The Mayo LGFA County Board Executive have broken their silence on the walkout of 12 players and two selectors from the county's senior panel.
In a statement, they suggest the walkout was an attempted coup over "management style, decisions and selections", rather than "welfare issues, unhealthy or unsafe environments".
The board has also endorsed manager Peter Leahy to continue in his role "for the upcoming season and beyond" and commended the players who stayed on the panel for performing "under immense emotional pressures and, in some cases, intimidation".
Those who left the panel released a statement earlier this morning explaining that they left because of an "unhealthy and unsafe" environment which featured "a lack of communication, being undermined, intimidated, feeling isolated and eventually helpless in the entire situation".
The 12 players & 2 members of the backroom team who stepped away from the Mayo ladies football squad spoke for the first time as a group last night. Coming up on @morningireland pic.twitter.com/cgtuj3K5sc
— Jacqui Hurley (@jacquihurley) September 18, 2018
However, the board has refuted this.
"Management, remaining players and county board officials have all said, and continue to say the same thing, we were not and are not aware of any issues which could be deemed as welfare issues, unhealthy or unsafe environments," they said.
"We sincerely hope that this situation finishes today and are glad that the players indicated there will be no further comment.
"We wish them well in their future endeavours and hope our Senior Team can look forward to playing next year without restriction or intimidation."
‘To brush this aside as feelings, I’m astounded’ - former Mayo Ladies selector Denise McDonagh speaks out #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/Z0wZjEF08n
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 18, 2018
In their statement, the board explains the timeline from their point of view, including a meeting between three board members with players who left the panel and Carnacon club representatives several days after the walkout.
"While cognisant of the feelings expressed to us that evening, we felt strongly that their issues related to management style, decisions and selections that are normal and commonplace in any team environment," they said.
"We respected the players right to leave the panel and have at all times respected their feelings and concerns by not making them public as we were asked on that occasion by those players.
"We feel that it is incumbent on the players to release these and still await them doing so."
They accuse the players of releasing an "orchestrated and calculated statement... which remains unsubstantiated".
They say that led to "rumour and innuendo of the vilest nature and Peter Leahy, and indeed his family, endured a torrid few weeks where they received online, telephone and face to face comments of a despicable nature".
The players who left the panel said earlier: "We used the terms ‘unhealthy’ and ‘unsafe’ and accept, and take responsibility for the implications of this language but for us, these are relevant terms and stepping away was the right decision."
WATCH | Departed Mayo Ladies on why they walked🎥
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) September 18, 2018
01.00- Fiona McHale
03.00- Statement
09.00- Sarah Tierney opens the press conference
13.00- Timeline
16.00- Reasons for departure
27.00- Tierney on how her relationship with manager Peter Leahy fell aparthttps://t.co/6JkoVpQJNu
The board says: "We are of the opinion that the walkout was an orchestrated move designed to make the management of Peter Leahy untenable due to sheer weight of numbers leaving the panel.
"We feel it was a move designed to wrestle control of the senior team from the management and but for the steadfastness of Peter Leahy, the existing Mayo panel and the County Board it would have succeeded."
They say they are disappointed by criticism of the mediation process employed, which ended unresolved.
The walkout, which features eight players from Carnacon, saw the Mayo champions kicked out of the county championship by the County Board. That decision was overturned on appeal but that, too, is being appealed by the Mayo Board.
The board said: "The clubs were of the opinion that the Carnacon clubs’ actions in withdrawing their players from the senior panel went against the ethos of the LGFA in the manner that it was done and through the subsequent statement released.
"The club delegates felt that members of the Carnacon club were complicit in the whole event and had brought Mayo LGFA into disrepute by causing a very public storm through their actions and the harmful statement which followed.
"There was a lot of hurt and anger and the clubs felt strongly that Carnacon should be sanctioned for bringing the organisation, their clubs and players into disrepute.
"As a County Board Executive, we were compelled to sanction the Carnacon club after an overwhelming majority vote."
"If we start talking about feelings, we'd be a long time trying to get a team out onto the pitch"
— The GAA Hour (@TheGAAHour) September 13, 2018
Peter Leahy on the Mayo players saying their feelings were hurt.
Full interview w/ @paddypower 👇
Soundcloudhttps://t.co/22qY7ZWZrs
iTuneshttps://t.co/p7ol1gUXnf pic.twitter.com/pabsq0cmdK