GAA referees come under strong criticism at Cork convention

The standard of refereeing at inter-county level came in for strong criticism at yesterday’s annual Cork County Board convention in Pairc Uí Chaoimh, with the allegation that there is now "a serious lack of application" of the rules.

It came from Aghada delegate John Motherway, who was the county’s referee administrator for the past 10 years and reflected the view of secretary Frank Murphy in his annual report where he confessed “to not being entirely happy” with current standards.

In his view, there are far too few referees at top level — “albeit in the main of good standard.”