No ruling on Knocknagree-Rathmore dispute, Munster propose further talks

The Munster Council has delayed its ruling on the Knocknagree-Rathmore GAA catchment dispute, prolonging tensions between the Cork and Kerry clubs

The catchment area dispute between Knocknagree and Rathmore will run for another week at least after Munster Council failed to make a definitive ruling during Thursday’s meeting of the provincial body. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

The catchment area dispute between Knocknagree and Rathmore, a pair of neighbouring clubs situated on either side of the Cork-Kerry border, will run for another week at least after Munster Council failed to make a definitive ruling during Thursday’s meeting of the provincial body.

After failed discussions between the clubs towards the end of the last decade and subsequent Munster Council mediation efforts over the past five years, the provincial body looked set to rule on the long-running dispute earlier this week.

But instead of either upholding or deeming ineligible the Rathmore membership of a small number of players who Knocknagree claim reside in their catchment area on the Cork side of the border, Munster Council have proposed further talks with the respective clubs next week.

In correspondence sent to both clubs on Friday afternoon, Munster officials have requested to meet both clubs, separately, at Mallow GAA clubhouse next Thursday.

Knocknagree and Rathmore sit on either side of the Cork-Kerry border. Knocknagree, although situated on the Cork side of the border, is part of the larger parish of Rathmore.

The disputed area, according to Knocknagree, represents the bottom half of the club’s catchment area, and has done so since a 1976 Munster Council ruling on a county bounds dispute of that time between the two clubs.

If Munster Council uphold the Rathmore membership of the players under investigation, Knocknagree fear this will turn half of its catchment area into an open area where players are free to choose between themselves and Rathmore, decimating the Cork club in the process.

Rathmore have insisted, in correspondence seen by the Irish Examiner, that the players in question hold County Kerry addresses.

They claim that all relevant addresses are ‘Rathmore, Co. Kerry’, and are registered as such in the GAA Foireann system.

Knocknagree argue that while these players have a Rathmore postal address, “it is an uncontested fact” that they all live in County Cork.

The Kerry senior club, in their most recent letter to Munster Council, outline how the players in question “live adjacent to Rathmore” and “are geographically much closer to Rathmore village than they are to Knocknagree village and would have to travel through Rathmore on their way to Knocknagree 5 kilometres away”.

Knocknagree, in reply, have told the provincial body that they must rule on the basis of “fact”, not “convenience”.

They also claim it would set a precedent for counties “to cross borders as they see fit”.

“This very case of proposing to halve the Knocknagree catchment area, while adding to a Rathmore area which is one of the fastest growing in Kerry, would be disastrous for our future,” Knocknagree stated.

“The area in dispute represents nearly half of our current playing [senior] squad, all of whom were happy to play for Knocknagree, once both clubs honoured that ruling. If the ruling was now to be changed, it would inevitably spell the end of our club as a viable unit after many years of hard work to keep it as the heart of our community.”