Seán Óg Ó hAilpín: Ex-players need to step up to fix 'crisis' on Cork's northside

Ó hAilpín won two Cork senior hurling titles with Na Piarsaigh. Their rivalry with Glen Rovers was 'second to none'. But Ó hAilpín got no satisfaction from the latter's relegation

CONCERNED: Seán Óg O'hAilpín at Páirc Uí Chaoimh to announce procure.ie as the sponsor of the Rebels Online county finals series. Pic: Alison Miles/OSM Photo

In the days after Glen Rovers’ relegation from the top-flight of Cork hurling last month, this newspaper carried the story of how Glen legend Denis Coughlan had stood up at the club AGM the previous December and lamented the 2022 top-flight relegation of their northside neighbours and fierce rivals Na Piarsaigh.

Coughlan, an All-Ireland dual winner with Cork, made the point that Na Piarsaigh’s fall from the top table of Cork hurling after a stay of 65 years offered further worrying evidence of the issues and struggles facing clubs on the northside of Cork city, from which no club was immune. Not even his own Glen.