Referees of the past, present and future honoured at medal ceremony

Last weekend was a busy one for the refereeing fraternity in Cork.

A number of referees past and present were honoured at a special function in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Friday night’ then, on Saturday, a wide-ranging referees’ conference took place at the stadium.

Six stalwarts were presented with lifetime recognition awards while the late Willie Horgan – the referee for the 1991 All-Ireland hurling final – was honoured with the inauguration of an award in his name, presented to Kevin O’Sullivan of Valley Rovers as the new referee of the year.

In addition, the county final referees from 2020-23 inclusive were presented with medals to mark their achievements, this being the first opportunity in post-Covid times to bestow such tokens.

Frank Murphy, John Motherway, Dónal O’Connor, Michael Keane, Danny Warren and Jim Healy were the six men to be recognised with lifetime awards, having given years of stellar service in refereeing at high levels and then also in helping to ensure that the generations behind them developed in a positive way.

The presentation night, and the referees’ conference at the Páirc the following day, were among the final acts of a year that saw a new referee development committee come into force. Chaired by county referees’ administrator Niall Barrett, it is a 16-strong body.

The work of the committee, and in particular that of Barrett and secretary Jim McEvoy, was recognised by county board chairperson Marc Sheehan when he spoke on Friday night.

At Saturday’s conference, Niall Barrett welcomed those present and outlined how the approach to refereeing is evolving in the county.

“We are trying new things to enhance and promote refereeing as an enjoyable part of the GAA in Cork in particular,” he said.

“Last night, we had our county finals medal presentation, the first since 2019. We also recognised six people for their outstanding lifetime service to refereeing. All six men have given outstanding efforts in a variety of roles in refereeing.

“We also had our first New Referee Award, named in honour of Willie Horgan, selected from the new referees who completed the course in 2022.

“The recipient was Kevin O’Sullivan of Valley Rovers, a worthy winner and yet there were a good number of candidates for the awards, which is a good reflection of the quality of referees coming through.”

The focus of the conference was to assist match officials with information and support performance and preparation and there were more than 120 referees, linesmen and referee administrators in attendance.

Rugby referee George Clancy gave a great account of his own experience of refereeing international rugby games, including at two World Cups, Six Nations and European club Games. Four-time All-Ireland hurling final referee Barry Kelly’s keynote speech highlighted the enjoyment of refereeing Gaelic games.

Another aspect of the event was the panel discussion, chaired by 96FM and C103’s Finbarr McCarthy, featuring the five All-Ireland referees from Cork: Frank Murphy, Michael Collins, Diarmuid Kirwan, Conor Lane and Colm Lyons. They talked about their lives as referees and the experience of taking charge of a final and this was followed by a question-and-answer session.

The County Referee Development Plan was also launched at the Conference and sets out the roles of responsibilities of all on the new Referee Development Committee as well as targets in relation to referee supports, retention, development and recruitment for the coming years.

The Cork Referee Development Committee consists of Niall Barrett (chairperson), Jim McEvoy (secretary), Colm Lyons (recruitment), Diarmuid Kirwan (mentoring), Cormac Dineen (retention), Paddy Corkery (umpires), Jamie Lane (equipment), Cathal Ó Murchú (PRO), John O’Donovan (Avondhu), John Enright (Beara), Brian Coinry (Carrigdhoun), Eamon Sheehy (Carbery), Dan Dennehy (Duhallow), Miah Moynihan (Muskerry/advisors), James Dorgan (Seandún) and Jerome O’Brien (Imokilly).

In 2023, 43 prospective referees took the foundation-level course, up one from the 22 figure. It is estimated that Cork requires around 350 referees to cover all of its adult and juvenile fixtures in a year. Things are healthy in that regard.

Currently, Cork referees Conor Lane, David Murnane, John Ryan and Colm Lyons are on the national referees’ panel while Ciarán O’Regan, Simon Stokes, Shane Scanlon, Cormac Dineen and James Regan are on the Munster panel. Patrick O’Mahony (Kilbrittain) and Ciarán Murphy (Glanworth) were recently appointed to the Munster Academy provincial panel.