Co Board motion defeated amidst acrimonious exchanges

Meath GAA Co Board failed to sack football manager Seamus McEnaney at last Wednesday night's specially convened meeting at Áras Táilteann. The move to have former manager Sean Boylan take over the reins of the county team did not get to the discussion stage, although some delegates suggested that the proposal was contrary to the rules. Co Board chairman Barney Allen (pictured) outlined the format for the vote in a lenghty explanation to delegates as the national media descended on Navan to report on the most recent crisis in Meath football. Twenty five reporters were present along with television crews from RTE and TV 3. There was clarification provided by the secretary Cyril Creavin about the number of items on the agenda. "I must apologise to some club delegates and the media, I stated that there would only be one item on the agenda, but the proposals will be dealt with separately," explained the secretary. There were numerous angry exchanges with both Walterstown clubman Eamonn Barry and Kiltale's Paddy Kelly threatened with expulsion from the meeting if they continued to speak as they were not, according to the chairman, the 'nominated delegates' as per rule. There was one moment of 'humour' when Barry was proposed as a teller to count the votes, but the chairman told him that he was not required. "We only need four tellers" stated the chairman although five were nominated and conducted the count under the direction of a neutral observer, John O'Donoghue who was proposed by the chairman for that role. Meath Co Board needed two-thirds (50) of the delegates to support their proposal to get rid of the manager to succeed. McEnaney needed a minimum of 25 votes against the motion to survive. When the tally was complete those in favour of the Co Board motion were 43 while against the motion were 31 - the motion failed. The Co Board then pledged their support for the manager and wished him well. "I have no problem working with Seamus McEnaney, what happened is in the past and Meath Co Board will give him 100 per cent support, I made that clear when I was talking to Seamus McEnaney last week," stated the chairman. Outlining his reasons for initiating the move to sack the manager, the chairman stated that supporters were angry with the performance of the team and that he had received a lot of complaints. "Anyone that was at the game against Louth in Páirc Táilteann and saw the performance of the team and after the game I was subjected to a lot of anger from supporters in general," stated Allen. "I had to take that on board and we felt we had to do something about it. "Meath were gone down to the NFL Div 3 and we put the motion before the Co Committee, it didn't get the two-thirds majority so I respect the decision of the club delegates," added the Rathkenny clubman. Regarding his approach to the manager and his request to resign, Allen confirmed that the Monaghan man was surprised by the request. "Seamus McEnaney was a bit taken aback when I asked him to resign, but he understood what I had to do and what I was at. "We will be the best of friends and I made that clear one way or the other, no matter what way the vote went "Sean Boylan made it clear that he would only take on the job if there was a vacancy and that he would only take it on for the rest of the year if there was a vacancy, there is no vacancy now and I'm sure Sean can accept that," added Allen. Despite earlier calls for his resignation and some harsh criticism from some delegates at last week's meeting, Allen pledged to complete his term at the helm of Meath Co Board. "My position as chairman is not untenable, my five years as chairman are up at the end of this year, I've given 35 years continuous service to Meath in various positions on Meath Co Board and I'm happy with my contribution over those years," he proclaimed. "When I finish up this year I will be able to look back on 35 years, I've never been beaten in any vote for any elective position "I don't feel let down by the delegates, I respect the decision of the delegates, no doubt about that, some delegates were maybe a bit strong in some remarks they made. "If that's the way they are I can respect that," he concluded.