New chapter for Rebels as Murphy steps down after 46 yrs

AS he finally departs as Cork county secretary today after 46 years in the role, Frank Murphy’s legacy was further damaged by the worrying revelations surrounding Pairc Ui Chaoimh yesterday.

Murphy’s retirement from the role was first flagged in September 2009 but there were various extensions until he was given another long-term contract with a view to overseeing the redevelopment of the county’s flagship stadium.

It finally opened in July of last year at a cost of around €86m, we were told. It emerged yesterday, however, that the final figure will be closer to €110m, that the pitch will have to be relaid and, most pointedly, that Croke Park will take over the running of the stadium (inset) for at least the next decade.

What’s worse is that Murphy was also at the coalface when the first iteration of Pairc Ui Chaoimh was unveiled in the 70s that saddled the board with a considerable debt for some years having overrun its budget considerably.

It would be unfair to highlight only the shortcomings of Murphy’s lengthy tenure.

His knowledge of the rulebook is well documented, his acquisition of Pairc Ui Rinn was a smart piece of business, while a very demanding fixtures programme was routinely completed in a timely fashion under his watch.

But he will also be remembered for the players’ strikes and his ultimately incorrect belief that he could take on a revered bunch of players only to suffer three humiliating defeats, while the Pairc Ui Chaoimh debacle scuppered any hopes of a happy ending.

No doubt delegates will laud him at today’s Cork convention, but perhaps a flagging county can now start to realise its potential again having finally turned the page to a new chapter.