No poll comfort for Board

SO the people of Cork have spoken on the GAA dispute that is tearing the county apart.

And while today’s Irish Examiner/Red C opinion poll offers comfort for the striking Rebel hurlers and footballers, there is no such succour for the beleaguered Cork County Board or its embattled football coach, Teddy Holland.

More than half (56%) of people living in Cork polled on Thursday support the ongoing strike action of inter-county players, with 23% of those polled disagreeing with the players’ defiant stance. If there is some comfort for the County Board, it is in the percentage of those polled who offered no opinion or could not make up their minds — 20%, or one in five persons polled. That figure is considerably higher than on any of the other subjects dealt with in today’s exclusive survey.

Red C interviewed a random sample of 512 adults over 18 years of age by telephone on Thursday evening. Interviews were conducted across Cork city and county on what proved a key day in the bitter dispute — the day the County Board released details of the negotiations with the players, including the claim that the player representatives had agreed to play under Holland, but not his four selectors. This was subsequently denied in a late night statement from the players, which would have had no influence on those questioned for the poll.

Public support for Cork football coach Teddy Holland to remain in charge is less than one in five of those polled. Asked should Holland stand aside as a means of resolving the conflict, 64% believed he should, with 19% disagreeing. Though the respective parties in the dispute are polarised, the public is prepared to liberally sprinkle blame across the spectrum. In that context, 64% is a strong statement from the public which would appear to agree with the view of the Cork players — that Holland’s position is untenable. Just under one in five persons polled indicated that Teddy Holland should stay put.

However the Cork public do not believe the new football coach to be the most culpable player in this dispiriting drama. When respondents were asked whether the Board, Holland, the county’s hurlers or footballers had undermined Cork’s chances of success on the field of play this year, a whopping 70% said the County Board. The executive of the Board may wonder how they’re getting it so forcibly in the neck, given the concessions they believe they have made in recent weeks. However it would appear that the public are indicating displeasure at the original Board decision to remove the manager’s right to name his own selectors — the issue at the core of the stand-off. 55% believe Holland has undermined Cork’s prospects for 2008. Red C stated that some apportioned blame to more than one group or individual on this question — with the most prominent combination being between the Board and Holland.

However, 44% also believed the Cork football panel has also lessened its chances of success by their actions. The equivalent figure for the Cork hurlers is 41%, indicating that the public do not necessarily differentiate between the respective squads in this bitter dispute.

This is further supported by responses on the issue of whether the footballers should be fighting their own battle on this issue. While just over half (52%) of those polled disagreed when asked should the hurlers play on and let the footballers deal with their own situation, 40% did agree that the Cork footballers fight their own battle.

This merits consideration. Despite public utterances about a united front, it is understood that at one point in the protracted discussions this week with LRC chief Kieran Mulvey and GAA director general Paraic Duffy, there appeared to be “a shift in emphasis” between the representative groups of hurlers and footballers. That may be interpreted as a sign the hurlers were more prepared to sign up to an agreement than their football counterparts.

What effect has the festering conflict had on the public’s perception of their inter-county representatives? Has it turned fans off their GAA stars? Evidently not. Just as the hastily-arranged public march in support of the players attracted 700 people last week, 71% of those polled said the players’ strike action would not diminish their interest in their GAA stars this year. Only 26% said they would now be less interested.

Among those, the highest percentage was people over 55. Of those pledging to stick by the players in 2008, the 18-34 age group was most prominent.

However there is one shot across the bows of current group of high-profile Cork stars. Though the idea of a different panel of players representing the county has been dismissed, there was a clear divide when respondents were asked if they would support a Cork team minus their striking players. Just over half (52%) said they would not support, but 44% said they would continue to back the blood and bandage.

Red C pollsters say the results of the survey are representative of the county by gender and age. Surprisingly, there was no discernible difference in attitude between Cork city and county.