Railway Cup final heading Down Under

NEXT year’s Railway Cup hurling final will be played in Australia as a curtain raiser to an International Rules fixture.

The decider was played in Rome last October in a bid to boost the profile of the game and bring new life to an ailing competition and now GAA President Sean Kelly is hoping to continue the international experiment with a trip to the Southern hemisphere.

“It is a realistic goal,” Kelly said. “When we were in Australia last year, we discussed bringing the inter-pro hurling final over as a curtain-raiser to one of the tests.

“The Australians are keen on it, we are just trying to get the finances together to put it in place. I would hope it happens.”

Last year’s Italian trip was criticised due to the cost incurred.

However Kelly stresses the importance of such a trip.

“It is understandable that some people at provincial level were critical of the cost. But you have to look at the bigger picture, it is about the promotion of the game of hurling and giving the hurlers something to play for.

“They have no international rules series, you have to look at other ways to reward and encourage them.

“And with sponsorship and so forth, we can reduce the burden of cost on provincial councils. This is something that we should be working to develop.”

Plans to bring the inter-provincial football finals to Paris this year are currently being finalised.

Croke Park are engaged in discussions with the provincial councils, ironing out the last details.

It is hoped one of the Railway Cup hurling semi-finals will be played as a curtain-raiser to an International Rules test match at Croke Park this year. The other curtain-raiser will be a camogie game to commemorate their centenary year.

The promotion of hurling was a topic on every mind yesterday as McDonalds launched their Lift & Strike Programme, The programme is aimed at promoting the game among young people and will be implemented in almost 2,000 schools nationwide.

Jerry Grogan, of Cumann na Bunscoil, said the programme will include eight coaching sessions between now and the summer, and a further eight between the summer and Halloween.

Mr Kelly said the GAA are formulating a paper to submit to government that will look at three areas in need of urgent attention in their organisation - hurling, Dublin and coaching & infrastructure.

“We are formulating a paper at the moment looking at a few areas, but primarily it will be looking at hurling, at ways to promote and develop the game,” Kelly said.