Cork hurlers issue Semple apology

The three Cork hurlers who were suspended for their part in the fracas prior to their game with Clare have made their first public comments.

In a statement published in this morning's Irish Examiner, Donal Óg Cusack, Diarmuid O'Sullivan and Sean Óg Ó hAilpín apologised for their part in the incident.

They said: 'This apology is sincerely given and we regret we were in anyway involved in an incident of this nature.'

However, they are unhappy with the way the GAA dealt with their cases.

They also criticised sections of the media for what they felt was 'anti-Cork bias'.

They went on to say: 'It seems that as far as some commentators are concerned we are not only guilty of being thugs, we are morally reprehensible for trying to say that we are not thugs, whether under the current system or otherwise.'