Crisis, what crisis? Galway chairman blasts Silke

THE chairman of Galway football board has denied there is a crisis in the county and he has hit out at former All-Ireland-winning captain Ray Silke for claiming that there is trouble in the camp.

John Joe Holleran said he was ‘disappointed’ at comments made by Silke on the Irish Examiner sports blog this week to the effect that the departure of Kieran Fitzgerald and Niall Coleman was indicative of unrest in the county.

Former All-Star Fitzgerald has pulled out of Tomás Ó Flatharta’s squad because of a persistent hamstring problem while Coleman, a self-employed carpenter, said he needed to concentrate on work commitments.

“I spoke to both players and those are the reasons they left. Tomás has told them the door is open if their circumstances change, and hopefully they will. Kieran has been a wonderful servant to Galway football and hopefully he will recover and come back. I can fully appreciate Niall’s situation. I have been self-employed myself all my life and know how hard it can be.

“Ray Silke is in a privileged position as he has a secure teacher’s job and three or four other jobs as well. It’s lovely to play for your county, a great honour, but not everyone is in a position to do so and that is the situation with Niall Coleman.

“I have been very disappointed with the comments of Ray Silke this week and I don’t think he is looking at the full picture,” said Holleran.

Silke said that Galway football was in crisis, with four of the last five managers from outside the county, and they were primarily only interested in the senior team rather than developing underage talent.

He said that with last year’s championship defeat to Sligo, the qualifier exit to Wexford and relegation from the top flight of the league this year a distinct possibility, it was a long way off the highs of a decade ago when they were All-Ireland champions.

But Holleran said that the work was being done in the county to ensure a return to the glory days and he was confident that underage talent of recent years would come through.

“You would love to be winning the All-Ireland every year but that does not happen. It goes through peaks and valleys and it will take enormous hard work for us to succeed again.

“Many of Ray Silke’s colleagues from those All-Ireland winning teams are playing a big role in helping Galway achieve that — two of them are selectors with Tomás at the moment — and we could do with more help.

“There has been sensationalist reporting this week and that is regrettable. There is no crisis in Galway football. We have gone through barren periods before and come through and we will do that again,” added Holleran.