North Kerry rivals should combine for greater good
Having spoken to several stakeholders involved in football in North Kerry John O’Dowd draws some conclusions where the game is and where it can go from here
NORTH KERRY has always produced great footballers who have gone on to wear the green and gold jersey and bring All-Ireland titles to Kerry.
Just going back as far as the ‘Golden Years’, men like Tim Kennelly, Jimmy Deenihan, Charlie Nelligan, Eoin Liston, Ogie Moran and John Kennedy played vital roles in the capture of eight Sam Maguire Cups between 1975 and 1986.
In the seven All-Ireland senior victories since, and including 1997, the likes of Liam O’Flaherty, Eamon Breen, Stephen Stack, Paul Galvin, Eamonn Fitzmaurice, Noel and Tadhg Kennelly, Anthony Maher and Shane Enright all earned their medals with great distinction.
In recent years, the conveyor belt from the district into the Kingdom fold has certainly dried up. There is no denying that fact. County Committee Secretary Peter Twiss was right to express his concern about the situation in his report to County Convention last December.
Yet, before we look at possible solutions, it’s important to recognise certain factors in the area that clearly restrict the future development of the game.
A lack of employment stands out. New jobs are not coming to North Kerry. It’s as simple as that. When students finish their secondary and third-level education, there is often no future for them in their home towns and villages. The big cities reap the benefits.
North Kerry is also the epicentre of the entire hurling stronghold in the county. Ballyduff are admirably attempting to keep both sports operating strongly, Finuge are sharing their players with Lixnaw and, likewise, St Senans with Crotta O’Neills. How difficult must it be for them when you consider training sessions, fixtures overlapping, no rest periods at particular times?
Of course, having stronger schools teams would naturally lead to more North Kerry players getting spotted at minor level. But, at the moment, it’s impossible to have a Corn Uí Mhuirí representative unless six schools joined together. And that would hardly be ideal, as a lot of youngsters would have no schools football at all.
All that is even before you look at the reasons why only two North Kerry clubs (Ballydonoghue and Castleisland Desmonds) are in the top two divisions of the County League. Not to mention the various dismal performances from Shannon Rangers and Feale Rangers in recent seasons.
However, in the course of the last month or so, as I undertook this investigation with several of the stakeholders involved in the game in the district, it was hugely evident that, despite the negativity that exists, there are an awful lot of positives to be encouraged about.
Kerry GAA’s Games Promotion Officer (GPO) for North Kerry football, John Dillon, is undoubtedly one of those. In fact, there is a general consensus that the Duagh native is doing absolutely trojan work at underage level and in the schools.
His dedication and commitment to the development squads, to putting on workshops, and providing winter training programmes, is of a very high standard. Indeed, North Kerry Board Chairman, Johnny Stack, has said Dillon “is one in a million”.
The County Committee’s stated proposal to set up a task force to help football in North Kerry should also pay dividends, while it’s clear that the district is still producing players for Kerry at all levels, with the likes of Barry Mahony, Sean T Dillon and Adam Donoghue added to Peter Keane’s extended panel, and Luka Brosnan, Paul Walsh and Sean Keane already seen to great effect in the Under-20s’ Munster
Final victory in early March.
The clubs are also doing their best. We can’t forget that Finuge (2005) and Brosna (2015) won the All-Ireland Club Junior Championship, with Duagh losing narrowly in the 2007 final, while Finuge also reached the All-Ireland Intermediate decider in 2013.
Look at Ballydonoghue moving up to Division Two of the County League, St Senans’ winning the last two North Kerry Championships, and Ballyduff lifting last year’s county junior title.
Yet now is the time to do more. Shannon Rangers and Feale Rangers are not delivering the goods in the county SF championship. The reasons for that are many and varied. North Kerry Football needs an immediate surge of adrenaline, a shot in the arm, in the race for the Bishop
Moynihan Cup.
It’s encouraging that plans are afoot to have a combined North Kerry team at minor and under-21 level in 2020. If the GAA season ever resumes, that is. And while we would have to wait until at least 2021 at senior level, an amalgamation is, indisputably, the right call to make.
When you hear a man like Johnny Mulvihill, who has played in and managed a county championship-winning Feale Rangers side, boldly proclaim that we must “go for broke” now and come together with Shannon Rangers for the greater good, nothing else needs to be said.
If this The Kerryman investigation helps to get the ball rolling on a combined North Kerry senior team, then I believe that it’s all been extremely worthwhile.