'Substantial progress' made at talks, says Cork spokesman

Substantial progress was made last night during the marathon talks between the six-man Cork County Board representatives and the six representatives from the football and hurling panels, according to County Board PRO Bob Ryan.

The talks, which were held at a secret venue in Mahon, lasted nine hours and eventually ended at 3.30am.

The talks took place under the watchful eyes of GAA director general Padraic Duffy and LRC commissioner Kieran Mulvey.

Realistically, they offered the Cork GAA public, the players and the county board the last hope of finding a resolution to the crisis which threatens Cork’s participation in this year’s leagues and championships.

According to Ryan, a lot of progress was made, but he would not discuss any individual aspects of the talks.

“The county board will analyse the talks later today and I believe that the players will be holding a meeting too,” he said.

“I am not at liberty to say anything specific about the talks, but we felt that there was a positive input with what went on.”

Ryan would not say if further talks were planned or not, but Duffy and Mulvey both returned to Dublin today.

On Cork’s participation in next Sunday’s opening round of the NHL against Kilkenny, scheduled for Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the board’s PRO would not comment either.

It is understood that a meeting of the full Cork panels has been called for tonight and there the representatives will update the players on the progress made.

The presence of Mulvey and Duffy throughout the night was significant as Mulvey had stated previously that he would not return to Leeside until there was a solid base for a solution.

Duffy’s intervention was a major move by Croke Park and it came on the day of his inaugural press briefing at headquarters.

He was previously player welfare manager in Croke Park and he successfully negotiated the awards scheme with the GPA and the Government.

He is understood to have a good working relationship with Donal Óg Cusack, one of the three hurling representatives at last night’s meeting.

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo newspaper