McCarthy looks set to see out second of two-year term

LIMERICK HURLING:JUSTIN McCARTHY is prepared to "wait and see" what happens at this evening's Limerick County Board meeting, but it now seems unlikely the vote of no confidence in his continuing as senior hurling manager will gain the necessary two-thirds majority.

It means McCarthy may well see out the second of his two-year term in charge, even if that also means the rest of Limerick’s hurling season will effectively be a write-off.

When contacted yesterday McCarthy wasn’t prepared to talk about the chances of him staying in charge, nor indeed his exact feelings on staying in charge, assuming he is still supported.

“It is a very important meeting for the county board, and for the club delegates,” he said.

“And it’s not for me to comment beyond that at this stage. I don’t want to speculate as to what might happen. So we’ll wait and see, and comment when the meeting is over.”

The meeting, which takes place at the Claughaun GAA clubhouse, is a straight forward affair in that the motion of no confidence in McCarthy is the only item on the agenda.

It will also be held in camera, and no doubt certain arguments and counter-arguments will be made before the vote is taken. However, delegates will ultimately face one of only two options: vote to keep McCarthy and his management team in place through the 2010 league and championship; or vote for a change of management.

There are 68 clubs eligible to attend, with an estimated 138 votes up for grabs, which means, crucially, McCarthy will only require some 45 of those votes to remain in charge for the rest of the season.

This is because a similar vote was also taken last December, where the motion was to support the manager, and which McCarthy won on a vote 70 in favour of the motion and 54 against.

To reverse this, the county board executive required a further motion, which was submitted last week by eight clubs, but because it is to rescind the previous motion, will require the two-thirds majority.

Although several of Limerick’s leading clubs such as Adare, Garryspillane, Ahane and Killmallock are understood to be among the clubs intent on voting against McCarthy, having sought the motion of no confidence, the county executive of 14 members voted en bloc the last time in support of McCarthy, and there is little to suggest they will back down on that support even at this stage

Dual clubs are also entitled to two votes, whereas hurling clubs only have a single vote, and what may ultimately swing the motion in favour of McCarthy is the support of the junior and intermediate clubs, who don’t appear quite as vehemently opposed to McCarthy staying on as some of their senior counterparts.

At the most recent county board meeting, last Tuesday week, there was considerable unease expressed by several delegates regarding McCarthy staying in charge, while the majority of last year’s senior panellist refuse to play under him, and yet county board chairman Liam Lenihan maintained a line of support.

Even if McCarthy does stay in charge, the issue that has divided Limerick hurling for the past five months is unlikely to go away. McCarthy’s development team went down by 22 points to Tipperary on Sunday, and appear destined for relegation, with Offaly to come in Tullamore this Sunday.

In the meantime, the 2009 panel have been training under former Limerick selector Derry O’Donovan, and would appear to be ready to spring back into action should that call come – which of course sooner or later it will.