Galway hurling clubs to start manager search again as Supermac's issue new statement

Hurling clubs in Galway will meet later this week to start the process again of coming with a manager to lead the senior team in 2020 after all three nominated to succeed Micheál Donoghue withdrew their names.

Interviews were due to be scheduled this week with former U-21 manager Tony Ward and two of Donoghue’s selectors Noel Larkin and Franny Forde. Galway GAA secretary Seamus O’Grady confirmed that all three candidates had contacted him on Monday withdrawing their names from the process.

“The matter will go to the Galway Hurling Committee later this week and it will be up to the clubs to decide what course of action to take from there,” said O’Grady.

The hurling committee had been due to meet later this week to select an interview panel and as this would include a club delegate it was decided to wait to see who was nominated so that there would not be a conflict of interest.

The hurling committee meeting will now take place to decide what course of action to take as the 2017 All-Ireland champions find themselves not only without a manager but nobody nominated for the position.

Clubs are likely to be given at least a week to come up with nominations amid a belief that others will now come forward given that those nominated have now withdrawn, while the appointment of a sub-committee to actively seek candidates has not been ruled out.

Meanwhile, Padraic Joyce and Liam Kearns, the two candidates left to replace Kevin Walsh as Galway football manager, will be interviewed again tomorrow (THURS) night by the same six-man committee who carried out the initial interviews on Monday night.

One of the main aspects of the second interview is for both candidates to disclose their finalised backroom teams. A recommendation will then be made by the six-man committee and the successful candidate will go before a meeting of Galway County Board on October 18 for ratification.

It had been hoped that the new hurling manager would also be ratified at that meeting but that process looks to have gone back to square one at this stage.

Aside from filling the two vacant managerial positions, Galway GAA also has to deal with a spat with their main sponsors Supermac’s who last week sought clarification of how their sponsorship money has been spent.

The company headed by Galway native Pat McDonagh issued another statement on the matter last night (TUES), again seeking two reports into the county’s financials to be made public.

Supermac’s has no interest in seeking to influence the decision-making process of the Galway GAA but while a cloud hangs over the organisation it has an effect on the competitiveness and success of our teams.

“Supermac’s acknowledges that a lot of honourable people contribute at all levels of the GAA and whilst there are the beginnings of a necessary change in culture, the path forward cannot be laid until the issues of the past are revealed.

“Supermac’s seeks the transparency and accountability which are vital to confidence going forward. The first steps in this journey require that the two concluded reports into the finances of Galway GAA be published in full or otherwise further investigated by the relevant authorities.

“Supermac’s is at a loss to understand why these reports have not been published.

"We re-iterate that players, management, supporters and volunteers who willingly give their time for the promotion and administration of our games, deserve no less,” said the statement, which also outlined some of the issues which have caused grievance. Supermac’s sole objective is to assist the Galway teams to achieve success on the field.

“Parents, mentors and management teams have approached Supermac’s on numerous occasions to bring several incidents that have taken place to our attention including revelations of underage teams having to bring their own lunches to tournaments in other counties, teams competing while wearing mismatched jerseys against fully kitted opposition and management teams requiring further resources that weren’t being made available to them due to budget cuts.”