GAA must realise bigger picture lies beyond cash

Jutting up against the misery of Cork’s defeat on Saturday was a glimmer of hope for Rebel exiles watching from afar in pubs at unforgivable hours, some serving drink much too early and some not serving at all.

Every time I approach these bars with the same dread and sense of injustice, sick of being forced to hand over a $20 note to a broadcasting rights middleman for the empty privilege of watching a big GAA game on a small screen. I feel cheated but that’s the free market at its best so you take it on the chin.

Now is the perfect time for a new dawn. I’d like to think that Clare’s astonishingly positive display of pure hurling might force the issue. Maybe now the GAA has a huge opportunity to choose wisely on how they manage the overseas television rights, particularly in markets where hurling is beginning to thrive.