A rising tide will lift all boats. Former national hurling development manager Martin Fogarty reckons a little bit of time, money and energy aimed in the right areas can help strengthen the ancient game from the ground up.
Fogarty served as the GAA's first national hurling development manager for five years from August of 2016 and, while the former Kilkenny selector feels the inter-county game is strong, he told RTÉ Sport this week that unless the issues at club level among the traditionally weaker counties are properly addressed, the future of the game may be uncertain.
"The inter-county hurling, by and large, is okay. It’s unbelievable at the top level, right down along down to the Lory Meagher [Cup]," Fogarty said.
"But the big problem is club hurling. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever, that for hurling to rise at county level, it has to start at the bottom and build the clubs.
"Even if we jump into the middle tiers and take Laois and Offaly. Two proud hurling counties. Excellent hurling counties, excellent GAA counties. Probably the best examples of the dual sport people. But to be very fair to Laois and Offaly, beside Kilkenny, how would 10 to 15 hurling clubs consistently compete with Kilkenny with 44.
"To me, those counties, if they can find their way to building, to go from 15 to 30 hurling clubs, then everything will rise. That’s the key to it. It’s a huge task. The big problem I see is, who will take ownership of it, who will take responsibility?"
The GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee recommended recently that any county with fewer than five adult hurling teams should compete in the fifth-tier Lory Meagher Cup only from 2025 onwards.
The proposal was met with shock and anger throughout the hurling community. The five counties that would have been affected spoke out against the plan and were backed up by their traditionally stronger neighbours, who all signed a statement calling on the GAA to withdraw said proposal.
Fogarty experienced all of these sentiments and struggles at ground level during his time in his previous position. According to the Erin's Own clubman, a hurling taskforce with real power and influence at Croke Park is badly needed in order to address the increasing imbalance in the game.
"We can talk about Central Council being the decision makers, ultimately, but when you’re a delegate from a county, you're on Central Council for one year," Fogarty said. "You’re in, you’re out. You’ve enough to be doing worrying about your own without worrying about other counties.
"So, ultimately, whose responsibility is it? That’s why we need a hurling taskforce in these areas. Even a hurling department in Croke Park with nothing else on their mind. Being stuck down there in the middle of it and driving it. There’s no point being just up on top, looking down, you’ve to be down among the people."
Cooperation between neighbouring counties – traditionally strong or otherwise – and a regional focus as opposed to the usual county-by-county approach are all adjustments Fogarty feels can help grow the game. The simple development of saving one day of the weekly Gaelic games calendar for hurling could even go a long way.
"The clubs in counties that are close to hurling counties need to get out and play the stronger teams," Fogarty stated. "They need to play in their own county first and then go out and play the stronger teams. That’s how you progress.
"The will has to be there by somebody in authority that can say we’re putting in a team and the team is going to have a bit of power at Croke Park. The one thing I was told when I came into the job by a person when I took the job was, if I could do one thing for the hurling people up in the wilderness, was to get one night a week for hurling.
"And Sambo McNaughton has come out and said the same thing. It’s cost-neutral. If Monday night was given just to hurling. You wouldn’t even need every Monday night of the year.
"If that alone and nothing else was done, other than have those leagues in place, I have no doubt in the world hurling will progress."
The GAA’s unpopular proposal would send Leitrim, Fermanagh, Cavan, Longford and Louth into Allianz Hurling League exile and consigned to the Lory Meagher and though Fogarty doesn't expect it to pass, he hopes the accompanying attention will result in positive change.
"It’s been a rough few weeks for five counties in particular that are in what I will call 'the wilderness of hurling'," Fogarty said. "Hopefully things will work out there and those teams will be left in the National League.
"Maybe there’s something good to come out of it in that there’s probably now an awareness all over the country as to the challenges faced by not just those five counties, but what I would say 13-14 counties in that famous line from Galway from Dublin."
Watch the Leinster Club Hurling final, O`Loughlin Gaels (Kilkenny) v Na Fianna (Dublin), on Saturday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player and listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
