Kinnitty GAA Club calls on County Board to lead change to parish rule

KINNITTY GAA Club have called for the Offaly GAA County Board to take a “lead role” in examining the county's long standing parish rule.

Established in 1909 and the bedrock of the way Offaly runs its GAA affairs, the Parish Rule has come under renewed scrutiny after three young players were suspended for playing illegally with Kinnitty-Lusmagh in underage hurling competitions last year.

The chairperson and secretary of the Kinnitty-Lusmagh underage amalgation, Michael Troy and Kevin Callaghan were also hit with three month bans in January after the legality of Kinnitty-Lusmagh U-13 and 17 hurling teams last April were investigated.

It is the latest major test of the parish rule. It came under scrutinty last year when Tullamore GAA Club were told they could not play a number of young players living in the Cappincur area. Tullamore initially submitted a motion for Offaly GAA Convention, seeking an amendment to the parish rule, allowing children to play with a club that their parents had a “strong connection” with even if they were living outside the parish – they mounted a strong campaign canvassing support for it but withdrew the motion as it became clear it would not pass.

Now a parish rule row has erupted between Kinnitty and Drumcullen GAA Clubs over the three young players. They live in Drumcullen parish, in the Knockbarron and Droughtville townslands. There has been historic controversy over players in this area and the parents of the three suspended players have stated that they want to play with Kinnitty and that all their connections are with the Kinnitty area.

Drumcullen GAA Club have said they would be willing to cede the three players to Kinnitty on the understanding that they would not give up any other players from these areas. This was turned down by Kinnitty GAA Club and their chairman Ger Coughlan said this week that an agreement catering for just three players would not solve what is a county wide issue. He called for an re-evaluation of the parish rule with it brought up to date to cater for the modern world.

Offaly GAA's parish rule under renewed scrutiny after three young players suspneded

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Drumcullen GAA offered to cede young children to Kinnitty – Toni Ryan

A brilliant Offaly hurling wing back in the 1980s, Coughlan referred to high profile players who lived in Kinnitty parish but who they have allowed to play with neighbouring Seir Kieran: the Dooley brothers, Joe, Billy, Johnny, Kieran and Seamus, and another former Offaly star, Joe Bergin and his brother Barry. He described the Dooleys as the “most notable example” of their determination to put the “wishes of families first”.

“While we in Kinnitty have always respected the parish rule, we have always put the children's and

family's well-being and wishes before the parish rule,” he said. Talking about the Dooley brothers, he remarked: “If we tried to stop them, we knew we would be breaking up a community, causing huge stress on a family and probably stopping three of our greatest hurlers from winning All-Irelands for Offaly. Ten years later, we had the same situation with well known Offaly hurler Joe Bergin and his brother, Barry Bergin. Again we put family and community first.”

Mr Coughlan talked about the contribution of the families of the three suspended players to Kinnitty GAA club and the wider community in the area. “The parents and children have publicly stated that if they are not permitted to hurl in their home community, Kinnitty and the rest of their friends and family, they will not hurl at all. The whole ordeal has brought enormous stress and, if not dealt with, could have a serious negative impact on the children's mental health,” he maintained.

He also accused the County Board of “discriminating” against these children and “singling them out when you ignore all the other cases of the same nature in county Offaly that exist”.

A hero on the Offaly teams that won All-Ireland senior hurling titles in 1981 and 1985 and a two time All-Star, he spoke about the impact this is having on the families of the players. “These are pure hurling people. I have been involved in the GAA since I was five years of age. I have hurled at all levels, administered at all levels, trained and selected teams at all levels. Different things happened everywhere along the way but nothing has had such a profound effect on families as this. This has had the biggest effect of all on me because I can clearly see the effect it is having on those families. That is why we stood back in 1987-1988 when this subject came up about Clareen. We made the decision that we shouldn't go there at all. The effect this has had on those families is grave. Hurling is key in this area and for the GAA to stand back and let those lads be hung out to dry is just not right.”

He was queried about Drumcullen's offer to cede those three young players and Kinnitty's rejection of this. “Any offer made like that would have to have everybody on board for it to work. There was no formal offer in relation to this, they said they would have to talk to their club in relation to it. We asked them to talk to every other club in this situation so that everyone is on board. This is a county wide issue and dealing with isolated cases on their own won't solve anything. There are families in adjoining parishes around in the same situation and it needs everyone on board.”

Mr Coughlan said that Kinnitty will have a look at submitting a motion on the parish rule at Convention next year but he is adamant that the County Board should lead it. Pointing out that things have changed considerably since the parish rule came in during 1909, he claimed that several other counties have made changes that have worked, including nearby ones such as Laois, and Longford.

“There are very good things in other counties that we can look at. Other counties have shown that they can make changes and they have worked. Let's look at it together.”

He agreed that Offaly needs to retain the parish rule and that to do away with it would fundamentally alter the GAA landscape in the county. “We are talking about tweaking it to cater for families like this,” he said, adding: “The basics of the parish rule has worked well but the reason it has worked well was the understanding by clubs like ourselves. We more than anyone else stood by the basic ethos and principle of the parish rule but we looked at families first. We did not interfere or object when other clubs were illegal when we were playing them. We didn't make objections, we stood back and looked at the families and area first. I have talked to numerous clubs and they have also stood back because to do otherwise would put too much hardship on families. We want to twinge it. Other counties have done this.”

He called on the County Board Management Committee to take a proactive role in this rather than waiting for clubs to do it. “The County Board should be taking the lead role and accepting we have a problem, not waiting for someone else to put it up. There is no point in them stepping back from it, this needs to be led from the top. This is about families and discrimination. We feel strongly that these children are being discriminated against.

“The County Board needs to take leadership. What happens if there are objections to illegal players all over the county (to breaches of the parish rule). The percentage fall out of players in the county would be very high and people would be very disillusioned with the GAA. Our families are very disillusioned. They are from fierce hurling backgrounds.”

He was asked would he accept a change to the parish rule where players in an area such as Knockbarron whose parents played with Kinnitty could play with them but other families moving in or living in the area would play with Drumcullen – even if their children went to school in Kinnitty and they gravitated towards the village. “Let's have a look at what system we come up with. Longford, Monaghan, Laois all have different models. The system mightn't be perfect but it would be a lot better than the moment where half the county is illegal.”