Crisis looms for Meath

Meath GAA is now facing a crisis in the aftermath of Luke Dempsey"s decision to withdrawn his name from the race for the position of Meath manager following the outcome of Monday night"s Co Board meeting Dempsey now maintains that his position had become 'untenable.' The former Longford and Westmeath manager had two meetings with Meath Co Committee officials and looked set to be nominated, until it emerged on Monday night that there was discord evident amongst members of the management committee. Dempsey said he was disappointed not to get a chance to manage Meath, but wished the county the best of luck in the future. Now, the quest for a new Meath manager looks set to continue for another two weeks at least. On Monday night the Co Committee were unable to come up with a name to put before club delegates. A new sub-committee to select a candidate may have to be set up and interviews scheduled again for anyone still interested in the position. Delegates had turned up at Simonstown on Monday night in expectation that a name would be put forward following a lengthy process, but they were ultimately disappointed as the long-running saga hit stalemate. There was a touch of farce about the events of the evening. A management meeting was convened in a kitchen at Simonstown for up to an hour before the Co Committee convened as last-minute efforts were made to try and resolve the situation. At that meeting, the sub-committee charged with finding a manager put forward their candidate, but this was rejected by the management committee. It is understood that the procedures employed in selecting the candidate were considered to be 'flawed' as one member of the sub-committee had not attended the interview with the candidate that was selected. That candidate was Luke Dempsey. The five-man committee to pick the manager was deeply divided with at least two of them eager to have Eamonn O"Brien appointed while the others were in favour of putting Dempsey"s name forward. Earlier on Monday, a Co Committee official had admitted that the situation had become 'very complicated' and this fear was borne out by subsequent events. After dealing with a number of other items on the agenda on Monday night, Co Committee chairman Barney Allen eventually came to the issue everyone wanted to hear about - the appointment of the senior team manager. Allen issued a brief statement saying that at this stage the Co Committee were not in a position to put forward a candidate. 'We are treating the issue with utmost urgency. Due to the confidential nature of the situation we are not in a position to name any candidate at the moment. I"d like to leave it at that for now,' he said. Dunshaughlin"s Mairead Delaney asked why the process was taking so long echoing the sentiments felt by many. St Colmcille"s delegate and former Central Council delegate Pat O"Neill said he would consider a candidate 'as long as he wasn"t from outside the county.' Another delegate jokingly wondered if delaying the appointment was a new way of getting delegates to attend Co Committee meetings? While that provoked a laugh there was undoubted frustration and puzzlement among delegates that the issue was still not resolved, particularly as other counties such as Dublin had already appointed their manager with Pat Gilroy due to meet his players next week. Over the past four weeks the sub-committee set up to find a new manager have interviewed a number of people for the position with Dempsey and O"Brien the consistent forerunners. Events on Monday night suggested that the way is now open for O"Brien to take the reins and replace Colm Coyle. There is a strong constituency within Meath football strongly opposed to appointing an outsider with one delegate admitting on Monday night that he had been instructed by his club not to accept the nomination of a candidate from beyond the boundaries of the county. Throughout the whole selection process, Co Committee officials declined to reveal any information.