OFFALY GAA CHIEFS will ask members of the hurling review group to reconsider their recent resignations and want to ‘draw a line in the sand’ after the recent crisis in the county.
Liam Hogan, the former chairman of the now defunct Offaly hurling review group, had launched a blistering attack on the board and called for chairman Tommy Byrne to step aside.
The Offaly county board have responded with a statement after the recent turmoil after a 2017 season that has seen hurling manager Kevin Ryan step down and football boss Pat Flanagan axed.
A meeting of the Offaly management committee took place on Monday night in Tullamore, with the chairperson and secretaries of clubs also attending.
“The meeting recognised the importance of The Hurling Pathway Plan in moving Offaly hurling forward and a detailed update on all aspects implemented to-date and on the future roll out of the plan will be presented to chairperson and secretaries of all clubs within two weeks (and) thereafter at three monthly intervals.
“A steering committee comprising of five club chairpersons, coaching & games Officer and head of operations will oversee the plan.
“The contribution of those who recently resigned was praised and there was agreement that Offaly hurling needs their involvement going forward.
“In this regard the chairman gave a commitment to contact the individuals with a view to asking them to re-consider their positions.
“A wide ranging discussion took place among the 65 people present and clarification was given on a number of issues. An outline of various activities undertaken by coaching & games staff in the year to-date was also discussed.”
The county board also moved to clarify the role of strength and conditioning coach Emmett Egan.
They described it as ‘extremely disappointing that recent comments have completely misrepresented the actual role and involvement that Emmet has had with Offaly GAA and there was no attempt made to ascertain the full facts prior to the circulation of an account of a meeting in the county’.
The conclusion of the statement opted to quote from the final paragraph of The Hurling Pathway document and expressed their ‘hope that everyone can draw a line in the sand’.
The statement in full can be read on the Offaly GAA website.
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