On November 7th, the GAA announced its plans, if voted for, to confine five of Ireland’s smaller hurling counties to its fifth-tier competition.
Fermanagh, Longford, Louth, Leitrim and Cavan would all compete in the Lory Meagher Cup from 2025 onwards. Louth is the only county out of the five teams, who will compete outside of the fifth-tier competition after retaining their status in the Nicky Rackard Cup this year.
None of the five counties have more than five hurling clubs as the GAA aims to promote the sport with youth development despite not having a clear plan in place yet if the proposal is passed.
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The proposal has been met with huge criticism from players and board members from the counties involved.
Fermanagh GPA rep, Rory Porteous, was one of the first players to voice his thoughts to the news via social media and was shocked to learn about the proposal.
“I actually found out from the GPA rep from one of the other county squads involved. He sent me an article from a national newspaper,” he said.
“He created a WhatsApp group for the 5 reps to give us all a chance to figure out what was happening. I couldn’t believe that something as potentially harmful as this proposal could get to the stage of being voted on at Ard Comhairle without any players or management from the counties involved being properly consulted.
“Any person involved in club or county hurling in any of the 5 counties could point out a whole list of major flaws in this proposal that would have a negative effect on hurling development rather than any net benefit. A few of my teammates were quick to rubbish it as something that couldn’t ever happen, but from my point of view, decision-making at the higher levels of the GAA seems to be based entirely around finances.
“However, I’m optimistic that the vast majority of GAA people across the country would be able to see that this is a very clumsy attempt to save money but cutting off the “weaker” counties as we’ve been called a lot recently.
“If anyone looked at our results over the last two years they would see that Fermanagh punch well above our weight in every game. We had a combined score difference of -13 points across 10 games in 2023! It wasn’t so long ago that the likes of Donegal, Tyrone and Sligo would’ve been in danger of this proposal and now they’ve moved up and compete in higher divisions and championships. It’s what every county team aspires to do.”
The change would also save the GAA a significant amount of money by cutting these five county team's seasons in half, going from three months of the year to six, without the opportunity of playing against teams above them.
“As an inter-county player firstly. It’s shocking to have this proposal sprung on us out of nowhere, threatening to cut us adrift of the rest,” he added.
“We have a good mix of older lads who’ve put in years and years of commitment to the County team, and talented youngsters who are desperate to do the same, and progress Fermanagh Hurling the only way they can, on the field of play! Why would they commit to an inter-county set-up which is condemned, indefinitely to playing against the same teams until kingdom come?
“As a GAA person from Fermanagh, I’m insulted that the CCCC would put forward any recommendation that the Senior Hurling Team that represents the county should be removed from any national competition without any official consultation, as was claimed in the CCCC presentation of the proposal.
“And without any chance for the County Board to meet and discuss the effects of such drastic measures among themselves or with the hurling people who commit savage time and effort to keep the game alive in Fermanagh.”
Porteous was backed by his counties board members this week, as Fermanagh GAA alongside manager Joe Baldwin also condemned the proposition with the belief it would have the opposite effect that it has been designed for.
“In real terms, this proposal, if passed, would set Fermanagh hurling back years. It would effectively end my own Inter-County career,” Porteous continued.
“I could not commit to play hurling for Fermanagh when I’ve had to relocate to Strabane for my family and my job. What’s keeping me going now is to ensure I return my county jersey in a better place at the end of my time playing than it was when I took it on. That’s a mantra I’ve heard many times over the years and it’s something I’ve focussed my efforts on delivering.”
Porteous’ club side, Lisbellaw St Patricks, were recently knocked out of the Ulster Intermediate, with the majority of their side making up the Fermanagh squad which has had a heavy dependence on players travelling home from Belfast, Dublin and other parts of the country for the last number of years to represent their club and county.
“It would retire many more of my teammates. There’s a few more like myself who’ve been on the go for over a decade; Ryan Bogue, Sean Corrigan, John Duffy, Francie McBrien, Shea Curran, Mark Curry, JP McGarry & Daniel Teague. And for the lads who are young enough that they’d have 3+ years still in them, they won’t know if they’ll ever get back in the National League.
“Would their efforts to win a Lory Meagher title ever get them back into the Nickey Rackard? All that would rely on new adult teams appearing, rather than any competitive achievement.
“As for the club, they’ve made tremendous strides to build a senior squad that can sustain 40+ players getting games by fielding in regional Junior Competitions (which usually excludes our County players). Lisbellaw is now joined by several other clubs offering youth hurling in Fermanagh. Things are gradually improving and there’s a real risk that getting rid of the County Senior team would destroy a lot of that.
“The youngsters won’t have a Senior team look up to. Joining the County panel has developed a good group of Belleek hurlers which has helped them get to the point of representing Fermanagh in the Ulster Junior Hurling Championship this year. That’s a huge positive step which was helped by the fact the Senior Hurling setup was there for them to develop within.”
Players from the five counties have been in agreement that this proposal would be hugely detrimental to hurling in their counties and have also received support on their views from players outside of the five counties including Lisbellaw’s Ulster Intermediate opponents.
“I’ve been in daily contact with fellas from the other 4 counties as we try to publicise how badly this could go if it’s voted through. All 5 squads are unanimously against it. I’ve also started to see county players from other counties and codes speak up which has been heartening. The likes of Conor and Sean Og Grogan from Tyrone, Neil McManus of Antrim and Conor Whelan from Galway. Even other hurling people from hurling “strongholds” like Martin Forgarty, Eddie Brennan, & Cheddar Plunkett. We need as much vocal support from the entire GAA community as we can get this proposal defeated.”
There’s no doubt change in these areas is long overdue with people from these club and county teams hoping to see improvement in numbers, however, Porteous firmly believes this is the wrong way to see improvement.
“The proposal itself is clumsy and very poorly thought out. As I said before, anybody who’s on the ground in Fermanagh, Leitrim, Longford, Louth and Cavan knows that this proposal won’t develop hurling in the counties. But they would also all agree that hurling development has been a huge blind spot for the GAA for a long time.
“It’s not good enough to try and achieve it ‘cost neutrally’. Hurling in the majority of counties north of the Dublin to Galway line, as I’ve heard it described, needs to be prioritised. It needs meaningful financial investment and a well-structured and thought-out plan that supports the roots that already exist and enables them to grow. Not needlessly rip up those roots to start from scratch.”
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