The war in Fermanagh is far from over

IT has often been observed that Fermanagh’s alarming decline can be traced back to the Ulster final defeat in 2008.

However, it could also be argued the Erne County’s demise has coincided with the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank. Suffice to say, there used to be a lot more money around the Fermanagh county team.

When Malachy O’Rourke went for the job, he wasn’t the only high-profile candidate interviewed.

James McCartan’s interest was aroused to the extent that he drove west and held discussions with members of Club Eirne (the money-making wing of the county board, that’s not linked to the county board).

Things have changed since that Ulster final defeat and the Anglo Irish Bank went belly up.

When the county board went looking for a manager last winter, they weren’t exactly inundated with applications.

But three men raised their hands: Darren Chapman, Sean Maguire, and John O’Neill.

Their motivation was the old motivation. Proud Fermanagh men, they wanted to manage their county. Pure and simple.

The outside managers didn’t want to know. And why would they? For starters, there was no financial incentive.

Moreover, between the drawn Ulster final of ‘08 and their exit from last year’s Championship, Fermanagh played 22 games and won only four.

They had been demoted in successive seasons, falling from Division Two to Division Four.

Amid the furore of the past fortnight, much has been made how much the squad has changed since ‘08. It would be easy to believe that the entire exodus took place under John O’Neill’s watch.

That just isn’t true. The team that lost to Armagh in last year’s qualifiers included just three survivors from the starting side for the Ulster final replay defeat of 2008.

Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that O’Neill’s selection policy hasn’t exactly netted all the county’s best players.

For instance, the individuals making money from semi-professional soccer were asked to choose between the greenbacks and the glory of the green jersey. The players chose the dough.

It’s probably fair to say that O’Neill isn’t the most compromising character in the planet.

And he could have shown greater flexibility and communicated better with his players.

But even if we accept that O’Neill has made mistakes, it doesn’t necessarily justify the decision of 11 players to leave his panel. Indeed it is easy to undermine the majority of the 11 signatories.

Former first team players who are no longer getting picked are never happy. Step forward Niall Bogue, Ciaran Flaherty, and Peter Sherry.

Mark Little didn’t play in last year’s League. Seamus Quigley had been flitting on and off the panel.

Newcomers like James Connolly, Liam Lynch, and John Mullarkey signed a statement that complained about standards of county management. How exactly are they qualified to comment? The criticism that O’Neill’s management “falls far short of the high standards of organisation and preparation which are required to compete at inter-county standard” begs further examination.

If we assume that standards were acceptable under Malachy O’Rourke last year, can we assume the players were satisfied with a season that yielded two wins from 10 League and Championship games?

Do they honestly believe their fortunes would be drastically different under Sean Maguire or Darren Chapman? Yet for all the players’ faults, they can’t carry all the blame. The fact is county footballers tend to be young, driven, and self-centred. Those are the very qualities which enable them to become county footballers.

And regardless of the legitimacy of their gripes, Fermanagh needs every player who has the talent for county football.

While footballers are invariably young men caught in the goldfish bowl of their own sporting careers, county board officials should be wise, judicious, and reasonable. Unfortunately, the Fermanagh county board has failed to demonstrate much vision in this dispute.

Their refusal to accept the recommendation for a review conducted at the end of the year underlines their lack of savvy. Would it not have been smarter to await the findings of the review? Then, if they didn’t agree, they could have rejected them.

It’s now inconceivable that the players who have either walked away or shied away will ever play under O’Neill. Yet, the board has effectively sent them all into exile until 2014. That’s not smart.

Needless to say, there are many GAA members who will be delighted with how the Fermanagh Board has handled this affair. Annoyed at the growing volume of player protests, many will see last week’s development as a victory for county boards and a victory for traditional values.

But recent history tells us that county boards should be prepared to bend the knee, at least a little. If Cork had not accommodated the demands of their players, there is no way the Rebels would have won their recent All-Ireland titles in hurling and football. Intransigence doesn’t work. It only creates division.

The Fermanagh County Board will believe they have won this battle.

That may be so — but the war is far from over.

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