Colin Sheridan: At what cost should Croke Park continue to grow?

'Growing the game' has become a catchy phrase that easily rolls off the tongue, but at what cost should Croke Park continue to grow, when its nuclear family is struggling to feed itself?

A general view as Paddy Small of Dublin shoots to score his side's first goal despite the efforts of Paul Murphy. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

AS the curtain fell on this year’s hurling championship, RTÉ fulfilled its annual ritual of laying to rest the season with a bumper edition of the jewel in its GAA crown, The Sunday Game. A veritable chowder of big personalities and strong fashion statements assembled to deconstruct the four-in-a-row brilliance of Limerick, and meditate on who, if anybody, can catch them next year.

Among them was Portumna’s Joe Canning, one of the finest to ever puck a sliotar. When asked by presenter Jacqui Hurley to give his hurling moment of the year, Canning struck an angry tone. The GAA’s refusal to allow Tipperary and Limerick to wear jerseys adorned with the logo of the Dillon Quirke foundation, he said, was “a bit of a disgrace”.