President: Hurling? Imagine hockey played by maniacs

“IMAGINE hockey played by maniacs.”

This is how President Mary McAleese attempted to explain hurling to foreign citizens whose national airline now sponsors the All-Ireland hurling championship.

She told the audience in the United Arab Emirates that hurling is the fastest field sport in the world. And the most skilful.

It is like hockey “but you can use both sides of the stick”. And you can swing the stick above your shoulders, she said.

The President was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop links with the country and meet representatives of the 4,000-strong ex-pat community.

As part of the trip she offered an explanation of hurling. After all, the UAE’s national airline Etihad is among the lead sponsors of the premier inter-county hurling and football competitions in Ireland.

Her explanation was more nuanced than Etihad’s own effort on its website: “Hurling is a game similar to hockey. It is played with a small ball and a curved wooden stick,” it said.

Etihad has already won a European advertising award for the imagination it took to sponsor our national sport.

This was because it linked up an unrecognised product with a new audience despite no natural link existing between the two.

Last night a spokeswoman for the GAA said President McAleese was a person who had a very good understanding of the sport and was a great ambassador for Gaelic games.

The spokeswoman said since the advertising agreement was reached, the GAA’s relationship with Etihad had matured in a strange way, to the benefit both sides.

She said it had created the potential for new routes from Dublin to Melbourne and also attracted hurling fans to the UAE. Not to mention the opportunity to attract new fans to hurling, the spokeswoman said.

Today the President will get the opportunity to study the unlikely marriage of GAA and UAE at an even closer quarter when she meets the members of the Dubai celts team.