This article is from page 92 of the 2007-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 92 JPG
THIS meeting sizzled at times. It gave in-fighting a whole new face. Two internal rows in Clare GAA were the main reasons why the first floor ballroom of the West County Hotel housed more delegates than usual.
Robert Frost and PJ McGuane were seen as having backed away from giving their support to John Reidy at the recent Munster Council meeting. That was confrontation number one.
But most delegates were there for the latest installment of what’s now becoming a weekly drama. The Tony Considine/David Fitzgerald stand- off. That’s essentially why the meet- ing had swelled to over twice its nor- mal size.
Just before things got underway, one wry delegate turned his head and out of the side of his mouth you could hear him say, “there wouldn’t be this many people staring at a car crash.”
At one stage, things got so bad the chairman of the board said he was considering his future as a member
of the board.
And then, just over half an hour into things, most got to hear what they came for. Michael McDonagh read a short letter written by Tony Sroyets ern sten
It prompted Paschal Russell to walk to the front of the room and in his hands he had another letter. He said he wanted everybody to hear what he was ready to read out. It was all about to unfold.
At the top of the room, the Clare- castle chairman read a two-minute statement from his clubman Ger Ward, outlining the reasons why Ward tendered his resignation and the manner in which it happened.
It was a precise, thought out state- ment and one that Ward never be- lieved he would have to pen so early into his term as Clare selector.
For the previous two weeks, he had remained silent. Despite phone calls — including several from this news- paper — he has refused to be drawn on the issue.
But on Thursday, it was time to put the whole affair to bed. He wrote of
principles and values and said his own weren’t part of the management thinking for Clare hurling at the mo- ment.
Importantly and with detail, he drew attention to his final departure from the management team and said he heard his resignation had been accepted in the media over a week later.
A meeting to resolve some of the issues between Considine and Ward was scheduled for The Old Ground on February 21 but the manager nev- er Showed up, Ward said.
The no show was sending out a clear message, just as Tim Crowe’s subsequent comments have sent out a message to those who have departed the set-up. The road back in is being blocked and the management must believe this is the best way forward.
What they won’t be pleased with is what happened next. The odd deci- sion was taken to appoint a facilita- tor in a row that the county board had already admitted it was unable to solve.
Putting a facilitator in place at this
late stage, over a month after Fit- zgerald left training, will only stoke things further. Unbelievably, the same delegates who lambasted the media for needlessly fuelling the de- bate were themselves putting timber on the fire.
If they didn’t know that, then they don’t know Tony Considine and they certainly don’t know hurling. No manager wants outside interference. Particularly a manager such as Con- sidine who has been extremely con- crete in his actions to date.
So, it continues for a number of rea- sons but mainly it continues because nobody has come out and drawn a clear line under the whole thing. No- body has pulled the plug.
What happened on Thursday night just muddies the waters even more. As it stated, the board’s role 1s to en- sure the welfare of Clare GAA. In that case, it should back off and leave Considine run the team the way he sees fit.
It should realise facilitators are for politics and this isn’t a game where men wear suits.