Loughnane vote deferred

Date Published: 07-Oct-2008

THE Galway hurlers will play in the Leinster senior championship next year, but the identity of the person who will lead them into the eastern province will not be known until Thursday night when Ger Loughnane’s position as manager will come under scrutiny from club delegates at a meeting of the Hurling Board.

Loughnane’s fate was set to be decided tonight (Tuesday), but the meeting has been put back by 48 hours in the wake of the tragic death of county panellist Paul Flynn in a road traffic accident in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Flynn, regarded as one of the best corner backs in Galway hurling, had been drafted into Loughnane’s panel just after this year’s National Hurling League and had won an All-Ireland U-21 medal with the county in 2005.

The death of the promising 24-year old from the Tommie Larkins club has sent shock waves through Galway hurling and has clearly put all of the wrangling over Loughnane’s future in its proper perspective over the past few days. A Garda, based in Limerick, he was a key figure in his club’s county Intermediate success – a campaign which saw Larkins regain senior status – last year.

The Hurling Board Secretary, John Fahey, confirmed …..