ARMY SURPLUS
Motion is tabled to expel regiment from London championship
A MOVE is underway to expel a British Army regiment team from the GAA in London.
A motion is to be debated at Monday night’s county board meeting to ‘rescind’ the decision taken last year to allow the Irish Guards regiment affiliate to the London County Board, which would have seen them take part in the county junior championship this year for the first time.
London secretary and county footballer Mark Gottsche (right) informed all clubs this week of the impending motion.
‘I have been requested by Granuaile Hurling Club to notify all members of the London County Committee of their intention to propose the rescindment of the decision to approve the affiliation of the Irish Guards as a club to London County Committee.
‘Could all clubs please ensure that their club delegates are briefed and mandated on this proposal,’ instructed the London secretary.
The army club was only admitted last year on the casting vote of the then chairman Noel O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan, who had served as chairman for four years and under GAA Rule would have only been entitled to serve for another 12 months, suffered a shock defeat at the county convention before Christmas. He was challenged and defeated in the race for the chair by John Lacey, who is a member of the Granuaile club.
Lacey insisted yesterday that he would not be giving direction as to what way delegates should vote at Monday night’s meeting: ‘It is up to the clubs now. This is a democratic vote and I don’t believe that the chairman should be dictating, telling the clubs what to do. We have had too much of that in the past over here,’ Lacey told Sportsmail yesterday.
The motion forwarded by Granuaile is embarrassing for Croke Park, after the GAA at a special Congress in 2001 abolished Rule 21, which had debarred members of the British security forces from joining the association.
THINK of a bearded, tattooed version of Podge Collins and you might come close to imagining Mickey Burke, who lives a double life as Meath’s most recognisable dual player.
While Clare’s All-Star and All-Ireland winner generated a raft of headlines by being forced into a corner by Davy Fitzgerald and ultimately choosing football, Burke was one of the very few who flew the flag on both fronts last summer.
In May, he lined out in Tralee, battling with the Meath hurlers as they pushed Kerry to the brink in the Christy Ring Cup. The following month, he had to watch from the sideline at Croke Park after being substituted in the Leinster football semi-final as the Meath team subsequently collapsed down the home straight against Westmeath.
Strutting his stuff alongside TJ Reid at the same venue in November as Ireland took the scalp of Scotland in the hurling/ shinty international offered the perfect salve.
‘The hardest thing almost is the recovery element of it. You’re playing week after week and the older you’re getting, the body is finding it harder to recover.
‘I love it though. Getting picked for Ireland was a massive honour. Same for the Railway Cup.
‘There’s a lot of haters out there, maybe not haters but those who say he’s burning the candle at both ends — you hear that a lot. I come from the school of thought that if you’re able to do it, and you want to do it, and you’re giving both managers a dig-out, why not? You’ll be dead long enough.’
Just don’t ask him how he intends keeping all the balls in the air in 2016. Páirc Tailteann this afternoon features a double-header with a twist: the footballers take on Laois in a make-or-break O’Byrne Cup match while the hurlers host Wexford in a rare matchup against established top-tier opposition.
Right now, Burke’s focus is football. How it will work out after that? It depends on what sort of agreement can be reached between the respective managers Mick O’Dowd and Martin Ennis.
‘To be honest, I don’t actually know. Football definitely. I’m not sure if Martin and Mick have talked it through fully yet. Last year I managed to play all the games in the Christy Ring and then the Championship football with Meath as well. There are a lot of clashes so we’ll see,’ said Burke.
It’s never been about playing in front of big crowds at Croke Park with the footballers versus off-Broadway in front of the hard-core hurling support.
From the ‘hurling territory’ of Longwood, one of the ‘small pockets in Meath who eat, sleep and drink hurling’, he’s always played for the love of the game.
‘Crowd-wise it’s different but I’ve always been able to motivate myself. The power of the mind kind of thing. I’ve never found it hard to get up for games. Not trying to be too cheesy but when you put a Meath jersey on, it’s a great honour,’ added Burke.
‘I feel like sometimes playing with the hurlers I’d nearly feel more pressure because they know you as the footballer. I just want to be able to show the lads that I care.’
Ennis was part of the last Meath team that was able to hold its own against Leinster heavyweights like Kilkenny, Offaly and Wexford.
He was there when Meath won the 1993 All-Ireland ‘B’ title, giving them a shot at Antrim in an All-Ireland quarter-final. The following year they were sharing the same stage as Kilkenny in the Leinster championship, competitive while going down 1-19 to 1-8. In the spring of ’95, Meath even turned over reigning All-Ireland champions Offaly in the National League before going on to beat Wexford.
‘We were after winning the equivalent of the Christy Ring now,’ recalled Ennis of the run that started in 1993. ‘To be honest, that was the last time Meath were up there. Meath is predominantly a football county, we all know that. Where it’s gone for the last 20 years? I can’t really answer.’
Instead, he’d prefer to concentrate on the here and now and the value of taking on a Wexford team with big ambitions.
‘The scoreboard for us is irrelevant. We’re going to give it our best shot, no doubt about that. But we’re under no illusions, Wexford are a top-class team.
‘We’ve nothing to lose. It’s all about promoting the game on the day, particularly as it’s a double-header.
‘Those young kids aren’t going to see a Wexford team up here again for a while. To see a Meath jersey going up against a Wexford jersey is what they want to see.
‘There’s a lot of work to be done. We’d like to be getting to where Westmeath are, Carlow, the likes of Laois. That takes a few years.’
The ‘burn the hurleys’ throwaway line by Gerry McEntee before Christmas is not something that exercises Ennis, even if the double All-Ireland winner was only playing to the gallery at a football presentation meeting.
‘Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We don’t buy into that. We don’t listen to what ex-footballers have to say; I’m sure they don’t listen to ex-hurlers. It didn’t really register with the hurling fraternity as far as I’m concerned.’
On Wednesday night, Burke togged out in the stormy conditions as the Gods lined up against the county footballers. ‘We cracked the crossbar six or seven times,’ he says by way of explanation.
This afternoon, he’ll hope the hurlers put their best foot forward and then be ready to do what he can to help Meath beat Laois and secure a place in the O’Byrne Cup play-offs.
One match, one week at a time.