IN ALL FAIRNESS - Free Speech

Alan Flynn’s comments post Kiladangan’s county final victory were as rare as they were wonderful from a media point of view.

We are in an era where “free speech” is sacrosact unless you say an unpopular thing. “Cancel culture” is a term I despise but it is hard to disagree that it isn’t happening. In the past, if you disagreed with someone, you challenged their argument, and left it at that. Nowadays, if you say something that isn’t reflective of public mood, you have to retract it, and even if you do, your voice in society tends to be diminished.

We saw an element of it last week here in Tipperary. Alan Flynn’s comments post Kiladangan’s county final victory were as rare as they were wonderful from a media point of view. Not often in a GAA sense anymore do we hear players or managers say what they really think, even if they might not end up being popular for it.

The reason you didn’t see Alan’s comments in this paper last week wasn’t us avoiding controversy, it was because I wasn’t in on that interview with the Kiladangan skipper, mine was done separately after he was showered and changed, a time when his emotions had calmed somewhat.

Only, Alan Flynn can tell you whether he regrets some of what he said, as outside of Kiladangan, he hasn’t garnered much support for his stance that his club “were thrown under a bus” by Tipperary manager Liam Cahill by going from having six panellists in 2022 (albeit under a different manager) to just one come the end of the 2023 championship, goalkeeper Barry Hogan who started the first two games but was replaced mid-campaign, without doing much wrong, although his replacement Rhys Shelly fully justified his place thereafter.

There’s no doubting that the perceived sleight on Kiladangan and their lack of representation on the Tipperary panel this year was an element of motivation for some players in this club championship. Good for them if it was as you take advantage of anything to give yourself an edge that might spur you onto victory.

Whether Kiladangan were “thrown under the bus” is open to debate, but that is what it is, a debate. Alan Flynn is entitled to his opinion, as are those who are entitled to disagree with him, of which there are many.Everything is subjective, even in terms of putting a Tipperary panel together which is the preserve of manager Liam Cahill as he puts the final touches of his 2024 selection together with competitive training set to get underway in just over two weeks’ time.

The interesting aspect of all of this is, how do Flynn’s comments play with the Tipp manager. Sean Hayes and Billy Seymour should join Barry Hogan in being part of the next Tipp panel, their club form is too good not to, and past underage inter-county experience is a help. Declan McGrath is a player worthy of a full look having previously been trailed briefly by Colm Bonnar. But the interesting conundrum, if there is one, is Alan Flynn himself.

His omission from Liam Cahill’s first Tipperary panel was the biggest surprise. While he wasn’t a nailed on starter, he was always a dependable player to have on the squad. Maybe that was the aspect that counted against him in Liam Cahill’s eyes that he had been there for six years and made eighteen championship appearances, many of them were as a sub, but as is the modern game, those that come on to finish the game are as important as those that start.

There is no doubting that Alan Flynn’s form for Kiladangan this year justifies a recall to the Tipp squad. Liam Cahill may well decide that at the age of 29 that he is moving on with younger players and would be fully justified in his decision to do so. However, if you are putting the best forty players together to represent Tipperary in 2024, there are not forty better than the Kiladangan clubman based on what we have seen this year.

On the face of it, questioning the Tipperary manager publicly would make it harder for Alan Flynn to secure a recall, but it could work in his favour too, as while Liam Cahill could take those comments personally, he could also see it as a sign of fire and passion from a player that maybe he mis-judged and discarded too soon. We will find out for sure in the coming weeks.

Flynn’s comments were also referred to in an article on the Tipperary GAA website by Noel Dundon which was subsequently removed following criticism. This isn’t me defending a journalistic colleague I have known for a long time, but I thought it was the wrong move by the County Board to take down the article. Some people might not have liked what was written but he didn’t libel anyone. It was his “View” as the column is entitled, on a number of issues, albeit strongly in some instances. However, if you disagree with him, then disagree with him, but don’t be one of those people that demands free speech on one hand but then wants things cancelled that you don’t agree with. That’s just being two-faced!