Longford hurling looking to the future as league status secure

The much talked about GAA plan to remove Longford, Leitrim, Cavan, Fermanagh and Louth from the National Hurling League from 2025 onwards until they have at least five adult hurling clubs for a minimum three-year period generated a lot of debate and negative feedback to such an extent that the controversial proposal was withdrawn at the Central Council meeting at Croke Park on Saturday last. 

Instead, it was decided to develop hurling in the five counties through a Hurling Development committee that has been set-up.

 Speaking to the Leader, the Longford senior hurling manager Adrian Moran expressed his delight that the proposal was dispensed with.

“I don’t actually believe that it was ever going to go through and that it was more of a warning shot for every club and every county to make sure that their house is in order from a hurling perspective.

 “Clubs and their county boards now need to work together to develop hurling at underage level that will benefit existing clubs, new clubs, and the county team. Underage hurling is the lifeblood for the adult teams of the future.”

Adrian was also impressed with the support that the five counties garnered from all levels of hurling throughout the country including the top Liam McCarthy teams.

“All the Liam McCarthy Cup Captains signed a petition against the proposal along with the players and management of the five counties involved and lots of star players and managers past and present came out against it. 

“Conor Whelan, Liam Sheedy, and Anthony Daly to name a few, in fact, I don’t think that any hurling people or those that have a passion for hurling thought it was a good idea, or that it should proceed at all. The solidarity from the hurling community that was fully behind the five counties was a huge support too.”

The Longford County Board and its clubs were against the proposal from the outset and Adrian was very happy with how the matter was dealt with within Longford GAA, and he also praised the Longford captain, Johnny Casey. 

“A meeting took place straight away once the details of the proposal became known and the county Secretary Peter O’Reilly had issued everyone and all the clubs with what was in the proposal and we got the support we needed from the county board when the official meeting took place to discuss the matter.

 “Our Chairperson Albert Cooney was also fully behind us, he even came down to the gym during testing to show his support, so top marks all round. 

“As far as the captains were concerned, I don’t think anyone worked any harder than our own Johnny Casey, who was instrumental in everything that was going on with the GPA, and he worked tirelessly on the ground with everybody including our own players and management team over the last number of weeks, so a lot of credit has to go to Johnny. 

“Johnny and our vice-captain Cathal Mullane are the team’s representatives and they are putting forward the thoughts, proposals, and opinions of the team, and they should be respected for that.”

 Adrian stated that if the proposal was implemented, it would have actually had a detrimental effect on hurling in the five counties.

“In my opinion it would have stifled development in the five counties especially as the County team is the pinnacle that all players aspire to and to play for a county team that has restricted meaningful competitive games would have demoted players from playing hurling. 

“It’s now up to everybody to step up to develop underage hurling to ensure that the clubs and the county have a proper structure that enables all teams to flourish in the future.”

In relation to the squad for the 2024 season, Adrian believes that it is a very strong squad both number wise and in quality.

“I am very happy with the squad that we have for next year, and it feels just like our first season in charge and it excites me as to how far this squad of players can go in both competitions. 

“We have been rejuvenated with a real injection of youth, talent, and everything else, so we are very happy so far. 

“All the clubs have really come on board this year and are pushing in the one direction, and that has been very important especially with all the media attention on that proposal that everyone was talking about.”

Hurling Development Plan

The GAA Strategic Plan - Áontas 2022-2026 commits to growing Hurling as a key objective for the Association.  The creation of a National Hurling Action Plan is designed to support this objective and expedite the growth and development of hurling across the country.

A National Hurling Action Plan Workgroup has been established and held their first meeting on Saturday last,  2nd December. The Workgroup is chaired by Colm Nolan of Maynooth GAA and includes personnel from all tiers of hurling. 

 To understand the challenges facing hurling, it is imperative that the Workgroup is made up of players, administrators, coaches and staff from counties from across hurling and includes representation from the Camogie Association.

Following on from the first meeting of the Workgroup on Saturday, a survey has been created to allow all those interested in the game to have a say on how hurling might be grown and developed. Responses will be factored into the key goal of agreeing a three-year action plan for the growth of the game.

Welcoming the formation of the group, Uachtarán CLG Larry McCarthy said:

“The formation of this group has been in process since late summer and to ensure that the Association can put in place a series of actions to develop the game of hurling, it is important that those involved are reflective of all the tiers of hurling. 

“As an Association, it is important that any actions coming out of this plan are realistic and I am delighted with the composition of the Workgroup.  All are passionate about the development of hurling, and I look forward to their recommendations.”

The purpose of the Hurling Development Plan Workgroup is to facilitate the formulation of a three-year action plan to sustain and grow Hurling in line with the overarching vision and goals set out in the GAA Strategic Plan - Áontas 2022-2026 and in accordance with the following terms of reference:  

- Conduct a review of the findings and recommendations of previous plans, reports, action statements on the game over the past 15 years. 

- Conduct a review and analysis of current hurling activity at Club, Primary, Post Primary, Higher Education and Inter-County levels across all tiers of the game - but with a special focus on the game in Joe MacDonagh, Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher counties.