Limerick refusing to rush hurling appointment

LIMERICK GAA chiefs are prepared to wait until the October meeting of the county board before ratifying their new hurling boss, insisting they won’t rush the Independent Appointments Committee into making a decision.

The committee, comprised of former hurlers Damien Quigley and Paudie Fitzmaurice, and Dairygold CEO Jim Woulfe, have conducted interviews in recent weeks with the seven candidates that were nominated for the position.

Dave Keane, Gary Kirby, Ciaran Carey, Leo O’Connor, TJ Ryan, Val Murnane and Justin McCarthy are all in the frame for the job, but it is still unclear whether the committee have targeted their own candidates for interview.

There has been talk that Dublin boss Anthony Daly and former Cork manager Donal O’Grady are in the frame but as none of the trio have spoken publicly since they were appointed to their positions, that remains unconfirmed.

It had been envisaged that the Appointments Committee would be in a position to provide the county board executive with a name in early September and that it would be ratified at the next county board meeting on Tuesday, September 14th.

But it now seems likely the appointment will not be ratified until the October county board meeting on Tuesday, October 12th and Limerick board secretary Mike O’Riordan is adamant that they will not pressure the committee to speed up the process.

“We are waiting for confirmation from the committee and they could be back to us by early September with a name. That’s what we would hope but we’re leaving it up to them to decide.

“We won’t be onto them to put them under pressure to hurry things up. If we have to wait until October, that’s what we’ll do. We’ve left it at their discretion as to how many interviews they do and they will return to us with the right man for the job.”

It is believed that the new manager will be offered a minimum of a two-year term subject to an annual review, and that he will be permitted to appoint his own backroom team in consultation with the Committee.

The Limerick football board, headed by chairman John Galvin and secretary Sean McAuliffe, have begun the process of searching for a replacement for Mickey Ned O’Sullivan who stepped down.

The board have been charged with pinpointing a suitable candidate and then presenting him to the Limerick county board for ratification. Given the proximity to the September county board meeting, it is unlikely that the new man will be ratified until the October meeting of the board.

John McIntyre is set to be appointed for a third year as Galway manager after telling Tribesmen officials he is keen to stay on.

There were fears that the former Tipperary defender would step down after the bitterly disappointing defeat to his native county, the second successive year in which Galway lost a quarter-final by a late point, but McIntyre has told officials he is keen to stay at the helm.

McIntyre will deliver his annual report to delegates next week and Byrne is hopeful a process can be put in place which will see the former Tipperary defender stay in charge.

“I am confident at this stage that John is very interested. He would like to be considered and that is positive news. I’ll be honest, I have heard no negativity towards him not being appointed. But in fairness we have to respect the protocol.

“I cannot just go off and do a deal with John McIntyre and ignore the delegates. From my point of view it is very positive that John is interested in staying on. We’ll have the manager’s report next week and on foot of that we’ll agree the process for his appointment, that is my hope.”

Tipperary forward Pat Kerwick could yet feature in the All-Ireland hurling final against Kilkenny after making a return to county colours on Monday. The Killenaule forward came on towards the end of a high-scoring 3-30 to 1-22 victory against Galway club side Portumna at Semple Stadium. Tipp boss Liam Sheedy indicated recently that Kerwick would play no further part in this year’s championship and suggested that the pacey wing forward requires groin surgery. Kerwick picked off a couple of eye-catching scores against Portumna after coming on and while he is not in line to start the game, an appearance at some point in the second half could be possible.

Michael Cahill was the only player in line to start the All-Ireland final against the five-in-a-row chasing Cats to start against Portumna. Forwards Pa Bourke and Seamus Callanan both impressed and are pushing desperately hard for starting place on Sunday week, September 5.

However, manager Liam Sheedy is expected to start with an unchanged team from that which lined out against Waterford in the semi-final.