Two players snubbed the president at ceremony
FOLLOWING the furore of Gerry McEntee and Liam Harnan not accepting their All-Ireland medals from GAA president John Dowling, another former president - Cork native Dr Con Murphy - urged the Croke Park authorities to strip the pair of their All-Ireland medals.
Murphy said he was appalled at what he termed the deliberate snub of Mr Dowling at the medals presentation in Warrenstown College.
Speaking at a Cork County Board meeting, Murphy said the president had been treated shamefully and demanded that the Management Committee of the GAA pursue the matter.
Murphy said that if an officer of Cork County Board had been treated in the same manner the board ‘would have the courage to take action’.
‘It now behoves the Management Committee to take appropriate action against the players involved,’ Murphy said.
And he insisted that McEntee and Harnan should certainly not get their medals.
Murphy added that he had his arguments with John Dowling in the past but that everyone had an obligation to respect the office of President.
Another former president, Paddy Buggy, also weighed in on the controversy, agreeing with the Cork official that Croke Park should investigate the incident.
Buggy said that he was disappointed that the president of the GAA should have been treated in such a manner and called for the Management Committee and Central Council to investigate the issue. The president was there as the official guest of Meath County Board and to be treated in that manner was amazing.
Meath boss Sean Boylan said following the controversy that the entire squad should have accepted their All-Ireland medals at the function, but added that he respected the views of individual members also.
He also revealed that the players had met before the function and discussed the suggestion that they would not accept their medals from the president.
Boylan stated at the time: ‘One player told me he felt it would be hypocritical to shake hands and accept a medal from the president and pretend that he was not upset with the events of the last few months.
He told me he was not going to say one thing to the president and then something else behind his back.
‘I accepted his views on the matter. He told me what he was going to do - I had to respect his views.’
Boylan also said that not only was the team upset by the afterAll-Ireland remarks by the media as well as members of the association, but that he also was extremely hurt by the allegations in many quarters that Meath were a rough or dirty team.
Meanwhile, Meath County Board did issue an apology to the Association president for the snub by the two players. Chairman Fintan Ginnity apologised publicity to Mr Dowling ‘for the happenings’ at the county medal presentation. He said: ‘We did not, and do not condone the happenings then.’