County Board & Justin McCarthy refuse to respond to hard-hitting player statement

EMBATTLED Limerick senior hurling manager Justin McCarthy was remaining tight-lipped this Tuesday morning in the wake of an explosive statement from the 24 departed members of the 2009 Limerick senior hurling panel.


McCarthy opted not to comment after the players finally broke their silence with a lengthy statement that will catapult the crisis to the top of the agenda for tonight’s (Tuesday, January 19) meeting of the County Board in Claughaun.
The delegates of the 69 GAA clubs of the county were expecting a run of the mill early season monthly meeting dominated by transfers and regradings.
However, the 1,700 word statement signed by 24 players has re-ignited the three-month long stand-off that has divided Limerick GAA.
The players have hit out at both management and officers of Limerick County Board.
When contacted this Tuesday morning by Chronicle Sport neither Justin McCarthy nor the Limerick County Board made any comments in response to the player’s statement.
The current crisis can be traced back to October 21, 2009, but it was only this Sunday night that the departed players met as a group for the first time.
It is understood that a lengthy meeting was held in the Woodlands House Hotel, Adare where it was decided to issue a public statement to “address an orchestrated series of allegations made by Justin McCarthy and several other prominent figures in the ongoing dispute”.
The players dispelled rumours that some individuals were considering a return to action.
“We reiterate our stance that we will not play any active part in the 2010 Limerick senior hurling panel while the present management is in place,” states the final line of the statement which was issued late this Monday night and was signed by 24 members of the 2009 panel apart from the six that remain in situ.
In the controversial statement the players have hit out at management’s role in influencing players decisions.
“Many players have received intimidating phone calls from members of the management and back room staff putting them under pressure to join the 2010 Limerick senior hurling panel,” said the players in criticism of McCarthy and selectors Brian Ryan and Liam Garvey.
“We feel that Justin McCarthy and his selectors are perfectly entitled to select the 30 or so players they chose for the 2010 Limerick senior hurling panel and are perfectly entitled to omit any players as they see fit, as is there prerogative. However, the inference that Mr. McCarthy made on a newspaper interview on October 30, 2009 that a number of players were dropped due to a lack of discipline and commitment sparked an extremely negative response from the majority of the 2009 panel,” said the players when addressing the origins of the current situation.
The statement adds: “At no time over the course of approximately 100 training sessions or gatherings did Mr. McCarthy make any reference to a ‘lack of discipline or commitment’.”
They stressed that players and management were “at odds at many points throughout the year”.
“His (Justin McCarthy) failure, even still, to extend common courtesy to the dropped players by informing them - either by phone or letter - that they would not be required for the forthcoming season was only one of a series of communication failures on his part over the course of the year.”

Jerome O’Connell