Carlow and Wicklow force league reappraisal

There are growing doubts over the concluding rounds of the National Leagues in a number of divisions as a certain counties continue to fear the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

Carlow have cancelled their Division Two hurling games against Down on Sunday and Armagh the following week, while Wicklow have also called off this Sunday's trip to Armagh.

Officials from the Carlow County Board met on Tuesday night and yesterday announced their decision not to travel to Ballycran on Sunday to face Down, nor will they host Armagh on Sunday week. A part of south Down remains in the disease exclusion zone, with a similar situation in Armagh.

County secretary Tom O'Neill said that the unanimous decision of the county board to drop the points was a small price to pay for greater insurance that the disease is kept out of the county.

The GAA's Central Council have already announced that counties who decline to fulfil a fixture would forfeit the points, but would not suffer further punishment.

"London and Louth are already gone, and with these games gone as well, that's almost half the division," said O'Neill. "So the league is as good as over for us, and we are gearing now towards the preliminary rounds of the Leinster championship in May."

Carlow regretted any inconvenience that may be caused to the GAC and the county committees of Down and Armagh, but the decision was made due to the "grave fear of teams travelling through areas where outbreaks of disease has taken place" and the subsequent risk it may pose in its spread.

A statement from the county board also said that the decision was reluctantly reached, but, following consultations with the local district veterinary office, the county committee was left with little alternative but to withdraw from both fixtures.

Wicklow have only dropped one point in Division Two but have also reached a unanimous decision not to travel to Keady on Sunday for their NHL fixture against Armagh. County secretary Patrick Fortune explained yesterday that the decision was made "for obvious reasons".

"We are a major sheep farming county, maybe the biggest in the country. We are also one of the top teams in the division, but the fear of this disease is still there. We are hopeful that we can refix this game, but we will have to get back to the GAC on that one."

There were similar doubts about the Division 1B meeting between Derry and Laois in Dungiven due to the concerns of Laois officials whether they should travel through northern counties, but at the moment that game will go ahead.

Laois, however, have delayed naming their team until this evening as players from agricultural regions of the county may be excused from travelling. According to county official Evelyn Lynch, a number of people involved in the team - including manager Sean Cuddy, selector Mick Peters and defender Nicholas Lacey - live and work in farming areas and they may request not to travel.

Just how the current situation will affect next weekend's resumption of the National Football League remains to be seen. Wicklow officials have already called another meeting for next Monday to discuss the implications of hosting the division 2A game with Antrim in Aughrim on Sunday week.

"Right now we are just taking it one week at a time," said Fortune, "but we will be looking closely at the problems surrounding that game as well. At least our final game is in Limerick so that should be fine."

Among the other remaining league games which may yet be affected are Offaly against Tyrone in division 1B, Armagh against Leitrim in division 2A, and Down's remaining games against both Tipperary and Wexford in division 2B.

With Louth and London already out of all remaining fixtures in April, the GAA's management committee will ultimately determine how the situation will affect the final league tables.

Part of the problem there is that Louth were likely to be in a relegation battle with Dublin and Kerry in the NFL division 1A, but, while Louth have beaten Kerry, Dublin had yet to play them.