Johnston case ‘one off’, says Duffy

GAA director general Páraic Duffy is adamant the Seanie Johnston transfer to Kildare hasn’t set a precedent for disgruntled players within the Association.

Johnston’s long-running case finally came to a conclusion last week when the GAA cleared his switch to the county after months of negotiations. The former Cavan captain, dropped from the panel at the end of last year, played for his new club St Kevin’s at the weekend.

However, it wasn’t a championship tie so he’s still not eligible to play for Kieran McGeeney’s county team. That rules him out of Kildare’s Leinster championship opener against Offaly this Sunday in Portlaoise.

It’s just one of a number of oddities regarding the transfer with a new rule at Congress demanding that players must line out in the local club championship before representing a new county team.

“The crucial thing is with the rules this year it’s a one-off transfer,” insisted Duffy. “It’s wrapped up. He’s got the transfer. From our point of view, because of the rulebook, the changes that were made at Congress this year, it’s a kind of a once-off. It doesn’t establish any kind of precedent going forward.

“It’s over and done with. It’s finished now. It probably went on longer than anyone would have liked but he’s with Kildare and good luck to him. It was a once-off so from that point of view there will be no huge concern about it.”

Meanwhile, Duffy also maintained there was “no issue” over the subject of Croke Park and how empty it appears for many big games now. During the boom, Dublin drew huge crowds for even opening round Championship games. Yet in their Leinster opener against Louth (part of a double header) just over 30,000 turned out.

“The weather was a big factor that day, it was so bad that it certainly affected the attendance,” said Duffy.

“The stadium is never going to be full all that often but you still have to have a stadium that is going to meet people’s demands for All-Ireland finals, semi-finals etc, that the capacity is there.”