It's a question of loyalties
 By David
Thorpe
Speculation linking Roscommon’s former star forward Frankie Dolan
with a move across the Shannon to Westmeath has sparked fresh debate about
whether players should be allowed to transfer from county to county.
Critics of the ruling which allows players to transfer between counties
say it undermines what the GAA stands for and believe the loophole should
be closed for the good of Gaelic games in the future.
This argument obviously does not relate to British counties as living
in Britain and playing for a county in Ireland would be almost impossible.
In a comical development with the Dolan issue he has been told that he
must declare which county he considers himself a native of, either Westmeath
where he was born, or Roscommon where he grew up.
Rossies manager John Maughan has already stated that Dolan is not part
of his plans in 2007.
Fermanagh’s star forward Rory Gallagher is to play for Cavan this
year. The 28-year-old lives and works in Cavan Town and has decided to
throw his lot in with the Breffni men in 2007.
Gallagher attempted to transfer to Dublin a number of years ago, but Dublin
manager at the time Tommy Lyons refused to pick him on the grounds that
there were enough native-born players who should be given a chance within
the county.
Gallagher returned to Fermanagh but was frozen out by manager Charlie
Mulgrew following his desertion of the county colours and has now opted
to transfer to Cavan.
High-profile inter-county transfers are almost unheard of in hurling but
there have been some of note.
The former Kilkenny captain Dennis Byrne defected to Tipperary in the
late ’90s but failed to make the grade with the Premier men while
Eamonn Morrisey’s decision to leave Kilkenny for Dublin caused much
controversy in 1998.
Such player moves have become increasingly common in football in recent
years and are sparking a major debate in the GAA about players transferring
between counties.
The Gaelic Players Association have no official stance on the issue but
the organisation’s President DJ Carey believes that playing for
your home club or county is pivotal to the GAA’s ethos.
He told The Irish Post: “From my own point of view I was born into
a club and into a county and the pride you get from representing them
cannot be replicated in any other way.
“There are obviously exceptional circumstances in which a player
transfers for work or personal reasons but I think the emphasis should
always be on the county of a player’s birth.
“There is no set-down rule within the GAA at the moment, and things
are a little open ended, so maybe the GAA should bring in a cast iron
rule one way or the other on players transferring.”
Some intercounty transfers have transformed teams and the course of GAA
history in recent decades. Here are some of the most high-profile.
Larry Tompkins
(Kildare to Cork)
Tompkins was one of the first and most high-profile cases of a player
transferring to another county.
The big man was a star player for years on an ineffectual Kildare side
and along with colleague Shay Fahey was in dispute over expenses with
the Kildare board. The board were unwilling to pay the player’s
return flights from New York where Tompkins was briefly based while a
student.
The Cork County Board stepped in and Tompkins became one of the greatest
footballers to line-out for the Rebels in recent times transforming the
team into All-Ireland winners and attaining the status of GAA legend along
the way.
The controversy concerning Tompkins’ decision to transfer rumbled
on for many years and may have played a part in his not getting the Kildare
manager’s job two years ago.
Karl O’Dywer
(Kerry to Kildare)
Former Kerry squad player Karl O’Dwyer upped sticks to join his
father Mick and took his place at the heart of the Kildare attack in time
for the 1998 season.
The Lilywhites lacked only a scoring forward to enable them to move onto
the next level. The manager’s son, who had been teaching in a school
in the county for many years, provided that as Kildare won the Leinster
title and advanced to the All-Ireland final. Along the way they defeated
Kerry in the semi-final but lost out to Galway in the decider.
O’Dwyer retired from inter-county football before his 30th birthday
but continues to ply his trade at club level within the county.
Declan Darcy
(Leitrim to Dublin)
Although born in Dublin, Declan opted to play for his grandparent’s
county of Leitrim at an early age and led the county to Provincial success
in 1994 when Leitrim won the Connaught Final.
He transferred back to Dublin in 1998 and became a consistent free-taker
for the Dubs though the period will not be remembered as a great one for
fans of the Blues.
Centre-back on the Leitrim team which won the Connacht title under John
O’Mahony, a substantially bulkier Darcy played at full-forward for
Dublin. Having played most of his club football in the capital he was
one of the least controversial and surprising transfers when he linked
up with the Metropolitans for whom he remained a panelist until well into
his 30s.
Brian Lacey
(Tipperary to Kildare)
The Tipperary player was another of Mick O’Dwyer’s recruits
to the Kildare colours. The talented centre-back was living in Kildare
and working in Dublin when he decided to make the move. Originally he
cited the distance he had to travel to training as the reason for his
move but eventually admitted that the desire to win medals was his primary
motivation.
That was something he was unlikely to be able to achieve as part of a
Tipperary football team whose progress was restricted to being gallant
losers to either Cork or Kerry every year.
Two Leinsters and an All-Star later Lacey returned to play for Tipperary
in 2005, where he captained the football team which won the Tommy Murphy
Cup. He is likely to be a key player for the Premier County men in 2007.
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