Cavan move to heal rift

The Cavan GAA county board has acted swiftly in the wake of recent events in an attempt to put last week's traumas behind them.

All 40 clubs in the county have been asked to make nominations for a new county team manager and selectors before next Friday's meeting of the county executive. Following that, a process will be put in train to replace Liam Austin and his assistants, all of whom resigned last week. So far, only the former Cavan midfielder Stephen King has been mentioned as a possible replacement.

Meanwhile, in Kilkenny, efforts are afoot to bring Eamonn Morrissey, James Brennan and Niall Moloney back into the county hurling fold. Morrissey and Brennan, both of whom work in Dublin, declared for the Dublin side in the last two years but the appointment of Brian Cody as Kilkenny manager has changed matters.

Cody has indicated that Morrissey (33) and Brennan (29) would be welcome to rejoin the Kilkenny panel should they prove their fitness while Moloney, a garda who works in Dublin, has also been told that he would be welcome back.

Kilkenny may, however, be without two of their key central defenders for several months. Pat O'Neill will have an operation in Dublin this week to repair damage to a stomach muscle which has been troubling him for some time while Canice Brennan is now in Lebanon with the Army's United Nations forces.