Duggan reaches agreement on medical costs

Former Cork footballer Diarmuid Duggan has reached an ‘agreement’ with Cork GAA officials to resolve the case that left him almost €7,000 out of pocket due to medical expenses incurred while trying to cure a career-ending hip injury.

Duggan went public in the Irish Examiner over two months ago about his ordeal and the difficulties he had in seeking reimbursement. He also revealed details of an impassioned letter he penned to Cork secretary Frank Murphy at the end of 2010, desperately seeking a resolution to the issue.

The Ilen Rovers club man was man-of-the-match in the 2008 Munster SFC final but four years later he can’t even stand in goal for an indoor soccer game with friends. Duggan was operated on in February 2010 by Damian Griffin, a world-renowned hip surgeon based in Coventry, who diagnosed that the injury was a result of the demands placed on him during his inter-county football career with Cork. Duggan last night expressed his relief and satisfaction that the case had finally been resolved and underlined the importance of player welfare remaining high on the GAA agenda.

“The Cork County Board and I have reached an agreement and I’m satisfied with the outcome. I hope that my particular case may, in some way, now ensure that player welfare should always remain a priority for the GAA.”

Since going public with the details of his case on February 20, there has been a huge outpouring of support for Duggan. A large number of current and former inter-county footballers, including Emmett Bolton, James Masters and Tommy Walsh, took to Twitter to voice their support for Duggan in the days after his injury woes emerged.

“I was taken aback by the sheer volume of goodwill I received from all corners of the country,” revealed Duggan last night. “I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely and genuinely thank all those who supported me.”