Wexford respond to Croke Park training camp query
WEXFORD HAVE issued a response to a Croke Park request after being queried as one of the counties that allegedly broke the rule banning squads from undertaking extended training camps or challenge games during the month of April.
Along with our own county, Armagh, Dublin, Donegal and Mayo are among those believed to be under investigation, while other counties have also come to the attentions of headquarters for alleged squad training camps and holding of challenge games.
The penalty for breaking the rule is the loss of home venue for one league game in the following season.
Several national media reports of squads either travelling overseas, as in the case of Armagh, Wexford and Dublin, or holding camps in Ireland, have appeared over recent weeks, prompting the intervention at official level.
It is understood that the Croke Park authorities have written to the counties, seeking clarification before deciding how to proceed.
Wexford hurlers and Dublin footballers have spoken openly about their respective trips to Portugal and France, insisting that they did not involve training.
Lee Chin maintained that it was a case of the Wexford players deciding to ‘go off together and have a bit of fun in each other’s company’, while Dublin’s Michael Darragh MacAuley spoke of ‘paying respects to the Irish who fought in World War 1’.
While Croke Park may remain sceptical, Wexford G.A.A. have issued a response, which will now come under consideration.
This newspaper has been informed that County Secretary, Margaret Doyle, is the new G.A.A. County Board spokesperson, and our queries should be directed to her rather than the P.R.O., P.J. Howlin.
‘We have replied back to the Croke Park request,’ she said. ‘It was a pre-arranged trip by the Senior hurlers.
‘We had a request for training camps from both Senior hurlers and Senior footballers, but we as a county management committee did not approve of the request,’ she added.
‘We as a County Board made no financial contribution to the hurlers’ pre-arranged trip. They may have got some individual sponsorship, of which we are not aware.’
Now, like the other counties under investigation, Wexford must await the findings of Croke Park following the deliberations of President John Horan and Ard Stiúrthóir Tom Ryan, both in their first year in their respective posts.
While the rule has been in place for some years, the sanction of forfeiting home advantage for a league game was only introduced at Special Congress last Autumn, when it was decided that April be designated a month for club championship activity.
Wexford, to their credit, played out three weekends of championship action, two football and one hurling, during that month, when all inter-county players were released back to their clubs.