Johnston action's have justified manager's decision
In tough times, we must cling to our values. The GAA is the greatest sporting organisation in the world because it emphasises what Aogan Farrell has called "a sense of place".
Speaking minutes before Cavan Gaels won the county title last October, Aogan told this newspaper: "It's about a sense of place, and it's about love of place and of course there's nowhere else that matters to anyone in the GAA, no matter what level you're involved in, but your own club."
That's not always the case as Cavan Gaels, who will begin the new season without their former captain, Sean Johnston, can attest.
There are no winners from the Johnston transfer saga, an issue which has thrust Cavan GAA into the limelight for the wrong reasons.
The Cavan county board have objected to the transfer, and have been widely criticised. One commentator opined that "Cavan don't want him and won't let anyone else have him either". Yet Cavan were the ones who blocked the move; by that logic, Cavan Gaels, who effectively sanctioned it and allowed him to leave, do want their man to stay and the board, who blocked him from moving, want him gone.
If Cavan didn't want him, why would they object against his leaving?
It's worth remembering that what's taken as "Cavan" or "the county board" is merely a committee elected by the clubs to oversee GAA affairs in this county. That is an entirely different entity to the county senior team management.
The Cavan county board had a moral responsibility to adhere to the rules. PRO Declan Woods, who was subsequently ambushed on national radio by an interviewer who dragged up such issues as a training ban, which Cavan were proven not to have broken, clearly explained the situation in this newspaper last week.
Sean Johnston lived in Cavan until recently before announcing that he had moved residence to Kildare. Common sense dictates that this is an unlikely move for a man whose work, sporting and family ties are in his home town and the board has no proof and thus isn't certain that the player's permanent residence is where he says it is.
They were asked to make a judgement on an issue and did so in accordance with the rule of the association, as was not just their entitlement, but their duty.
Those who have been assassinating Sean Johnston's character on internet forums and in private should desist immediately. Johnston is an amateur footballer and has a high profile because he has worked enormously hard to reach a level of skill which is on a par with some of the better footballers in the country. He deserves great credit for this.
Unfortunately, his reaction to being omitted from the Cavan panel has been to turn his back on his club and his county. That is not the GAA way. Players don't have a right to a county jersey - they earn the right and the onus is on them to keep it.
Cavan football will be the poorer for the absence of a player of Sean Johnston's talent, of that there is no doubt. But by choosing to cut his ties with the club that helped nurture him and with his home county, he has justified the manager's decision.
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