Donal O'Grady has left his post as co-manager of the Limerick senior hurlers over a statement attributed to him and co-manager TJ Ryan at a recent meeting of the county board.
The revelation will no doubt be met with considerable shock in the Treaty County.
Ryan and the rest of the backroom team will remain with the county setup. The management team sent a statement to the Irish Examiner last night outlining their dissatisfaction with the situation. The statement read:
Limerick hurling co managers TJ Ryan and Donal O’Grady sought an immediate meeting with county board officers when certain statements at a recent board meeting appeared in the press.
One such statement informed the meeting that the co-managers ‘apologised for the abysmal’ displays during the league at a previous league review meeting.
This statement was simply untrue.
Furthermore the co-managers were appalled and alarmed that such statements would be made as they completely undermined the efforts of the players who had worked tremendously hard over the winter to advance the cause of Limerick senior hurling.
The co-managers sought a retraction of the ‘apology’ statement and clarification of other statements at this joint meeting between the officers and managers on April 11 (three days after the board meeting). At the outset of this meeting chairman, Oliver Mann, admitted without issue, that no apology was ever tendered to the officers by the management.
It was decided to issue a statement on the Limerick GAA website the following day withdrawing the untrue statement, while clarifying others. This did not happen.
Ten days have elapsed since. No clarifications and no retraction of the untrue statement have been made public as agreed. As no official retraction or clarification was published, national press coverage has continued to report the untrue statement, which has further undermined the management and playing panel.
Donal O’Grady wishes to state that regretfully at this point in time he has no other option but to step down forthwith from his position of coach and co-manager.
The chair of the board and the players and other members of the management team have been informed. As upcoming fixtures are in place, TJ Ryan will continue in his managerial role in the interim, in the interests of continuity.”
O'Grady returned to Limerick last November after two previous spells in charge. They begin their defence of the Munster title on June 1 against Tipperary at Thurles.
