No finger of blame for the Limerick hurling fiasco should be pointed in the direction of the departed Donal O'Grady according to TJ Ryan.

Garryspillane clubman Ryan has reluctantly agreed to stay on as manager following the decision of his fellow co-manager O'Grady to walk away but he says the County Board are responsible for the "regrettable" and "untimely" disturbance to their Munster SHC preparations.

"What has happened over the last two weeks has been regrettable and untimely for Limerick hurling," Ryan said in a statement to the Limerick Leader.

"I firmly believe that Donal O'Grady and I acted correctly in pursuing a retraction from County Board in connection with comments concerning an apology regarding league performance.

"The County Board have only now corrected this. We were both fully involved together in this situation and it is unfair to point the finger at Donal O'Grady, as we were not to blame for this.

"We both felt that arbitration was unnecessary. All that was required was a simple one-line statement.

"We agreed that I would remain on in the interim as upcoming fixtures, particularly a charity fund-raiser against Cork, were in place.

"Both myself and Donal worked very well together at all times and training had been going very well. It is regrettable that this issue could not have been sorted immediately and a resolution found.

"My focus now is to ensure that I along with Paul Beary and Mark Lyons ensure the best preparation is put in place for upcoming Munster championship game, which is the very least our players deserve." Tweet

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