What is about it GAA president John Horan? Seemingly every time a recording device is presented before his mouth, he finds a way to say something that will rankle someone. As the GAA continues to fend off accusations that it is out of touch with its grassroots and in thrall to Dublin, Horan keeps saying things that don't help the GAA in the battle for 'hearts and minds' outside of the capital.
Horan has done it again today, while defending the decision to have the Cork footballers play on Saturday in Croke Park against Dublin and the Cork hurlers to play Sunday in Croke Park against Kilkenny to John Fogarty in the Irish Examiner.
But when you talk about the Cork supporter, and I think we all know the Cork football supporter will be a different cohort to the Cork hurling supporter. For the guy that bridges both then these things are unfortunate.
Really? A different cohort'? Ok sure Cork has its football clubs and its hurling clubs, and its football people and its hurling people, but the idea these two 'cohorts' don't strongly overlap is unusual. Cork has perhaps the proudest tradition of dual players - from Jimmy Barry-Murphy to Teddy McCarthy to Séan Óg Ó hAilpín to Eoin Cadogan to Aidan Walsh. He goes on to add, 'There will always be an appetite to have a game on a Saturday night and a Dublin game is generally on a Saturday night.'
Oh. A cynical observer might say the GAA is primarily trying facilitate the interests of Dublin and their supporters with their fixture scheduling this weekend. Running both Cork fixtures on Sunday with Tipp v Laois and Tyrone v Roscommon on Saturday evening might mean lower gate receipts but it would certainly assist the hardcore Cork GAA supporter. But alas it's not to be.
Cork GAA fans have been expressing their disagreement with Horan on social media this morning.
When’s he going to realise he’s the president of all the GAA not the president of Dublin GAA. Constant defence any time there’s criticism of Dublin, and even when its Cork related it’s a justifaction of Dublin footballers fixture timing on a Saturday night
— Ruairi Hatchell (@RuairiHatchell) July 10, 2019
