More than 1,000 Gaelic football and hurling fans took part in a march in Cork city centre yesterday to show solidarity with intercounty players who are currently on strike over the method of appointing the county managerial teams.
The march from Emmet Place through the city centre took place at 2.30pm at the exact time when striking hurlers were due to face Kilkenny in the National League opener at Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
The match was cancelled because of the continuing impasse between the players and Cork County Board. Managers of the hurling and football teams have had the power to appoint their own selectors and backroom team but the county board recently changed this, reverting to an old system whereby the board chose the selectors.
The organiser of yesterday's rally, Tom Roche of Blackpool, said the march was organised to highlight fans' frustration with the continuing crisis.
"We should have been at Pairc Uí Chaoimh this afternoon applauding the victorious All-Ireland winning team Kilkenny as they played Cork. But that hasn't happened . . . Something has to give. The clock is ticking," he said. Mr Holland should step aside for the sake of Cork. That is the one stumbling block."
GAA fans who attended the rally said there was no vendetta towards Teddy Holland and that the dispute was not personal to him. However, they insist that he was only appointed because Cork football coach Billy Morgan chose not to seek another term with the team because of the decision to remove the ability of managers to pick their own selectors.
Cork GAA fan Cyril Kavanagh, a plasterer from Farranree on the north side of the city, said all the people of the county wanted was to see Leeside's players back on the pitch.
He joked that without Cork the All-Ireland hurling championship would be a "Mickey Mouse competition".
"Common sense just needs to prevail. We all just want the players back out on the pitch and they can do their talking afterwards. Nobody could have seen this coming. It is unbelievable what is going on."
Striking GAA players did not attend the rally with the exception of footballer Noel O'Leary.
Speaking on a visit to Cork last Friday, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told both sides in the GAA row not to let personality clashes get out of hand. "Always keep it on the core issue and not get involved in personality because I never solved anything in my life when I thought about personalities," the Taoiseach said.
National Hurling League reports: SportsMonday