McManus backs embattled Limerick GAA chiefs

MILLIONAIRE sponsor JP McManus has broken his silence on the Limerick hurling crisis – and offered some succour to the embattled County Board executive and team coach, Justin McCarthy.

The GAA-mad businessman – who revealed how he crawled through a window in Croke Park to get into the victorious Limerick dressing room after the 1973 All-Ireland success – said yesterday that he backed the “democratically-elected” Board and the votes taken by delegates to back the management team led by McCarthy.

“My position has always been that I support whoever is in the Limerick jersey,” he declared yesterday. “The County Board runs GAA affairs in Limerick, and the clubs decided with a vote to support the current manager. I respect what the clubs do, because they’re given a mandate by their members.”

McManus, finalising plans for his massive charity golf pro-am in two weeks, also backed County Board chiefs who have been accused of setting Limerick hurling back years.

“I will always support whoever is in the chair,” JP added. “They are elected democratically by the GAA members within the county – and my stance on that won’t change.

“If the lads (refusing to play for Justin McCarthy) come back into the fold I’d be very happy but I’m behind who is running and regulating the game, and I won’t change on that.”

McManus was in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday backing his native county and lauded the “great effort” of the shadow Limerick outfit well beaten by Cork in the Munster SHC semi-final.

“Those lads are doing their best and it’s not their fault,” he maintained. “Let’s hope a resolution is found and we’ll all be back behind the Board and whoever is there.”

In a separate interview with the Irish Examiner ahead of the Pro-Am – to be published in a special Weekend section this Saturday, McManus also underlined: “I have never been involved in the selection of a manager, or getting rid of a manager. Whoever’s there is there because the clubs want him to be there.

“They’ve made their decision on this issue. They had a wide-ranging debate and vote, and the result was pretty conclusive. They backed the manager and I’d find it very difficult to go against what the clubs want.”

Of the Limerick County Board, who he reportedly backed to the tune of €5m a few years ago, JP added: “I will always back a county committee because they do a great job. There will always be decisions that you might not agree with, but it’s one day to the next, and they have to make these decisions. If you’re not happy with it, then you have to change the county board – or change the club delegates.”

In the interview, the former South Liberties chairman also confirmed a seemingly apocryphal tale about the last time Limerick won a senior hurling title, 37 years ago.

McManus finished up in the winning Croke Park dressing room along with some of his clubmates and close friends who were playing.

And he now reveals: “That story is 100% true. I got in through some window, the enthusiasm was so mad that day. I was chairman (of South Liberties) at the time, and we were county champions.

“I had one fella on the outside giving me a push up and another fella inside the dressing room giving me a pull in, so we were all set.”