Weaker hurling counties paying the price for Super 11s ‘jolly’, says ex-Fermanagh man
DECLAN McGarry is a hurling man to the core. More significantly, he’s a hurling fan. He still recalls the jolt of giddiness he felt after running into Henry Shefflin at the Leinster final in Croke Park. That’s what the game means to him.
In the coming week, hurling, or a variation of it, will be showcased to a global audience in exhibition matches in Sydney and Boston. It just so happens that it comes at a time when the GAA are hoping UNESCO will look favourably on its application to have the sport recognised on the world heritage list.
There will be extensive television coverage, but McGarry is unlikely to be watching. The former Fermanagh captain can’t see the point of bringing the sport to pastures new when hurling remains on lifesupport on most of this island.
McGarry hung up his hurl last year after more than a decade of thankless toil with his county, a new-born baby meant the three-hour roundtrips from Belfast for training had to stop. Having stepped out of the environment, his mood changed. Where once there was frustration, now there’s simply disenchantment.
‘I might have been angrier a few years ago, now I’m just disillusioned,’ McGarry sighs. He recently got a bit of traction on Twitter when he pointed out the GAA and GPA were crowing about bringing the game to Boston while ignoring its struggles on home soil.
‘I am from a county where there has been no championship for six years because we are the only club playing senior hurling. That is a place where hurling needs to be promoted, yet they are flying four teams over to Boston on the pretence of promoting the game. It was even in the literature, promoting hurling in foreign fields but they can’t even promote and develop the game 100 miles from Croke Park.’
Former Limerick player Joe Quaid, when he was Kildare manager last year, banged a similar drum. But few were listening. Those behind the Super 11s concept include Dónal Óg Cusack and Donal O’Grady and their passion about it seems genuine, but as someone who soldiered in the hidden world of the Lory Meagher Cup, McGarry believes priorities are misplaced.
‘What is the point in showing the game to 20,000 Americans in Fenway Park, who will forget about it as soon as they leave. The trip to Boston just seems to me one big jolly. And the amount of money it will cost, that could finance one hurling promotion officer somewhere that desperately needs it for a year, maybe two officers.’
Some will argue that the development of hurling in much of Ireland is a separate issue to the Super 11s, which has been a big driver of fundraising for the GPA in recent years. But six elite teams being flown to Australia and the US contrasts sharply with the sense of neglect felt by most hurling counties.
At the recent PWC All-Star banquet, the 15 best players from the Joe McDonagh Cup, Christy Ring Cup and the combined Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher cups didn’t even have their names announced on the national broadcast. The GPA attempted to rectify the situation by releasing a tweet with all 60 players – which took four days to compose.
‘All it is is lip-service to the weaker counties,’ McGarry insists. ‘Occasionally, the GAA get a jolt and are embarrassed into action. Like when Cavan disbanded their senior team five or six years ago, they were embarrassed into doing something.’
In the sphere in which he operated, McGarry can reflect on a successful career. Lisbellaw won the Ulster intermediate club title in 2012, a remarkable achievement, and the Ernesiders claimed the Lory