Fitzgerald yet to indicate interest in Clare job

WITH THE Dublin County Board suggesting that Anthony Daly was now more than “95 per cent certain” of continuing as senior hurling manager for a fourth season the focus remains on vacancies in Waterford, Limerick, Clare and possibly Galway too.

While Daly’s reappointment in Dublin is now a mere formality, not least of all after guiding them to a first league title since 1939, Davy Fitzgerald has yet to indicate whether he’s interested in returning to his native Clare, having decided not to seek another term in Waterford.

“It took me a few weeks to come to a decision,” he said yesterday, “But after a lot of thinking I decided that the time was right to move on . . . the thing that made up my mind was the thoughts of driving that road again. It’s about 100 miles each way.

“I’d leave at two in the afternoon and mightn’t land home again until one or two in the morning. That would take an awful lot out of anybody.”

The suggestion there is that Fitzgerald wouldn’t be as put out by managing his native Clare, although it could be several weeks yet before it’s decided who will take over the position from Ger O’Loughlin, who stepped down at the end of this summer’s championship campaign.

Limerick will discuss the process of appointing a new manager to replace Donal O’Grady at next Tuesday’s board meeting, while in Galway, John McIntyre’s hopes of continuing for another year won’t be known until next month, after a more thorough review of hurling in the county is carried out.

Although Jimmy Barry Murphy’s ratification as Cork’s new hurling manager was also a formality, Tuesday’s meeting also passed a motion seeking to overturn Central Council’s recent decision to reformat the National Hurling League, where only six teams are now contesting divisions, instead of eight.

County board treasurer Pearse Murphy pointed out that the loss of league games would hit counties financially, while secretary Frank Murphy lamented the change as “a retrograde step”.

Representatives from all eight counties who should have been playing Division One hurling in 2012 – namely Kilkenny, Dublin, Cork, Tipperary, Galway, Waterford, Limerick and Wexford – also met in Thurles last night in an effort to establish some sort of co-ordinated opposition to the proposals passed at Central Council last month.

Finally, the GAA were adamant yesterday they would not be commenting on the recent advertising campaign for Hunky Dorys crisps, which claims to be “proud supporters of Gaelic football”. But according to a spokesperson for Croke Park, the advertisements were not in breach of any GAA copyright issues – namely the cresting or GAA logo – but that there may yet be an issue with the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland.