UPDATE: Shortly after we published this morning Clare and Dublin withdrew from participating in this year’s All Ireland Championship. There are rumours that other counties may be considering similar action. The Camogie Association has yet to respond at time of writing.
At 0930 this morning a draw will be made to determine whether Clare or Dublin will play Wexford in an All Ireland Camogie Championship quarter final this coming weekend.
The draw will be streamed live on the Camogie Association’s You Tube Channel. Hopefully there will be a pre roll advertisement for Liberty Insurance so that the sponsors can gain from what is likely to be a larger than normal audience.
The Camogie Association’s sticking to its rule book has brought the sport to a wide audience and the detail that has emerged about the dedication and the commitment of the players will ultimately be a good thing to have developed in people’s minds.
Overshadowed
Unfortunately it will be overshadowed by the memory of what has been tried in the court of public opinion and found to have come short in terms of ‘natural justice’.
The rules on determining progress in the set of unusual circumstances that arose this year were laid down through proper channels and with full consultation at the start of this season.
The principle behind the decision not to factor in play off games was to avoid club competitions being unnecessarily impacted by county competition. That does make sense within the GAA family where there is a continual tension between the needs of the thousands of local players versus those of the dozens of the elite.
The message on the ‘why’ though has been overwhelmed by the coverage of the ‘how’ in which the Association has been painted as hidebound by a dusty rule book and governed by decisions of an administrative rather than a playing nature.
Honest regard
Most of the time that is what happens. The role of a Governing body is to govern without prejudice or favour, to do so openly and with honest regard for the interest of the sport, the players and the many other stakeholders that exist around the games we play.
Nobody who looks at the detail behind this situation can say the Camogie Association have done anything wrong.
And yet perhaps it has been an opportunity lost. The goodwill that would have come from acceding to the players wishes, the county’s wishes and the interests of creating a game that would have had massive media and public interest to showcase the skills of the players has been passed up.
It would have been possible as we highlighted here last week. Unfortunately in our eyes that hasn’t happened.
Official statement
Here is the official statement on the ruling issued yesterday by the Camogie Association:
The National Transfer Hearing and Disciplinary Committee (NTHDC) of the Camogie Association have issued their ruling on the appeals submitted by Clare and Dublin Camogie Boards on Sunday, July 26th against the pre-determined competition procedures of the Association.
Following their defeat of Derry on Sunday, July 26th, Clare drew level with Dublin in third place of Group Two of the Liberty Insurance Senior Camogie Championship on three points each.
A draw to determine who proceeds to the All-Ireland senior quarter-final on Saturday, August 1st to play Wexford was subsequently deferred on foot of appeals lodged by Clare and Dublin Camogie Boards.
The National Transfer Hearing and Disciplinary Committee (NTHDC) have issued the following, on the appeals lodged by Clare and Dublin Camogie Boards, that the appeals cannot be heard for the following reason (s)
1) Under Section 5.1 of the Official Guide part IV Disciplinary Code and THDC Mandatory Procedures Third Edition 2015.
-There shall be no appeal against a decision of Ard Chomhairle or any Unit in implementing such a decision.
2) Under Section 5.2a of Official Guide part IV Disciplinary Code and THDC Mandatory Procedures Third Edition 2015.
Appeals are only acceptable if lodged:
a)With the secretary of the Unit directly senior to the body against whose ruling the appeal is made (County Board, Provincial Council, National Education Council, Ard Chomhairle). (Note: The NTHDC is a sub-committee of Ard Chomhairle and is therefore not senior to Ard Chomhairle).
3) The NTHDC have no power to overturn the decision of Ard Chomhairle due to the following rules in the Official Guide Part 1 2015/2016.
10.1 Between each Annual Congress, Ard Chomhairle is the supreme governing body of the Association.
10.5c The powers of Ard Chomhairle include:
c. applying the Rules as set out in this Official Guide. Ard Chomhairle can rule on special cases, even where no particular Rule of the Association relates to those cases. A record of such rulings will be maintained by the Ard Stiúrthóir. Such rulings will be conveyed to Councils and County Boards. Where the subject matter warrants, Ard Chomhairle will submit such ruling as a motion for ratification at the next Congress;
Confirmation of the team that progresses to the All-Ireland senior-quarter final on August 1st to play Wexford will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday, July 29th) after a draw to determine this, is carried out.
ENDS
Notes : Under the 2015 National Fixtures Management plan, if two teams have an equal ranking (i.e. if head to head game ended in a draw), the final rankings will be decided by the following steps a, b and finally c.
a. Higher number of goals scored in the group match (es) between the teams in question
b. Higher number of points scored in the group match (es) between the teams in question. If after this the teams are still equal then the final scenario applies.
c. Draw lots (this will arise in the event that Clare beat Derry). This draw will take place after the match ends with the team drawn, proceeding to the quarter-finals.
These pre-determined procedures were agreed by Ard Chomhairle in November 2014. The procedure was raised in initial discussion with counties in October 2014 and a full consultative draft of the fixtures plan was issued on October 31st. The procedure was introduced in an effort to free up dates during the inter-county season to provide for club game schedules by avoiding play off dates at inter-county level.
This pre-determined procedure has been known to counties since the National Fixtures plan was disseminated to all counties on December 3rd 2014.
As part of the usual annual review of fixtures in October 2015, the new procedure will be considered in the context of fixtures planning for the 2016 season.
A full copy of the Official Guide of the Camogie Association and Mandatory Procedures for Transfer, Hearings and Disciplinary Code (THDC) is available at the following link http://www.camogie.ie/official-rules-of-camogie-association.asp
Image Credit: Inpho.ie
