Today's meeting may sort out mess

Men's HockeyAnger and resentment all round has characterised the last few weeks in Irish hockey with the men's interprovincial series now turned into a set piece dispute between the provinces and the Irish Hockey Association (IHA).

No doubt the new chief executive and men's national coach, who have both been selected but not named, will be watching the choreography with some interest, though hardly pleasure. The identity of the lucky man or woman for the CEO position will be announced in seven days time, the coach later.

This week the row finally imploded with the interprovincial tournament forced into being effectively scrapped, although a management committee meeting today may salvage something from what is left of the mess.

The IHA originally decided to revise the format of the tournament, which was to be held in Dublin later this month. The series is one of the flagship events of the hockey year, but in recent seasons has been viewed with some scepticism, especially in Munster, who no longer believe that the cost and benefit balance.

Its revised format, which was put to an IHA vote, was passed and it was decided that teams would have to play two matches in one day to accommodate the new arrangement. Both Leinster and Munster baulked at this and called Branch meetings. Both provinces voted that they would not take part in an event where teams were forced to play twice in one day.

Leinster then folded and despite initially supporting Munster's stance embarked on a ring around of Branch members. The result was that Leinster changed its' view and sided with the Ulster Branch and the IHA.

It was then dubiously decided that Ulster and Leinster would participate in an interprovincial series without Munster in which the teams would play each other on Saturday and Sunday, November 27th and 28th for the Leinster Regiment Cup. But the change of mind by Leinster caused anger in the rank and file officials and following a branch meeting on Monday night in Dublin, Leinster reverted to their original stance where they supported Munster, leaving Ulster and the IHA twiddling their thumbs with no opponents to play and no tournament to run. The decision Leinster arrived at is that they would not participate in an interprovincial tournament without Munster, although, they have said that they would, if required, take part in a series of one-off matches against Ulster and Munster. If that is agreed then hey presto the interpros are back again.

But the future of the event has been undermined. The two provinces have clearly crossed the governing body in deciding that they did not wish to participate in an IHA event. Ulster has already been making noises in the press, through their coach and former GB Olympian Terry Gregg, that they may look towards Scotland for games. Ironically that is the sort of idea that has been bandied about south of the Border, that something like a Celtic Cup-type event might be more useful than an interprovincial series that has rich tradition but really counts for little.

The end result is that in future the IHA will have to consult with branches more closely on issues that affect players and branches will have to talk to players to hear what they think. The game is changing and the needs of players are different to what they were 10 years ago.