Patrick Mulvihill in action for Garrycastle. He's now at the centre of a transfer wrangle. Photo: Ann Hennessy.

Garrycastle furious over Mulvihill transfer process

Garrycastle GAA lodged a complaint at last week's Westmeath County Board meeting over the handling of the proposed transfer of one of its top players, Paddy Mulvihill, to St Brigid's of Roscommon.

'We are not happy with what happened,' Garrycastle GAA chairman Terry Larkin said.

Mr Larkin's comments came after Garrycastle missed the 10-day window in which it could object to the transfer of one of their most talented forwards to a neighbouring club across the river Shannon.

The club chairman said that its officials heard second-hand that the transfer was going to proceed.

'Garrycastle should have been given a chance,' he fumed. 'They should have been told when this meeting was taking place and they should have been brought in.'

'The way it was handled at county board level prevented us from having a meeting with our club members, who are now very disgruntled people,' he continued.

The Garrycastle chief called for the transfer to be returned, and for the county board to write to the club and apologise for the oversight.

Mr Larkin's point brought about an apology from county board secretary James Savage, who accepted that Garrycastle's failure to sign off on the transfer hadn't been noticed.

But while assuring the club that they will still get the chance to have their say while the transfer is assessed by Croke Park's Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC), he could not accede to Garrycastle's demands that the transfer be returned.

When a player leaves a club, Mr Savage explained, the signature of that club is not required.

An objection is required, however, and county board chairman Sean Sheridan reminded Garrycastle delegates present they were 'aware' of the proposed transfer.