Naas come under fire at County Board meeting 

Leixlip, Ardclough and the Kildare County Board strongly criticised eight-in-a-row senior hurling champions Naas for their concession of last weekend’s Intermediate decider at tonight’s County Board meeting at Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

Tom Melville, Chairperson of their would-be opponents Leixlip, who were awarded the tier 2 crown when Naas indicated they could not field a team, described the situation as a “disgrace, an embarrassment to the county,” adding that “Naas have not been genuine and serious sanctions should be sought for that club.” 

Melville reminded delegates that the players had been training since January for this occasion and that what had happened “wouldn’t happen in any other dual county.” 

Earlier, Competitions Control Committee (CCC) Chairperson Noel McKenna had laid out in detail the sequence of events that saw the game originally rescheduled from St Conleth’s Park to Hawkfield the previous week before then falling foul of a pitch inspection due to the stormy weather and being rescheduled for last weekend.

McKenna was anxious not to open the floor to many questions as the matter is, he told the meeting, still under review by the CCC, but Leixlip were determined to have their say and the Ardclough club weighed in behind them with their delegate Ger Buggle saying that “Naas gave a walkover for the sake of three footballers with Eadestown,” referring to the fact that Eadestown had a Senior A football final scheduled for last Friday night, with the hurling final scheduled for 11am on Sunday morning.

Buggle was dismayed that Leixlip had been “denied their biggest day in years,” and cautioned that “Naas should be treated as an ordinary club,” in determining the outcome of the CCC review. He said the message Naas were giving their own members was that if you only mattered if you were a senior hurler in the club.

Kildare GAA Chairperson Mick Mullen, while emphasising that the CCC must do its work and complete its review, felt that any criticism of the County Board in the matter was unfair and that “this top table have one hundred percent support for hurling,” while noting that the statement sent out by the Naas club on social media (in which they argued that the concession was necessary due to the scheduling of their under 23 semi-final against Éire Óg Corra Choill for Saturday last), is “under investigation and was factually incorrect.” 

There was no comment on the night from Naas GAA club.

In an otherwise low-key meeting, in comparison to the animated September equivalent, long-serving Treasurer Alan Dunney confirmed that this will be his last year in the role while informing the meeting that St Conleth’s Park was now effectively a debt-free facility with more cash on deposit in Croke Park than is owed on the county ground.

Meanwhile David Whyte was ratified as a selector on the Senior Football management team, joining Brian Flanagan’s set-up where he will join Davy Burke and Damien Hendy. Stephen Shanks was confirmed as the new Strength and Conditioning lead.

Shanks has worked at UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry since 2022 and holds an MSc in Strength and Conditioning from Ulster University in Belfast.