Ó hAilpín: my career was over if Rebel dispute wasn’t solved

CORK hurler Seán Óg Ó hAilpín has said that he and other senior players were resigned to ending their careers during the long-running dispute between the Cork County Board and its senior hurling and football panels.

Following the resolution of the dispute on Monday night, Ó hAilpín admitted it would have been difficult to return in 2009 if Cork hadn’t participated in the 2008 season.

“I think the players were resigned to the fact that the year was a write-off if this wasn’t resolved, and for the older lads like me, we were looking at our careers gone. If I missed a year I’d be trying to pick it up at 32 years of age. Thankfully it’s been resolved.

“I hope it’s been sorted to everyone’s liking. I got a load of phone calls Friday saying ‘great victory for the players’, but I don’t see it that way at all. I’m just relieved it’s over. Everyone in Cork benefits from the Cork team — the public, club members, everyone.

“The lesson I’ve taken out of this is that there’s no-one above Cork. It’s about Jimmy Barry-Murphy, Christy Ring and the great people before us, the present players, and most importantly, the future. We’re only passing through. In three years I’ll be gone, and so will the older players, the real winner in the dispute was the future.”

Having been through a similar situation in 2002,Ó hAilpín knows what to expect from the season ahead.

“We realise the consequences of going as far as we did. Others will say ‘ye got what ye wanted, show us what the talk was about’. It was the same in 2002, and in fairness we did from 2003 onwards. We’ve proved in the past that when we get what we feel we should get, we’ve done well.’’

His fellow defender, John Gardiner, said he hoped a good working relationship could be reestablished with the board.

“After the 2002 strike it worked out fine in the next couple of years and that’s what we’ll be hoping will happen now. That’s what we said in our statement, that we would all move forward together and build up relationships with the board.’’

Gardiner admitted that the pressure had been immense. “It was disappointing enough. We felt we were right in what we did, we wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t. We felt pressure from certain sectors, but you saw the people who walked the streets to support us, and that made us stronger. We did have an issue but we felt it was the right thing to do.

“There’s huge pressure on us every year but there’ll be added pressure this year. It’s the second time we’ve taken this action so we know there’ll be pressure. We have a huge game against Tipp in the Munster semi-final. That’ll be the focus now. We’ve lost two months of training, and we’ll have to see how the league campaign goes, but we were on the road a long time before this. Maybe a break will do us good.”

Ó hAilpín agreed the last three months had been stressful.

“I’d have preferred training four or five nights a week rather than meeting in hotel rooms four or five nights a week, trying to get our case forward and so on. You have to work on top of that as well.

“It has been stressful. Thank God we didn’t have to train on top of that, we couldn’t have handled that. It’s one thing having the body at training, but if the mind isn’t tuned in you won’t get maximum benefits. It’s been a big learning curve for all players but we’re just relieved it’s over.”

Gardiner welcomed the addition of player representatives to the committee to appoint the next football manager. “My opinion was that we never wanted to pick a manager, but we felt the players should have an input in it, a say in the next manager. I think it’s a good move, very forward-thinking of the county board. I’d have no problem sitting on it if I were asked.’’

Gardiner expressed sympathy with ousted manager Teddy Holland.

“Do I feel sympathy for him? I do. I don’t think he should have taken the position the way he took it, but I’ve nothing against him.”