Brennan backs authority of Cork Co board

GAA president Nickey Brennan has thrown a spanner in the works of the Cork clubs who are currently assembling to discuss and vote on the crisis which has the association in turmoil throughout the county.

Brennan insisted yesterday he has no problem with clubs holding meetings to discuss the crisis but he was at pains to stress that only the Cork Co Board have the authority to remove Gerald McCarthy as Cork senior hurling manager.

He made it quite clear that the meetings currently taking place in a vast number of clubs throughout the county have no status in rule.

“The point I want to make, and it’s important, is that the authority of the Co Board in all of this can’t be questioned,” said Brennan.

“The board appointed Gerald McCarthy and they are the only body that can do so. He is legitimately appointed as the manager of the Cork team. The board is the body which did that democratically and it’s only the board can undo that.”

Ahead of tomorrow night’s major meeting in Clonakilty and the numerous EGMs on the matter, Brennan added: “Let people have these meetings if they want to, but it’s only the county board which can take decisions relating to this. And that’s enshrined in rule. It’s important to get that across.

“I’m well aware of what’s happening in the county. I am well aware of the issues around clubs, how they are split and how they are voting. What is happening now is a result of the impasse. In a way it was probably inevitable, the way the thing dragged out, that it was going to come to this.”

He refused to respond to the recent ruling of board chairman Jerry O’Sullivan not to allow any further votes on McCarthy’s appointment.

“I am not going to comment on any decisions that Jerry O’Sullivan made or did not make, other than to say from the Association’s point of view, the only body that could make a decision in relation to the appointment of Gerald McCarthy was the Co board, which it did,” said Brennan.

“Gerald McCarthy can feel he was appointed legitimately. Of that there can be no argument. Equally, if there is to be any un-doing of his position — unless of course he steps down — it’s only the Co Board can do it. Whether the chairman takes votes or does not take votes, that is a local issue and one that I am not getting into.”

Acknowledging the urgency of breaking the impasse, Brennan emphasised that there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes. This continued last Friday when he was in Cork to attend the Sigerson Cup.

“I don’t want to go into detail. We have been talking to people behind the scenes — prodding and poking is the term I would use — over the phone and what not, trying to move things along,” said Brennan.

“Obviously we worked on it last year as well getting (Labour Relations CEO) Kieran Mulvey and Paraic Duffy (GAA Director-General).

“We came up with a document which clearly was acceptable to the board and Gerald McCarthy and not to the players. That’s fair enough and I am not going to get into the rights and wrongs of any of that, but just to say we put in a lot of effort to bring it to that stage. And this week obviously we are still working behind the scenes.”

In the event of no solution being found and McCarthy continuing with the squad he has assembled, Brennan said that there were clear procedures in place, covered by rule, to deal with the likely outcome.

It would see the team being relegated to Division 2 and potentially ending up in the Christy Ring Cup in 2010 should the Championship go awry.

This would make them ineligible to play in the Munster senior hurling championship next year.

However, it would be a totally new situation if Cork were not to field a team in this year’s provincial football championship.

Continued Brennan: “Central Council would have to deal with that matter because that is all uncharted water as far as the GAA is concerned.

“I am not going to speculate what might happen because for a start I won’t be president then and it would be unfair of me to do that out of respect to Christy Cooney. Clearly if Cork do not play in the championship, there will be implications for the county but what they would be I don’t know.”

Brennan confirmed the Cork dispute will be one of many items on the agenda of tonight’s Management Committee in Croke Park.

Article courtesy of the Evening Echo newspaper.