GAA legend Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh has said a great injustice has been done to axed Donegal star Kevin Cassidy.
And the RTE veteran has called on the Donegal County Board to intervene in the current dispute with manager Jim McGuinness.
Commentator Ó Muircheartaigh said that the dispute between Cassidy and McGuinness was based on a difference of opinion and had been blown out of all proportion.
But he said the County Board had a responsibility to attempt to bring about a resolution.
Speaking on Radio na Gaeltachta, the GAA icon he said that as the County Board had appointed McGuinness and had laid out the terms of his appointment, they had an authority and a responsibility to act in this case.
During the interview he also questioned the amount of control some managers exerted on their teams and referred to the confiscation of the Donegal team’s mobile phones before the semi final match with Dublin, saying that he felt it was as a step too far.
In the interview with Áine Ní Churráin on the Barrscealta programme, Ó Muircheartaigh said that Cassidy had played brilliantly during the year, and that he had been central to the team’s success, and as such that he deserved to be on the team trip to Florida.
He said that he didn’t think what had been published in the book ‘This is Our Year’ did any damage to the team as it wasn’t published until after the championship had ended, although he didn’t agree with the inclusion of the comments about John Joe Doherty’s management style as it didn’t refer to the year in question.
Ó Muircheartaigh said that he believed that the dispute between Cassidy and McGuinness could be resolved and that the County Board should bring both sides together to work it out.
He said that he hoped to see Cassidy playing for Donegal again in the new year, and that his absence from the Donegal team next year would leave a huge void.
He also said that McGuinness had been a very good player in his time and had the talent to be a very good manager.
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