Curtis still irked by Banty appointment

THE SEEMINGLY endless opposition to the appointment of Seamus McEnaney as Meath senior football team manager continues, with Donal Curtis, a selector with the deposed Eamonn O’Brien, saying there was no need to go for an outside manager.

Curtis is still furious over the way O’Brien was treated and also had a swipe at the GAA’s top officials over the way the controversial Leinster final fall-out was handled.

“I was very surprised and disappointed and it’s no reflection on Seamus McEnaney but I feel there were enough good men in the county to do it and do it very well.

“What you could term all the top candidates withdrew from the race, so you were left with what you were left with and they decided that Seamus McEnaney was the best of the rest.

“Liam Harnan would be very good and so would Barry Callaghan but I’d be disappointed that they went for an outside manager,” said Curtis in the Drogheda Independent.

Regarding the vote of no confidence for O’Brien, the former county selector said: “While people are entitled to have their say, the whole thing was handled very badly and it was a terrible pity to see a man who had put so much into it treated like that.

“It’s one of those things you’d be very bitter over but you have to move on and who knows what might happen down the line, maybe he will be back in a few years.”

Curtis has also expressed criticism at the ‘top brass’ of the GAA over the way the Leinster final controversy was handled, saying: “The pressure which was put on Meath wasn’t right and what happened to Louth wasn’t fair either. The likes of GAA president Christy Cooney, former president Sean Kelly and other top officials were on different Croke Park committees and they came out afterwards, saying their hands were tied and there was nothing they could do.

“Those same people sat on committees over the years and knew the relevant rule was there but did nothing about it and have done nothing about it since either. So the same thing can happen again, I don’t believe that video technology is the answer either.”