Kerry board and clubs heading for showdown over Comórtas

A war of words has broken out between Kerry GAA chiefs and a number of clubs in Gaeltacht regions.

The row centres on a fixtures clash with the opening round of the Kingdom’s senior football championship, fixed for the same weekend as the annual Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta in Moycullen, Galway.

Kerry secretary Peter Twiss insisted there was no room for leeway: “The first round of our SFC is down to be played on June Bank Holiday weekend, the same weekend as the Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta and what I am flagging is that the SFC will be played that weekend anyway. So for teams who wish to enter the Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta, I don’t know what they are to do, I have no answers.

“I am very conscious of a team like Dingle who are a senior side; it might be different for An Ghaeltacht who is part of a divisional team, West Kerry. I am being up front in telling everyone here, good and early that the SFC will be going ahead anyway. It’s not a deliberate act against the Comórtas Peile but it’s just because our schedule is so tight, it’s the only date we could fit in our SFC.”

There was objections voiced straight away by An Ghaeltacht and Dingle delegates but Tomás Ó hAinfein from Lispole was the most vociferous. He blasted: “If you look back over the years, Kerry teams have been taking part in the Comórtas Peile given it’s links in with the Irish language and Irish culture. My recollection down through the years, whether it was An Ghaeltacht or Dromid Pearses that represented Kerry, that this Whit weekend at the end of May was the sole preserve of the Comórtas Peile, which took precedence over everything else.

“It’s yet another denegation on the county championship, if you expect West Kerry to field a team without players from An Ghaeltacht and players from Lispole. It’s a weekend when most players will play three or four games representing their club, their community, and some of the last places preserving the Irish language. I think it is vitally important the Kerry County Board would be seen to help these clubs preserve and foster the language and the culture, which are supposed to be part of the GAA ethos. You can’t tell clubs they can’t play in the SFC if they chose the Comórtas Peile or vice-versa.”