Carnacon to appeal being thrown out of Mayo championship

IN LIMBO Carnacon's Cora Staunton after their All-Ireland semi-final win last November. Will the reigning All-Ireland champions be unable to defend their title? Pic: Sportsfile

Edwin McGreal

Carnacon will appeal the decision of Mayo Ladies County Board to remove them from this year’s club championship.
The decision to remove them was taken at Tuesday night’s monthly meeting of the Mayo Ladies Football County Board in Castlebar after the withdrawal of all eight Carnacon players from the Mayo senior ladies side in July.
Eight Carnacon players and four players from other clubs left days ahead of Mayo’s clash with Cavan. Two selectors also stepped aside. A Carnacon representative told Mayo manager Peter Leahy that all of their players were withdrawing from the panel.
In a statement through the LGPA on Tuesday, July 10, after the story broke, the group of departing players cited ‘player welfare issues that are personal and sensitive to the players involved’ as their reason for withdrawing.
Among those to leave were ten-time All Star Cora Staunton and Mayo captain Sarah Tierney. Selectors Michael McHale and Denise McDonagh also left the Peter Leahy managed outfit.
Last Tuesday’s meeting of the Board in the TF Hotel in Castlebar ruled that Carnacon brought the game into disrepute, citing Rule 288 of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association Official Guide.
That rule states that “Any member of the Association found guilty of conduct calculated to bring the Association into disrepute shall be liable to expulsion or suspension by the Committee, Board or Council concerned.”
Mayo Ladies Gaelic County Board Secretary Kevin McDonnell said the meeting heard an update on the mediation process which followed on from the withdrawal of the players last month.
He said the board gave delegates ‘as much information as we could under the confines of the confidentiality agreement that was in place’.
He said questions followed from delegates and that ‘it was the feeling of the meeting that some action needed to be taken’.
“Various options were discussed and it was decided that they had brought the game into disrepute,” he told The Mayo News.

Decisive votes
He said a vote was held and delegates and officers voted 29 to 4 that Carnacon had brought the game into disrepute.
He said the meeting then moved onto a sanction and that it was proposed from the floor to disqualify them from club league and championship for 2018 at senior level.
This was overwhelmingly passed, 26-2 with a number of spoiled votes also.
When asked why the sanction was unique to Carnacon and their players, and not to other players from other clubs who left, Mr McDonnell said their withdrawal was somewhat different.
“Other players left of an individual nature for personal reasons. Carnacon withdrew their players – they contacted the county manager and withdrew their services. That is what it was seen by the meeting as having brought the game into disrepute. It was the action of the club rather than its players,” he said.
While there is a rule in the Ladies Gaelic Official Guide that allows county boards to impose a six month ban for any player who refuses to play for their county team, Mr McDonnell said this did not apply as ‘personal reasons’ were cited by the non-Carnacon players.

Standing by their players
Carnacon Club Secretary Beatrice Casey said they were meeting last night as a club to discuss the matter and prepare a statement but confirmed they will be appealing the decision.
She also stood by the club’s decision to withdraw their eight players from the Mayo squad last month.
“Our girls had genuine concerns and genuine issues that they felt were being overlooked and that’s why we got involved as a club,” she told The Mayo News.
They received the notification this afternoon and have five days to appeal to the Connacht Council.
Kevin McDonnell said he the board have to review what will happen to games in league and championship that Carnacon have already played this year but said that is all subject to any appeal by Carnacon.
Carnacon were due to play their next championship game against Castlebar Mitchels on or before September 16.
Carnacon have won every Mayo Ladies Senior Football Championship this millennium with Hollymount in 1999 the last team before them to lift the Mayo crown. Carnacon have won six All-Ireland titles since then.
Mayo Ladies defeated Cavan and lost to Dublin in the All-Ireland round-robin series. They were defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final earlier this month.