Laois club plea to reduce capital gains

MOUNTMELLICK won’t stand in the way of Laois U21 footballer Sean George moving to Dublin’s Ballymun Kickhams but have expressed their disappointment at losing yet another player to the capital.

Club chairman Michael Gormley believes the county board must take measures to curb the haemorrhaging of players to Dublin after George’s request to follow the example of Mountmellick born John O’Loughlin and switch to a club in the city.

O’Loughlin lines out for St Brigid’s in Sunday’s Leinster club SFC final and although George is Ballymun-born it’s another body blow to the club.

“It’s dreadful to lose young people of the calibre of Sean and John, and other young men,” said Gormley.

“We have been decimated in Mountmellick. We nearly have half a team in Australia.

“It’s hard to move on from there, but the Laois County Board will have to do something — and the GAA in general — to stop the transfer of young people from their local clubs.

“It’s taking them from the community. It’s not right. I don’t agree with it.”

George is highly-regarded and could come into Jim Gavin’s plans for the Dublin U21s next spring.

In his annual report, Laois secretary Niall Handy addressed what he believed is Dublin’s failure to address the influx of players from Laois in their recent strategic plan.

Seven Laois clubs have seen players transfer to Dublin club in recent years.

“We are very disappointed to see it wasn’t mentioned in the ‘Blue Wave’ — that Dublin have no problem in accepting these players into their system,” Handy said.

Earlier this week, Dublin secretary John Costello suggested that it could be time for Dublin to introduce a bye-law making “any player who plays club football or hurling in the capital to declare for Dublin”.

Mountmellick had considering putting a motion to Congress to stop players switching to Dublin “unless they could prove they were living in the capital for 48 weeks” but later decided against it.

Picture: John O’Loughlin (Sportsfile)