Counties may drop ‘weaker code’ teams

THE GAA must stand firm in ensuring that ‘equality of treatment’ is given to both hurling and football teams at inter-county level, according to Munster Council Chairman Christy Cooney.

He told delegates at annual convention in Adare last night that he feared economic factors would force some counties to abandon their 'weak' teams.

"There are some questions about that because of the spiralling costs where a code is considered weak that no inter-county team will be entered and concentration would be placed solely on the strong code," he stated. "Are we serious? Is it not our organisational policy to develop and strengthen both our games with the opportunity for our players to play at the highest level? I wonder how many inter-county hurling teams will we have? If this happened, would it be the first step in getting rid of provincial championships? Are we to become totally elitist?"