Parent rule could benefit the Banner

A number of Dublin club footballers whose parents hail from Clare could well be lining out for the Banner County in 2011.
Some years ago, the GAA introduced a rule that allows players to declare for the county of their parents.
Leitrim, in particular, has benefitted from this ruling in the past decade. Declan Darcy, who captained Leitrim to Connacht honours when John O’Mahony was their manager, is from Dublin but declared for the home county of his father. He eventually transferred to Dublin and played with them for a number of years.
“It’s something we are looking into but it’s very much in its infancy at the moment,” Clare senior manager Micheál McDermott confirmed this week.
“We are investigating the possibility and we are having a closer look at a number of players currently playing in the Dublin championship who would be eligible to declare for Clare,” McDermott added.
Aidan and Brian Downes are sons of former O’Curry’s and Clare player Michael, who also played for Navan O’Mahony’s and Meath. They currently play for Na Fianna. Centre-back Aidan won a Sigerson Cup medal with DIT while Brian plays at centre-forward for the Dublin club.
Another player who would qualify under ‘the parentage rule’ is the son of former Shannon Gaels and Clare star John McGrath. Shane McGrath plays with the Thomas Davis Club. His sister, Siobhán, played for the Dublin senior ladies’ football team this year and Shane was part of the extended Dublin senior panel in recent times.
Pat Burke from Kilmacud Crokes, whose father of the same name hails from Kilmurry-Ibrickane and played for Clare for many years, is another who qualifies for Clare under this ruling. He has also been part of the extended Dublin senior panel in recent years. He was one of the stars of the Kilmacud Crokes’ All-Ireland winning side of 2009.
David O’Connor from St Bridget’s is another who qualifies.
It’s expected that Clare officials will speak to the players in question in the coming weeks.