland title in 1990 when they defeated Galway, was reacting to the decision to withdraw the senior hurlers from tonight’s Waterford Crystal tournament game against Limerick IT.

“This problem has been festering for about two months and there appears to be no solution in sight”, said Mulcahy.

“Someone needs to come in quickly and knock heads together. I understood a resolution was very close but that has now been dispelled by this latest development.

“It’s a tragedy for a county of our standing in the game that this has been allowed to happen, and if we don’t resolve it quickly it may go too far.

“I’m very concerned at this latest development. I thought we would be strong enough as a county to resolve the issues promptly.

“If I was manager of either team, I would have wanted to pick my own selectors. The decision to change that accepted practice is the nub of the problem as I can see it. It’s a serious issue and I earnestly hope it will be resolved quickly.

“There are a number of other issues within the county that also need to be addressed.

“As a result of the promotion and regulation issue, my club finds itself with at least 25 players who will play no championship hurling in 2008, because our intermediate hurling team was relegated.

“Secondly, is anyone taking notice of the state of hurling in our schools, particularly in the city?

We have no team involved in the knock-out stage of this year’s Harty Cup and don’t look like doing so in the near future.

“Cork doesn’t ever want to go back to the times when we went without winning Munster and All-Ireland for 12 years, but if we don’t tackle all the problems, I’d be very fearful for the future.”

Paddy Barry, who captained the 1970 All-Ireland winning team, said it should never have come down to this. He was fearful for the future and didn’t know how the impasse is going to be resolved.

“Of course I’m disappointed at this latest development. We are a very proud county and our primary concern should be about winning Munster and All-Ireland titles”, said Barry.

“With respect to all concerned, do we want Kilkenny to achieve three title wins in a row this year and go ahead of us in the roll of honour?

“I’m certain many of my former team-mates and those of other eras would be of the same opinion. Having said that it’s not right that a group of selectors should be imposed on a manager. That might have been okay in the past but times have changed. We are now in a complete new era, and everyone involved has to move on.

“The present situation should never have arisen. We are now in a position where there is very little room to manoeuvre, and I would be very concerned.

“The National League campaign is just around the corner and it looks as if Cork will go into that competition with little or no preparation and could be well beaten in some of those matches.

“There are a number of very strong-willed people on both sides and it’s going to be extremely difficult to find a solution that will satisfy everybody.

“Uppermost in everyone’s mind should be what is best for the county. That appears to be lost in all of this. I would ask all those involved to come to their senses and get back to doing what we do best here in Cork, winning championships.”