Cooney: Carlow will get MacCarthy Cup reprieve despite ‘relegation’ row
The hurling championship has been thrown into disarray since the DRA’s ruling on Saturday morning that a Westmeath motion passed by Congress last April calling for a one-up, one-down system of promotion and relegation was out of order.
Two relegation ‘semi-finals’ between Clare and Wexford, in Portlaoise, and Offaly and Antrim, in Parnell Park, proceeded regardless on Saturday but the GAA announced on Monday that the final had been postponed and that the matter will now be dealt with by Central Council.
The issue has already been dragging on for four weeks, since Laois defeated Antrim in an All-Ireland SHC qualifier, but Cooney was more interested in looking ahead than back when asked about it yesterday.
“The counties referred it to the DRA. The DRA came up with the decision and one of the prerequisites of the decision was that the games were to be played last weekend but we have to resolve the problem now.
“We made the decision to call off the final relegation game, if you want to call it that.
“Over the next couple of weeks we are going to work on something, go to Central Council and look at whether we need a Special Congress called on the constitution of Central Council and a motion to resolve it.
“There is no question of Carlow not competing in the Liam MacCarthy Cup next year. That commitment has been given to them and that is going to be honoured.
“We will try to resolve the situation satisfactorily for the four other counties to make sure that they compete in the MacCarthy Cup next year.”
The controversy has now spilled down into all four tiers of the championship as counties who previously believed they had been automatically promoted or relegated have been left in limbo as to their status next season.
Wicklow were expecting to be relegated from the Christy Ring to the Nicky Rackard with Meath travelling in the opposite direction while Tyrone appeared to be replacing Monaghan in the Nicky Rackard.
Now, everything is up for debate with county squads long since disbanded and many players having travelled abroad for the rest of the summer.
“Whatever we put in place will not be just for the McCarthy Cup,” said Cooney. “It will be for the Christy Ring and other competitions as well. Whatever we bring to Congress will encompass all that. It just won’t be about the MacCarthy Cup.
“We are very conscious of the efforts that have been made by the so-called weaker counties and Carlow are an example of that. They have had tremendous success over the last two seasons winning the Christy Ring twice and the All-Ireland U21 ‘B’ hurling title.
The president was unwilling to get into any further specifics concerning what may or may not be on the table but accepted that there couldn’t be a repeat situation for the sake of the GAA as an entity or the counties involved.
To the Association’s critics, this latest episode will appear to be merely the latest bizarre controversy to arise directly from a convoluted rule book and means of doing business. But Cooney countered: “I don’t think it’s that complicated but certainly the Westmeath motion has been found by the DRA ... that maybe it shouldn’t have been on the clár.
“It didn’t exactly represent what happened at Special Congress the previous year but we are where we are. There is no point in looking back.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
