Revive the Railway Cup and put bastardised version of our game out of its misery
THE best game I ever saw? If I had to choose, it would be Cusack Park in Ennis, April 1999, when Munster fronted up to Ulster in a Railway Cup semi-final. I went along out of loyalty as Darragh was togging, but I ended up getting hooked by an absolutely spell-binding game.
Extra-time couldn’t separate them, it finished 1-20 to 3-14 and they cared enough about it to replay it two weeks later in Omagh. The sequel was every bit as good, Munster getting through after another period of extra-time, by 2-19 to 3-13.
My mind was drawn back to that game in Ennis this week when I heard the news that Connacht would not be participating in this year’s interprovincials and, as it takes four to dance, the music had died for the interprovincial championships.
I feel sad about that for all kinds of reasons.
I played in it five or six times, captaining Munster in 2014 and one of my regrets, along with missing out on an All-Ireland club and a Sigerson Cup, was not getting my hands on an interprovincial medal.
That might seem strange to some people, given that by the time I was finishing up, the competition had all but withered away through neglect. That saddened because I had seen in the flesh how good it could be.
In truth, it was fast losing its public appeal when I went along to shout for Munster that day in 1999 but it still retained the capacity to engage as a spectacle. I remember Darragh and Anthony Tohill going hell for the leather that day in the middle of the field and it was as every bit as great as it sounded.
Darragh was partnered by Limerick’s John Quane, one of those great midfielders who, by a quirk of birthplace, a large section of the country never got to hear about.
Darragh had some fierce battles with Quane when they ran into each other in Munster and you could see they relished playing with each other, turning up the physical heat as a hellish double act. If Darragh enjoyed it, you can just imagine the kick Quane got from getting to play on a stage and against opponents that his talent merited.
My other abiding memory from that game was Séamus Moynihan picking up Peter Canavan in what sounds like some kind of fantasy football match-up but it was even better in reality.
Watching that game, it was easy to understand why there was a time when they flocked in their thousands to see the best of the best going hammer and tongs at each other while wearing provincial jerseys.
Of course, there were other factors at play when the Railway Cup enjoyed a mass audience, not least the fact that in those times the club game did not have the status it enjoys now. However, that is no reason why the interprovincials should be erased from the GAA calendar.
We have just witnessed the latest international rules which left most of the GAA community stone cold but already a commitment is in place to ensure that it goes on, with the likelihood that a game will take place in the United States next year, where it will open the American door to the Australian professional game but it offers the GAA nothing.
The GAA is already thriving in the United States and taking a horribly compromised version of our game on tour will not sell Gaelic football, but instead will showcase a game that does not exist outside the circus tent it will perform in. What is the point? Would the GAA not be better employed in promoting a competition rich in tradition that promotes the best of our game, rather than dancing to the AFL’s dodgy tune.
And, yes, I am aware that attempts have been made in the past to promote the interprovincials including taking the finals on tour but I don’t believe that they gave it their best shot.
The overwhelming majority of the GAA’s playing membership want to see the introduction of a calendar-year fixture schedule, which would mean that the AllIreland club finals would be played in December, rather than on St Patrick’s Day.
Returning the interprovincial finals to their traditional date in Croke Park would be a good starting point.
Playing it in the middle of the inter-county season would improve access to players because the best players must be involved if it is to engage the public again.
And the money saved in sending players half-way around the world could instead be spent on a holiday for the eventual winners, either as a team or in the form of a voucher to individual panel members.
And it could also be made relevant. For example, one of the big discussions in the GAA right now is whether a rugby-style TMO should be introduced.
The argument is that it would be too disruptive but how can we tell until we see it in action?
The inter-pros, featuring the GAA’s biggest stars, would provide the perfect vehicle to experiment with such technology, as well as the introduction of potential rule changes.
Above all, the history of this competition demands that it is given another chance.
The Irish national international rules jersey left me stone cold, whereas Munster’s never did.
One of my favourites possessions as a young buck was a jersey Páidí handed to me back in the 1980s, coloured in Kerry blue. That has always been Kerry’s favoured alternative shirt when a colour clash with opponents arises and not just for clarity purposes either.
It reminds us of who we are and where we come from.
We should not hand it back without a fight.