Ex-Leinster chief: Galway finally proved us right

It took longer than some expected but Galway’s first Leinster hurling title has vindicated the decision to welcome them to the province four years ago, according to then Leinster Council chairman Sheamus Howlin.

Galway’s victory has been welcomed as a breath of fresh air to a summer that had previously offered little novelty value — but how easy it would be to forget now that their arrival in the province didn’t find favour with everyone at the time.

Dublin, Wexford, Westmeath and Offaly all voted against their inclusion — and that of Antrim — at a Special Congress in 2008, while Galway’s own club delegates had earlier given it a qualified thumbs up on a vote of just 66 in favour and 54 against.