Ryan resigns ahead of hurling investigation

Date Published: 30-Oct-2009

The 13-year reign of Galway hurling Board Chairman Miko Ryan came to an end on Wednesday evening when the Craughwell native resigned just one hour before he was due to be the subject of a County Board investigation.

Members of the seven man management committee were due to meet at the Maldron hotel, Oranmore, to discuss an alleged altercation between Ryan and a gate man at Athenry during the controversial semi-final clash between Loughrea and Mullagh last Sunday week.

This alleged altercation, the second involving Ryan this year, reportedly took place when the Chairman was supposed to be seeing out the final 16 days of an eight week ban from GAA activities which was imposed on him earlier this year.

Ryan had been served with the initial ban arising from a clash with Galway senior selector john Moylan on the sideline at Tullamore during Galway’s defeat to Kilkenny in the Leinster Championship on June 20 last. After a number of appeals, it had been re-imposed some weeks ago.

Ryan was initially banned from the sideline for all inter-county games until the end of the year and should not have been present when the hurling Board’s Fixtures committee met to confirm the fixtures for two weekends ago, when Loughrea beat Mullagh amid much controversy.

The staging of the county final is now in doubt given that Mullagh, who lost the semi final, have appealed to the Connacht Council on the basis that the fixture should be declared “null and void”. That appeal will be heard tonight.

Ryan submitted a letter of resignation to the Chairman of the County Board, Gerry Larkin, prior to the scheduled investigation and, as a result, the proposed probe did not take place although the management committee met to discuss other matters on Wednesday.

Ryan could have faced a second ban of six months had Wednesday night’s investigation gone against him, after the gate man involved had submitted a letter of complaint to the County Board.

Larkin confirmed to the City Tribune yesterday that the resignation would come into effect immediately and a successor was unlikely to be appointed until the annual convention of the hurling Board in December.

“I want to thank Miko for his service to Galway hurling and the County Board over a 13 year period,” said Larkin yesterday. “In 12 of those 13 years, he was elected unopposed. I would particularly like to thank his family for their support for him during his term of office. I would like to wish him well in the future.”

Following his resignation, Ryan said that he had not enjoyed his last year in office and he called for greater unity in Galway hurling. He expressed regret that the county had been unable to turn minor glory into success at senior level.

Ryan, who took over as Chairman following the death of Tom Callanan in 1996, called yesterday for the disputes and personality clashes which have dogged Galway hurling over the past two to three years to be brought to an end.