Delegates question review process that led to O'Rourke's decision

DID he go or was he pushed?

Delegates were left none the wiser following a long discussion at last night’s county committee meeting into the review that ended with Colm O’Rourke’s decision not to seek a third year in charge of the Meath senior football team, writes Sean Wall.

There was disquiet among several clubs with the outcome of that review which sees the county yet again starting a process to find a new senior football team manager, their eighth in just 19 years.

Among the dissenting voices was Co Board vice chairman Paddy Kelly who said he was very disappointed as a member of the management committee that he wasn’t engaged in the process and that the management committee had no input and it was now being portrayed that Colm wasn’t given enough time to put his management team in place. And if that was the case it merited being brought back to the management committee to discuss that aspect of it and that didn’t happen.

Kelly said that as a member of the management committee he was none the wiser than any of the delegates as to what happened.

The review was conducted by Co Board chairman Jason Plunkett and Liam Keane.

It was Keane who was handed the task of explaining to delegates the process of the review though many were less than happy with some of the answers, including what if any efforts were made to ensure O’Rourke remained in the post.

Keane stated several times that he wasn’t going to break the confidentiality of discussions that went on.

However transparency seemed to be in short supply in some of the answers given to what actually led to O’Rourke stepping down.

Keane outlined the review process and said it consisted of a number of elements.

They spoke to people who were involved in management set ups in other counties that would be considered successful and how Meath compared to those.

There was also a survey with the players as well as meetings with the leadership group of players.

They also met with other people involved in the wider management group as well as a number of meetings with Colm O’Rourke.

Keane stressed that no one element took precedence over everything else.

Keane said O'Rourke ultimately decided not to seek to be appointed for a third year and therefore there was no need to present a review to the management committee.

He said everything was dealt with in a dignified and confidential manner and expressed the hope that that would remain the case.

When asked by the Dunsany delegate what was the reason for O'Rourke not allowing his name to go forward for a third year Keane said that O'Rourke had issued a statement which was widely published, though he might have issues with some of what was in the statement.

The Carnaross club wondered if O’Rourke was given an ultimatum, or did he resign of his own accord or was any requests made to reconsider his decision?

Keane stressed that the manager wasn’t given an ultimatum to resign and he himself choose not to seek reappointment for a third year. It wasn’t a decision that was arrived at overnight according to Keane.

The Skryne club asked if O’Rourke was given a deadline to have his selectors in place for the management meeting on the Monday night and if so what was the urgency in having selectors in place?

Keane responded by saying that time was moving on and it was important that people were in positions especially with the club championship progressing and with other counties already having new management teams in place. He said ample opportunity was given to allow things to be put in place if that were possible.

The Skryne delegate wondered was it not better to hold onto what they had instead of spending a few months finding a replacement and what effort was put in to hold on to him?

He expressed grave disappointment that more wasn’t done to keep O’Rourke and stated he was as wise now as to what happened as when he came into the meeting.

The Boardsmill delegate said what most people in the county understood was that O’Rourke didn’t have the supports of all the groups included in the review and of the county board and felt that he had no other alternative but to step down as he wouldn’t have that support going forward.

Keane said the process to appoint a new manager was set out in the regulations and expressed the hope the matter would be concluded quickly.

Chairman Jason Plunkett said clubs hade been invited to submit nominations with the deadline Wednesday, September 4th at 9am.

Interviews will be conducted by the chairman and Liam Keane with assistance from the Football Development Committee.