Seán Óg Ó hAilpín believes there is little hope of a resolution in the dispute between Cork's hurlers and footballers and the county's GAA administrators without the resignations of county secretary Frank Murphy and county football manager Teddy Holland. Tom Humphriesreports.
In an interview with The Irish Timestoday, the former hurler of the year says he does not believe Murphy, one of the country's most influential GAA administrators, "can get the trust of players back".
"It would help a lot in the long term if Frank just stepped down and a new guy and a new regime stepped in because I don't think he can get the trust of players back," Ó hAilpín says.
The footballers and hurlers of Cork have been on strike since the autumn when a county board motion gave officials the power to choose selectors to serve with the county's GAA managers. Previously, the manager had the final say over his backroom team.
Ó hAilpín says there is no visible prospect of short-term progress in the dispute without the resignation of Holland. He says that in the long term the welfare of Cork GAA would be best served by the resignation of Murphy.
Ó hAilpín considers Murphy the chief instigator in recent disputes and finds it difficult to see long-term improvement in relations between the county administration and its players while Murphy remains.
"Why in Cork is it always the county board up here and the players down there? Why is it we can't strike up a relationship with these people and move on? Since I came in as a young fella there has been distrust.
"We don't feel we can trust Frank. People find him hard to work with. Will he change? Players don't seem to be valued by him for a start."
There have been repeated calls for Holland to resign. He was appointed as manager of the county footballers at a time when players called for any appointment to be delayed pending dialogue.
Ó hAilpín says that players are willing to shelve the issue to the autumn and resume training and playing immediately on the basis that Holland resign and the county board supports a return to the old selectorial system.
In a separate development yesterday, it was confirmed that Kieran Mulvey, the chairman of the Labour Relations Commission, has agreed to a Croke Park request to attempt to mediate between the players and county board officials.