Strike would ruin season, Tyrone chairman warns

Differing opinions on the threatened players' strike have emerged in Tyrone. Just a week after team manager Mickey Harte had stated he would field a team regardless of any refusal by GPA members to play intercounty football, county chairman Pat Darcy has questioned the wisdom of trying to persevere with the season if the current talks on player grants do not end in resolution.

Speaking in an interview on the county website, www.tyronegaa.ie, Darcy said: "Strikes by their very nature end up ugly affairs. Trust is lost. Blame and counter blame dominate. Bitterness prevails. This is already happening.

"Relationships break down and divisions may take years to heal. The immediate implication, if county players are not available, is the Competitions Control Committee may have little choice other than to cancel intercounty competitions, including the National Leagues and possibly the provincial and All-Ireland championships if no short-term solution is found," Darcy added.

"It may not be wise to attempt fielding substitute teams. Not all county committees and county managers may agree and even if they did, substitute players may be open to vilification and ridicule from striking colleagues. Splits may emerge in clubs and counties between players on strike and colleagues who play.

"Such a scenario could tear the GAA apart and should be avoided at all costs."

In the same interview Darcy is critical of Croke Park for proceeding with the talks on the player grants, as he believes them to be in breach of Rule 11 of the Official Guide, governing amateur status.

Asked about the financial impact on the GAA if the deadlock continued, he said the cancellation of matches would cut both ways.

"This would depend on how long the strike lasts.

"There would be losses and gains if fixtures were cancelled. Gate receipts would cease and there may be interruptions to TV and sponsorship money in the long term. Counties would save money in not having to fund county panels."

Meanwhile, Harte yesterday reiterated his criticism of the GPA stance in relation to the grants, adding that he disagreed with the view that county players should enjoy special status.

"It's crazy stuff and a sad day when we start to differentiate between people and there has been an innuendo from the players' body that they are the key ingredient within our association.

"That is very short-sighted, in my opinion, because there are so many important people who work to bring young players right the way through from the volunteers at club level who look after the jerseys, the pitches, the keys, the administration and the raising of funds.

"This has been handed on to us by somebody else and we need to hand it on in good condition to the next generation. And we need to be aware of that and if anybody rips the backside out of it in their time, then they're handing on something of diminished value."

Loughmore-Castleiney hurling manager Eamonn Sweeney has confirmed that he will still be without five top players for the Munster club final against Clare champions Tulla on December 2nd.

The Tipperary kingpins booked their place in their first provincial final with a five-point victory against Limerick's Adare on Sunday but not even an extra fortnight will be enough for Tommy Ormond, Tommy Long, Diarmuid Brennan, Paul Brennan or Martin Gleeson to recover from their various breaks and dislocations in time.

"They're all out for the Tulla match. We'll have a bit of a break if we're lucky enough to get over that but none of those players will make an appearance in this Munster final," Sweeney confirmed.

He reckoned that if Loughmore-Castleiney did manage to overcome the Clare champions, at least two of the five would be ready for an All-Ireland semi-final clash with Galway and Connacht champions Portumna in February.