Dolphin withdraw from merger talks with Sunday’s Well

DOLPHIN have withdrawn from merger discussions with their Musgrave Park neighbours Sunday’s Well which could have seen the emergence of a new Cork senior rugby club.

Following a meeting of the club on Tuesday night, the membership voted to terminate the merger talks - which the Dolphin club had initiated - in favour of going it alone in Division One of the AIL next season.

Following the membership meeting, club president Ger Reidy issued a statement stating that Dolphin RFC “has decided they are going to play in Division One as a club.”

This was the second time in recent years that merger talks between the clubs had taken place.

But the latest round of discussions only occurred within the last three weeks when Dolphin representatives approached senior Sunday’s Well officials with a proposal that the two clubs join forces to play as Cork RFC in Division One of the AIL from the 2003/4 season, while the two clubs would still field their own teams in cup competitions and at junior level.

It is understood backing for the plan had the approval of senior figures within the IRFU and that it could have gone ahead had Dolphin not withdrawn from the talks.

The IRFU committee was to discuss the proposal at a meeting later this week and the union had already given advice to both clubs as to how best to proceed with a merger.

While some Sunday’s Well officers last night expressed disappointment at the manner in which the whole matter was handled, incoming president John O’Brien said the club would continue with the process of regeneration which was already underway within the club.

He said that, during the last three weeks, Sunday’s Well had responded to a suggestion that “our club and Dolphin would enter a single team drawn from both clubs” to play in the All-Ireland League next year.

“We had agreed to explore this possibility because we considered that it would be in the best long-term interests of Cork rugby,” O’Brien said.

“We have now learned that Dolphin RFC have withdrawn the proposal. We wish them well in the AIL. Our priority is success for our teams at all levels.

"To this end, plans have already advanced to provide modern training and recreational facilities for players and members.”

Talks between the clubs had advanced to the point where the critical make-up of the proposed Cork RFC in terms of coaching and management staffs had been largely agreed and, in effect, all that remained was for the proposal to be rubber-stamped by the IRFU.

Influential IRFU committee members from Cork had already given their blessing to the proposal and it seemed approval was a formality.