Murphy warns against reaching end of line for Railway Cup

ULSTER Council secretary Danny Murphy has warned against plans to kill off the Railway Cup.

Central Council ruled against playing the competition this season with GAA President Christy Cooney admitting the decision is likely to be a first step towards ending the series.

However Murphy last night preached caution.

He explained: “The competition has provided an outlet and recognition for the great players and I know we have an international dimension with the Australians and we have All Stars.

“But, the only real representative honour where a player gets selected for his capacity to play in a particular position is at inter-provincial level.

“And, as far as I would be concerned, if we are going to kill the Railway Cups, it is against a trend where rugby is clearly making use of the inter-provincial scene to develop their sport. It seems strange the GAA is going in the opposite direction.’’

However Cooney is adamant the Central Council ruling is a precursor to the abandonment of the concept. Asked if he felt that decision sounded the death knell for the competitions, he said: “In a short answer – I do.”

He added: “I expect we will have a motion coming before Congress next year to remove the inter-provincial competitions from the calendar. I’m sure there will be moves afoot that we keep them there, but that’s the decision that was made by Central Council.’’

Cooney said he would have favoured retention as long as players were interested and committed. However, over the last two seasons some players on provincial panels had not even played championship for their counties.

“There is also a concern about trying to fit in a date and get the provinces to agree when they can and can’t play and how it affects club championships. And there is a significant cost for provinces, with the question being asked can we utilise that money in a better way to promote our games?” said Cooney.

Pointing out that they had taken their decision first at the management committee and then at Central Council level, he added: “I think we had to be responsible to make that decision. The club scene has taken over from the inter-provincials in my opinion. We had over, 34,000 at the finals this year and you add another 10,000 from the junior and intermediate finals.

“If I was asked to look at an option tomorrow morning, it’s a no brainer. I think we made the right decision.’’

Cooney remained tightlipped on the issue of the Irish rugby squad’s use of Nemo’s facilities earlier in the year

“We only had two situations that we dealt with recently, the situation about Nemo and another club (allowing other sports use their facilities). Both clubs have been written to and we are dealing with the question as it stands.’’