Clubs reject Council's proposal

A four-hour meeting between members of the Galway County Board, delegates from Carraroe and Corofin - who are due to contest the Galway county final on Sunday - and the Connacht Council last night failed to resolve the fixtures impasse which threatens to prevent the eventual Galway champions participation in the provincial club championship.

The special meeting, which was held in Knock, adjourned after a four-hour debate and the representatives agreed to resume tonight at 6 p.m. in the hope of brokering some agreement.

Members from both the Corofin and Carraroe clubs, who are scheduled to play in the county final on Sunday, are utterly against the Connacht Council's suggestion that Corofin, as reigning All-Ireland champions, meet Mayo champions Ballina Stephenites on Sunday in order to fulfil the provincial fixture.

The Council had further suggested that should Corofin beat the Mayo representatives but subsequently lose their county final meeting against Carraroe, then Carraroe would advance as Galway's representatives in Connacht. Were such a course to be adopted, the possibility of two sides representing the county in one year would arise and while this has not occurred in Connacht before, a precedent has been set in other provinces.

"Both clubs felt the offer was totally unacceptable and are determined that the county final will go ahead on Sunday," commented Pat Egan, a member of the Galway board who also sits on the Connacht Council.

"There is a feeling of utter amazement around Galway that a time period of five days cannot be accommodated. It should be stressed that the Connacht Council have been very helpful to Galway all year and there is hope that they will take another look at this thing tonight and grant an extension," he continued.

Egan felt that the situation had arisen due to the participation of a number of Galway players in the International Rules Series against Australia and he said that clarification as to the status of the competition ought to be made public.

"We need to know if this is an officially recognised competition or just a Mickey Mouse game. If it is recognised, we feel that sufficient time ought to be given to players involved. We didn't expect any Galway lad to be in the frame at all, given that they hadn't been available for training but, when Dunmore sought a postponement due to Michael Donnellan's involvement, the Galway board reviewed the case and thought it was warranted," he explained.

That postponement triggered a sequence of delays which has resulted in the county final date clashing with the scheduled date for the provincial tie between the Mayo and Galway club champions.

"But they have also penned in the 14th (of November) as the date for the replay, if needed. Could the game not be moved forward to then? OK, Ballina will have players on League duty for Mayo the following day, but, if the original game was to end in a draw, they would have to play on that date regardless. And Galway had several players involved in the county semi-final last Saturday who played against Leitrim the following day."

Egan, a member of the Corofin club, said that there was a general belief that it would be sad should the All-Ireland champions be forced to relinquish their title without defending it on the field.

"Corofin feel they have been great ambassadors for Galway and Connacht football. We are proud of what we achieved last season but are determined that this county final will be played on Sunday, whatever the consequences."

After last night's meeting, Egan said that he was hopeful that the issue would be settled satisfactorily this evening.