Rathnew ‘flabbergasted’ by refusal to refix game Village to take league walk-over appeal to DRA

HAVING lost their appeal at Leinster Council level, Rathnew say that they have been left with no choice but to take their case relating to the decision by Wicklow CCC to award a walk-over against them and St Patrick’s for not fulfilling a fixture all the way to the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).

Should the points deduction stand, Hollywood will have won the Division 1 league title.

The last chance for resolving this issue in-house came and went on Tuesday (yesterday) morning when word reached Rathnew’s Peter Dignam from the CCC that they would not be refixing the game following a last-ditch effort by the clubs who called for a meeting with the CCC in Ballinakill on Monday evening.

Peter Dignam says that he is “flabbergasted” by the situation and says that Rathnew and St Patrick’s only acted in the best interests of the county by not wanting to force up to 15 players on the county Senior football and hurling panels to play in a league game a week prior to the Offaly match in the Leinster Senior championship.

The original fixture was changed due to a stag party in the St Pat’s club earlier in the year. The heavy snows forced the cancellation of the next fixture date and then the third date for the game was made for the week prior to the Offaly game.

A request was made by both clubs to get the fixture changed as both clubs had a large contingent involved with county squads. According to Peter Dignam, the CCC contacted Rathnew to say they were being awarded the league points after Pat’s declared that they wouldn’t be travelling. Rathnew refused to accept the points in this manner and so both clubs were deducted two points.

In an effort to salvage the situation, a plan was put to the County Board by Rathnew that they would give up home advantage for the fixture and that it be played at a later and agreed date when all players would be available and that the game be held at a neutral venue with the County Board getting the gate. However, Peter Dignam says this plan was not accepted and Rathnew and St Pat’s took their case to the Leinster Council on June 11.

However, both clubs cited the wrong rule in their appeal at Leinster Council. Rule 6.38 was cited but it was rule 7.2 which should have been put forward. This related to the fact that when both clubs didn’t turn up for the fixture the matter fell under the jurisdiction of the disciplinary committee of the CCC and the not the fixtures committee and it was the fixtures committee who handed down the decision with regard the walkovers.

“This is something that needs to be talked about,” said Peter Dignam of Rathnew GAA Club. “We took our appeal to Leinster, but we cited the wrong rule. Leinster suggested that we take it to the DRA so I requested a meeting with the County Board last night (Monday) because we don’t want that (the deadline for taking the case to the DRA was Tuesday). If we go to the DRA we are going to win. I got a voicemail this morning saying that they (the CCC) weren’t changing their minds.

“I’m flabbergasted by the situation. Now what you’re doing is you’re driving a splinter between two clubs. We thought we were doing the right thing by wanting to allow the players (county) to prepare for their Leinster championship game with Offaly. What battle are they (the CCC) trying to win here? It makes for a horrible vibe around the county for the rest of the year,” he added.

As well as taking their case forward to the DRA, which can be a very expensive process according to sources within the GAA, Rathnew GAA Club intend to write a letter to the County Board ahead of the next County Board meeting which takes place next Monday evening in Ballinakill (June 25) where it is expected it will be read aloud to club delegates as correspondence.

“We think we tried to do the right thing for the county and now we’ve exhausted every avenue to try and sort this, so we are taking our case to the DRA,” said Peter Dignam.

Attempts to contact Bridget Kenny, Chairperson of the Wicklow CCC proved unsuccessful prior to deadline.

Wicklow Chairman Martin Fitzgerald said that he wouldn’t be making a comment on the issue as it was no longer a matter for the County Board to comment on and that it was now a Leinster Council matter.