Cork senior Micheál Mullins set to transfer to Glen Rovers

Former Cork U20 All-Ireland winning captain Micheál Mullins is set to transfer from Whitechurch to Glen Rovers, pending approval from the Cork County Board.

Mullins will have to wait until the next County board meeting on February 11 to have his transfer accepted, which will go through under the rule of switching to his father’s first club.

Mullins’ father Mickey, a former Cork panellist, won two county SHC medals with Na Piarsaigh. However, prior to that, he hurled at under-age level with the Glen.

The Cork senior panellist's move from Whitechurch to the Glen comes after the Cork County Board’s efforts to amend Byelaw 8 at the annual convention on December 10, which would have prevented this from happening.

The motion, put forth by the county board proposed the abolition of provisions d(ii), (iii), (iv) and (g).

After a lengthy debate between club delegates on the floor, they agreed to split the motion into two votes, separating (g) from the initial vote.

The vote to remove each of the three (d) provisions passed with ease, which meant a second vote for the deletion of provision (g) would follow.

The deletion of the motion would have meant players could no longer apply for a transfer to the ‘first club’ of their father.

The vote was close, but the provision remained in place with 96 delegates voting against its removal and 76 in favour.

Whitechurch will now head into 2025 without their only Cork senior hurler, after having just won the City Division Junior A HC title for the first time ever last season.

Ironically, they did so without Mullins, who was suspended for the final following a straight red card in their semi-final victory against Blackrock.

Unavailable to play in the divisional final against Passage West and after an unsuccessful appeal ahead of their county quarter-final against Killeagh, Mullins was once again left to watch from the stands as their east Cork opponents emerged victorious by the minimum after extra time.

Mullins joins the Glen following a dominant Senior A HC campaign, which saw the northsiders win all five games and make a swift return to Cork’s premier hurling competition.

Given their improvement as a team in the past season and the fact they should have been good enough to avoid relegation in 2023 – many would expect them to be back in the mix for 2025.

The addition of Mullins to that Glen Rovers side is only going to bolster their chances further.

The two-time All-Ireland and Munster U20 Hurling Championship winner won his first of two All-Ireland crowns as a substitute in Cork’s 4-19 to 2-14 defeat of Galway in 2021.

He then captained the Rebels during in 2023 and in the win over Offaly, starring for the team playing as a midfielder.

The 21-year-old then made his senior debut eight months later, coming on as a 62nd minute substitute for Pat Ryan’s side in the National Hurling League defeat to Clare on February 5.