The executive of the Cork county board has refused to accept a motion of no confidence placed in it by the Ballyhea club over its conduct throughout the hurling impasse.

The motion was put forward at a county board meeting in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday night, but was shot down by chairman Jerry O’Sullivan on the basis that it contravened Rule 50 of the GAA’s Official Guide.

The rule states that officers of the county board are elected at county convention and cannot be removed until the next convention. 

"We are not accepting this motion. Under Rule 50, we are elected to office. This is unprecedented, I have never heard of it in any other county,” said O’Sullivan.

“I can’t for the life of me understand the difficulty with our handling. We’ve done everything correctly since day one. We’ve had meeting after meeting, given pages of information.

“As far as the board is concerned, I fail to see what more we could have done. It doesn’t make sense. I can’t really see the purpose behind this motion."

The motion was widely opposed, with several delegates speaking out against it. Meanwhile, it also emerged that the three-man committee charged with finding a replacement for Gerald McCarthy can appoint the new manager without ratification at a county board meeting.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy, John Fenton and Denis Coughlan will hope to appoint their preferred candidate prior to the Cork’s next NHL tie, the April 5 meeting with All-Ireland champions Kerry.

The county board is scheduled to meet next on April 7, when the new boss’s appointment can be rubber-stamped.