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I can't agree Zulu - I think if the players decided to play on this year, they would earn the respect and sympathy of the general public.

What happens if Holland were to step aside temporarily to allow the discussions to take place ?

Would the players play ?

But Orangeman do you not think that this would just be postponing the fight, and in the mean time the causes of the argument would just fester.
                    As for Holland, either he goes or the players go, but I can't see the current squad and Holland ever working together. I think if Holland goes then the rest can be put on the back burner for the year, if he doesn't go then Cork GAA will be in serious trouble.

That seems to be the point that's being missed. What do Zulu and the rest of the supporters of the players think is the logical conclusion of their argument? How can it be anything other than anarchy if any group within the organisation can decide to subvert any democratic decision with which they disagree?

That's leaving aside the ludicrous concept of striking from one's leisure time activities. For one thing, it's presumptuous of them to nominate themselves as members of the Cork senior team. That's not their prerogative and they are not members until they are selected. Therefore their "strike" has no sense, meaning or validity. The only reasonable course of action is for the Cork County Board to instruct Mr. Holland to proceed and pick a squad from those club players within the county who are available to play and to ignore those who aren't.

But Hardy the point is that the vote isn't democracy at work but politics gone bad. And you'll find that not too many players will make themselves available for the county team under these circumstances and if they do get two squads together a couple of hammerings in the league and championship would soon have supporters forgetting about 'the democratic' process and demanding the players back.

The only egos that are being fed at the minute are the players - If you are one, catch a grip of yourself - going on strike is NO way to resolve this issue - play away this year and go and win an AI - Then you'll be better equipped to make your point next October !

Sorry now OM but that's nonsensical, how would continuing to play this year better equip them to make their point next year? This has to be sorted this year and the players have used the only effective weapon in their arsenal. This is a brave move by the players, they have put their playing careers at risk for what they believe and for the good of Cork teams of the future.

The fundamental point is that even if we agree that SRFC and Fingal are being treated too well, there is nothing illegal about it, so going to court was pointless, expensive, a collosal PR error and made enemies in the council and government for no reason. It was not their only option, a decent PR campaign would have sufficed and might have embarrassed the council into funding things for the GAA.

The Government do lots of things I dislike. My democratic mandate is to try and remove them by use of my vote. Not by suing them evertime I think a cheque they write is a bad idea. Does this really need to be spelt out?

I can accept a lot of that and I would have initially said that TD were unwise to take the legal route, however it seemed to me to be their only realistic chance of changing the situation. As it turns out it wasn't very realistic either and I wouldn't like to be a TD offical living in Tallaght at the moment as they have lost the PR battle badly. However the issue is settled SR can go about develpoing their club and TD have to live with the consequences of their actions. Time for all concerned to move on.

Put anotherway. If someone goes to sue McDonalds with the backing of their friends and family finacially and it turns out that Burgerking were actually funding the case. it would put a different gloss on things, no?

That isn't a fair comparison, a fairer one would be if BK in tallaght sued McD and at the end of court proceedings BK international picked up the bill because they thought one of their units was sueing justifiably.

yes they do. that was a political decision and the place to deal with it was the ballot box. TD tried and failed to turn it into an election campaign.

Havin said that, how else should you interpret a club taking a case to court in a stadium they admitted they would not use in open court and later it emerge that they were doing so at the behest of the GAA hierarchy other than a malicious attempt to f**k up Rovers?

So you accept that there is favouritism towards soccer displayed by local councils in Dublin, yet you don't accept the right of the GAA to question this through the courts? It is my understanding that those who run local councils are appointed not elected and I'd imagine that most people don't vote for a TD based on sporting issues. So I think TD's/GAA only option to highlight the striking inequity of  local councils funding soccer projects while other sports have to fend for themselves was through the courts. I will grant you that this was a messy incident and the GAA don't come out of it too well but at least a lot more people are now aware of how some Dublin councils are abusing their position.

DF you seem to be obsessed with the idea that the GAA are intent on holding back the development of soccer in this country. You have repeatedly avoided answering questions put to you and you consistently try to twist things people say into a sign of the GAA being jealous of govt. money allocated to soccer. From what I can see both Tallaght and Fingal councils behaviour is an indication of local councils in Dublin displaying a breath taking favouritism towards soccer. And the GAA have every right to question this behaviour.

Sean Og and Joe Deane give some insight of the players point of view.

Deane calls for Holland resignation
by Ruairi Corr, 27 January 2008

Joe Deane has said that the impasse which threatens to destroy Cork's hurling and football seasons will only be ended by the resignation of Teddy Holland.

The sides have been on strike since December in protest at the county board decision to strip the manager of the power to choose his own select ors. The footballers led the strike, the hurlers joining them in solidarity.

Holland was subsequently appointed football manager, replacing Billy Morgan in a move which many players have opposed as a breaking of their strike.

Cork are scheduled to begin their National Football League campaign next weekend against Meath. If the issue is not resolved by then and Cork fail to appear, the footballers will be relegated to Division 3.

The hurlers are set to open their league campaign the following weekend. They pulled out of January`s Waterford Crystal tourament, unable to field a team.

Hurling star Deane feels that progress will only be achieved by Holland leaving, as it is now understood that the board and the players are close to an agreement on the select ors issue.

"The players feel very strongly about this and there is no way either squad is going back to training unless Teddy and his team step down," Deane told the Sunday Independent.

"We want to give Cork the best opportunity to win All-Irelands. There are two issues here – the first is that next September the board will recommend to delegates to revert back to the old system where a manager picks his own select ors. At this stage I'd be hopeful that problem will be solved soon.

"The second issue is that the footballers just will not play under Teddy and being honest, I cannot see a way out of that. The only way either team will play for Cork is if Teddy resigns. I wouldn't dream of telling him what to do and he has already come out and said he won't step down. But the decision is his."

Gerald McCarthy's tenure as hurling manager lasts until the end of the season, but he has already declared that he will retire if the county board's decision on appointing select ors is not reversed by then.

The County Board stands to lose over €100,000 if both teams pull out of the league. The 2007 seasons saw them take €68,224 from hurling and €40,115 from football.




Seán Óg Ó hAilpín believes there is little hope of a resolution in the dispute between Cork`s hurlers and footballers and the county`s GAA administrators without the resignations of county secretary Frank Murphy and county football manager Teddy Holland. Tom Humphriesreports.

In an interview with The Irish Timestoday, the former hurler of the year says he does not believe Murphy, one of the country`s most influential GAA administrators, "can get the trust of players back".

"It would help a lot in the long term if Frank just stepped down and a new guy and a new regime stepped in because I don`t think he can get the trust of players back," Ó hAilpín says.

The footballers and hurlers of Cork have been on strike since the autumn when a county board motion gave officials the power to choose select ors to serve with the county`s GAA managers. Previously, the manager had the final say over his backroom team.

Ó hAilpín says there is no visible prospect of short-term progress in the dispute without the resignation of Holland. He says that in the long term the welfare of Cork GAA would be best served by the resignation of Murphy.

Ó hAilpín considers Murphy the chief instigator in recent disputes and finds it difficult to see long-term improvement in relations between the county administration and its players while Murphy remains.

"Why in Cork is it always the county board up here and the players down there? Why is it we can`t strike up a relationship with these people and move on? Since I came in as a young fella there has been distrust.

"We don`t feel we can trust Frank. People find him hard to work with. Will he change? Players don`t seem to be valued by him for a start."

There have been repeated calls for Holland to resign. He was appointed as manager of the county footballers at a time when players called for any appointment to be delayed pending dialogue.

Ó hAilpín says that players are willing to shelve the issue to the autumn and resume training and playing immediately on the basis that Holland resign and the county board supports a return to the old select orial system.

In a separate development yesterday, it was confirmed that Kieran Mulvey, the chairman of the Labour Relations Commission, has agreed to a Croke Park request to attempt to mediate between the players and county board officials.

© 2008 The Irish Times

Sorry lads but I'll have to have another go, it was a schools match and about 5 minutes earlier a team-mate had missed a good goal scoring chance, now, from a similar position the chance fell to me and I hung it up, maybe it was my imagination or I'm adding legs to the story in my older years but I was sure my teacher/coach said 'that's how you you finish a goal chance' as I was wheeling away.

I reckon this should be in the local GAA section.

There are numerous topics about fellas favourite score on this site, well how about lads  posting memories of their own favourite score. My own was a county minor final, I was only 16 and I hit a beaut with the outside of the boot from about 25m (though it's getting longer each year). I'll probably come baqck with others but man that was special. Anyone else willing to relive their glory years?

SON definately had some games when he kicked a few wides alright, but that was only because he had the confidence to go for them. When you have a guy of his talent you get the ball too him and let him have the pop. People can get a bit wishy washy about lads who no longer play but SON was always my favourite current player and I'm not from Tyrone. He was the player I wished I had been, truely a joy to watch.

In fairness TJ I think the GPA are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they comment on something some people will say what business is it of theirs, if they don't, some people will ask how come they're not commenting on this situation.

this is the same process that appointed Donal O'Grady, John Allen, Billy etc. You cannot adopt an a la carte approach i.e. accept democracy when it suits and reject it when it does not.

The only reason these men accepted the position of Cork coach was because they could appoint their own selectors. So why did the CB attempt to change that? As you have pointed out there is more to this than meets the eye, but IMO it is the CB that re-ignited this fight to rest back control from the players. The started a fight that no-one wanted and no-one needs, but for the longterm good of Cork GAA they need to be faced down IMO. Otherwise this will fester and bubble up every few years and that will do Cork GAA no good.

I fancy Limerick to do well this year and as such I'd not be surprised if they made the top two here. They've added a bit of scoring power this year and that could take them up a level. They have a tough enough draw though, so they might be under pressure if they don't beat Louth next week.

A tough call but for me it would have to be O'Neill.

Well I don't know if Teddy will resign at this stage but if he did it is my understanding that the U21 management team would take over in the short-term.

Well to a degree, Teddy Holland picked a side in this argument, he should have stayed out of it until it was sorted. The players will play for a manager who can pick his own selectors, a very reasonable position to hold if you ask me.