Inter-provincials or Internationals?
by
Daire Walsh
On the same weekend that the GAA are trying to save one event in its sporting calendar, it seems that they are trying everything within their power to put the final nail in the coffin of one the longest-standing competitions in its proud history.
The GAA and the AFL will no doubt have been delighted that the first test in Perth last Friday passed by without any real incident, with the notable exception of Campbell Brown’s tackle on Galway’s Finian Hanley. If the second test in Melbourne goes along the same lines, then there is every chance that we will see Ireland playing host to our Southern Hemisphere counterparts in Croke Park next year.
While it does have its critics, I have always been a fan of the International Rules series. It gives the players a chance to represent their country, and considering it is the most nationalistic sport we have in this country of ours, it only seems right that there should be an Irish representation in some form.
Yet, I would not be in favour of promoting it at the expense of the Inter-Provincial Championships. Having hosted the finals in Croke Park last year, Nickey Brennan decided against promoting it this year. He effectively stated that its time may be at an end as they had to come to terms with the fixture congestion that the organization currently suffers from. In a way, by neglecting it, they are trying to justify its removal from the GAA calendar.
Predictably, the contempt that the competition appears to have been shown has been ill-received by a number of people, who are clearly unwilling to let the tournament go without a fight. Eugene McGee gave a very strong defence of it in his ‘’Irish Independent column on Monday, when he praised sponsor Martin Donnelly, who he says has almost single-handedly kept it going during his seven year involvement with the competition.
Monaghan and Ulster footballer Dick Clerkin also had some harsh words for the GAA, which echoed the sentiments of Munster football manager Gerard O’ Sullivan who said the following after the game: “I don’t blame the attendance because it was a desperate day. But even if it was a good day, the timing is all wrong for this competition. It wasn’t easy for some of our guys who are still playing club championships and it was disrespectful to ask them to come out and play. Fair dues to Martin Donnelly for his effort and maybe the next president might be anxious to keep it going,” O’ Sullivan remarked.
While he didn’t mention any names, it is clear that he is not too happy with Nickey Brennan, who many feel has not done enough to promote it during his time in office. Another who has voiced his concerns about the future of the series is Munster hurling boss Len Gaynor, who feels it may no longer be a part of the schedule this time next year.
“I would feel disappointed that it’s fading out because it’s a marvellous competition and it was great to see all the great players playing together. You had Christy Ring, Jimmy Smyth and John Doyle playing for Munster and that was terrific. It’s a different scenario now and there’s a very tight schedule between league and championship. It has certainly slipped down, I think it will slip out, but I hope not,” said Gaynor.
The mention of players like Christy Ring and John Doyle by Gaynor evokes memories of when this competition flourished and was treated with much anticipation by all members of the GAA, whether they are players, officials or spectators. It was known back then as The Railway Cup, and it really thrived. There were attendances of up to 50,000 with the finals taking place in Croke Park on St. Patrick’s Day.
One of the great appeals of the competition, and this still continues to this day, has been the fact that it allows players from the so-called ‘weaker counties’ the chance to play alongside some of the star players from bigger counties, as well as being able to play against some top players.
For instance, Wicklow’s Kevin O’ Brien was a constant on the Leinster football side in the 90s, while Keith Higgins, a Mayo dual star, has gotten the chance to line out for the Connacht hurlers in the past, despite the fact that they are traditionally an all Galway outfit. This weekend also saw two players from Leitrim, who have a very small pool to choose from, lining in out in the Connacht football forward line- Declan Maxwell and Emlyn Mulligan. They were playing alongside the likes of Padraic Joyce, Conor Mortimer and Alan Dillon, with 5 All-Stars, 10 Connacht titles and 8 All-Ireland Final appearances between them, and they certainly didn’t look out of place.
Unfortunately though, the public interest in the series has waned down through the years, and in fairness to Nickey Brennan, this happened long before he was in GAA Headquarters. As time went by the All-Ireland Club Championships demanded a national sponsor, and this is exactly what they got with Allied Irish Bank (AIB) stepping in to the breach. This led to the club finals getting the Patrick’s Day place in Croke Park, while The Railway Cup was left without a sponsor and relegated to the sidelines with a post-September time slot, when most people’s attentions moving away from the GAA world after the All-Ireland finals at inter-county level. Another point exacerbated by McGee in his column was that the GAA Presidents from the 70s and 80s were more interested in chasing money for the sponsored competitions than actually trying to promote the once proud tradition of the Railway Cup.
It is important that people know that before they blame Brennan completely for its possible extinction. However, having said all that, there is still an awful lot more that he could have done if he wanted to, especially given the incentives that have been introduce to the competition in recent years, especially during Sean Kelly’s tenure as GAA head.
In his first year in charge (2003), the Inter-Provincial Hurling Final took place in Rome, with an estimated crowd of about 1,000 in attendance for the Connacht V Leinster final. I was present at this myself, and felt that it worked extremely well as hosting it in a foreign country helps promote the competition as well as promoting the sport itself overseas. It was also refreshing to see both sets of players mingling and socializing together while on the trip, making for an excellent venture in all.
The following year, the football decider was played in Paris as Kelly continued to spread the series around Europe. The following year (2005) saw the finals being brought to a city which has a strong Irish connection. Canton, Boston was the venue for the 2005 Inter-Provincial Hurling Finals with over 3,000 people in attendance. No doubt some of them were Irish-born residences who were living in Boston or indeed those with long-standing Irish connections. The following year, it was the turn of the football final to sample the atmosphere in Aidan McAnespie’s Park, and this drew an even bigger crowd of 5,000 to prove that was still interest in The Inter-Provincial Championships (as well an excuse to take a holiday for a while!).
Then last year, Brennan decided to bring the final back to Croke Park as he was looking to utilize the floodlights in Croke Park, which were installed ahead of the Soccer and Rugby Internationals at Jones’ Road. This certainly seemed like a good idea at the time, and it is easy to see why. After all, for it to return to the ground that used to host it on a regular basis could only be viewed as a step in the right direction.
However, when the GAA and Croke Park had the chance to promote the series ahead of their return, they had a limited advertisement campaign, which was heavily criticized by Tyrone manager Mickey Harte. He has been a strong critic of the International Rules series, and believes that they should try and boost the profile of the Inter-Provincial Championships. He didn’t think that there was enough advertisement for the finals, and feels they missed out on a big opportunity.
As it turned out, the two finals produced an overall crowd of 10,127, which was as big as it had been in years, but it was hardly noticed as that covers approximately 13 % of the overall capacity in Croke Park.
Then this year, when all the efforts were being focused on making sure that the International Rules was a success, they decided to host the Inter-Provincial Semi-Finals on the same weekends as the Ireland V Australia games, meaning that the football teams had their options limited. The fact that some of the players are still involved in club championships didn’t help either.
The choice of venue for the semi-finals seemed questionable as well. Although there is nothing much wrong with the pitches in Fermoy or Kiltoom, they are hardly the most recognizable of provincial venues, not like Pearse Stadium (Galway), Parnell Park (Dublin), or the Gaelic Grounds (Limerick).
Ulster football manager Joe Kernan was particularly critical of the playing surface in Fermoy, but to be fair the weather was particularly bad that day, and many other pitched would have suffered as well. The attendances were particularly low on Saturday, and it would be hard to envisage a huge crowd being in Portlaoise next Saturday.
So, where is the future for the competition?, if there is to be one. Well, hopefully Christy Cooney, who takes over the role of GAA President after the completion of the 2009 Allianz League Campaigns, will recognize the interest that the players have in keeping the competition going and look at how to accommodate it at the right time and in the appropriate venue.
As the former Munster Council chairman Noel Walsh pointed out, there is no chance of there being 50,000 people at the matches again, but there is no reason that, with the right promotion, that there can’t be between 5,000-10,000 going to the games.
It probably wouldn’t amount to a great deal having that type of a crowd in Croke Park, but in a venue like Portlaoise, or places like Parnell Park and Dr. Cullen Park, a 10,000 strong crowd could generate a decent atmosphere. The 2005 final between Leinster and Ulster in Parnell was an excellent game which went to extra-time, and was made memorable thanks in no small part to the 6,000 people who braved the conditions to show up.
Hopefully, the GAA will make some inroads in ensuring that this competition will not be resigned to the archives of GAA history, because if this is allowed to happen, then the excellent work done by M Donnelly & Co. Ltd. over the past 7 years will have been for nothing.
The whole reason Donnelly took up the sponsorship was due to the fact that he, like the players involved, was a great lover of the competition and wanted to see it continue. Christy Cooney may take that into consideration before making any rash decision on its future.